Genesis 8: The LORD's Promise

In verse 16-17, God says to Noah, "¹⁶Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷Bring out every living thing of all flesh that is with you—birds, livestock, creatures that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." And Noah did as God commanded.


After Noah got off the ark, in verse 20, he "built an altar to the LORD. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the alter". This was Noah's way of showing respect and thanking the Lord, rather than just forgetting that the Lord spared him. When God smelled the 'pleasing aroma' of the offerings, He said in verse 21, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man's inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done."

 ²² As long as the earth endures,
    seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
    summer and winter, and day and night
    will not cease."

God made a promise that He would never do what He had just done. This is amazing, because He knows that when mankind multiplies and populates the earth once again, they will continue to be wicked and evil. Yet, there is so much love and kindness in God's heart that He promises that He will never again strike down every living thing as He had just done.