PRIDE Month is that time of year when rainbow flags are everywhere. On the interwebs, repeated posts from our Christian brothers and sisters appeared discussing the merits of LGBTQ’s choice of rainbow. Here are a few examples:

Let’s explore the idea: Not the idea that something in creation shouldn’t be used as a symbol by someone or for something. I want to talk about the idea, of the behavior of complaining and criticizing a group of people for their choice of a symbol.

Spectroscopy: The Study of Rainbows

In Evangelical theology, the rainbow is considered “a symbol of God’s common grace” – a grace He shows “to all people saved and unsaved alike.” While that sentence is loaded with perspectives, here we have common ground.

In Genesis 9:13, God said, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” No human hand holds the Rainbow. It’s timeless, ungraspable, and undeniable for all humans to live under without condition or fear. Even God’s hand doesn’t touch it now.

In the world and history of Christian theology, there’s a general agreement about the rainbow. It could seem illogical then that “God’s people” could be outraged and prompt to curse judgment upon their fellow humans, created in the image of God, for using a symbol. Given the old biblical mandate to love each other well, it feels wrong too. It may even be unbiblical.

Getting The Rainbow Scene Right

The Flood had receded and Noah’s family were just stretching their legs. The first thing Noah did was to build an altar for an offering. During that and before the rainbow, God told Noah, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:21-22). By the way, “cursing the ground” is what Cain did when he killed his brother (4:).

Before we even get to the rainbow in chapter 9, there is an earlier promise by God to never again “strike down every living creature.” The promise was not made with humanity but all living creatures, as well as the earth to never be cursed again. When we roll into chapter 9, we find some Genesis 1-2 ideas show up again. God blessed them to be fruitful and multiply but also shared with them that animals are on the menu. The interesting thing is that it isn’t about food. It’s about blood: “You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man” (Genesis 9:4-6).

It’s difficult to “be fruitful and multiply” when we’re killing ourselves. The sin of Cain and the shame of Adam & Eve had twisted humans enough around that they could and were killing their own. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6). The relationships between humans were so destructive and out of control that God was “sorry” He created something (6:7). This is not a description of a wrathful god who sits in judgment but a broken and distraught one.

What Does The Rainbow Mean?

After God had blessed Noah and his family, after talking about eating animals and not people, God introduced the Rainbow. The whole story is found in Genesis 9:8-17. God’s opening line was, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature…it is for every beast of the earth” (9-10). The rainbow wasn’t just for humans but for everything living on Earth. Even in God’s redemptive plan for humanity, it isn’t all about us.

God then said, “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (9:11). It’s here that many Evangelicals throw up their hands and shout “Fire!” but that isn’t in the story. I do not think God is exploiting a clever legal loophole in ancient covenant-making. God had already given his word that would never again “curse the earth” as Cain did. We do that well enough for ourselves.

The “sign of the covenant” that God wouldn’t wipe out the earth again was the rainbow. God declared, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (9:13). In this covenant, there is no human obligation because it is not with humans. It is a covenant “for every living creature” and “for all future generations.” God is the only one needing to uphold an end of this bargain – and the only thing He has to do is not pick it up. The image is clear.

“Rainbow” in the original Hebrew here is just “bow,” as in an archery bow. God would place his bow in the clouds, facing away from the earth and not towards it. God himself put it there and He himself vowed to never take it back up. He wanted the violence to stop too. The last anyone checked He hadn’t taken it back up.

Breaking Bows

However, in the Old Testament, there are times when God touches a bow. For example, in Psalm 46:9, “He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.” Similarly in Isaiah 2:4, “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

God’s vision of humanity was one unified and no longer fighting each other. No more bickerings and squabbles. No more drama and misery. No more wasted time, energy, and resources on trying to outdo the other.

Christians complaining about rainbow flags isn’t very Jesus-like. It doesn’t fit with Paul’s “whenever possible be at peace with all men,” the fruit of the Spirit, or love in general. Complaining about a rainbow flag also contradicts the point of the rainbow in Genesis. They’re not only missing the point but tempting the same kind of sin that incited the need for a worldwide flood. “Sin is crouching at the door” whenever we look at our fellow humans and grumble.

The rainbow was given as a sign for all living creatures. All living creatures are allowed to use it because God gave it to them. Complaining about it is silly. Go ahead – Fly your flag.