Genesis 8:21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
One of the most challenging things to do is to get married! It is also one of the most wonderful things as well, if you can master one thing: communication! Almost every couple I have met in my over forty years of helping couples needs help with communication, and I am no exception.
But difficulty with communication is just a couples thing. Everyone has difficulty taking what their thoughts are in their mind and translating those thoughts into speech and body language that truly convey the message you are desperately trying to get understood. Even the simplest messages can get crossed between our brains and the receiver’s interpretation.
So imagine translating a document whose origins are over three thousand years old. Could there possibly be some things that get missed, parts of the original that just don’t seem to have a good way to bridge the gap? This is often true with the Scriptures.
You see the Scriptures were meant to be read and memorized. The sounds of the original language would have been ringing in the ears and hearts of those who listened. They would hear things that just can’t be passed along without the translation becoming so cumbersome it becomes unreadable.
Today’s text has a particular sound that is hard to bring across in English. The first phrase, “smelled the pleasing aroma” is just such a phrase. The word for smelled and the word for pleasing aroma sound very much alike.
In English we might translated it “smelled a pleasing smell” or “breathed a pleasing breath.” Both of these are awkward in English, especially the latter. But it is the latter that would bring up the biggest connection for a Hebrew listener. Let me explain.
You see, the words translated here have the same root letters, and a very similar sound to the word translated “Spirit” of God from verse two of chapter one. This word, RUACH, is translated breath, spirit, wind and a few other breathy type of words.
The important thing to realize is that the sound of these three words is very similar and would probably remind the hearer of the connection. So back to our text.
After the flood, Noah made a sacrifice of some of the animals as a way to say thank you to the LORD for the deliverance. Noah had believed the message about the flood, and had spent almost a hundred years building the ark. Now that is a big project. And it was successful.
And when the LORD sees the sacrifice and smells the aroma of the sacrifice He responds with a promised of mercy. Even though He knows that humanity isn’t changed, really, He promises not to act in judgment like this again. That is mercy. We deserve it, but He withholds judgment based on this promise.
But one day, judgment will come. But it won’t be by the waters of a universal flood. If we read the books of Revelation, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, we can get an apocalyptic picture of the apocalypse. There I go with the similar sound words again! It is not a literal picture, as in every event is going to take place exactly as portrayed, but the message of the message is true.
There is a new heaven and a new earth coming. God will provide an ark of safety for those who trust in Him, even through the apocalyptic apocalypse. Is your seat reserved?