［No.42］ 　 Nah and Rainbow          11/11/2014

　In the film of Director Darren Aronofsky's “Noah”, Academy Award-winning stars Russell Crowe and Jennifer Lynn Connelly are acting enthusiastically. The movie is describing a story in the Bible, "Noah's ark" and "Noah's ark" has been made into movies repeatedly and remains in our memory. The other day, at my church, our minister also preached a sermon by the title of "Noah and the Contract of Preservation". Noah's story is told by the old Testament’s Book of Genesis, Chapters 6 to 9. The episode is very interesting and is the tale takes place between ‘Adam and Eve’ and the talk of ‘the Tower of Babel’.

　According to the Bible: Genesis

6-1 The Wickedness of Mankind And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them

6-2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they dose.

6-3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

6-7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 

7-6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth

7-7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his son's wifes with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

7-17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth.

7-24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth, a hundred and fifty days.

　After the flood was suppressed, God made a contract with the sons who survived with Noah and all the livestock and beasts which came out from the ark. Again, God said , He will not be able to destroy everything anymore. The contract applied to Noah and all his descendants. “ I do set my bow in the cloud”. The rainbow is the token of the contract (promise, covenant) standing between the earth and God. If a rainbow appears in the clouds, seeing it, I will stop and remember the eternal contract among God and all the so-called meat ( living things ) ”.

9-13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

9-16 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.

9-28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

9-29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years and he died.   

　I was deeply impressed by such a sermon. Now we need to consider what to do to live safely and comfortably without jeopardizing mankind.   

　The tales of the contract of Noah and God is such an epic story. When we see the rainbow, we must remember such a deep story.