The rainbow has come to be a universal sign and symbol of Hope. For the Christian, we draw meaning from the Old Testament story of Noah.
The story of Noah I summarize from memory as follows:
God came to Noah after observing the unbridled wickedness of the world. He told Noah to build an ark. This ark would be for the safety of his family and every living creature, and would biologically preserve that which was needed to re-populate after God took action to stop the evil.
Both animals and humans that went into the ark were classified as a binary pair.
Male and female pairs entered the ark for safety and preservation. God’s stated will from the beginning (of Eden) was population (not de-population) and shalom (generally meaning all that is good, right and holy in the world and especially for humans and in relationships of every sort).
After the tremendous flood, as the waters receded, Noah sent out a dove several times until the dove returned with an olive branch, a signal that the world was ready to resume normalcy.
God also said that the rainbow had been set into the sky as a sign and symbol of his love and faithfulness and promise to not destroy the world in that way ever again. The rainbow is a sign and symbol of the covenant he made with Noah.
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Today we are hearing (destructive and false) narratives that call out cultural appropriation. Three examples of this “cultural appropriation” would be:
“Examples include sports teams using Native American tribal names or images as mascots; people not from the originating culture wearing jewelry or fashion that incorporates religious symbols such as the medicine wheel, or wearing items of deep cultural significance and status that must be earned, such as a war bonnet, without having earned the right.” (Source)
At this point I turn to the blatant cultural appropriation of God’s rainbow, and the push to identify a sign of Hope and Life with death and evil. For the Christian, I don’t think it should be a hard leap to identify the misappropriation/co-opting of the recognized sign of Judeo-Christian covenantal Hope with pagan and occult beliefs and agendas of Death and child sacrifice.
It is not hard to understand why the godless would take on and pervert something so beautiful as a rainbow with something as hideous as the transgender cult, but what is becoming difficult for me is to understand why the Christian would willingly embrace such a sign and symbol. I myself, like many people, love rainbows. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve included rainbows in some form of art over the years. Time does not permit delving into the deeper beauties and signs and symbol of fragmented white light that produces such a joyful sight to behold in nature and otherwise with the eyes that God has given us.
But these days, I begin to think twice before buying a pair of rainbow socks, or wearing my knitted rainbow colored shaw, or painting a rainbow on some advertising, for example. Since the rainbow is being hi-jacked by demonic forces, I feel I and other believers are being robbed of the purity and child-like love of this beautiful sign and symbol.
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Signs and Symbols of Demons in Christian Sanctuaries
While there could be much discussion about the practices of various Christian denominations that have a formal altar in their worship sanctuary, I think most Christians who understand the tenets of their faith would agree that the Christian altar is designated for the most powerful sign and symbol God has given us of his new covenant: that of the Lord’s supper.
In many Christian services/assemblies, things such as the leading of communion are done from the altar. Some Christians invite people to come forward to the altar during a gathering, for various types of cleansing, healing prayer, repentance and blessing.
While the altar in a Christian sanctuary may visually appear different from congregation to congregation, the altar (whether simple or ornate) is also a sign and symbol that connects to other biblical types, such as the ark of Noah and the ark of the covenant.
When the people of God at that time, set apart and called to holiness and purpose, fled Egypt and Pharaoh’s ownership of them, they embarked on a 40-year wandering through the wilderness.
In Exodus 13:21 it says “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”
In this wandering, they literally carried the ark of the covenant with them for purposes of worship and protection. At points in the wilderness, a tent tabernacle was erected as an impermanent place of worship.
When God’s people were brought to the end of their nomadic, wandering journey through the desert, they came into the promised land. Much could be said and written about the physical erection and construct of the Temple in Jerusalem–both temples and their eventual destruction. I wish to insert here that a genderless society and sterilization of children and adults (just two aspects) is not any hopeful, promised land, but it is a current and future form of hell.
There’s surely a number of theological cans-of-worms of discussion I’m putting out here (concerning physical altars existing in New Covenant sanctuaries) but I want to get back to my main point. Laying all cans-of-worms aside, faithful, discerning Christians living under the New Covenant would all agree that for those who have a physical sanctuary of worship, the altar is the primary physical sign and symbol of the Christian faith and atonement through the blood of Jesus which brings true life and salvation.
One cannot examine the scriptures describing what many Christians name as Holy week, nor the teachings of Jesus, without noticing the themes and references to non-resistance and Jesus submitting Himself to the will of God. For Jesus, and only Jesus, this submission required submission (not resistance) to a horrific crucifixion. In Jesus, we have the ultimate fulfilling of all signs and symbols of God’s covenant and love with humankind and His intention that we come to Him for life.
When Jesus took His last breath, there were signs and symbols recorded in the Gospels. The dividing curtain in the temple was torn (Matthew 27:51), signifying the dispensation of that which keeps men from God and entering the holy of holies to behold God face to face in his sanctuary.
The sky also was darkened as a sign and symbol. The heaviness and significance of the ultimate sacrifice God made of His Son for our redemption shown itself in the skies. It was indirectly connected to the covenant God made with Noah, and there was no rainbow at that moment. But surely, the beauty and glory of God’s rainbow could easily and rightly be associated with new life and resurrection. And never, ever, should the rainbow be a sign and symbol of death.
It is for this reason I ask all who follow Jesus to consider the current hi-jacking of God’s beautiful rainbow by a godless movement that is bent on evil and destruction of all that is good, right and holy in this world.
More is in my mind and could be said, including references by Jesus to the days of Noah and the reference in Matthew 24:15 to the “abomination of desolation,” making one wonder about the possible meaning of recognizing a sign and symbol of evil present in a contemporary church altar. More on this, at the end here.
These scriptures are some of the most difficult passages and references to various signs and symbols to understand in the New testament, and could and are interpreted by Christians in various ways, since many things are hard to understand and we know in part.
I simply want to point out my own personal response/observation to my eye when I saw a news article containing the following image. This image was in an article about a Christian denomination (the United Methodist Church) that is undergoing radical severances by assemblies/ congregations that can no longer tolerate the calling of evil “good.”
What disturbed me most was the rainbow-alluding colored lettering over the altar that said “Resist,” and the usage of rainbow-ish vestments. At this point in my faith journey, I cannot understand how Christians would embrace political words over the altar itself that communicate a message deeply anti-thetical to the gospel, but it seems that demonic forces are making their way of corruption into the holy spaces of God’s people. Much like putting any national flag in a church sanctuary, encroaching signs and symbols of allegiance with doctrines of demons rather than allegiance to Jesus and to Life should be disturbing those who long for the goodness of God.
What will be our response?
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