“The rainbow is the symbol (picture) of the covenant with Noah

The rainbow is a picture of our Lord Jesus, who is the God’s witness to us.

When may we expect to see the token of the covenant?

The rainbow is only to be seen painted upon a cloud.

When our conscience is dark with clouds,

when we remember our sin & mourn & lament before God,

Jesus Christ is revealed to us as the covenant Rainbow,

displaying all the glorious hues of the divine character & our evidence of peace.

To us, when our trials & temptations surround us,

it is sweet to see the person of our Lord Jesus Christ—

to see him bleeding, living, rising & pleading for us.

God’s rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our sorrows & our woes, to prophesy deliverance.

Nor does a cloud alone give a rainbow, there must be the crystal drops to reflect the light of the sun.

So, our sorrows must not only threaten, but they must really fall upon us.

There had been no Christ for us if the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud:

punishment must fall in terrible drops upon our Savior.

Until there is a real anguish in our conscience, there is no Christ for us;

until the chastisement which we feel becomes grievous, we cannot see Jesus.

But there must also be a sun; for clouds & drops of rain make not rainbows unless the sun shines.

Our God, who is as the sun to us, always shines, but we do not always see him—

clouds hide his face; but no matter what drops may be falling, or what clouds may be threatening,

if he shines there will be a rainbow at once.

It is said that when we see the rainbow the shower is over.

Certain it is, that when Christ comes, our troubles remove;

when we see Jesus, our sins vanish & our doubts & fears subside.

When Jesus walks the waters of the sea, how profound the calm!

C. H. S.