Sacrifice to Burn Away Beast Nature – Genesis Chapter 8

Sacrifice to Burn Away Beast Nature – Genesis Chapter 8
by Sabrina Dawkins

Living creatures are used in sacrifices to act out the consequence of sin: death. But living creatures also represent man, who is also a beast (Ecclesiastes 3:18). After the flood, when Noah exited the ark, he made an altar and sacrificed of the clean beasts and birds. The fact that they were clean is significant because they symbolize God making clean his followers. The flood was like a giant symbolic baptism for the eight souls who were lifted up by water (1 Peter 3:20-21).

God wants to rid man of his beast nature. By being born again and receiving the Holy Spirit, man is no longer a slave to sin and his beast instincts. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist baptizes with water, but Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. And here Noah gives burnt offerings of the creatures to God in worship, representative of burning away the beast nature and Noah’s dedication to remain clean and ruled by spirit instead of flesh after the baptism by flood.

The smoke that goes up from the burnt offering produces a sweet smell to God, which symbolizes the sweet smell of Christ offered as a sacrifice, along with his followers who are in him and being saved (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).

Man is evil even as a child. God sees this and has compassion on man, who has a beast nature. He will not curse the soil or kill all the living things again by method of flood waters (2 Peter 3:7). But he wants man to want to separate from that beast nature and gain eternal life by allowing the Holy Spirit to operate through a body dead to sin (Romans 6:2), through a beast sacrificed, baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire to gain new life in Christ (John 14:19-20).

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