Moment in the Word

Genesis 9:15-17 - And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, and between every living soul in all flesh, and there shall no longer be water for a deluge, so as to blot out all flesh. 16 And my bow (rainbow) shall be in the cloud, and I will look to remember the everlasting covenant between me and the earth, and between every living soul in all flesh, which is upon the earth. (Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint)

Much like our misguided elected officials who stood in their halls of government and foolishly misquoted Isaiah 9:9 after the national calamity of 9/11, "The bricks are fallen down, but come, let us hew stones, and cut down sycamores and cedars, and let us build for ourselves a tower (Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint)," we currently mistake God's token of pending judgment as a mark of merciful leniency by Grace.

Twenty-one years ago, our politicians ignorantly overlooked the rebellion of ancient Israel who responded to God's declaration of judgment in the very same way, "The Lord has sent death upon Jacob, and it has come upon Israel. And all the people of Ephraim, and they that dwelt in Samaria shall know, who say in their pride and lofty heart... 'The bricks are fallen down, but come, let us hew stones, and cut down sycamores and cedars, and let us build for ourselves a tower.'" Isaiah 9:7-8, (Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint). Consequently, no matter what God commanded, His people defiantly amended His Word to match their selfish agenda.

Tragically, we are even more blind to spiritual matters now than we were when the Twin Towers fell. Currently, we misapply the token of God's postdiluvian covenant by reassigning His rainbow to be a universal emblem of tolerance for every form of abominable sin!

While representing a promise, God's rainbow also visually depicts a dire warning that the ungodly will eventually face fire rather than flood.

Addressing the revilers who presently mock God, St. Peter referred to the first global apocalypse during the days of Noah, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4And saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." 2 Peter 3:3-6

But the Apostle did not stop there! Rather, he explained the terrible significance of God's rainbow subsequent to Noah's flood, "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men .... 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:7 and 10

Realizing the future event that the dazzling band of fragmented light foreshadows after each dark storm, Peter asked a profound question, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" 2 Peter 3:11-12

In response to the Apostle's query, today is not the day to play fast and loose with God's fragile forbearance. Now is not the time to call "evil good, and good evil; to make darkness light, and light darkness; to make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter (Isaiah 5:20, Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint)." Teetering on the jagged edge of God's final apocalypse, this is not the moment to see how wickedly we can live by redefining Noah's brilliant herald of divine fire as a banner of tolerance for our repugnant abominations!