The (Double) Rainbow
Did you know the rainbow in the sky (after a rain) is really a double
rainbow? A Google search for double
rainbow will bring up some phenomenal pictures. The inner rainbow
is the brightest in color--it is ten times brighter than the outer rainbow.
Often, it is the only rainbow that is seen. The colors are blue through
red starting from the inside. The fainter, outer rainbow has the colors
reversed, that is, red through blue. The area between the two rainbows
reflects no light and appears dark in color. This dark area is called
Alexander's
band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias who first described it in 200
AD. The area inside the inner rainbow reflects all colors and appears
white in color. A good explanation of the physics behind the double
rainbow is presented in this excellent 74-minute lecture by the MIT
professor, Walter Lewin. Isaac Newton was the first to describe
the physics behind the rainbow in his book, Opticks, published
in 1704.
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The Bible mentions the rainbow in a number of contexts:
- Genesis 9 - After Noah's Flood
- Ezekiel 1 - Ezekiel's vision of God's throne
- Revelation 4 and 10 - John's vision of God's throne (Revelation
4) and the mighty angel (chapter 10)
In addition to the above, Ellen G. White also mentions the rainbow
in these contexts:
- "The rainbow of promise encircling the throne on high is an
everlasting testimony that 'God so loved the world that He gave His
only-begotten Son…'" (Desire of Ages, p. 493)
- A rainbow will be over the cloud at Christ's second coming (Early
Writings, p. 15)
- A rainbow will encircle the saints just prior to the second coming
(Great Controversy, p. 635)
- "In heaven the semblance of a rainbow encircles the throne
and overarches the head of Christ." (Patriarchs and Prophets,
p. 107)
A couple of additional quotes on the last one are worth reading:
A rainbow is represented in Heaven round about the throne, also above
the head of Christ, as a symbol of God's mercy encompassing
the earth. When man, by his great wickedness, provokes the wrath
of God, Christ, man's intercessor, pleads for him, and points to the
rainbow in the cloud, as evidence of God's great mercy and compassion
for erring man; also the rainbow above the throne and upon his head,
emblematical of the glory and mercy from God resting there for the
benefit of repentant man. {The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 1 (1870),
p. 78.1}
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." No power save that of Omnipotence could make such a covenant.
The rainbow above the throne is a token that God through Christ binds
himself to save all who believe in him. The covenant is as sure as
the throne, and his throne is established in righteousness. {The Signs
of the Times, October 10, 1892}
Spiritual interpretation
Given the above references, it can be said that the rainbow is an apt
symbol of the Father (the dim, outer rainbow) giving His Son (the bright,
inner rainbow) to the world. The matching red colors (inside the outer
rainbow and outside the inner rainbow) would then represent the plan
of redemption accomplished through blood. The dark area (Alexander's
band) between the two rainbows would represent the judgment or payment
for sin that Christ had to bear for us. The blue inside the inner rainbow
would represent Christ's fulfillment of the Law (note: it is believed
the Ten Commandments were written on blue sapphire). And the white area
inside the inner rainbow would represent Christ's righteousness offered
to mankind.
The rainbow is the sign of the "everlasting covenant" between
God and the earth:
"I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth." --Genesis 9:13.
"When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the
everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that is on the earth." --Genesis 9:16.
It is "everlasting" in that God will ultimately redeem the
earth. The fulfillment of this redemptive act will be in the earth made
new (Revelation 21:1). God made this everlasting covenant with Noah
after he built an altar and offered burnt offerings to the Lord (Genesis
8:20). Noah, in the Hebrew, means "rest" and the ultimate
rest will be after the Millennium in the earth made new. The earth will
be cleansed with fire and re-made, and we will live forever with the
Father and the Son.
References and selected videos
Notes
- Iris. John in the Book of Revelation uses the more rare word
for rainbow ("iris") instead of the common one ("toxon")
to point out the full circle instead of a semicircle around the throne.
Also read Ezekiel 1:28 on the rainbow being all around the throne.
- Foundation
Stones. An attempt to interpret the New Jerusalem foundation stones
into the colors of the rainbow, with red-to-violet (i.e. ruby/jasper
to amethyst) from top to bottom. The foundation stones would then
be representative of the inner rainbow. Here's a different view, The
Jewel Stones of Israel's Twelve Tribes, with radically different
colors. Also see: Precious
Stones of the Bible.
- Emerald rainbow. I'm not entirely convinced that John meant
to describe a "green" rainbow in Revelation 4:3 (i.e. "a
rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald"), especially when
Ezekiel 1:28 describes it as a multi-colored rainbow (i.e. "the
bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain"). It should be noted
that our eyes (i.e. the color cones in our eyes) allows us to see
"green" much more easily than any other color. Many emergency
vehicles are now bright green for this reason; it's the last color
visible as light dims. Red becomes black too quickly in dim light.
Could this have some importance to what John saw?
- Rainbow (Wikipedia). The color pattern of a rainbow is different from a spectrum, and the colors are less saturated. There is spectral smearing in a rainbow owing to the fact that for any particular wavelength, there is a distribution of exit angles, rather than a single unvarying angle...The number of color bands of a rainbow may therefore be different from the number of bands in a spectrum, especially if the droplets are either large or small. Therefore, the number of colors of a rainbow is variable.
- The Physics Hyper Textbook - Color. A thorough study on the color spectrum.
- Are Black and White Colors? Black is not a color; a black object absorbs all the colors of the visible spectrum and reflects none of them to the eyes. White is a color. White reflects all the colors of the visible light spectrum to the eyes. The colors we see are simply a degree of how much of this color present in light is reflected.
