Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died.
23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
MEMORY VERSE: For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:38, 39.
CENTRAL THOUGHT: When Noah and his family and all the animals and birds were safely housed within the ark Noah had built, God sent rain from heaven and opened up the fountains in the ocean and the earth was flooded and every human being that was not in the ark perished. Because of his faith and obedience to God, Noah and his family were saved from destruction.
WORD DEFINITIONS
Geneses 7:4, “living substance”: Creatures with life and breath.
Verse 13. “in the selfsame day”: Right before the rain started falling they entered the ark.
Verse 14, “creeping thing”: Reptiles. “fowl”: The large birds. “bird”: The small birds. “of every sort”: Of every different size and shape.
Verse 15, “two and two”: Two of each: male and female.
Verse 16, “shut him in”: Closed the door behind him.
Verse 17, “bear up, lift up”: The ark floated above.
Verse 20, “fifteen cubits upward”: The waters were twenty-two and one half feet above the tops of the mountains.
LESSON BACKGROUND
Noah obeyed the LORD in all that God commanded him and built the great ark-ship that was to house him, his family, and a great number of animals and fowls of the air. In our lesson today, we see the ark being inhabited by those for whom God had given direction. Noah, being at the age of six hundred years, with his wife, their three sons and their wives, went into the ark and God shut them in. The rain began to fall, and fountains of water in the ocean were broken up and gushing forth. It is an interesting account that the Holy Scriptures give of this great event. It shows that Noah was able to put his faith into action and accomplish what was needed. Despite the wickedness and lustful society Noah was a part of, this godly man was able to fulfill all the will of God that had been communicated for him to perform. It sounds like, according to the Bible account, that it took forty days of rain to bring enough water around the ark to bear it up. Every creature of man and beast perished except those who had taken their place in the ark. As in our first text, Hebrews 11:7 says, Noah, being warned of God about the coming flood and moved with godly fear, prepared the ark for the saving of his house and family; and this faith brought God’s judgment upon the world.
This is all a great lesson and example of faith that we need to have today. We are under the decree of Almighty God that this present world we live in will one day pass out of existence. The Word of God that put everything together and in shape will cause it all to pass out of existence. It sounds like, according to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 that it will take place “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Paul states that we will be changed to immortality at the coming of Christ and the final trumpet. Oh, how we need to be steadfast in our faith and obedience to the Word of God like Noah was! —Bro. Leslie Busbee
QUESTIONS:
- What did God tell Noah and all of his house to do?
- What other creatures were given room in the ark also?
- What took place after all were safely situated in the ark?
- How high above the mountains did the waters rise?
- What happened to humanity that were not safe in the ark?
COMMENTS AND APPLICATION
In our previous lesson we had the account of God’s favor to Noah in the face of His judgment against the wicked and unholy society of mankind. God made known to Noah what He purposed to do and gave him directions of what course to take. And it is so good to know that Noah’s faith enabled him to go to work with his sons to build the ark. We see him obeying God. This was his only hope of escaping the terrible judgment of Almighty God. This wonderful account of Noah’s faith and obedience to God is a type of the faith and obedience we today need to be working on and endeavoring to fulfill. We live facing the wrath of God that He will one day pour out on this ungodly world. According to 2 Peter 3, just as the world in Noah’s time was overflowed with water and perished, “…the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Verse 7. This great day of God’s wrath will come as a thief in the night, The main current of society has little or no thought about this world passing away. But we who are seeking to please God and be led by His Spirit know and feel keenly the destruction promise He has given. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting [rushing and hurrying] unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” Verses 11, 12. In Luke 21:34-36 our Saviour declares: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [overeating], and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” —Bro. Leslie Busbee
REFLECTIONS
God has made a beautiful earth for us to dwell in. He has provided all the things necessary for a happy life: wife, children, family, fellowship, friends. He has also provided for our natural body and spiritual body. He has provided many different types of food, night and day, all the different seasons of spring, fall, and winter and it is all for our enjoyment and happiness. I would be completely satisfied here if it weren’t for one little word: sin. Sin has darkened the picture of God’s creation and has brought untold misery and broken many hearts and lives. God didn’t create sin, He gave man a choice. Some people like to blame God for the ills we have but He never intended it to be so.
It is difficult to comprehend the depths of depravity and hardness of the human heart without God. Societies like Noah’s get so corrupted in evil that the only remedy is destruction. It mentions in Genesis that the thoughts and imaginations of men were only evil continually. When the cup of iniquity has waxed full, God has brought destruction on many races and peoples of the past. Likewise, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were given over to evil. II Peter chapter 3 talks about the end of time and verse 4 mentions that people do not believe in an end of time, saying, “…all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” Verse 5 then states, ”For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” No amount of evidence will convince the willingly ignorant. Many years ago, we were on a field trip down in the Arbuckle Mountains in southern Oklahoma, and the park guide told us that the mountains were full of fossils that show that water had one time covered them.
Yea, let God be true and every man a liar. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.” Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Lord, help us to do likewise. —Bro. Bob Wilson
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