Lesson 5 – Noah and the Flood

In the flood, God destroyed sinful people. Jesus, His Son, destroyed sin, once and for all, in His death and resurrection, giving life to sinful people.

Opening

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This lesson will use the Bible, the Bible Exploration Guide and the Lesson 5 Leaflet from the Student Pack. The front cover shows how the artist sees the Noah and his family making a sacrifice to God after the flood waters receded. Also paper and pencil will be needed.

Very often, parts of the world experience disasters.  These include thunderstorms, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding,  fires, wars, epidemics, droughts, famines, and volcanic eruptions.

Watch the  "Florida qroup helping midwest flood victims"  video to see how people helped others who experienced flooding.

What kind of help was provided? The video mentioned relief from the Red Cross; clean-up kits; food; and water.

As much destruction as modern floods do, they don't come close to what happened in the days of Noah. Today, we find out what happened, and why.

Prayer: Lord God, protect and defend us from all evil. In Jesus’ name. Amen

God Speaks

Read Genesis 6:1-4.

Evil accelerated on earth after Cain killed Abel. People admired Nephilim, infamous violent tyrants and warriors. People admire violent, arrogant tyrants and warriors in our world too.

Some of these might include mixed martial arts fighters, athletes, musicians and actors, criminals, and crooked business people and politicians. All have impressive amounts of money or influence they flaunt without

Seth, a son of Adam and Eve born later, carried forward the promise of the Savior and taught his children to worship God. Called "sons of God," Seth's faithful children began to marry attractive "daughters of men" Cain's descendants.

What do you think they lost? Married to unbelievers who lived decadently, Seth’s descendants gave up faith-based living and did not teach their children to love God.  Eventually, they fell away from God too.  This reminds Christians to marry those who share their faith (2 Corinthians 6c14).

Read Genesis 6:5-12.

What grieved God? Human wickedness, evil hearts, violence, and the corruption of God-believers in Seth's family made God sad and regretful.

What did God decide to do? Sorry for making them, God decided to wipe out most humans, animals, birds, and creeping things.

Only one family remained faithful. Who were they? Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Find four descriptions of Noah's faith in verses 8-9. Noah (1) found favor with God, (2) was a righteous man, (3) was blameless in his generation, and (4) walked with God.

Righteous describes "a person in a right relationship with God, trusting God’s promised salvation and living by the covenant promise.

Read the directions on leaflet page 2 and work through the five sections in the leaflet on pages 2 and 3. Check your answers below.

Construction: Read Genesis 6:13-22

God's goal (v. 13): To destroy all flesh with the earth.

Noah's to-do list (vv. 14-17, 19-22): Build an ark of gopher wood, 300 >x 50 x 30 cubits (450 x 75 x 45 feet), with three decks, rooms, and a roof, and cover it with pitch; get two of every animal, bird, and creeping thing, male and female; store food for all.

How the animals were collected (v. 20): They would come to Noah.

God's promises to Noah (v. 18): To establish a covenant with him, save family

Protection: Read Genesis 7:1-16

Why Noah went into the ark (v. 1): God told him to do so.

Why God saved Noah (v. 1): He was righteous, justified by grace through faith.

The ark manifest (vw. 2-3, 7-9, 13-15): The passenger and cargo list included seven pairs of clean animals and birds (for sacrifices) and pairs of the others; Noah and wife, three sons, three wives.

Noah's age and the date the flood started (v. 11): Six hundred years; seventeenth day, second month.

Sources of water (v. 11): Fountains of the great deep (springs) and windows of heaven (rain) - extraordinary amounts of water!

Who shut the ark door (v. 16): God

Destruction: Read Genesis 7:17-24

How long the flood continued (v. 17): Forty days

How high the water rose (w. 18-20): Fifteen cubits, or over twenty-two feet,  above mountaintops; one cubit is about eighteen inches.

Who and what perished; who and what survived (vv. 21-23): All living flesh, people and animals, who weren't in the ark died.

How long the water stayed high (v. 24): 150 days, when the two water sources were shut off

Deliverance: Read Genesis 8:1-19

What God did to dry the earth (w. 1-3): He sent a wind, closed fountains of the deep and windows of heaven.

When and where the ark landed (v. 4): Mount Ararat, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month.

When the mountaintops emerged from water (v. 5): First day of tenth month.

What the raven's actions told Noah (vv. 6-7): The scavenging raven found lots to eat near the ark it stayed there until the land dried, and then left.

What the dove's three flights told Noah (vv. 8-12): (1) It found no place to land. (2) It came back late one day with a fresh olive leaf, showing plants were returning. (3) It didn't return, showing that the waters had receded.

When Noah left the ark and why (vv. 14-19): Noah left the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second month because God told him to. The land had dried up enough.

 Renewal: Read Genesis 8:20-9:17

What Noah did when he came out of the ark (8:20): Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed some clean animals and birds as burnt offerings.

What God promised (8:21-22): God would never again curse the ground because of man, whose heart is evil from his youth. He'd never strike down every living creature again. Seasons and days would remain as long as the earth does.

God's blessing (9:1, 7): Be fruitful and multiply: this was the same command given to Adam and Eve (1:28).

Earlier, God told people to eat only plants. List what God now said to eat (9:2-3). Birds, animals, fish, ground creepers, and green plants

What God said not to eat and why (9:4-6): Flesh (meat) with blood in it; life is in blood.

Why God said not to kill (9:5-6): God made man in His own image. Those who shed the blood of another should have their own blood shed.

God's covenant promise and its sign (9:8-17): God promised not to destroy the earth again with water. The rainbow is a sign of that promise.

We Live

On page 4 of the leaflet, read 1 Peter 3:18, 20-21 and think about these questions.

So, what does the water of the flood symbolize? The waters of the flood symbolize the waters of Baptism.

Whom do you think the ark symbolizes? The ark symbolizes Christ or the Word of God. Jesus suffered for our sins to bring us to God. Baptism saves us because in it, we die and rise to new life with Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Closing

On page 4 of the leaflet, read the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed and Martin Luther’s explanation.

In the Bible Exploration Guide, read pages 10 through 12.

As a closing prayer, sing or read the words of the hymn "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say it".