The Rainbow

A Lenten Series on the number 40!
Noah: 40 days and nights of rain
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 6:5-22; 9:8-17 

[Historically, Lent is a 40‑day period of preparation leading up to Easter. It involves reflection, repentance and readiness for the resurrection. Ultimately, it leads us to transformation. The number 40 is significant in the Bible as it is associated with multiple stories of preparation and testing. In this Lenten series, we will be looking at various Biblical stories that revolve around the number 40, and how that applies to us.]

  

During the fall of 2025, my wife and I took a trip to Maine to visit Acadia National Park. The scenery was beautiful, although the weather didn’t cooperate. We went up on Cadillac Mountain to see the sunset. Instead, the wind was howling and blowing so hard that I had to brace myself or be blown over.

 

Even though we couldn’t see the sunset on Cadillac Mountain, the next evening we did see it while driving around the park. Although it rained all day, as a result, we were treated not only to a beautiful sunset, but also to a rainbow.

 

There’s a lot that we can learn about God from the story of Noah. First, God hates sin! At the time of Noah, the world was flooded with wickedness. It was to the point that the Lord even regretted he had ever created humanity. If you’ve ever regretted something, you might be able to relate to how God felt.

 

⁶ So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. NLT

 

Therefore, God came to a decision. A decision on how to correct what he regretted.

 

⁷ And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.”    NLT

 

Thankfully, the story didn’t end there. Despite the fact that since creation humanity has repeatedly sinned, God has repeatedly provided a way to be reconciled. This is the second thing that we learn about the Lord. He loves us so much that time and again he has provided a pathway back to him. In this case, Noah was the path.

 

⁹ Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.            NIV

 

The Lord told Noah his plans to destroy all of his creation by sending a flood. There would be forty days and forty nights of torrential downpour. But before that, Noah was to build an ark. He, his wife, his sons and their wives, and two of every animal would be safe in the ark.

 

Despite the fact that there was no body of water nearby, Noah did what God told him. You can imagine that people ridiculed him for building an ark so far from water. You can also imagine that Noah felt discouraged at times during the project.

 

Anyone who has worked on a building project knows the feeling. Murphy’s Law – “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” – was undoubtedly in play. Despite taking decades to build the ark, Noah persisted trusting God to be faithful.

 

After the flood, when the ground had dried, God made a covenant with Noah to never destroy his creation again. As a sign of this covenant, he gave Noah the rainbow. The same rainbow that we saw in Acadia.

 

What a wonderful reminder of God’s love, forgiveness and faithfulness.

 

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”  NIV

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com