20 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.
21 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.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Offerings given unto God are a vital part and expression of our worship of God. There is no true worship of God without offerings. In Genesis 22 when God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering to Him, Abraham said to his servants that he was going to the mountain to worship God. He called his offering unto God worship of God. That’s how we ought to see or perceive our offering unto God. God is the ancient of days; He is the ageless One that never changes, therefore our worship of Him must not be subject to changing times and seasons. We ought to seek out the acceptable way to serve and worship God. We are not permitted to speculate, or experiment, or improvise. No, a million times no! We are meant to seek out the acceptable way to serve God, which has been clearly spelt out in the Word. Beloved, offerings and the worship of God are eternally inseparable.
After Noah came out of the ark, our opening Scripture tells us that Noah offered burnt offerings unto God and the Bible says God smelt a sweet savour and God changed his mind as to the first curse that he placed upon the earth because of Adam’s transgression. The Lord said, “I will no longer curse the earth for man’s sake.” Why? Because Noah offered a burnt offering unto God. Did you see the power of offerings? Noah’s burnt offering unto God was the game-changer for humanity. Adam’s disobedience triggered a curse on the earth for man’s sake, but through Noah’s offering, the curse was reversed. Instead of the curse, a blessing was pronounced by God. You can change the course of nature by an offering, you can change the course of your family by an offering; by an offering, you can change the course of your life forever, offering that which honours God from your heart, giving to God in faith. By an offering, Abel changed the course of his life. Hebrews 11:4 says, “…God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” God testified of Abel’s offering or gifts, and by that testimony, though he was long dead yet still speaks. He was immortalized by an offering given unto God in faith. The works of your hands will live forever by a lifestyle of honour and worship of God through offerings done in faith. So, when you offer anything to God, do it in faith; your offering is altering the course of your life and is causing things to happen for you that your children will enter, and they will be glad you gave offerings to God in faith.
My Solid Front (Confession):
Thank You heavenly Father for enlightening the eyes of my understanding to know the power of offerings. I declare that I give worthy offerings to the Lord; I do it in faith, and I positively alter the course of my life and generations yet unborn in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further Meditation:
1 Chronicles 21; 2 Chronicles 1:1-12.