Kenneth Copeland - What Was God's Purpose for the Rainbow?
— Hello, everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland. This is the Believer's Voice of Victory Broadcast. Did you know before Noah's flood, it had never rained on the earth? A whole lot of people don't know that. But up until that time, it had never rained. And a group of Spirit-filled scientist and their ground rules were, we don't take anything from tradition. We don't take anything from what we've all been taught the Bible says about these things, we are talking about creation, first five books of the Bible. But we go there by revelation and scientific research. And one of the things... well, I won't go into all that, we don't have time, but then they realized what happened when the fountains of the deep... we'll read that in a moment... broke up and their estimate knowing the temperature of the center of the earth that when that water must shot out through cracks in the earth surface at least miles high, miles high. And then as it did and it fell. And then what happened then? Well, then we know what happened then, it turned into thunderstorms. There's never been one ever. And so you can look at the continents of the earth and so forth. You can see how they fit together. But that is the second time it was flooded. But anyway, let's go.
— This entire planet look totally different prior to Noah than it does now. When we're talking about covenants, we're going back now to Noah's. Everything that is profitable solves a problem. This mug solves a problem.
— That's right. This pin solves a problem. If you want to be profitable, solve a problem. So we have a problem. We had a problem in the time of Noah and that the earth was corrupt and violent. And it's funny, very interesting word in the original Hebrew for violence had come through the earth. We'll look at that verse in a minute. It's the word Hamas. And so Jesus gives us a clue, and this is why we have to pay attention to Noah. Let's look at Luke chapter 17, verse 26. Jesus is speaking and he says, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man". Now, Matthew records the same thing, but he gives a little further clarification for this in Matthew chapter 24 verse 36-38, Matthew 24, verse 36. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only". What was he talking about? He's talking about his coming. "But as the days...", Noah's covenant, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark," This was a time that violence had filled the earth. And I find that very interesting: eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, marrying and giving in marriage is two different things. How do I liken our days to this day? Marrying is covenant. That's God's former marriage. Pharisees questioned him all the time about divorce and marriage. Giving in marriage, that's a different thing. That's what a judge does. A judge gave two men the right to be married, gave two women the right to be married. So they're still marrying covenant, one man and one woman. And there's giving in marriage, giving the other people the right to marry that aren't in here.
— That's right.
— So that's a sign of that. Now over to Genesis six. So Jesus warns us about it and then we get over here, Genesis chapter six. I'll start with verse five, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord". What was happening in the earth, Brother Copeland, is they were trying to corrupt the seed. Lucifer was trying to corrupt the seed because if he can corrupt seed, then he can stop the promise seed from coming. And that's exactly what we see today. We see seed being corrupted. We see people trying to transgender themselves. You cannot do that. You're an x x or an x y chromosome. That's what it is. You can dress yourself up, call yourself whatever you want to. And I'm not trying to be ugly or hateful here, but we're seeing a corruption of the seed again...
— Let's look at that Jude six, "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day". All right, Genesis 6:4 "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown". And those that were capable of that have been put in chains, an everlasting darkness that can't happen in this earth any longer.
— Right now, even though God is saying, I wish I would have done it, if you'll go up above it, he goes up here and he says, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years". Before he even says, I'm going to wipe everything off. He's making a promise for the future that no...
— Once this is done,
— And now we're talking about people that lived 900 years. Once this is done...
— After all of this takes place, then the normal lifespan will be 120 years.
— That's exactly right. Okay, now I'm going to read an excerpt from God The Covenant, the Contradiction which came out last week. You get your copy of it, I'm going to read from page 82 "...with the future of the world in his hands. Noah believed what God told him and did everything exactly as God had commanded". And the references 6:22. By faith... being forewarned by God. This is reading out of the Hebrews. The Amplified Classic Edition, Hebrews 11:6 "By faith Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family. By this [his faith which relied on God] he passed judgment and sentence on the world's unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness (that relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith)". He constructed this thing that he didn't have any idea what it was for but he did it by faith. And then in the book, on page 82, it says this: "Noah had never seen rain or floods. He had never seen a boat at all, much less one which every species of animal could be transported on one roof", Genesis 2:6. But that didn't matter to Noah. He had a working relationship or covenant with God and he trusted it and he began to build it and began to work at it. He began to preach to those people who were mocking him and making fun of him. And he, you know, he spent all those years preaching and he didn't get anybody saved except his own family with him. So don't ever think you're not successful. Eight people in your ministry. If you only get eight saved, well, that's okay.
— And that's the definition of a few, because that's what the Word said, those few. So the answer to that question. And so they enter into the ark and I'm going to read you again here, Genesis 7:13-14 from Amplified Classic. It says this: "And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded [Noah]; and the Lord shut him in and closed [the door] round about him". Look again at that last verse, page 83 of the book, Who doesn't say shut the door to the ark? God shut the door. Noah received it by faith. But once he and his family were in God close to them in. And I think that's a picture for this last time before he comes, we have an ark of God, a protection about us.
— God's forknowledge of how rough this thing's going to be. And he gave the dimensions of the ship. it wasn't a boat, it was a ship. And so he shut it. He closed it so it didn't leak. He gave him all of the instructions, but he saw to it that it did not leak. He closed the door. Now, I don't know how he did that. I just know he did.
— And once he closed the door, there's nobody can open it. Noah himself couldn't open it to let somebody in. God sealed them. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit as well in our covenant as a promise. Praise God. Yes, let's go back there. Genesis... When they get through this flood, the water coming up from the deep, the firmament coming down, the animals, the very first thing that he does when it's all over, he's been in there maybe a year with all the animals. The very first thing that we see Noah doing is and I've got it on page 86 here in the book that I opened it up to, when they come out the very first... I want to show you the very first thing they heard, and it'll sound familiar to you. God blessed Noah and his sons and said and be fruitful and multiply.
— We started over with the same blessing. It's started with Adam.
— I'm starting over with you...
— So you can see God is a blessing. He's called the Blessed one. So the blessing was being destroyed and just wiped out of the earth. It was not here anymore. So he cleaned it up and started out with the same words...
— ...that Adam had heard...
— ...and a lot of their lives overlapped because they live so long. So once they were on dry ground again, the very first thing Noah does is he builds an altar and he offers a sacrifice under God. I wrote it down right here, the altar on which Noah presented the offerings to the Lord and such an altar mentioned in the Bible. For the first time, we have an altar being built, and with the shedding of blood on that altar, the covenant between God Noah was cut right there. After he'd come through the flood, he makes the altar. Now, think about this for a second. Most of the animal life on this planet is gone, only what had been in that ship. And he offered it to God. That's an expensive offering. Oh, yes, it's a very expensive offering. Now, a lot of people don't realize this. You may not know this. How many animals? Let me ask the class. We're going to Kenneth Copeland Bible College here. How many animals did he take in? Not total. How many monkeys? 2 of each. Right? Yes and no. He took seven of clean animals. We don't realize, the clean animals... All right. All right, Genesis. Genesis Chapter seven. Verse one. "And the Lord said to Noah, Come with all your household into the ark, for I have seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female". So the clean animals there were seven of those. I believe that there were births in that ark that the animals reproduced in there.
— There were male and female in there and that thing was huge.
— I wouldn't be surprised if the females that went in weren't already pregnant and then had how many rabbits that came out. Well, by the time a year in the ark.
— ...lots of rabbits,
— ...but they took seven of the clean animals. Now here's my lightning fast mind started thinking, how did he know? We haven't had Moses yet. So how did he know what's a clean animal and not clean animal? Somehow he knew. There are certain things we're not meant to have. He knew that there were certain animals that are going to be clean.
— Well, in my way of thinking, God dealt with him one at a time as they lived and what they ate. Had to have. Don't eat that thing. They have another purpose. And so...
— Well, he already knew not to murder because of Cain and Abel. There are Noahide laws, they call them, that were already in place, just not written down like we have. So after they come out, he makes this altar. And what did God do? He gave a sign immediately after that. And it's right here. The covenant seal of Noah is the rainbow. I'm going to look at page 88 of God The Covenant and the Contradiction. The rainbow is not just a natural, earthly phenomenon in heaven. There's a rainbow that surrounds God's throne. The Prophet Ezekiel saw it in a vision with the four and living creatures in heaven, and he said in Ezekiel chapter 1:26-38 and this is the Complete Jewish Bible is where I'm going to read this from. "Above the dome that was over their heads was something like a throne that looked like a sapphire. On it, above it, was what appeared to be a person". So they're setting on a sapphire. "I saw what looked like gleaming, amber-colored fire radiating from what appeared to be his waist upward. Downward from what appeared to be his waist, I saw what looked like fire, giving a brilliant light all around him. This brilliance around him looked like a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day". Revelation Chapter four. The Apostle John will see a rainbow Revelation 4:2-3. We'll see a rainbow round about the throne. There's a rainbow Brother Copeland around the throne of God that goes all the way around. It's like this.
— No, it's 360 degrees around the throne. So that he's made a promise and it's right here. "And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth". "And I will establish my covenant with you. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall 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 the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow or the rainbow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth".
— It's not just man, it's every creature. And God, two times there says, "I did it so I can remember".
— "And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah:" Everywhere God looks in his throne in heaven, he sees that covenant reminder. He's remembering. So Jesus speaks of it as it was in the days of Noah. God has not forgotten. Listen, they're going to try. They try to scare you with climate change and everything else, can't happen. There's not going to be a destruction of this earth based upon that covenant symbol. And that covenant symbol was given after he offered. First of all, the seed was corrupting itself as it was in the days of Noah. We're seeing that same type of thing today. We're seeing, I'll say it, we need to get the rainbow back.
— Yes, we do.
— It's a covenant symbol of God Almighty and it belongs to us.
— This is a covenant of the Almighty God. The rainbow is a heavenly thing. And to blaspheme it, to represent what God has already forbidden...
— It's corruption of the seed.
— And I heard my father in the faith, Oral Roberts say this: God is not the author of something he has already forbidden. There's a man that said this. My maker made me this way. No. He's has never ever made anyone a thief. No, he has delivered people from being thieves and particularly a new creature in Christ Jesus. Never. He has never done that. He's been blamed for it. But that's the devil's lie.
— I heard Keith Moore answer a Rhema student when I was a student there about that. The student said I was born that way. And Keith Moore said, "So was I. We were all born with the sinful nature. But when I was born again, that nature left me". And so we were all born with a sin nature. The nature, the way to change that is to get born again with that nature. But it's time that we take our covenant symbol back because it belongs to God Almighty.
— And what I pray is the prodigal son came to himself. And went home. And we're out of time. But we'll be back in just a few moments. Praise God, hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus.