Darkness had covered the earth. Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In the end only eight people would step out from that darkness back into the light. How dark was it in that ark for Noah and his family? In Genesis 7:16, it says that “the Lord shut him in,” and there is no indication until Genesis 8:6 that Noah did anything to open any part of the ark. The deluge going on outside may have necessitated keeping things shut up tightly, entombing them in darkness; the sky outside also so very dark with the incredible rains coming down all over the planet. Finally, after the rain stopped, Noah opened the window of the ark, and tried to assess the situation, blinking into the light now pouring in from the window as he prepared his raven.
How our eyes perceive light is an interesting phenomenon. Each of us normally have a collection of two kinds of specialized cells adapted to react to light and send signals to the brain creating our sense of sight: rods and cones. Rods are meant to pick up the presence of light, giving us an image which we can see, but it has no color. Cones detect the wavelength of light and are able to process that light information into colors which make up our visible spectrum. Late at night one might get up for a drink of water and look around. Without lights on, and only a small amount of light coming in from the moonlight outside, the world is dull and gray. Colors seem to be sleeping as well because the low light activates the rods in our eyes, but the cones need more light to understand color.
Noah knew the spiritually monochromatic world he was living in. Sin was rampant. Man was seeking only his own desire, and not that of God. God even regretted making man, and it broke His heart to see man in such a broken and lost state (Genesis 6:6). The analogy of darkness and light is so ubiquitous in the Bible that it is indisputable which side is represented by which. Jesus talks about this same concept in His opening remarks to the world in Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Not do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Noah was the light in the darkness. The world was spiritually fumbling around unable to see the joy of color in their life despite Noah preaching to them, trying to light their world so that they could finally understand true joy (2 Peter 2:5; Galatians 5:22-23). Unfortunately, they would not listen, and he and his family were the only ones to live to see the light of another day (Hebrews 11:7). He tried to be that light of the world, and he gave light to all around him, but they did all they could to run from the light. Jesus said in John 3:19-21, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
The world God gave us is rich and plentiful. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion …” (Genesis 1:28). He made it all for us, and in this world is such richness that we should enjoy! A colorful world that should fill our eyes with light and beauty. Noah emerged from a dark, gray world, and a cabin in an ark likely lit by a small oil lamp or a candle to a world washed by water. After the rain, colors seem more alive. The world is fresh and new. In the sky, God made a promise to Noah, and a rainbow appeared. All the colors of the world now filled with light, and the righteousness of God are perceived by the eye.
The rainbow is not actually a phenomenon in the sky. While light is refracted off raindrops and the spectrum is broken, each rainbow is unique to the observer. God’s promise to Noah is a promise not only to His people, but it is unique to you and me as well. God will not destroy the world again by water. Instead, He calls on each of us individually to be the light of the world. Spreading the joy that came into a dark and sinful world brings light through every one of us so that we might be one of the few who find life on the other side of the rain.
Lance Byers