Evening, August 12
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Genesis 9:14
"The bow shall be seen in the cloud."
Genesis 9:14
The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah, is typical of our
Lord Jesus, who is the Lord's witness to the people. When may we expect
to see the token of the covenant? The rainbow is only to be seen
painted upon a cloud. When the sinner's conscience is dark with clouds,
when he remembers his past sin, and mourneth and lamenteth before God,
Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the covenant Rainbow, displaying all
the glorious hues of the divine character and betokening peace. To the
believer, when his trials and temptations surround him, it is sweet to
behold the person of our Lord Jesus Christ--to see him bleeding,
living, rising, and pleading for us. God's rainbow is hung over the
cloud of our sins, our sorrows, and our woes, to prophesy deliverance.
Nor does a cloud alone give a rainbow, there must be the crystal drops
to reflect the light of the sun. So, our sorrows must not only
threaten, but they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ
for us if the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud:
punishment must fall in terrible drops upon the Surety. Until there is
a real anguish in the sinner's conscience, there is no Christ for him;
until the chastisement which he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see
Jesus. But there must also be a sun; for clouds and drops of rain make
not rainbows unless the sun shineth. Beloved, our God, who is as the
sun to us, always shines, but we do not always see him--clouds hide his
face; but no matter what drops may be falling, or what clouds may be
threatening, if he does but shine there will be a rainbow at once. It
is said that when we see the rainbow the shower is over. Certain it is,
that when Christ comes, our troubles remove; when we behold Jesus, our
sins vanish, and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks the
waters of the sea, how profound the calm!