Animal sacrifices, instituted by God before the flood, were continued after it; Noah, on his coming forth from the ark, offered up burnt-offerings on the newly-ordered earth. We learn that he offered burnt-offerings (Gen. 8:2020And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20)), but only of every clean beast and of every clean fowl. Before the flood Noah was evidently well acquainted (Gen. 7:22Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (Genesis 7:2)) with clean and unclean animals, though the means by which he had learned it has not been recorded. With the giving of the law further teaching in reference to sacrifice was unfolded, but prior to that we meet with burnt-offerings, with sacrifices which resembled in character somewhat the peace-offering of the Mosaic ritual, and drink-offerings. After the flood, each progenitor of a nation must have carried with him from the cradle of the race the knowledge that such sacrifices could be offered to God. Immensely important as such teaching was, it was not all that God intended to impart. Before He had called Israel out of Egypt, and had given them a ritual in which sacrifices occupied prominent place, the Lord made known what He thought of the burnt-offering, and something too of what it was in His eyes to give up to death an only Son. We learn these lessons from the histories of Noah, Job and Abraham.
Noah, as he came forth from the ark, reared up his altar and offered his burnt offerings. It may have been a silent service, for we read of nothing that God had heard, but only of what He smelled. A silent service perhaps, yet how full of meaning to Him, and instruction to us; for our attention is clearly meant to be fixed on the sacrifices then offered up, on which the Lord’s eyes rested, and which were well pleasing to Him.
Sweetness to the Lord
A sweet savor! This is the first time we meet with such an expression. “The Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in His heart” (before He spoke to Noah He spoke to Himself), “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:21-2221And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:21‑22)). The Lord would change His way of dealing with man, and would institute, as long as earth should last, an abiding order of things. But why these thoughts and purposes of God? Because of the sweet savor of the sacrifice. Viewing all that yet remained alive on earth of the human race, God declared that man himself was unchanged. As children of Adam, then, we have nothing to boast of before God.
Punishment then, whether suffered or witnessed, does not change man. The announcement therefore of a change in God’s dealings with him did not arise from any improvement in man, whether present or prospective. It arose simply and solely from the sweet savor which God smelled. Hence we are permitted to see what God can do for man by virtue of the death of His Son. It was this that was before Him as He smelled a sweet savor, and straightway communed with Himself.
God Blesses His Creatures
We read that, besides speaking to Himself, the Lord opened His mouth to let those around the altar learn of His ways in goodness. God blessed Noah and his sons. This was something quite new. He had blessed Adam and Eve when in innocence. He had blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; but never, that we read of, did God bless a sinful creature, till Noah had taken of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and had offered them as burnt-offerings unto the Lord. Then He did not wait a moment. The ground was laid in type on which He could bless, and He did. He blessed Noah and his sons. Before the flood God spoke to Noah, but never addressed one word to his sons. After the burnt-offering had ascended up to Him He spoke to them all, and recognized them all as having a place before Him. He blessed them all in the fullest way as regards earthly things, and as creatures of earth, sinful though they were, they could enjoy His blessing.
Food Given
Noah, though the father of all alive upon the earth, did not occupy that place in creation which Adam had filled. But what God never gave to Adam He bestowed on Noah and on his sons. To Adam there were given for food every herb bearing seed, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed (Gen. 1:2929And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (Genesis 1:29)). After the fall God allowed them to eat only of the herb of the field (Gen. 3:1818Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (Genesis 3:18)). But on the acceptance of Noah’s burnt-sacrifice, God gave to man everything on earth for food — all that grew, and everything that lived on earth, in the air, and in the sea, blood only excepted. From this God has never withdrawn. What God then said holds good to this day. The grant is as free as ever (1 Tim. 4:4-54For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4‑5)).
So as we exercise our freedom as to articles of food and of flesh especially, we are sharing in the grant the Lord then made on the ground of the sweet savor of the sacrifice. Had the grant depended for its continuance on man’s obedience it would have been forfeited long ago. Had it been promised on the ground of any improvement to be made in man’s nature, it never could have been enjoyed. But given solely as it was on the acceptability of the sacrifice, its continuance was not dependent on conditions which man had to fulfill. As long as that sacrifice, of which Noah’s burnt-offerings were but types, abides in acceptance before God, so long, while men need such food, can that grant continue. In this we see an illustration of a principle of great importance to us. All depends for man’s blessing on this: What is the sacrifice in God’s eyes? What a blessed ground is this to rest upon! Here God can act according to the dictates of His own heart. Here man, unworthy though he be, can receive richly and unconditionally from God.
Christian. Friend, Vol. 6 (adapted)