Dr. John Tamilio III

© 2024, Dr. Tamilio

Long before the rainbow became the symbol of the LGBT community, it was a biblical symbol — a symbol that goes all the way back to the story of the great flood in Genesis.  It is a sign of peace: a promise to remind God (not us) that he will never destroy the earth again with a great deluge.  You heard me right.  It is a sign to remind God, not us.

Genesis 9:14-16.  God declares to Noah and his sons, “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

According to the Bible, humankind had become so wicked that God decided to start over.  He wiped out the entire world — other than Noah, his wife, his three sons, their wives, and a host of animals.  Granted, God vowed never to destroy the world again with the waters of the flood, but the literalist will say that does not mean that he won’t rain fire down upon us.  True, it also does not mean that we won’t rain fire down upon ourselves!

Last Wednesday, Ash Wednesday (which was also Valentine’s Day), the news reported that the United States was facing a national security threat.  We weren’t told what it was, but apparently, it involved Russia claiming that they were going to send nuclear missiles into space to shoot down American spy satellites.  Another report claimed that it had to do with the war in Ukraine.  Who knows?  That said, when I hear the words Russia, nuclear weapons, and national security risk my mind thinks about the Cold War that had the United States and the Soviet Union embroiled in the potential for mutual annihilation for forty-six years.  The writer of Ecclesiastes claimed that there is nothing new under the sun.  Even though the USSR was dissolved, Russia is still an existential threat to us, as we are to them.

And, of course, there are other ongoing battles across the globe.  There is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  There is a civil war in Myanmar, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.  There is a war in Mali.  Instability in Pakistan.  Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In our own country, there are tremendous divisions along political and ideological lines.  Some fear that another civil war is on the horizon for America due to what is happening at the Texas/Mexico border and the divisive upcoming Presidential election.

One wonders, were the people in the time of Noah worse than we are today?  Does God not desire, at least on some level, to trash it all and start again?  The rainbow is God’s sign that says never again.  In today’s reading from Genesis, God declares, “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood.”

God has promised not to.  The rainbow is emblematic of a bow as in archery: a bow and arrow.  As James King West writes in his Introduction to the Old Testament, God literally hangs the bow (the weapon of death and destruction) God hangs it up in the clouds.[1]  There is no more global annihilation because the weapon has been retired.  That is the promise.  No more.  Never again.

So that begs a question: why do we still insist on the way of war?  Why hasn’t humanity hung up the bow?  We wage war for numerous reasons.  Sometimes it is self-defense.  Sometimes it is to come to the aid of an ally.  Most of the time it is greed: one nation or people has something another nation or people want: land, oil, natural resources, or any other commodity.  Steve Paulson writes, “A really important factor in wars is greed for what others have.  And along with that goes the fear that someone is going to try to take what you have or destroy your society altogether.  It’s often very hard to establish trust among different societies.  Our tendency is more to be suspicious of each other.  We’ve seen parts of the world where neighbors have lived with each other in harmony, but there is always the danger that this will break down.”[2]  Indeed, old allies become new enemies when they find a reason to.

The obvious answer has to do with sin.  We are a broken creation.  We have fallen far short of the peaceful coexistence, the shalom that God created us to embody.  But it gets even more complicated by our sense of allegiance.  I have met many people who tell me that they struggle with being patriotic and being antiwar as if the two are contrasting values.  They’re not.  I am an incredibly patriotic person.  I love my country, I support our troops, and honor our veterans (all those who have served in any capacity).  However, I despise war.  I know many people who serve in the military or who have served in the military who despise it as well.  Not wanting war is not being unpatriotic.  When we do have to go to war, it is still evil.  It may be a necessary evil at times, but it is still evil.  I do not think God wants us to kill each other.  (That is obviously a candidate for the understatement of the year.)  Think about it: if God hung up the weapon of death, then I think he wants us to do the same.

But we haven’t — and we won’t.

This points to one of the central ministries of the church.  We are to pray for peace.  We must pray for the end of war and destruction even when we feel as if those prayers go unanswered.  We have to “pray without ceasing,” as Paul told the believers in Thessalonica (5:17).

Pray for peace.  Pray for peace to wash over the planet.  Pray for peace to guide us as a nation.  Pray for peace to rule in your own hearts and in your home, in your community, in your neighborhood.  God hung up the bow vowing to never pick it up again.  That would have a profound impact on many who were to walk the new dry land.  Plato said, “Any peace is better than any war.”  Aristotle would write, “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.”  And then we have Jesus of Nazareth, who said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Be at peace.  Do not be afraid.  The bow is in the clouds.  Look on it with longing.  Let its radiant hues color your life and color the world.  Amen.

[1] James King West, Introduction to the Old Testament, 2d ed. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1981), 94.

[2] Steve Paulson, “Why Humans Wage War,” from Nautilus (online): January 6, 2021.