Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2: Luther on Sin and the FloodLuther, Martin
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Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2: Luther on Sin and the Flood
Luther, Martin
Bible. Genesis -- Commentaries
63. My opinion is quite the contrary--that the rainbow never had
existed before; it was then and there created. Thus, the coats of skin
with which God clothed the first parents certainly were not created in
those six days, but after man's fall; hence, they were a new creation.
The statement that God rested, must not be interpreted to mean that he
created nothing thereafter; for Christ says, "My Father worketh even
until now, and I work," Jn 5, 17.
64. Solomon's statement that there is no new thing under the sun, has
given much trouble to the learned. But is it not apparent that it
refers not to the works of God, but to original sin, meaning that the
same reasoning powers Adam had after the fall are found in man
today--the same debates concerning morals, vices, virtues, the nurture
of the body and the transaction of business? As the comic poet has it,
speaking of another matter, "Nothing is said that has not been said
before." Really, within the sphere of man's activity and effort there
is nothing new; the same words, thoughts, designs, the same emotions,
griefs, affections and incidents exist now which always existed.
Consequently it is quite inappropriate, in consequence to apply this
aphorism to God and his works.
65. Therefore, I believe that the rainbow was a new creation, not seen
in the world before that time. It was established to remind the world
of the bygone wrath, traces of which are still seen in the rainbow,
and to give assurance of the mercy of God. It is a record, or picture
in which both the bygone wrath and the present mercy are revealed.
66. There is also a difference of opinion as to the colors of the
rainbow. Some say there are four colors: the fiery, the bright yellow,
the green and the color of water, or blue. But I think there are only
two, those of fire and water. The fiery color is above, unless the
rainbow is seen reversed; then, as in a mirror, that which is above is
seen below. Where the hues of fire and water meet, or blend, yellow
results.
67. The colors have been thus arranged by God for a definite purpose.
The blue should be a reminder of bygone wrath; the fiery color, a
picture to us of the future judgment. While the interior or blue
portion is restricted, the outer and fiery color is without bounds.
Thus, the first world perished by the flood, but an end was set to
God's wrath. A remnant was preserved and a second world arose, but
bounds are set to it. When God shall destroy the world by fire, this
bodily life will never be restored. The wicked will suffer the
everlasting punishment of death in the fire, while the saints will be
raised up unto a new and everlasting life, which, though in the body,
shall not be of the body, but of the spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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