God's ju — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

20 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. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Sometimes, the Scriptures can raise as many questions as it answers. One of the reasons this happens is due to the vast historical, geographical, and cultural distance that exists between us and those of the ancient world of the Bible. The very idea of animal sacrifices, for example, is offensive to our 21st-century, western sensibilities. That’s true even for those of us who believe the Bible and trust in the God of the Bible. Another reason is that there were many things that happened that the Bible doesn’t tell us about. We are left to make inferences and speculate how people got from “point A to point B” in terms of their worship and ways of life. I’m certain that both of these factors are in play in this section we’re reading today.

In these few verses, we might ask ourselves, “Why did Noah build an altar and sacrifice animals on it?” “Why did this please God? Didn’t God instruct Noah to take the animals on the ark to preserve them?” “How did Noah know what animals were ‘clean’?” And more.

Let’s examine this. First, unless I’m mistaken, the only specific acts of sacrifice in worship recorded in the Scriptures up to now are those of Cain and Abel. Abel brought an animal sacrifice, and Cain brought a sacrifice of food. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but rejected Cain’s. It’s not uncommon for people to infer that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice because it was an animal sacrifice and rejected Cain’s because it was a food offering. But the text doesn’t tell us that. Instead, it suggests that the reason for God accepting Abel’s sacrifice was because it was the best of what he had. Conversely, Cain brought “some” of his produce, suggesting that it wasn’t the best. In other words, the difference between the sacrifices was not about what was offered as it was how it was offered. Abel’s attitude about the LORD was of gratitude and awe of God, and Cain’s wasn’t. This is confirmed when God approaches Cain to correct him and Cain refuses to listen to the LORD.

It seems that this is what we are witnessing in Noah’s sacrifice. God has fulfilled his promise and delivered them safely through this flood, and Noah is expressing his thankfulness and awe of what God has done.

How did Noah know which animals were ‘clean’? We don’t. What we do know is that this story was written by Moses long after the flood and after God had given the Law to Israel that designates what animals were clean or unclean. What this account does is confirm to Israel that the God who has delivered them out of bondage in Egypt has revealed Himself previously to their ancestors. This God who has just given them the Law has not just come up with a new, arbitrary set of rules. God had revealed this before. It was just not important enough to document exactly when that happened. What is revealed is that God had seven pairs of the clean animals and birds on the ark versus the one pair of all the other animals. Noah didn’t seem to question this. Perhaps Noah understood the “extra” animals were God’s provision for such a sacrifice. Perhaps Noah even recognized this as a sign that God really would get them through this ordeal.

This sacrifice pleased the LORD, and, in response, he made a threefold promise “in his heart.” How would Noah or, later on, Moses know what God had said in his heart? Again, we don’t know. However, if we apply one of our common principles of interpretation, examining the context, we discover in the next chapter that God reveals his resolve to Noah through a covenant promise. (See Genesis 9:11-17) What God promised to Noah and all humanity in this covenant is consistent with what he resolved “in his heart.”

The first part of this threefold resolution of God is interesting. He had just judged the earth by water because of the evil of humanity in the world. God resolves to “never curse the ground again because of man.” The interesting part is the reason he gives for this resolution. He explains, “for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Wow! There’s a statement we should not jump past too quickly. We so often want to assume the best in people. But God doesn’t. What this means is not that God has abandoned his value of humanity. If that were true, he would not have bothered to spare Noah and his sons and their wives. While Noah is declared righteous, God hasn’t overlooked that he is not perfect, and neither are his sons and daughters-in-law. The sin problem will continue and God is acknowledging that. Yet, God had a plan and “the seed” was still to come at that point. God would still execute his plan despite humanity’s tendency to do what is “evil.”

The last question I’ll raise for this section and attempt to address is, “Does the apocalyptic prophecy in Revelation contradict the LORD’s resolution here in Genesis? I believe the answer to that is “no.” Revelation speaks of a final judgment for the very same cause that brought the judgment by flood. Yet, the final judgment is a fiery destruction of the earth and the creation of a new heaven and new earth. Those whom the LORD deems righteous will be delivered eternally to an eternal life on the new earth where sin will be eradicated because “the seed” will have made that possible. The point then of this promise is that Noah and all people who live after him are not to live in fear every time it rains or every time there’s a drought. The LORD will sustain his creation and life within the earth until he has fulfilled all that he’s promised, despite the ongoing problem of humanity’s evil tendencies.

This text affirms God’s right to judge evil. It reveals his desire to offer life and provision revealing his patience, love for his living creatures, and resolve to fulfill every promise he makes. This is a God that is worthy of our thankfulness and awe and to whom we should direct our best worship.