After the Flood

Throwback Thursday—Looking at Past Posts—January 5, 2012

Genesis 8:20 

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took some of every kind of clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. - Genesis 8:20 NASB20

Life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark
Kentucky - USA 
The animals Noah sacrificed lived on the ark. 

Noah built an altar to the Lord and took clean animals and clean birds and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma.

A soothing aroma.  Ahhh—God was pleased with Noah’s offering.  We don’t think of burnt food as a pleasing aroma---but each to his own and it pleases God. This is a pattern that God later instituted for the Hebrew people.   Moses told pharaoh in Exodus 10:25 that he must let them have sacrifices (flocks & herds) and burnt offerings to sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Noah’s sacrifice seems to be one of Thanksgiving---not for sin.  Later in Leviticus 7:12-15 instructions are given for the sacrifices of thanksgiving.  It is offering needs to be totally eaten, not leaving any of it over until morning (v. 15).  The instructions to present unleavened and leavened bread seem contradictory.  Leaven usually represents sin---but in this situation it is presented as a peace offering to the Lord---and is eaten by the priest.

So it isn’t likely that Noah sat down and presented the offerings to God as a meal.  Scripture says he built an altar and offered burnt offerings which provided a soothing aroma.  May your sacrifices to the Lord represent a soothing aroma.  What sacrifices?  From Psalm 51:17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.  A broken and contrite heart---that God will not despise.  Before you sit down to a meal with the Lord and offer Him thanks as Noah did, be sure that you have come with a heart that pleases Him.

© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®,

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