1God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. 2The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the ground, and all the fish of the sea, are delivered into your hand. 3Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you. 4But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat. 5I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image. 7Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”
8God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9“As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth. 11I will establish my covenant with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
18The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. 19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
20Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. 21He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. 24Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25He said,
“Canaan is cursed.
He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”
26He said,
“Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem.
Let Canaan be his servant.
27May God enlarge Japheth.
Let him dwell in the tents of Shem.
Let Canaan be his servant.”
28Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. 29All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, and then he died.
John now describes the One sitting on the throne, using figurative language, by comparing Him to precious stones. Jasper and sardius were precious stones in John’s day. Jasper stones can have a range of colors. The sardius, known today as a carnelian, was a reddish stone. It seems that in this vision, God’s body had a reddish hue. This is similar to Ezekiel’s vision of God (Ezek 1:27). God may have chosen this hue in order to make that very connection so the readers would know that the same God who made His promises to Israel and Judah through Ezekiel now addresses the seven churches.
The “rainbow” that John sees is not the rainbow seen in the skies, but is of a green hue, matching emerald. This glow around God was part of His glorious appearance.
Throughout the Revelation are allusions or references to the Old Testament. In this instance, there appears to be an allusion to the rainbow that guaranteed the establishment of Yahweh with Noah and the human race in general. In Genesis 9:8-17, the rainbow is a sign of the covenant of God with the human race that He would not judge the earth by a flood (Gen 9:8-17). Why the symbol is found here is uncertain, but it might indicate another covenant to be made with the people of the earth, with a different form of judgment.