A Bow in the Cloud

The Story

For over a year, Noah and his family had lived in the ark. They had watched the rain fall for forty days and forty nights. They had felt the ark rise and float above the mountains. They had waited month after month for the waters to go down.

Finally, God spoke. “Go forth of the ark.” So Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives stepped out onto dry ground, along with every animal.

The first thing Noah did was build an altar and worship the Lord.

Then God spoke again. He blessed Noah and his sons. And He made a promise, a covenant, not only with Noah, but with every living thing on earth: never again would a flood destroy the earth.

And God gave a sign. “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”

Whenever clouds came over the earth, the rainbow would appear. And God said, “I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant.”

Reflection