GENESIS 8
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 cursethe 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.”– Genesis 8:20-22
GENESIS 8 GOD’S RESPONSE TO NOAH’S OFFERING
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
After God delivered Noah and his family in the flood
His response was to built an altar for the Lord
He got some of every clean animal and clean bird
And he burnt them to give it as an offering to God.
God was pleased when the fragrance of the offering reached him
His heart was touched and as a response to it, he gave a promise
He made a covenant with Noah that won’t curse the ground
He won’t blot out every living thing as he had done in the flood
What a great relief it was for Noah and his family to safely come out of the ark and have their feet touch the ground once again. We could witness Noah’s faithfulness to the Lord after they were delivered from the annihilation of living things. His heart is full of thanksgiving and so he built an altar to honor and show gratitude to his Master, Creator and Deliverer. Then he picked out the clean animals and birds without being told by God to do so. He did it out of his own thankfulness.
When the fragrance of the burnt offering reached God, he was very pleased and that act of gratitude of Noah made him vow not to destroy the ground and every living thing once again as he did in the flood. This is how important thanksgiving is to the Lord. He wants to be honored and praised for everything that he has done for us. It manifests our devotion and love for him, just like Noah did.
REFLECTION
- What could we do to honor God since we no longer burn animals as offering?
