THE GOSPEL IN THE RAINBOW.
By Elder S. N. Haskell
God's works are the height of perfection; and if man cannot discern the perfection which is in them, it is simply because man is not able to discern the design of God in all of his doings. "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 4:3, 4. It is for us to believe, and then while the mind is seeking to grasp, in the revelation of God, the truths stated, the Spirit of God opens the understanding to comprehend. "By faith we understand." Upon this point Solomon says: "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past." Eccl. 3:14, 15. It should be remembered that in all God's instruction to the human family by symbols, tokens, or parables, it is to connect the mind of the observer with heaven. It is to teach some grand spiritual lesson, contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in all such instruction are Christ and his righteousness revealed. Of the rainbow, "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; I do set my bow in the cloud." "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." Gen. 9:12, 13, 16. Shortly after the creation of the earth it was said: "The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth," "but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." Gen. 2:5, 6. God's word was and is an everlasting, eternal, and living power, that has created mist from that day to the present. About sixteen hundred years after God spake and established the mist, he spake farther and said, "I will cause it to rain upon the earth." Gen. 7:4. This does not destroy his first testimony, but the same living power is manifested in the falling of rain from that time to the present, the balancing of clouds in the heavens above, from which comes rain upon the earth, the ascending of the mists from the ends of the earth, the sun shining in the water, which causes the rainbow—all of which is the result of the living power in the word spoken four thousand four hundred years ago. But what is the lesson God would teach us? Would he not direct our minds beyond the simple rainbow to himself and his own throne? Would he not have us discern the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of forgiving grace in the rainbow as it appears? The prophets taught this idea when they beheld the glory of God. When God through Isaiah uttered the following precious promise, "With great mercies will I gather thee; . . . with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee," he makes direct reference to this covenant made with Noah and his descendants: "For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Isa. 54:9, 10. This is a most wonderful promise, as it brings to view the covenant made with Noah and all the world at that time, with the covenant of grace for the human family. John on the Isle of Patmos describes the throne of God as follows: "I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 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." Rev. 4:2, 3. Again, "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." Rev. 10:1. This is in harmony with the expression in Rev. 14:6, "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." As the sun shines upon the raindrops, so does the Sun of Righteousness shine upon those whose eyes are not blinded by the god of this world, and the reflection of the light of the glorious gospel of Christ causes the rainbow about the throne, that speaks mercy and pardon to the repenting sinner. Ezekiel's testimony is much to the point:— "Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." Eze. 1:26-28. The glory of the Lord is goodness, mercy, long-suffering, graciousness, and forgiveness. Ex. 33:18, 19; 34:5-7. Shall we not, then, conclude that the love of Christ as manifested in his precious gospel, causes the bright shining of his presence, which reflects in the rainbow around the throne? Does not that itself speak pardon to the repentant sinner? Is there not then a lesson in every shower and sunshine that produces the rainbow, of the infinite love and mercy of God? And did not God design that we should see a living power in the word which he spake that caused the rain, in the condition of the atmosphere that brings rain, combined with the sunshine, to produce the rainbow? He connects the giving of the rain with his creative power in Jer. 10:11-13, in contrast with "the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth," as follows:— "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures." Jer. 10:12, 13. It is thus that God would instruct mankind in nature. The gospel of Jesus Christ is, in every event of God's providence, especially shown in all of his creative power and dealings with the children of men.