DWDP - Gen 8-20 Noak Built an Altar

A barren mountain, soaked earth, and a small family stepping into a silent world—Noah’s first move isn’t survival strategy but worship. We open Genesis 8:20 and trace how an altar on Ararat reframes gratitude, cost, and the shape of true devotion in a new beginning. When Noah offers from every clean animal and bird, he isn’t burning excess. He’s giving up what would feed, clothe, and seed the future. That one-seventh offering cuts into comfort and reveals a heart that trusts God more than margins. From there, we follow the Bible’s clear thread: sin brings death, forgiveness requires blood, and cheap worship is no worship at all.

We then bridge the flood to our lives. Rescue is more than survival; it’s transformation. We remember what it means to be pulled from the mire, washed clean, and given a new name through Jesus Christ. As we unpack the meaning of propitiation—how the cross satisfies both God’s righteousness and justice—we see Noah’s altar as a signpost pointing to the final sacrifice. The question turns personal: if we are bought with a price and temples of the Holy Spirit, what does our gratitude actually cost? Time, habits, money, reputation—worship touches all of it.

Along the way, we revisit why Cain’s offering failed and Abel’s was accepted, why blood atonement is central, and how a life of thanksgiving looks when it moves beyond words to embodied trust. The aim isn’t guilt, but clarity and courage: devotion that smells like Noah’s smoke and shines with Christ’s love. Listen, reflect, and decide what you will place on the altar today. If this conversation stirred you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to More Than Medic, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr. Robert Jackson.

Setting The Scene After The Flood

Physical Rescue And Spiritual Salvation

The First Altar And Blood Atonement

The Costly One-Seventh Sacrifice

You Are Bought With A Price

Measure Of Devotion Questions

Measure Of Devotion Questions

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Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go get your brother and your sisters, and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr. Papa. Gather round, grab your Bibles, and let's look into the written word, which reveals to us the living word, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we're in Genesis chapter eight and verse twenty. Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal, of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading from his word. Let's ponder together what Noah and his family saw when they departed from the Ark. Number one, a barren and muddy mountain landscape with a modicum of greenery just beginning to emerge on trees and shrubs and maybe a little bit of grass. Were there partially decomposed carcasses of dead people and dead animals lying about? Or were all the dead people and animal all buried in the mud, or perhaps washed out to sea? We don't know the answer to that. Number three, for the first time, Noah and his family saw rain and clouds, and heard thunder, and saw lightning. Noah and his sons probably wanted to descend the mountain and explore this new world. Seeing clouds and rain squalls, misses Noah and the daughters in law said let's stay here close to the ark. It may flood again. four emotionally Noah and his family were relieved that the violent and corrupt generation that populated the earth and ridiculed their shipbuilding and rejected Noah's preaching of righteousness were no longer present. But it was a big world and lonely, with just themselves populating the entire planet. Number five, gratitude. Thankfulness had to be the overwhelming emotion in all of their hearts, as they realized that God had allowed them to escape a worldwide deluge, a cataclysmic worldwide mabul, a worldwide flood. Remember, the Hebrew word for worldwide flood was mabul. It's exactly how I feel when I realize how great a salvation the Heavenly Father has offered to me. I mean, think about it. I was spiritually dead in my trespasses and sins. I was in bondage to sin and Satan, and I was spiritually blind, unable to perceive spiritual truth. Then Jesus came and rescued me from the overwhelming flood that threatened to take me under. He plucked me up from the miry clay, set me up on a solid rock, gave me new life. He gave me his life, washed me clean in the blood of the Lamb, gave me his righteousness as a free gift, and wrote my name down in the Lamb's book of life. I am now a citizen of heaven and a child of God with a new name written down in glory. Sometimes it just makes me want to shout Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus. You and I have been rescued from the overwhelming flood just as Noah and his family were. They were rescued from a devastating physical flood. You and I were rescued from an eternally devastating spiritual flood. We are all equally and overwhelmingly thankful to the Father of mercies. So what was Noah's first action when he descended from the ark? The Bible says he built an altar to the Lord. Did you realize this is the first mention of an altar in the Bible? Not the first mention of sacrifice, but the first mention of an altar. Cain and Abel brought sacrifices, and we know what happened there. Why didn't God accept Cain's sacrifice of vegetables? Well you should know this, because my third grade boys know this. The soul that sins shall surely die. Exodus thirty four seven. The penalty for sin is death. Romans six twenty three. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission, no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews nine twenty two. Now dear listener, you should have those three verses firmly fixed in your mind. You should know that progression by heart. There had to be a blood sacrifice to cover sin, to atone for sin. Abel knew that. Cain was willfully ignorant or defiant. Who knows? Noah was thankful and worshipful. What do people do at an altar? Well, they worship, they confess their sin, they express thanks, and they offer a sacrifice. I imagine with a little sanctified imagination that Noah did all of that, same as you and I should when we approach God. But an offering, a sacrifice that cost you nothing is meaningless. Noah offered one seventh of all the clean animals. Did you catch that? He offered one of all the clean animals as a sacrifice to God. There were seven pair of all clean animals that went on the ark with him, and he took one pair of all the clean animals and he offered them as a sacrifice to God. So he offered one seventh of all the clean animals that were on the ark. Think about that. That was a huge sacrifice. Not one tenth, but one seventh. These were the cattle, the sheep, the goats, the animals that could be domesticated, the ones he and his family would need to live on. And the women folk stood there with their hands up in the air thinking, what is he doing? These are the ones that are going to provide the wool, the milk, the meat. Is he crazy or what? You understand the measure of his gratitude, the measure of his devotion to God was in that one seventh. What about you and me? How do we measure our devotion? You see, you and I have to give to Jesus everything, all that we are and all that we have. No kidding. You see, he gave his all to purchase my redemption. He left glory and became a man. And if that weren't enough, then he became a servant among men. And if that wasn't enough, then he became a sacrificial lamb to purchase men for God. If you've been purchased out of the slave market of sin and adopted into the royal family, you owe Jesus a passionate, fiery love. And your entire life belongs to him. First Corinthians 16 and verse 9 says, What? Do you not know that you are the temple of Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God with your mind and your body. You see, brother and sister, you're a temple of the Holy Spirit, and you belong to God. You have been bought with the very blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, you're obliged to glorify God with your mind and your body. Here's the question: how thankful are you? What measure of devotion will you give? The blood sacrifice that Noah offered was a type. It was a picture, a portrayal of the perfect and final sacrifice that Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, would offer many years later. Now listen to John and 1 John chapter 2 and verse 1 through 2. Now this is a very interesting verse. John, 1 John chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. He said, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Now what does that word propitiation mean? Propitiation means to satisfy the offended righteousness of God and the violated justice of God. In his blood sacrifice, Jesus did both. And not for just you and me, but for those of the whole world. So Noah builds an altar and offers one seventh of the clean animals. And what happens next? Well, I'd really like to tell you, but we're out of time. You'll have to tune in next week to find out. Same time, same station, and don't forget your decoder rings. All right. You're listening to Devotion with Dr. Papa? Remember, Jesus loves you and your doctor loves you. And until next week, may the Lord bless you real good.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Medistry or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, Instagram, or web page at Jackson Family Medistry.