God’s Accommodation for Our Weakness
“This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:17)
Could you imagine being Noah after the Flood? After 140 days on the stormy seas with the winds and waves casting the recipients of God’s wrath against the ark, how would you feel every time you saw a rain cloud? Every crack of thunder would break Noah’s courage in two, and every rain drop would wash away any confidence on which he stood. Yes, I know what you are thinking. God gave Noah His Word, and shouldn’t His Word be enough? It should; but, thankfully, our God is mindful of our weakness (Ps. 103:14). He meets us where we are by giving us visible signs of His enduring mercy.
How does God accommodate Noah’s weakness? By giving Noah the rainbow. Where Noah fears the dark clouds, God provides the bright rainbow. Where Noah feared God’s wrath aimed at earth, the rainbow is now aimed at God Himself. More than hang up His bow, God ensures that it is no longer pointed at us, but at Himself. Does this not fit God’s pattern? In Genesis 15, Abraham cuts some beasts into halves, planning to walk between them and take this wrathful curse upon himself. Instead, God Himself walks through the pieces, taking our curse upon Himself. What of Christ? Though He committed no sin, “the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53:6) It was the will of the LORD to crush him, to put him to grief for our guilt (Is. 53:10). In a word, the arrows no longer aimed at us were lodged deep into Christ (Ps. 64:7).
Today, we have an even greater sign than Noah, for we have the Lord’s Supper. Where the rainbow points to wrath restrained, the Lord’s Supper points to wrath removed. The Table stands before us as an invitation to eat with our Savior, our Redeemer, our Friend. We desperately need this sign, for our weakness dogs us day after day. When troubles arise, we doubt God’s love towards us. When our doubts plagues us, we expect God’s disappointment. The mere forecast of misfortune sends us into a panic; therefore, we must take this sign between our thumb and forefinger as a tangible reminder of Christ’s death and resurrection for our sins, of God’s unchangeable love for us. Let not weakness separate what God has put together; rather, let our weakness drive us deeper into His condescending mercy.
