Genesis Chapter Eight Verses 20-24

Noah built an altar to God. Verse 20

“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it” (Genesis 8:20). The sequence of events is very important. 

God tells Noah to leave the ark. So, he leaves the ark. But the first thing he does after stepping on dry ground is to build an altar to the Lord! Praise God! Not many people would have done that as their first act after getting out of the ark. 

I can imagine most folks running from the ark, kicking up their heels, and saying, “Thank God were out of there!”  “Let’s go. Let’s get started. Let’s look around and see what’s here!” 

Not Noah. His first act was to publicly thank God for his deliverance. Like the ten lepers who were cured by Jesus and only one returned to give thanks (Luke 17:11-19), even so we often receive great blessings from the Lord and in our haste to enjoy them, we seldom stop to say thank you to God.

But Noah took time to build an altar and then to make sacrifices to the Lord. 

Often, God makes the provision and we just go along for the ride. But then, we think “we did it” and don’t give God the Glory He deserves. Noah did not do that. 

The first thing he did was acknowledge the God did it all. Amen!

The offering represented his complete surrender and total dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but also a God of mercy. Amen!

Let this be your motto: I will remember the Lord. Take time to give thanks.