June 8th, 2025: Noah Builds an Altar | Genesis 8:13-22

Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good. (Psalm 119:39).

Did you know that being righteous and just go hand in hand? To be righteous simply means to be, to act, and to do rightly; to be free from guilt or wrongdoing. God is righteous. He, in fact, is the only standard of righteousness that matters. For us, it is not about just avoiding sin. It is aligning our actions and character to God’s standard; pursuing good and patterning our living after Him. Being just, on the other hand, is not appreciated very much in our modern society.  We know God is love, and there is no greater love; however, God is also just. He is fair, impartial, and is no respecter of persons. The hallmark of justice is consistency. Justice can be a little tricky to understand, but destructive to ignore.

And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

So, how did we get here? We are at the end of an epic story, so maybe a little recap is in order. By most timelines, about 1656 years have passed since Adam and Eve were sent away from the Garden. In that time, we have seen the propagation of the godly line of Seth and an ungodly lineage from Cain. Yet by the time we get to Genesis Chapter 6, God is grieved that he ever made man. Why?

  And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart (Genesis 6:5-6). 

The word repentance signals a turn in direction. It’s not that God was surprised by the situation or that He had made a mistake. It was that God had changed his direction in dealing with mankind. It was time for judgment. God will judge sin, He is always true to His word.  

What is the warning for us today? Sin is progressive and accelerating. It didn’t take long for sin to fully corrupt mankind. Is the called out body of Christ so intermingled with the world that we are corrupted by sin? Is there a difference between the world and the church in behavior, attitude, and worldview? There had better be! Jesus told his disciples, as recorded in the gospel of Matthew, to watch for His return.  It would be the same in that day as it was in Noah’s day.  

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:35-29) Key point: God’s word will not pass away. 

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8).  Noah found grace. This statement means that Noah didn’t earn the protection and provision that the Lord gave him, but there was a reason God allowed him to escape from punishment. Noah wasn’t perfect, but it is evident that he believed God. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9). There should be a visible and solid difference in the life of the believer, which comes from aligning ourselves with the word of God and walking with Him. Our lesson starts here-

And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

God took tender care of Noah and his family. He gave them the instructions, the strength, the ability, and the time to construct the ark. He sent the animals to them. He told them when it was time to enter, and he sealed the door himself. He kept them safe through the storm and chaos. He was their lookout to signal when it was safe to come back out of the ark. Every step of the way, he spoke to them and cared for them. Nothing happened outside of His knowledge and without His consent. Yet while he was in the ark, wrath fell on all of creation, death and world-altering change occurred to everything and everyone.  The lives inside the ark were spared. God didn’t allow those who believed Him to perish along with the rest. Sin is always judged, and God is always righteous and just.  

Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

Image stepping out of the ark onto ground unrecognizable. Imagine the stillness. Imagine how humbled Noah must have felt that God had spared his soul and his family.  Adam and Eve were given a garden perfectly designed to meet their every need, but sin had wrecked everything.  Noah’s needs were met by God, in a much harsher world in this time of starting over.  “Be fruitful and multiply,”. Live abundantly, raise families.  Don’t grieve over the world that’s lost, but live fully in the new life you have entered. The command of God foreshadows the words of Christ.  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) Colossians 1:12-13 says, Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: The lives we had before we encountered Christ were under wrath and condemnation because of sin, but we are not living the same life now.  We are born again, we have started over and like Noah, we need to live lives that are fruitful and constantly growing.

And 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. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; 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.

The altar Noah built was supplied from the obedience Noah had to the Word of God. He was instructed to take two of every unclean animal, but seven of the clean animals (those that were used in sacrifice). God had given Noah protection, provision, grace, and mercy. Noah gave back to God a portion in gratitude on the altar. Building an altar is a public acknowledgment of our surrender to God. It is an opportunity to worship God for all that He has done and to show gratitude for His presence in our lives. God doesn’t have to grant access, it is His grace.  

God renewed His covenant with Noah. He promised that the world would not be judged by water again. God is merciful, He is patient. His righteousness is shown in His judgment of sin.  His justice is shown in his consistency in character. Those who believe Him enough to obey find Him to be more than enough to carry them through this life and into the next one. Another judgment is coming, sin will not go unanswered, but if we find grace, like Noah did, we will be protected just as he was. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. 

Fearmongers grasp for power over others by speaking doubt and fear. The world is full of the noise of panic about things like man-made climate change, scarcity, and threats of overpopulation. There is peace to be found in knowing you can trust the Word of God. “As long as the earth remains…” We’ll have seasons, God will never lose control of the earth, of time, or of the future. The world won’t last forever, but God will, and those who have trusted Him have absolutely nothing to fear.

Thank you for studying with us! God bless!