Sacrifice and Swarms

After a whole year stuck in the ark, Noah stepped out and God expanded his vision:

“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” (Genesis 8:16-17)

For most of his life, Noah was in the service of a lonely and refining call. He prepared an ark in solitude, waiting for a flood that would sweep the earth.

But as the land appeared again, the Lord echoed the command of Eden. He told Noah, “Stretch out.” Soon, swarms of animals would fill the earth, and Noah’s family would flood the open space.

Broad places would replace the cramped corners.

A far-reaching lineage would push through the boundaries of the ark.

Swarms of living creatures would fill up the lifeless terrain.

The promise was there, right in front of Noah.

But before he grabbed it—before the swarms arrived—he resolved to give it back to God as an offering of faith.

“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” (Genesis 8:20)

By killing animals for the sacrifice, Noah moves in the reverse direction of the promise. Outside the ark, animals were meant to multiply, not die. All the same, in Noah’s surprising offering, there is a demonstration of faith that touches the heart of God:

“And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man …” (Genesis 8:21)

Sometimes the boldest step of faith is in the reverse direction of the promise. God is pleased when we bring to the altar the vision that he put into our hands. In this way, we show him that we trust him to fulfill it.

Forcing the promise through Hagar always leads to heartache. It is in waiting, trusting, and sacrificing that the laughter of Isaac comes at God’s perfect time.

If the promise is from God, he will bring it to pass. A sacrifice that seems like a step back from the promise is often God’s means of fulfilling it.