Never Again

Noah Built an Altar

Noah’s immediate response was to build an altar

Throughout the book of Genesis the act of building an altar a significant act

We see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all building altars

Abraham:

Genesis 12:7 “7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”

Genesis 13:18 “18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.”

Altars served many purposes

Worship

A commitment to an on going relationship

A Memorial

A reminder of significant encounters with God (Genesis 12:7)

A reminder of God’s grace and deliverance

Noah building an altar would serve both of these purposes

He offers a sacrifice in response to God’s deliverance

This mirrors our sacrifice in response to the deliverance of Christ on Calvary

It would also serve as a memorial to remind Noah and those after him of what has happened

Just as the symbol of the cross today brings us to remember the work of Christ

The pleasing aroma

Throughout the entire Pentateuch the phrase “pleasing aroma” appears 43 times

In each time it is referencing the aroma of a burnt sacrifice

The aroma is please shows us that the Lord is pleased by our worship

Take a lesson from Noah and worship your God who delivered you

Establishing the Covenant

Now the Lord establishes a new covenant with mankind

Covenants are important to properly understanding Scripture

Scripture is build around the framework of a these covenants

Edenic (bi-lateral)

Adamic

Noahic

Abrahamic

Mosaic (bi-lateral)

Davidic

New Covenant

Each covenant has different characteristics, subjects and times

Most covenants have these three characteristics

Uni-lateral

One sided

instituted and completed by only 1 person: God

It may have requirements upon man, but does not depend upon man

Bi-lateral requires actions by both parties,

Edenic: man: don’t eat the tree

Mosaic: keep the law

But in unilateral covenants God is making a promise to mankind without a requirement being placed upon us

Eternal

Meaning from the institution onward until it’s culmination

Of Grace

They are given to us not because we earned them, but because God’s grace

The Covenant With Noah

Never curse the ground because of man

This is a call back to Genesis 3 where God curses the earth

It acknowledges the evil of mans heart

Because this covenant is formed with man’s evil in mind, we don’t have to fear being unable to keep up our end

God has taken into account our failures

The earth will never be flooded again

This promise to never flood the earth is evidence of a global flood

It also comes with the promise of regularity; seasons and time passing without ceasing

As long as the Earth remains

But there will be a time when the earth will be no more