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?