Fragrance

The covenant the Father made with Noah is well known. Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood. Rainbows strike joy in hearts all over...the sign of this covenant! Yet, there is another beautiful picture within this story.

In Genesis 8, Noah makes an altar and sacrifices burnt offerings from some of the clean animals and birds. The Lord smells this offering...a pleasing aroma...

This catches my eye, as aroma is a synonym for the word He has revealed He wants to teach me about in this season...fragrance. I look over to the book beside me (Fire and Fragrance by Sean Feucht and Andy Byrd), and I realize we are going to be journeying through this idea through the whole of Scripture. I realize fire created the burnt offering and fragrance lifts.

So let's look at what this fragrance from Noah's offering sets in motion. The Lord smells it and makes a decision. Never again will He curse the ground because of humans (and more...but for the focus of this, I'm sharing only this section). Remember back in Genesis 3 that God curses the ground because of Adam! Anyone else as excited as me about this?

There's more!

So I'll admit, I'm a little bit excited when I see genealogies. He has taught me much from them! In Genesis 5, we find the written account of Adam's family line, and I am captivated by what is written here about Lamech (Noah's dad). He named him Noah (meaning rest) and then he said something that ties all of this together.

He says that Noah will comfort them in the labor and toil of their hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.

So we have God cursing the ground due to Adam's sin, Lamech prophesying Noah will bring comfort in the issues caused by that curse, and Noah's offering causes the Lord to decide to never again curse the ground.

Insert mind blown face!

As I sit here, I know this is only the tip of the iceberg. Revelation 5:8 says that the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb and were holding golden bowls of incense (which are prayers of His people). Incense creates a smell...a pleasing aroma...fragrance. Beginning to end fragrance matters.

So what does this mean for us? For me? The answer seems clear: seek to know the heart of God so that our sacrifice/offering leads to a pleasing aroma unto Him and expect Him to respond!

Keep seeking...