August 6

The bow in the cloud

Ellen G. White

"I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth." — Genesis 9:13 · KJV

In the covenant with Noah it is used in the sense of assurance, or evidence of stability. The bow in the cloud was given as a sign or token that God would not again destroy the earth by a flood. Genesis 9:13. In the covenant with Abraham, circumcision was the token or sign. This ratified, or made sure; for they who had not this token were cut off. Genesis 17:11, 14. This sign or token was an institution, a rite. Gesenius gives “a memorial” as one definition of the word found in the original of these texts. But a memorial, in the sense of a reminder, or a remembrancer, is a token or sign.

In Exodus 31:17 and Ezekiel 20:12, 20, the Sabbath of the Lord is called a sign. It is a memorial of the Creator's work, and so a sign of his power and Godhead. Romans 1:20. This is also an institution as was circumcision; but there was this distinction: circumcision was a sign in the flesh, while the Sabbath was a sign in the mind. “Hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God” Ezekiel 20:20.

In Ezekiel 9:4 the word used in the original is translated mark. Gesenius says, “a mark, sign.” The Septuagint gives the same word in this text that is given in the Greek of Romans 4:11, rendered “sign.” Thus the words token, sign, mark, and seal are applied to the same things, or used as of like signification, in the Scriptures.