Abraham's Story Begins (Genesis 11:10-12:20)

The Genealogy (Genesis 11:10-32)

The Bible provides us with a genealogy that connects Abraham with Noah.  

Assuming the Babel story is historical, we can infer that this genealogical detail straddles people that were part of the Tower of Babel narrative.  However, the test is silent as to which specific individuals they would be.

Abram is a descendant of Shem.  In the genealogical record, many people had children in their 20s and 30s, but lived much longer, even 100 or more years.

Abram is from Ur and his father is named Terah and his brother is named Haran.  In verse 31, it seems that the caravan of Abram, Terah, and other people leave Ur and try to go to Canaan.  However, when they get to Haran, they stop and settle.

At first glance, it appears that they are settling with Abram's brother.  This is probably what the text means, but it is also a little unclear seems to indicate that Haran is the name of the city.  For instance, the NIV text uses the term "there" to describe Haran as a place and not "with him" which is what we would expect if Haran, the person, is physically there.  Further, Terah dies "in Haran".  (verse 32).  Again, this indicates Haran is also used to describe a place, not just a person.

It is an ambiguity in the language and a very minor point.

Go to the land I will show you (12:1-20)

In 12:1, God tells Abram to leave his people and his father's household and "go to the land I will show you.". 

The term "father's household" seems to indicate that Terah is still alive, although the text already discussed his death when it focused on him in 11:20.

More importantly, God lays out the promise for Abram:

A great nation and I will bless you

Here, the future tense of the blessing indicates that Abram's status of becoming a great nation will have follow-on blessings.  We might think that God would phrase is at as "I will bless you and you will be a great nation".  The opposite is suggested here.  The great nation will be yet a further blessing.

A great name and you will be a blessing

Here, the text links Abram's blessing with his name.  Again, the same pattern of blessing after the name, which seems like it should be reversed.  After all, is not God's blessing required for a name to be great.  However, like the nation blessing, this seems to indicate a series of follow-on blessings.  

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you

This follows the grammatical pattern we are more accustomed to.  It seems to restate the prior blessing, but adds a new element - God will curse those curse Abram.

All peoples on earth will be blessed through

This indicates the scope and magnitude of God's blessing for Abram.  It will encompass the entire world.

Note what is absent.  It does not say that all people of the world will be cursed because they cursed Abram.  Rather, the focus and greater portion of the text is devoted to the blessing that other people will receive due to Abram,

A few questions to ponder

Does God have such a similar blessing in mind for us?  Does God plan to bless the entire world through us?  

It is hard to fathom that we might have such an impact on human history as did Abram.  We might; or, we might not.  But I also think that exercise is good to do to take on the perspective that Abram probably had at the time God said this to him.  He probably said his equivalent to "yeah, right" and expressed disbelief.

Back to the story, Abram leaves Haran and continues on the journey that he was on before.  He arrives in Canaan and again God speaks to him.  God says that Abram's descendants will receive that land.  There, he builds his first altar.

Subsequently, Abram moves a place in between Ai and Bethel.  There, he pitches his tent and makes a second altar to God.

The text does not seem to indicate he stayed long for then it states he left and went towards the Negev desert.  In the following verse, we find out why - there was a famine in the land and he is going to Egypt.

I found it interesting that throughout this time, he builds altars to God. At this time, the polytheistic belief was that gods had regional authority over particular places (if we keep in mind the Prince of Persia reference in Daniel, there might be some truth to that idea). But alas Abram recognizes that God the Most High transcends regional boundaries and can be worshipped wherever in the world.

Beatitudes, generally

Taking a step back and looking at the beatitudes in general, I have heard that the first four are more applicable to people outside of faith.  In contrast, the second group of four are more applicable to those who have embraced the Christian faith.

I think that is a fair analysis, but caution should be taken with it.

First, the text does not state that one group of beatitudes applies to some people and the second group applies to another.  Rather, it takes someone is already taking the time to analyze the text to read of them at all.

More importantly, it would be unwise for people who think they are mature in faith to think that they have no need for meekness or to hunger for their own righteousness, they will never mourn, or will ever be empty of spirit.  That mentality would easily give rise to stagnation of one's relationship with God, self-righteousness, or self-importance.  This would lead to blind spots in our lives and damage relationships.

Rather, we are called to be like children.  Humility and meekness go hand in hand with the Christian experience.

So, I do think that the first four are more applicable to people new to faith than the later four beatitude.  This does not exclude the first four for those more mature in faith.  Rather, I think maturity is considering whether any of the full list of eight apply to person.

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6)

A few things come to my mind while reading this.

First, it does not state whose righteousness we should hunger and thirst for.  That leads two options, our own righteousness, or the righteousness of others.

By others, I mean it could be on any level outside of our own selves - family, communal, church, national, or global.  Good examples of this would prayer for our enemies (Matthew 5:44) our political leaders ("kings and those in authority", 1 Timothy 2:2) and our spiritual leaders ("pray for us", 1 Thessalonians 5:25).

Either way, it is the hunger and thirst for it that leads to being filled.

Second, it is also interesting to use the verbs "hunger" and "thirst".  This connotes an awareness of an emptiness of righteousness.  This awareness alone affects the person in such a way that they consider themselves "hungering" or "thirsting" for it.

It also does not clarify how a person will be filled as a consequence of this hunger and thirst.  If we examine through the ideas that the righteousness might apply to ourselves or others, then this might affect the fulfillment.

Regardless if it is internal or external righteousness, it is internal fulfillment that is the result.  If it is our own righteousness that we hunger and thirst for, then we can identify our own righteousness as being what fills us up.  Alternatively, if it is external righteousness we seek, we still must look for an internal fulfillment, because the external people have free will and prayer for them is not guarantee of any result.  So, this can only from Christ.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)

Yet another beatitude that is counter-intuitive.  Here, Jesus links meekness with ownership of the earth through inheritance.

In our common experience, the people who own the earth, i.e., those with power, received it from taking, earning, or working for something.  It usually requires active work, perhaps even taking advantage of someone else.

People may receive what they have passively, like through inheritance, but only initially from someone who actively worked for it.

In contrast, Jesus states the the meek will inherit the earth.  I think this is a message about humility and servanthood.

Meekness to God
On one hand, a person must humble themselves to God.  In other words, be meek to God.  In the context of the Sermon of the Mount, it could be restated to say "if you keep listening to me, you will inherit the earth.

Meekness to other people
I think there is additionally a component of meekness to other people.  People should serve others with what have.  So, when the meek inherit the earth, those in charge will use what they have, the earth, to help others.

What it does not say
It does not say a person should be a walkover, especially with regard to other people.  Meekness is first to God.  Out of meekness, we do not have to remain idle while others take advantage of us.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4)

This is one the strangest of the beatitudes.

It almost is like a paradox - how is it a blessing to mourn?

We have to remember that these relate to Christ.  These statements cannot be divorced from the relationship to Christ.  Here are a few of my thoughts.

Spiritual mourning - needing Christ
On one hand, it is about spiritual mourning.  It is a blessing to mourn, for then, you realize you need Jesus.  Jesus is the answer to mourning.  Jesus is the comforter.


Earthly mourning - seeking the comforter
It can definitely apply to earthly mourning and seeking Jesus as the comforter.  I found a few places in the Bible where God promises to turn sorrow into joy:

• You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.  (Psalm 30:11)
• I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. (Jeremiah 31:13)

The promise of resurrection - Christ is risen
With Christ, there always remains the promise of Resurrection.  As I pondered this passage, I thought of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, when Jesus died.  Mary was outside the tomb when angels up her.  From John 20:13-16:

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

The promise of resurrection - the Afterlife
We have all lost friends along the way.  Death is not the final end, for with Christ, there is a promise of the Afterlife.

Here is from one of my favorite passage of the Bible, where the valley of dry bones become living humans.  From Ezekiel 37:1-14:

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.  He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.  He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.   I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’  Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.  Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

I remembered that I wanted to do a more thorough analysis of the Sermon on the Mount.  I plan to do one or two verses every day or so.

The picture (Matthew 5:1-2)
Jesus sits down on a mountainside, after seeing a large crowd.  His disciples come and listen to him.

I picture Jesus sitting partway up on a large hill with a crowd of people sitting below him.  They have come to listen to what Jesus has to say.


The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.  (Matthew 5:3)

What is being poor in spirit?

I can think of a few possibilities:

• Come to God to replenish your spirit.  For example, in John 4:14 Jesus states "the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

• Being apart from God leads to spiritual poverty.  Separation from God drains our spirit.

• Humility to ask God for replenishment.  Jesus answered the requests of people who expressed humility.  (See, e.g., Mark 9:24, a sick boy's father expressed doubt by declaring "I believe, help me my unbelief")

• Awareness of one's spiritual poverty.  Awareness of the problem may itself be a blessing.  (See, e.g., Ephesians 2:8-9, that faith is a gift from God.  Hence, faith itself is a blessing).

• Summation of Jesus' ministry.  It is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, but actually provides the basis of Jesus' ministry on earth.  In short, everyone is poor in spirit.  Jesus came to restore the relationship between God and mankind.  It could be viewed that Jesus is saying, "blessed are you, those poor in spirit, because I am here."

Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come (Revelations 4:2-8)

Today, I tried to draw the Throne of Heaven from Revelations 4:2-8.

It is a very complex image with fanciful creatures.

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders.They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a] of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,who was, and is, and is to come.”

Christ, from Revelations

In my life, I went from loving Revelations, to hating and avoiding it, and now I find it beautiful.

I am currently doing the Jesuit prayer guide.  Today, we looked at the description of Jesus from Revelations.  I used an hour to draw the crazy description of Jesus.  Here is the text from Revelations plus the picture I drew.

On a white page, I could not draw white hair.  Also, I colored the hands the same color as the feet and face, i.e., burned bronze and like the sun, even though the hands are not described.

"I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; ¹⁵ His feetwere like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;¹⁶ He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. ¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me,^[h] “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."

Revelations 1:12-18 (NIV)

Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

Genesis 10 covered the dispersal of men around Mesopotamia and the ancient near east.

In Genesis 11, we follow the actions of men as they move east.

Despite the dispersal we saw in Genesis 10, mankind is unified by a common language.

In verse 3, mankind continues to be innovative and learns how to make bricks by baking them and using bitumen for mortar.  This replaces stone as a building material.

Mankind immediately decides to start building a giant tower, which would obviously remind the ancient readers of the ziggurats of Babylonia.  The intended height for this is tower is one that "reaches to the heavens" (v. 4).

According to Robert Alter's commentary, this phrase of reaching "to the heavens" is commonly found in inscriptions of large ancient buildings found in the ancient near east.

If we combine that with the building material they used (brick), then we can probably guess that this tower was not very tall.  Rather, it is what the tower symbolized and not its height that mattered to God.

The stated purpose for this tower is not to literally reach the heavens, but to "make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the whole face of the earth.". (v. 4).  They want their names to be remembered, which could refer to inscriptions on the buildings themselves.

They also want a concentration of human population.  On one hand, this fits the anti-city theme of Genesis.  It also could represent Babylonian power overall.  The people want to be unified under one government.  This presents a threat to the ancient readers of Genesis and as we know, Babylon conquers Judah and forever becomes a symbol of evil.

Back to Genesis, God comes and disperses the people by giving them separate language.  God's stated purpose is to concern that if God does not do this, then "nothing will be impossible for" mankind.

God confuses their languages and the people cannot make sense of each other.  So, they scatter and "stop building the city", which would include working on this tower.

Like I mentioned, I read this story more of a subtle attack on the Babylonian culture.  Or, perhaps it was a reminder to the ancient Israelites that God will protect them from the major neighboring empires of the day.

But the story discusses the origin of the diversity of language, so let's consider it on its own terms.

One question that comes to mind for me is - does God fear large, or even, world-wide empires united by a common tongue?

I think that God is aware of the power that can focus into the hands of dictators.  Perhaps that is what the story is about.

But in terms of unified languages, if we consider the last few centuries of our own history, we can see the rise and fall of various international languages coinciding with rising and falling empires.  Likewise, various ethnic groups and languages serve to unite areas on a regional area.

Spanish, Portuguese, and French
There used to be a worldwide empires for Spain, Portugal, and France.  Over time, these broke up.  Many areas that were part of their respective empires are still united by speaking the colonial governments, although they have various governments.

Russian
An analogous situation happened with the case of Russia and Russian language in the 20th century.  The Russian Tsarist empire converted to the Communist Soviet empire.  When the Soviet union collapsed, it left a legacy of Russian behind.

Chinese and German
These might seem like strange languages to group together.  But I think it is fair because regional trading and colonization led to wide areas of Europe speaking German and the Far East speaking China.

If one travels around central, northern, and eastern Europe, German might be better to get around than English.

Likewise, Chinese is spoken frequently outside of mainland China.

English
English is the dominant international language today.  The supremacy of English today stems from the British Empire in the 19th century and America's emergence as the lone superpower after the collapsed of the Soviet Union.


After considering these, does God hate unified people under common languages?  I do not think so.  Rather, it is what we do with unified power that matters.


The First Pentecost (Acts 2)
No discussion of the Tower of Babel is complete without considering the first Pentecost.  There, through the Holy Spirit, God undid the language diversity from the Tower of Babel and began to unite people with language.  God did not simplify the world into one language, but rather gave people the ability to speak in other languages to communicate with other people.  This tear downs walls that separate people.

Fruitful and multiplied (Genesis 9:18-10:32)

This section of Genesis covers Noah's sons and their descendants.

The curse of Canaan
After the Flood, one of Noah's sons, Ham, finds his father drunk from wine.  He is so drunk, that he is exposed in his own tent.  Ham sees his father's nakedness and tells the other sons, Shem and Japeth.  Shem and Japeth walk backwards into the tent and cover up Noah's nakedness.

Noah wakes up and curses Ham.  Although Ham has four recorded sons (10:6), this curse will only pass through Canaan.  Canaan will serve the descendants of Noah's other sons, Shem and Japeth.  (9:26-27).

This is one of those weird anecdotes of the Bible.  It has led to lots of speculation, in particular because it does not feel the stated actions of Ham warrant the curse on Canaan.

Here are the various interpretations I have come across from others or thought of myself.  They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but could have worked together.


1.  Seeing one's own father's nakedness was itself very bad and was sufficient to warrant a curse.

2.  Ham mocked Noah.

Ham did not help to cover the nakedness, but instead told Shem and Japeth about it.  This makes one think the Ham was mocking Noah and wanted Shem and Japeth to mock him as well.  Instead, they do want

3.  Ham castrated Noah.
This reasoning borrows from the other regional Flood stories in which the person who saves humanity is subsequently castrated.  It not only is insulting and painful, but for someone who just saved humanity, it has an extra level of insult, because it removes the possibility of any more children from Noah at a time when there are almost no people on the planet.

The earth is devoid of humans.  The population is very low and here, the patriarch might be getting castrated by his own son.  Perhaps the son does not want anymore competition in repopulating the earth from his own father.

4.  Ham raped Noah.
This reasoning sees the story as an origin story about the people of Canaan and why they deserve to be destroyed.

The Canaanites are rapists and incestuous.  For example, we are about to come across the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where man-on-man rape occurs without a thought.  The cities are also the home of Lot's daughters, who are incestuous.

Thus, Canaan receives the curse because they are incestuous rapists.  This in part justifies the later conquest and annihilation of the people by Joshua.


The descendants
In Chapter 10, the descendants of the sons of Noah spread out to the entire near east world.

From other commentaries about this, a few things stand out to me.

Nimrod (verses 8-12) is named as a great hunter.  He also established Ninevah, thus he could be the first Assyrian king.

The "Sea Peoples" (v. 5) likely refer to the Greeks.

If we add up all the people mentioned, 70 of them, they spread out and encompass the entire region.  Truly, the sons of Noah were fruitful and multiplied.

A restart (Genesis 9:1-17)

Noah, his family, and all the animals have left the ark.  God restarts the world through Noah and tells Noah and his family to "be fruitful and increase in number".  In fact, God gives this instruction twice, once in verse 1 and again in verse 7.  This is similar to the instruction that mankind received in 1:28.

God seems to make a few changes regarding the relationships between man and nature.  The fact that God specifies shows a potential contrast with either the antediluvian situation, the state of life for Noah in the last year while in the ark, or both.

Although God speaks to Noah, we can extrapolate this to mean God speaks to all humanity since Noah is now the father of all future generations.


1.  Animals
Two things happens with animals.  They are given the fear of people and as a corollary, God gives all animals to eat.

a.  Fear of people
The fear of people is placed into the heart of animals.  (v. 2)  This does not mean that animals will refrain from attacking or injuring people.  Rather, it means both that wild animals will try to avoid humans and that humans will have an easier time domesticating animals since they will have a natural respect for humans.

Humans are not the natural prey of any vertebrate animal.  I must specify "vertebrate" because we are the natural prey of microscopic organisms, such as the plasmodia that cause malaria.  I don't think this text addresses it.  But if an animal can feel fear or has a neural network, then it will fear humans.

This is one of those things that perhaps indicate what was very about the antediluvian situation.  If God indicates this after the Flood, then perhaps it did not exist prior to the Flood.  Or, if it did exist, it may have been corrupted.  If so, it may indicate what 6:11 means in that the "earth was corrupt in God's sight and full of violence.". Perhaps humanity was prey to animals.


b.  A fully carnivorous mankind
Man is given animals to eat, all animals.  (v. 2-3)  There are no restrictions here with regard to species, rather it is analogous to plants.  The only restriction is regard to blood, which I will discuss separately.

Why state this?

It is a sharp contrast to the flight from Eden by Adam and Eve, where there is no indication they are allowed to eat animals.  The only thing they were given to eat was plants.

Now, we can infer that they do start eating animals because God clothes them with animal skins (3:21) and in chapter 4, their son Abel is a shepherd and sacrifices one of his flock to God (v. 2-4).  But these are inferential whereas the case with Noah is explicit.

I think it also has something to do with the notion that perhaps the community on the ark was vegetarian during that year.  It certainly fits the pattern of re-creating Creation Week, but really, if the purpose of the ark was for mankind to protect animals, it would not make sense then to eat them.


2.  The special case with blood
God has special things about blood.

* Eating the lifeblood
Noah is told not to eat any meat that has its lifeblood in it.  (v. 5).  Looking ahead to the Mosaic code, it is a little different.  Note, this is not the same as "do not eat blood that has been drained".  The notion of "blood pudding" comes to mind, or also meat that has the blood removed by cooking.  Putting this together, God is saying, "do not eat, raw, bloody meat".

Going back to the notion about the microbes, cooking meat and avoiding it raw and bloody is good to avoid microbes.

* Accounting for blood
There are two aspects of this.  First, animals that draw human blood will be accounted for.  It is common practice today to put to death domestic animals that have attacked humans.  Likewise, animal control officials try to find and kill wild animals that have a "taste for human blood".  They are both aberrant to nature.

The second aspect is that people who kill another human must be accounted for with their own blood.  (v. 6).  There is no stated exception here for accidental murder, which we call "manslaughter".  Actually, taken literally, it justifies revenge killing for both intended and accidental murders.

We will find later in Mosaic Code an assortment of rules on how to deal with this, including safe cities of refuge for manslaughter.

It also stands as a stark contrast to the situation of Cain who was punished for his murdering Abel as a cursed farmer, and not killed himself (4:12-15).  Likewise, we do not exactly know what, if any, punishment Lamech received for killing a young man.  (4:23-24)

The statement by God could also be another solution to the antediluvian problem of violence (6:11).

Finally, given the phraseology of "accounting of blood" for shedding blood, one might wonder if it is appropriate to continue the death penalty after the death and resurrection of Christ.  If Christ's blood was shed for all and for all sins, then Christ's blood accounts for the blood of murderers.  Perhaps, the death penalty is now obsolete by the death of Christ.


3.  The Rainbow
Noah is probably shell-shocked from this whole Flood experience.  God promises him, every living creature with him (I.e., all nature), and all generations to come, to not do it again.

As a sign of this covenant, God creates rainbows in the clouds.

Let's consider the rainbow.

Scientifically, rainbows are formed from the separation of light through water in the air.  The moisture acts as a prism and separates light.  In other words, in order for a rainbow to form, there must be moisture in the air.  Enough moisture will cause rain or at least condensation.

The covenant by God, as indicated by the rainbow, means that even if there is moisture in the air, the entire earth will not be flooded with water.

This makes the rainbow an interesting accompaniment of rain clouds.  We can look to rainbows amidst rain clouds and know that particular rain cloud, nor any others, will flood entire the earth.

The only other rainbow I am aware of in the entire Bible occurs in Revelations 4:3.  Specifically, the throne of heaven is surrounded by a rainbow that resembles an emerald.  So, a rainbows signifies the power of God.

If we import this concept back into this covenant with Noah (and all and nature), then we can something else about the rainbow with rain clouds.  When we see a rainbow, it is like we can all look into heaven and see the throne of God holding back the waters of the flood.

The covenant and Global Climate Change
One final thing about the rainbow and more particularly about the covenant that God makes.  This regards global warming and climate change.  Some Christians look to this covenant by God to state that global warming and the associated ice melting and rising sea levels will not happen because of this covenant in Genesis 9.

I think that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the models and predictions of global climate change.  I have not seen any models or theories that the entire earth will be flooded.   Prohibition of the entire earth being flooded again is what the covenant of Genesis 9 pertains to.

The rainbow covenant is silent about regional flooding catastrophes.  We see plenty of regional flooding catastrophes each year.  Clearly, the rainbow covenant does not stop regional flooding catastrophes.

The models of global warming and climate change predict more regional flooding catastrophes.  This is something that should concern us all, regardless of the rainbow covenant.