A new biblical post in response to "pride" month.

https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/two-rainbows

Two RainbowsHope and Defiance
JUN 02, 2024
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One of the great signs of God’s promises to mankind is the rainbow, but man has made it a sign of defiance against God’s great design, His will, and His plan for humanity.(Please read my whole post. Many on either side of this issue might mistake what I am saying without reading the whole post. It also starts with some background verses that are necessary, but may not be fully meaningful without the context below them.)Background data and verses:
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:8-17) {Emphasis mine}Some may question, why did God destroy the Earth. Genesis states:Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:5-8)The Bible says of mankind that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This evil was every kind of evil, but it also included sexual sins as implied in Genesis 6:1-5. Later in the Bible God causes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah due to sexual sins.Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men {angels} who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. (Genesis 19:4-7) {bracketed comment is my clarification}A holy God cannot allow great evil to continue. He can’t be in the presence of evil. Luckily for us, we do serve a patient and loving God who gives us many chances to turn back to Him and to obey His commands which always leads to our good.Sometimes we wonder why evil is allowed to continue unabated, but we are all blessed that He is patient and doesn’t punish evil the moment it is committed. If He did, we would all be destroyed. Sometimes He delays punishment to allow us time to repent. Sometimes He delays punishment to avoid punishing His followers among those who defy Him with their evil actions.And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” He spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” (Genesis 18:20-32)Don’t mistake this discussion as Abraham convincing God that He shouldn’t destroy Sodom because it might harm innocent civilians. God knows that there are not 10 righteous people. In fact there are none, but He does save Lot and His daughters out of His mercy. God allows Abraham to “convince” Him so that Abraham can see God’s mercy and righteousness.Defiance:
A few years ago, when the whole rainbow brigade was pushing homosexuality and transgenderism on everyone and calling anyone who disagreed a hater, it suddenly hit me how evil the use of the rainbow was. God shows the rainbow to promise He will never again destroy the earth with a flood due to evil. These people use God’s promise as a taunt to God. “We can defy your creation of man and woman by saying people are born into the wrong body.” “We can defy your command to be fruitful and multiply by same sex relationships and/or chemically or physically castrating kids.” “We can call your creation of man and woman a mistake (born in the wrong body).” “We can destroy the definition of marriage and the family that you created from the beginning.” They can do all of this evil, and they display the rainbow to taunt God and say, “You can’t do anything about our evil because You promised to not destroy the earth again with a flood.” Using the rainbow as their symbol was not accidental. It was an intentional slap in God’s face. They aren’t just saying, “this is the way I want to live my life.” They are saying, “I’m going to live contrary to your will and there is nothing you can do about it.”Christian Response:
As the church, the body of Christ, we need to uphold God’s good design. “He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.” (Genesis 5:2) We also need to value people because they are all made in the image of God.One error I’ve seen from lots of Christians is how they will personally attack someone guilty of homosexual sin, but excuse someone guilty of heterosexual sin (sex outside of marriage) as if one is acceptable and the other is not. They are both sins. They are both disobeying God. They are both unacceptable, especially for those who claim to be Christians. Neither error should be allowed in the church.Today, kids have been told that they are born into the wrong body and need to claim to be the opposite gender or one of the hundred or so made up genders. Too frequently Christians attack the kids for their claims. Yes, claiming that God made a mistake and put them in the wrong body is a sin, but they need to be led to the truth rather than browbeat. Those who claim to be “gender affirming” need to be pointed out for the sinful, haters they are. Telling an impressionable kid that they are born into the wrong body and need to take drugs for the rest of their lives or cut off body parts to have value are not gender affirming. They are the opposite. They are physically, emotionally, and spiritually destroying these kids. They are denying the true identity of these kids.We need to tell these kids that God does not make mistakes, that they are exactly the person they should be, and that they are valuable because they are made in the image of God. These kids need to be shown the truth as well as shown how the truth will set them free and protect them from being destroyed. These kids need to be told how they can be used by God for His glory by affirming God’s perfect creation.Too often we are so appalled by the lies and sin that we can’t see the person who has been misled. Even among the adults, many need to hear the truth in a loving manner instead of being attacked. Of course, don’t let my push for a loving response make you think that I am in any way condoning this behavior or suggesting a compromise to God’s word. We need to speak the truth and the truth is that these people have been lied to. The truth is that they are not a mistake (although they are mistaken). The truth is that God doesn’t make a mistake and that we are always best off when we obey and follow God. He created us and He knows what is best for us even when we don’t have a clue.By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)Instead of being mad at these people or just trying to beat them in an argument, we need to have pity on these sinners remembering:Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)Trust Jesus.

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