The sign of the pandemic response, in the UK at least, has been the rainbow.

Windows up and down the country, including those of 10 Downing Street, display children’s rainbow artwork.

The adopted symbol of the LGBTQ+ movement, used to symbolise gender and sexual identity diversity, has come to represent the life-saving work of the NHS.

However, biblically it’s a symbol of the Lord himself on his throne.

Judgment and Mercy

The first mention of the rainbow in the Bible is the one we usually remember – the sign that the earth will never be flooded again (Gen 9:11).

Downing Street displays children's rainbow drawings to signal support for the NHS. Yui Mok/PA Wire/PA Images

As we do with so much biblical truth, we leave it at Sunday School level, a pretty sign of hope for children’s drawings. It must please the Lord that children see this lovely sign, but it is not being used to teach them about him.

One of the readings in the synagogue for the festival of Shavuot (Pentecost), the appointed season we are in now, is the beginning of Ezekiel where the Prophet sees the Lord upon his throne:

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezekiel 1:28)

Similarly, in Revelation 4:2-3, John writes:

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

And in Revelation 10:1:

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.

The Lord’s throne, the place of judgment, is surrounded by a sign of mercy, the rainbow. It is a reminder that he will not destroy completely. A remnant will be saved (in Noah’s case, was saved).

The Lord’s throne, the place of judgment, is surrounded by a sign of mercy, the rainbow.

The Hebrew for rainbow – keshet – is also the word used for the bow an archer uses in war. A passage from Habakkuk, also read at Shavuot, speaks of the Lord’s judgment:

You uncovered your bow [keshet], you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed. (Hab 3:9-10)

The Lord may wield, figuratively, his warlike bow, but the sign of the rainbow around the throne of judgment reminds us that his judgment is always tempered with mercy.

In the same passage, plague is among the Lord’s judgments: “Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps” (Hab 3:5). As he lists the Lord's judgments, Habakkuk prays: “in wrath remember mercy” (Hab 3:2).

Remembering God’s Faithfulness

In Jewish tradition, the rainbow is said to remind us first of all that man has sinned; nevertheless, God has remembered his covenant. Therefore, when seeing a rainbow, a special blessing is said by religious Jews to thank the Lord for not sending another flood:

Blessed are You, God, Ruler of the world, who remembers the covenant, who is faithful to his covenant, and who stands by his word.

In the Zohar (the source of Kabbalah),¹ it says that before the Messiah comes, an especially bright and colourful rainbow will appear.

The rainbow has always been a sign of deliverance, but not the human deliverance wonderfully provided by the NHS. Rather, it is the Lord, from his rainbow throne, who is the true mercy-giver and life-saver.

References

1 Zohar I:72b.