“Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest.” How do these show the faithfulness of God?
To find our answer, let us turn to Genesis chapter eight, verses twenty through twenty-two. These verses tell what happened right after Noah came out of the ark and made a sacrifice to God. “20) And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21) And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 22) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
The seasons and the consistent patterns of cold and heat and day and night are part of God’s promise that He will not again destroy the earth in the same way He did in Noah’s day. Throughout all the time that this earth exists, there will be seasons and cold and heat and day and night. These things are evidence of God’s love and care for us. This is expressed again in Psalm 74:16,17, “16) The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17) Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.”
God gave another token of His promise that He would not destroy the earth again by a flood. What is this token? This token is God’s rainbow. Consider these verses from Genesis chapter nine, “11) And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 12) And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13) I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14) And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15) And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16) And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17) And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” (verses 11-17)
What is so special about the rainbow? Where else can we find the rainbow? God puts it in the sky anywhere in the world when He desires. It is His token to all flesh. But, where else is a rainbow to be found? Let us take a look at Revelation chapter four, verses two and three, “2) And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3) And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” When John saw God’s throne, he also saw God’s rainbow. There it appeared like an emerald. When God puts His bow in the sky, it appears to us with seven pretty colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Notice what God says in Genesis 9:13, “I do set my bow in the cloud.” That is God’s bow, and He chooses to set it in the clouds for people on earth to see.
Whenever we see a rainbow, we can remember that God is still on His throne, He has everything under His control, and He still cares for us. The seasons and the patterns of cold and heat and day and night and the beautiful rainbow are God’s special way of telling us how much He loves us. He will never again destroy the earth with the flood. We can look at all these things and see that God’s faithfulness is very great!