Genesis 8:20-22
Noah's Sacrifice

  1. Noah Offers a Sacrifice
    1. He Does this before Anything Else
      1. He does not first wait to get back on his feet
      2. He does not seek to build a house or plant a garden from which he may eat
      3. He does not parcel out the animals and decide how long he can live off them and then give God the leftovers
      4. He is the exact opposite of Cain, the true spiritual heir of Abel
        1. Cain did not bring "firstfruits" but just an "offering" to God. And he became angry when God did not accept it.
        2. Abel brought the "firstfruits" to God in the same faith that Noah now imitates and commends to you
      5. How much more should we imitate this faith?
        1. Our salvation is greater even than Noah's (as point III will maintain)
        2. Think of that! Noah's salvation involved the destruction and re-creation of the entire world.
        3. The waters covered the whole earth
        4. And only he and his family and the animals on that tiny ark, bobbing up and down in the water... only they were saved.
        5. This is pretty dramatic stuff. And pretty extreme. It's hard to top.
        6. But Christ tops it and then some - the whole world is headed for judgment - eternal judgment and wrath - and Christ snatches you out of harms way and gives you eternal life.
        7. Having this good news proclaimed, may we not offer to God the firstfruits of all that he grants us?
        8. This is a token of our gratitude and also of our confidence that God who did not spare his own Son will also freely with him give us all things.
    2. He Offers Thanks to God
      1. God alone has brought Noah through this ordeal
        1. He warned Noah and told him how to build the ark
        2. He even told Noah to bring extra unclean animals; so now Noah may express his thanks without destroying an entire species
        3. He called the animals to Noah and to the ark
        4. He shut the door of the ark himself
        5. He preserved the ark through the deluge
        6. He brought the ark to a safe resting place
        7. And at the right time, he told Noah that it was safe to leave the ark.
      2. God alone has saved him
      3. He can take no credit to himself, but by his sacrifice he acknowledges his Savior.
      4. By this he testifies again in faith to you that God is the sole author of salvation and the sole finisher of it.
      5. Yet something more is going on here
        1. There are words and phrases for "thank offering" and "sacrifice of praise" that could have been used here
        2. Instead, the Holy Spirit supplies one that means a sin offering.
        3. The original audience (Israel under Moses) would surely have understood the intention of God in Scripture this way. And rightly so....
    3. He Pleads for Atonement
      1. The sacrifice here is for the atonement of sin
        1. In Leviticus 1, this sacrifice is formally instituted for the repealing of the sins of the people.
          1. Leviticus 1:3ff. - If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD. 4'Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
          2. The putting of his hand on the head symbolizes the transfer of sin from the sacrificer to the animal sacrificed.
        2. So Noah places his sin upon these sacrifices and offers them up on his altar
      2. Noah acknowledges that he is sinful, that he needs forgiveness
      3. But, wait! What was the basis on which God accepted him and saved him?
        1. He was a righteous man (6:9)
        2. God saw that that was so and told him this was the basis on which he and his family would be saved (7:1)
      4. How can Noah suddenly acknowledge his sin?
        1. Because he is not righteous in himself
        2. But rather his righteousness stems from trusting in the faithfulness of God.
        3. That is to say, he confidently proclaims that the Lord is his righteousness, the Lord alone.
      5. Noah knows that by rights he ought to have perished in that flood as well
      6. He offers the sacrifice to God in thanks that he didn't, asking that the animal be judged in his place
  2. The Lord Accepts the Sacrifice
    1. He Smells the "Soothing Aroma"
      1. When Leviticus sets up the whole burnt offering (such as what Noah has offered) it says that this offering will be "a sweet aroma" (same phrase) to the Lord.
      2. That is to say, the Lord will find the sacrifice pleasing and acceptable when it is offered up in accordance with his will.
      3. The picture is earthy, human - God inhaling deeply and smelling the smell of Noah's sacrifice and delighting in it.
      4. Noah's prayer has been answered; his sins have been forgiven.
      5. There is a pun on Noah's name involved here:
        1. Noah means "rest"
        2. And the word for soothing sounds like "Noah," and means "restful."
        3. So the new creation narrative ends with God resting, just as the first one did.
      6. He is, because of the sacrifice, at rest, not at war with Noah, but content to dwell with his second Adam as he did with the first and be his God.
      7. It seems as though Noah brought in everything his father Lamech hoped for when he named him Noah and said, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed."
      8. Well, not quite.
        1. God does not uncurse the ground.
        2. And he voluntarily restrains his just anger against mankind (which continues even after the flood wiped all the losers out.)
    2. He Does Not Further Curse the Ground
      1. This new Adam is defective, he is sinful
        1. Just like the first one after the fall
        2. So one might expect God to curse the ground afresh for Noah's sake even as he cursed it for Adam's.
      2. Hebrew is very specific here - Not "I will never again" but "I will not further...."
      3. So the original curse of Genesis 3:17-19 remains in effect
      4. But at least we haven't lost any ground (Ha ha)
      5. Instead, he says the ground is as cursed as it's going to get (and that isn't so cursed but that a diligent man - believing or non - may in general be able to eat of the fruit of the ground if only he puts his back and sweat into it.)
      6. He says he will not do this "although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth."
      7. Another translation, equally valid, would be "because the imagination..."
      8. Either way, this deliberately calls to mind the reason for the flood in the first place: "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5)
      9. What's going on here?
        1. First God says he's going to destroy the earth because the intention's of man's heart are evil.
        2. Then he says he's not First God says he's going to destroy the earth even though or because the intention's of man's heart are evil.
      10. The experiment didn't work
        1. God tried to wipe out all evil from the face of the earth
        2. But man is evil from his youth
        3. Noah acknowledged that he had brought sin into the new creation by offering that sacrifice
        4. If God's going to keep his promise of Genesis 3:16, he needs a better second Adam. This one carries with him the seed of the first
        5. (Remember, naturally, that God didn't need to see the results of this experiment, we did.)
      11. So God says, I'm not going to keep upping the curse every time I see sin or the curse will get out of hand before the Seed comes.
      12. So Noah has succeeded, if not in bringing rest, then in bringing an end to the increase of toil.
      13. And God then says, I'm not going to try that again or I'll just keep destroying the earth (and there'll be no one righteous left behind) and I won't be able to bring the promised Seed.
    3. He Establishes the Created Order
      1. He purposes not to destroy every living thing again.
      2. Rather, he establishes the seasons, the alternation of cold and heat, day and night so that every living thing will not be obliterated at once.
      3. This alternation shall not cease "while the earth remains"
        1. Lit. All the days of the earth
        2. A phrase that elsewhere only refers to humans (and specifically to their mortality)
        3. The new heavens and the new earth are provisional, not permanent.
      4. And everyone, believer and non, benefits from this provision
        1. Matthew 5:43ff. - You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45"that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
        2. So this is the love of God, but not a love that saves.
        3. We call this "common grace" (as opposed to saving grace) because it is a goodness of God that is common to all.
      5. And he does this that men might be moved to repentance by his goodness.
        1. Acts 14:17 - Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
        2. Romans 2:4 - Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
      6. Instead, they scoff and pretend he will not judge
        1. 2 Peter 3:3-7 - knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
        2. So they exploit this common grace of God to pretend that the created order will always continue.
        3. But God brought it to an end once
        4. And the phrase "while the earth remains" shows he will do so again.
        5. But the promise is in effect, next time I destroy the earth will be the last time.
      7. And so the created order is extended until the last of the elect are called in, and then God can wrap up the whole show.
  3. The Superiority of the Sacrifice of Christ
    1. His Sinless Offering
      1. Noah fails to perfectly picture the work of Christ. He is not truly righteous.
      2. Noah cannot truly bring in the new creation because he is sinful.
      3. And Noah cannot truly represent you as a righteous man
      4. When he offered up those animals, it was for his own sins, not yours. He had himself to consider and thus could not consider you.
      5. But Jesus, your great high priest offered up himself, a sinless offering.
        1. He did not have to first make atonement for himself (like Noah, or the priests under the Mosaic Law)
        2. Rather, his offering and atonement were for you.
        3. And they have been accepted, a soothing aroma before God.
    2. His True Efficacy
      1. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin
      2. But your sins have been placed on the head of Christ
    3. His Permanent Results
      1. Noah died
      2. Christ passed from judgment into life - eternal life
      3. Noah brought in an impermanent new creation
        1. The new creation that has been brought in is permanent
        2. It shall roll on for thousands and thousands of years and the one who makes all things new
      4. Noah did not bring in a new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. Christ did.
      5. So this creation will stand before the Lord forever
      6. And you and I in it will ever praise his name.

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