A New Altar

Genesis 8:20 (NASB):

“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

After he stepped out of the ark and stood on the renewed earth, Noah was so filled with gratitude that his first act was to lead his family in worship. He built an altar and offered some of the clean animals as sacrifices to the Lord.

Noah was a balanced believer. He walked with the Lord in loving communion and enjoyed His presence. He worked for the Lord in building the ark, and he witnessed for the Lord as “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). While in the ark, he waited on the Lord for instructions concerning his leaving, and once he was standing on the earth, eh worshiped the Lord. Like Abel, he brought God his very best (Gen 4:4), and like the Sethite remnant, he called on the name of the Lord (v. 26). The true worship of the Lord had been restored on the earth.

In the Old Testament, when you sacrificed a burnt offering, you gave the entire animal or bird to the Lord with nothing kept back (Leviticus 1). “All on the altar” (Leviticus 1:9) was the biblical law, because the sacrifice symbolized total dedication to the Lord. In a new step of commitment, Noah gave himself and his family completely to the Lord. God had graciously protected them and brought them through the storm, so it was only fitting that they make themselves available to the Lord to do His will.

The description of God “smelling the pleasing aroma” (Genesis 8:21) is a human way of stating a divine truth: God was satisfied with the sacrifice, accepted it, and was pleased with His people and their worship (Leviticus 1:9; 3:16). If God refused to “smell” the fragrance of the offering, it meant that He was displeased with the worshippers (Leviticus 26:31). In New Testament language, the sacrifice speaks of Jesus Christ offering Himself up for us. “And walk in love, as Christ also has saved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2 NKJV).

In and of ourselves, we can’t please God by what we are or by what we do, but by faith, we can be accepted in Jesus Christ. The Father said of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Those who put their faith in Christ are “in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17), and when the Father looks at them, He sees the righteousness of His Son (v. 21). Believers are “accepted in the beloved” Son who is well-pleasing to the Father (Ephesians 1:6).

Like the ark that saved Noah and his family, Jesus Christ went through the storm of God’s judgment for us. Jonah, who is a type of Christ in death, burial, and resurrection (Matt. 12:38-40), went through the storm of God’s wrath because of his disobedience, but Jesus went through the storm in obedience to God’s will. Jesus could say, “All they waves and thy billows are gone over me” (Psalm 42:7; Jonah 2:3).

If you are going through a storm today, look to Noah and our ultimate example, Jesus Christ. Trust that God will bring you safely through just like Noah and his family.

Applying the Scriptures:

What responsibility do parents have in leading their families to worship and serve God?

A Fresh Start

Main Idea: As an act of grace, God offers people the opportunity for a fresh start based on a covenant relationship.

Genesis 8:15-19 (ESV):

Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹ Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

At one time or another most people find themselves in a place where they long for a fresh start, a second chance, or a new beginning. Fresh starts have a way of invigorating us with a resolve to do better. Fresh starts remind us that while past failures may be devastating, they do not have to defeat or define us. When we mess up we can’t go back and undo what was done, but we can make a fresh start from where we are that will lead us to a better ending.

Fresh starts often mean going through an interim period-one of those times of life when we find ourselves between what was and what may be. These in-between days offer us the opportunity to consider or reconsider what the future can look like.

Noah and his family experienced more than a year’s worth of in-between days when they lived in the ark with the animals. These must have been days of reflecting on the catastrophic events that had wiped the earth clean of sinful humanity and considering what the future would look like. When the ark came to rest on dry ground, Noah and his family embraced the opportunity to make a fresh start. They left the security of the vessel that had carried them to safety and stepped across the threshold to a place of beginning again.

Genesis 8:1 records, “God remembered Noah.” This phrase does not mean God had previously forgotten him. The word “remembered” means to bring to mind. In the midst of His judgment, God never forgot about Noah and those with Noah in the ark. For God to remember Noah in this context meant He was ready to act to change Noah’s situation.

A New Start

Short, introductory statements often contain vital information. In verse 15, God spoke directly to Noah. Undoubtedly, Noah had been praying to God throughout the journey. Maintaining ongoing, communion with God is part of a healthy relationship with Him. Second, God cared about all the people on the ark, but He spoke directly to His chosen leader. God related directly to Noah and through him, directed the affairs of His family. Third, this phrase speaks of faithful obedience. God knew that Noah would demonstrate his faith by doing what He was instructed. Just as Noah had built the ark and entered it with his family and the pairs of creatures when told to do so, he likewise waited for a word from God before leaving the ark.

From the time they first gathered to board the ark until they marched down the ramp to disperse, the living creatures acted under God’s superintendence. Now God instructed Noah to “bring out all the living creatures” from the ark in verse 17. The phrase, “bring out” implies the creatures were still under Noah’s control. Noah guided the creatures off the ark.

          Repopulating the earth involved not only human reproduction but also the multiplication of the animals. God intended for the creatures to “spread over the earth” (“breed abundantly” KJV; “swarm” ESV). The people and creatures were not to remain in one place, but were to scatter to all regions of the planet. God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” was not only a directive but also a promise. He had bestowed His creatures including humans, with the ability to reproduce.

In verse 18 we have one of the most magnificent occurrences of history: they came out. The tiny word so links this dramatic action with what had taken place immediately before. In other words, God gave Noah and his family a directive, and they obeyed.

Imagine the questions and thoughts that might have raced through their minds as they stepped down on dry ground for the first time in over a year. Did they know where they were? Did they know how to start over? Surely some practical thoughts of survival came to mind. They would have to build dwellings for shelter. They would need an ongoing food supply. Perhaps their minds were fixed on all the necessary tasks of rebuilding their lives. Yet they had a much larger matter to consider too. The vastness of God’s commission to replenish the earth was daunting. They had been directed to replenish the planet with human families. As daunting as these thoughts must have seemed, hearing God’s voice assured Noah that God would be with them and again would bless His creation.

Verse 19 emphasizes the words “all” and “every,” suggesting that no living creature on the ark died during their year long journey. Even creatures with short life spans survived. God watched over all the occupants of the ark, preserving their life through His divine care. Moreover, the phrase “by their groups” indicates that the orderliness of life on the ark extended even as the creatures exited. There was no stampede.

Perhaps you feel that you need a fresh start. Hey, we all do from time to time. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) tells us:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Apply the Scriptures:

What, if anything, makes it hard to trust God and to patiently wait on His guidance?

Serving Christ, Loving Others, and Growing Together,

Dr. Bryan Cox

Do You Hear Me?

Genesis 7:11-14 (NASB):

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.

Have you felt as if no one was listening to you? I have to confess that occasionally my mind will be wandering while my wife is talking. Just when I snap back to reality I hear, “Did you hear anything I just said?” It can be frustrating when you have something important to say, only to be tuned out by everyone around you.

Noah understood what that was like. For many years Noah built the ark and preached righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). His preaching, however, was met with no repentance. The wicked population of earth ignored God’s warning. The time of opportunity for repentance ended when Noah was 600 years old (whoa, that is old). The ark was completed. God instructed Noah and his family to enter the ark, bringing with them all the pairs of creatures to be rescued (Gen. 7:1-10). They had one week to get everyone and everything on board before the floodwaters erupted. God Himself shut the door on the ark, emphasizing His sole, ongoing, superintendence of both the judgment and rescue operations.

Here is an important spiritual truth: God always move on time-on His time.

Note the specificity of the flood’s beginning point: in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month. It was a day like none other from the time of creation. The floodwaters came from below and above. The “sources of the watery depths” (“fountains of the great deep,” KJV, ESV) refers to underground springs, rivers, and reservoirs of water that simply burst forth to the surface. Meanwhile, God also opened the “floodgates of the sky” (“windows of heaven,” KJV) so that unrelenting rain fell in deluge after deluge.

The language used in this verse denotes a sudden, unexpected event. Noah warned people of the coming catastrophe for many years prior to its arrival. Yet no one took him seriously. In New Testament times, Jesus pointed to the lack of preparedness by people in Noah’s day as a picture of how spiritually ill-prepared many will be found at Christ’s return (Matt. 24:36-44). Once God’s judgement has begun, it is too late to prepare for it.

In verse 12, the phrase “40 days and 40 nights” reflects that 40 is a significant number in Scripture. It is associated with several key events in the life of God’s people. For example, Moses stayed 40 days and 40 nights with God on Mount Sinai when he received the tablets of the law (Ex. 24:18). Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights prior to his temptation in the wilderness (Matt. 4:2).

Forty days and nights of uninterrupted rainfall, together with the water bursting forth from underground, was enough to submerge even the highest mountains 20 feet below the surface (Gen. 7:19-20). Such a phenomenon was no problem for the Creator who formed the earth and separated it from the waters above and the waters beneath (Gen. 1:7).

God instructed Noah and his entire family in verses 13-14 to enter the ark seven days before the start of the rains. Noah obeyed God and entered the ark with his wife, his sons, and his son’s wives-a total of eight individuals. Although they did not know how long they would live in the ark, they trusted God.

Here is a second spiritual truth: people left to themselves cannot overcome sin. Unchecked sin leads to greater wickedness.

In His justice, God declared judgment upon sin and sinners. Disobedience to God leads to sure destruction. In His grace, however, God rescues people who love Him and are faithful to Him. If you are struggling with sin today, look to Christ. He is the only One who can rescue you.

Applying the Scriptures:

Noah’s experience in building the ark, waiting for the rains, and entering the ark was a test of faith. What kinds of tests of faith do Christians face today? How do these test compare to Noah’s test?

Serving Christ, Loving Others, and Growing Together,

Dr. Bryan Cox