Why a Rain bow?

[Guest Zayit]

Rev 4:1

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter *.

4:2

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

4:3

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.

4:4

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

10:1And 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: 2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

I thought science has provided us with the explanation of a rainbow and how it happens. How is it that we see this phenomina in heaven? Is there rain there, does it have a different meaning than when seen on earth?

[Imamom]

This was a very interesting question that prompted me to surf the net. I found this.

http://www.btgh.org/sermons/sermon_detail.cfm?ID=35648

[traveller]

Ok - here are my thoughts -

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

God speaks things into existance. Though we only see a physical rainbow after certain conditions are met, His spoken word is forever before Him.

I believe the spiritual realm is more tangible than this physical one. What we see here is a vague mirage compared to what spiritual reality is. One day, we'll no longer see through a glass darkly.

On a side note: you need light and water to create a rainbow. God is both.

[Guest Zayit]

This was a very interesting question that prompted me to surf the net.  I found this.

http://www.btgh.org/sermons/sermon_detail.cfm?ID=35648

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can agree with some of what he is saying, but not this:

God didn't necessarily invent rainbows the day he made his covenant with Noah. Rainbows may have appeared through natural causes long before then, but G-d's word of promise made that beautiful arch into a sign and seal of his covenant to preserve the earth from worldwide disaster. God has a wonderful way of taking something that is already part of the world he has made and giving it a special meaning.

I don't see how they could have appeared before then as the Bible clearly states that it had never rained on the earth before.

I can buy that they existed in heaven, as we see in Revelation, but not on earth.

[Guest Zayit]

Ok - here is my thoughts - 

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

God speaks things into existance. Though we only see a physical rainbow after certain conditions are met, His spoken word is forever before Him.

I believe the spiritual realm is more tangible than this physical one. What we see here is a vague mirage compared to what spiritual reality is. One day, we'll no longer see through a glass darkly.

On a side note: you need light and water to create a rainbow. God is both. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I didn't get what you were heading towards until you added that last bit. I do agree, that is cool! He is the living water and the true light!

[M45510G1C]

Hrm, I dunno bout that Z. Ever been close to a waterfall and seen a rainbow in the mist?

No to hijack the thread or anything

[Guest Zayit]

Yes, you are right, I never thought of that. But would the sun be able to shine with its light thorough the canopy before it was taken away? I think the canopy refracted it so that would not happen around waterfalls. And were there water falls before the flood......................More questions...............

[traveller]

Don't know about waterfalls, but a mist rose from the ground.

[seraph]

Rev 4:1

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter *. 

4:2

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 

4:3

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. 

4:4

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 

10:1And 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: 2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

I thought science has provided us with the explanation of a rainbow and how it happens. How is it that we see this phenomina in heaven? Is there rain there, does it have a different meaning than when seen on earth?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

NEBULA??? Where's our science lesson explaining how when light enters the droplet of water it is refracted- each color having a different wavelength is bent differently so the colors appear in different places- violet with the shorter wavelength appearing at the inner/lower part of the bow, red with the longer wavelength appearing at the outer/higher part of the bow... we see the red of the higher droplets and the violet from the lower droplets because of the index of refraction or somethin' like that??? Nebie, you got some 'splainin to do

Ok - here are my thoughts - 

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

God speaks things into existance. Though we only see a physical rainbow after certain conditions are met, His spoken word is forever before Him.

I believe the spiritual realm is more tangible than this physical one. What we see here is a vague mirage compared to what spiritual reality is. One day, we'll no longer see through a glass darkly.

On a side note: you need light and water to create a rainbow. God is both. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I like that sidenote!

Okay, these are my feeble thoughts His words shall not pass away... God transcends time and space, so maybe because His promise was manifested to humans at a particular time from our human perspective- but His Word always was and always will be, that promise transcends time and space and our human perspective so the promise has always been and always will be at the throne... and angels are messengers of God, sooo.... somethin' like that Or nothin' like that This rainbow in Rev 1:4 was unto an emerald... only refracted green wavelengths are seen???

Maybe I'm stretching it here but what I find really special about rainbows is that each person sees a unique rainbow since no two people can be standing in the same place and the raindrops are in constant motion... each observer sees a "different" rainbow... kinda personal The promise made to each of us individually and collectively.

What I find ironic, is that the symbol of "gay pride" is a rainbow... they take and pervert the symbol of God's promise of not destroying people because of their sinfulness like He did with the flood.

Edited September 9, 2005 by seraph