**There's just something about Rainbow..that I love soo much..I'm sure it must be the wonderful stories that I read when I was little about how God blesses his chosen ones such as Abraham/Jacob/David! Whenever I see rainbows..it just reminds me of God's Promises. Deep down in my soul..I want to believe those stories are REAL and even I can experience them!!
The Rainbow set as the symbol of the Covenant with Noah after the Great Flood of the Bible.
Covenant (Biblical)-- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Covenant, meaning a solemn contract, oath, or bond, is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith (ברית, Tiberian Hebrew bərîṯ, Standard Hebrew bərit) as it is used in the Hebrew Bible, thus it is important to all Abrahamic religions. The equivalent word in the Septuagint and the New Testament is diatheke, see also Strong's G1242.
In theology and Biblical studies, the word "covenant" principally refers to any of a number of solemn agreements made between God and the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible, as well as to the New Covenant, which Christians consider to be the final fulfillment of these. Christians typically use the term "Old Covenant" to collectively refer to the covenants described in the Old Testament.
God's covenants with the Israelites are foundational to the Torah, as well as to the Tanakh in general, and form the grounds for the claim that the Israelites are God's "chosen people." According to the terms of these covenants, the Israelites were told that they must worship God and obey His Commandments in order to receive spiritual and temporal blessing and avoid exposure to the effects of the curse.[1] When the word "covenant" is used in this sense, the agreement is essentially unilateral, since while the covenant's outworkings are dependent upon human response, its terms are dictated by God. By contrast, at many points in the Hebrew Scripture, human covenants are made - in such covenants, the terms are agreed upon mutually.
Biblical covenants: Noahic Covenant
The Rainbow set as the symbol of the Covenant with Noah after the Great Flood of the Bible.
The Noahic Covenant, found in Genesis 8-9, applies to the whole of humankind. In this covenant, God:
*blesses Noah and his sons, i.e. all modern humankind (9:1)
*places all plants and animals under human command (9:2-3)
*forbids eating meat with the blood still in it (9:4)
*forbids murder (9:5)
*commands humankind to practice capital punishment for murderers (9:6)
*promises that He will never again destroy all life on earth by flood (9:11)
*creates the rainbow as the sign of this covenant for all ages to come (9:12-17)
*On this topic, Jubilees chapter 7, verses 20-28 (part of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Bible but generally considered to be 2nd century BC Jewish apocrypha) states:
And in the twenty-eighth jubilee [1324-1372 A.M.] Noah began to enjoin upon his sons' sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth ... For whoso sheddeth man's blood, and whoso eateth the blood of any flesh, shall all be destroyed from the earth.
Abrahamic Covenant
The Abrahamic covenant is found in Genesis 12-17. In this covenant, God promises:
*To make of Abraham a great nation and to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him (12:1-3)
*To give Abraham's descendants all the land from the river (or wadi) of Egypt to the Euphrates (15:18-21)
*To make Abraham a father of a great many nations (17:1-8)
*To give Abraham and his male descendants circumcision as the permanent sign of this everlasting covenant (17:9-14)
Covenant with Lot
The covenant with Lot is a covenant independent of the Abrahamic Covenant. God promises the land of the Moabites (Ar) and the land of the Ammonites to the descendants of Lot as a possession (Deuteronomy 2:9, 2:19). David and Solomon[2] were only allowed to rule over these lands as third and fourth generation descendants of Ruth[3], a Moabite[4].
Covenant with Jacob
God specifies a continuation of the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob in a dream, and promises:
*To give him and his descendants the land on which he is lying.
*That his descendants will be like the dust of the earth.
*That all peoples on earth will be blessed through him and his offspring.
*To watch over him wherever he goes. Genesis 28:12-15
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