"The End Of The Rainbow" Lesson 149

Lesson 149: “THE END OF THE RAINBOW”

Have you looked for that illusive pot of gold at the rainbow’s end? Did you know that the rainbow has no end? If the earth were not “in the way” a rainbow would be a complete circle. It is also a three dimensional cone which puts me in mind of the Trinity. In this light, there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircles the throne of God in Heaven, “and the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian” (Rev. 4:2-3). The Bible is a beginning, an end and a beginning. The Rainbow around the throne may signify the completion of the covenant that God made with Noah when he promised the earth would never again be destroyed with rain. Noah’s rainbow showed old life destroyed and a beginning of new life on earth and the rainbow around the throne shows old life destroyed and a beginning of an eternal life with God.

There was a gold rush in Colorado in 1859 and the town of Auraria was built. In Latin, the word Auraria means “City of Gold”. When the ground ran out of gold, the miners left for California with the 49ers and left the golden city a ghost town. There an ETERNAL “City of Gold” at the end of God’s rainbow of life in that new City that will never exhaust its supply of gold or time. As John gazed at the wall, he saw that it was made of jasper and that the City was made of pure gold, as pure as glass (Rev. 21:18-21). John was using the language of appearance for apparently both the jasper and the gold differ from these metals as they are known today. For certain this is not the gold God put in his earth, but a very precious purified gold just as we too will be purified. John saw that the altar before God was gold (Rev. 9:13-15) and the twenty-four elders around the throne wore crowns of gold (Rev. 4:3). The crowns were similar to those given to victors in Greek games in contrast with the crown of a sovereign ruler. The crowns seem to indicate that the elders had been purified and rewarded (Rev. 4:4). The church of Laodicea was urged to buy NOT ordinary gold but refined gold, referring to that which would glorify God and make them truly rich. Through its banking industry the city had material wealth. The church lacked spiritual richness. Though they had beautiful clothes they were urged to wear white clothes (Rev. 3:4), symbolic of righteousness which would cover their spiritual nakedness (Rev. 3:18-19).

Gold is used through the Bible not only literally but figuratively. Peter compared faith to gold and contrasted purified faith with purified gold. Faith is more precious and of greater worth than gold. Even refined gold, though it last a long time, eventually perishes. It will be valueless in the market place of eternity, but faith purchases an inheritance that can never perish (1 Pet. 1:7-18, James 1:3, 12 and 5:3). Paul had laid a foundation in Corinth with the message of the Cross. Apollos too had labored beneficially in Corinth (Acts 18:27-28). Apparently so also had Peter, whom Paul here called ‘Cephas’ (1 Cor. 1:12, 3:22). But as Paul wrote, someone else was ministering in Corinth and Paul’s message to him and others like him was a warning. Jesus Christ alone was the foundation and the basis of salvation (Acts 4:12). But others had come to Corinth and preached a different gospel (2 Cor. 11:14). Perhaps such a one was present in Corinth when Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians. Paul described three kinds of builders or ministers: the expert, the unwise and the destructive.

The materials used in the building may be interpreted in at least four ways: 1) the gold, silver and costly stones refer to the enduring quality of the builder’s work; and the wood, hay or straw suggest work that is temporary and valueless. This view is supported by ‘work’ and ‘what he has built’. 2) The three expensive materials suggest sound doctrine which the builder ‘builds’ into people’s lives and the three valueless materials are false doctrines. 3) The first three materials refer to the worker’s worthy motives and the other three points to his unworthy motives. 4) The ‘gold, silver and costly stones’ refer to the believers who constitute the church (this is supported by similar uses of the metaphor in Eph. 2:22) and the ‘wood, hay or straw’ represent unregenerate (not spiritually re-born; stubbornly defiant) people present in the church (1 Cor. 3:10-12).

At the Beautiful Gate when the beggar asked Peter and John for money, Peter told him; “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you” (Acts 3:1-8). When all the people stood amazed that the lame man could walk, Peter assessed the situation and used it as an opportunity to preach. “Change your hearts and lives! Come back to God and he will forgive your sins” (Acts 3:19). He may of reminded them that “on the day that God will show His anger, neither their silver or gold will save them” (Zeph. 1:18, Ezek. 7:19).

In Lamentations Jeremiah described the people’s fate (4:1-2). Isaiah told of a land filled with silver and gold but also filled with idols. He said they would bow low with shame and God would not forgive them (Isa. 2:7 & 9). God promises to guide those who obey and trust Him. Those who obey must actively explore God’s Word. “Wisdom is worth more than silver; it brings more prophet than gold” (Prov. 3:14). The commands of the Lord are worth more than gold, even the purest gold (Ps. 19:10) and the Psalmist stated he loved them more than the purest gold (Ps. 119:127). Job told his ‘friends’ that God would test him and he would come out of his trials like gold (23:10), but added he had not put his trust in gold (Job 31:24).

“The Kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it he sold all he had and bought that field” (Matt. 13:44). This parable illustrates the value of the heavenly treasure and the effort that should be made to secure it. Count no sacrifice too dear and no labor too great in order to gain the treasures of truth. The gospel is interlaced with golden veins of wisdom and filled with the knowledge of God. In the ‘gold fields’ a man might pass over the place where the treasure is concealed. So it was with the Jews. When Christ came they did not recognize Him as the Messiah. They held this ‘pot of gold’ in their hands but the tradition that had been handed down from generation to generation and the human interpretations of the scriptures hid from them the truth as it is in Jesus. “If the gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

We cannot expect to gain spiritual knowledge without earnest toil. Those who desire to find the golden treasures of truth must dig for them just as the miner digs for gold in the earth. Everyone who competes in a race goes into strict training to get a crown (of gold) that will not last, we must train, run the race, fight the good fight and keep the faith so we win a crown that will last forever (1 Cor. 9:24-25). “If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God” (Prov. 2:3-5).