Hebrews 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Genesis 6:5  And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
9  These are the generations of Noah:  Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10  And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
13  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14  Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15  And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of:  The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16  A window shalt thou make into the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof: with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17  And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18  But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
19  And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20  Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22  Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

MEMORY VERSE:  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.  Hebrews 11:7

CENTRAL THOUGHT:  Because of the terrible sinful condition of mankind, God decided to destroy them from the face of the earth.  But because of Noah and his family who were leading godly earnest lives before Him, God gave Noah instructions for the means of escaping this destruction.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Hebrewes 11:7,  “moved with fear”:  Obeyed God with sincere reverence. “condemned the world”: Brought judgment against all humanity.  “became heir”:  Fully possessed.

Genesis 6:6,  “repented the LORD”:  Made the LORD very sorry.
Verse 7,  “I will destroy man”:  I will wipe off man.
Verse 8,  “found grace”:  Obtained favor and good will.
Verse 9,  “walked with God”:  Was in full fellowship and well pleasing before God.
Verse 14,  “gopher wood”:  A special kind of wood thought to be cypress.  It was a very stout wood very suitable for being used to build the ark.  “pitch”:  This was a substance like asphalt that would withstand water.
Verse 15:  “cubit”:  Eighteen inches or one and one-half feet.  The length of the ark was 300 cubits which equaled 450 feet; the breadth (or width) was 50 cubits which equaled 75 feet; and the height of the ark was to be 30 cubits which equaled 45 feet.  Such were the dimensions of the ark.
Verse 18,  “with thee will I establish my covenant”:  With Noah was God’s promise of deliverance without fail.

LESSON BACKGROUND

Since the fall of man from fellowship with God and pleasing their Creator, humanity had sunk in a mire of filth, lust, greed, and all manner of sin and transgression.  In the first few verses of this 6th chapter of Genesis there is indication of uncontrolled lust of men toward the opposite sex. Men looked upon the women and “…they took them wives of all which they chose.”  This is an indication of lust and inordinate desires that grew and multiplied upon humanity until the Almighty God who created the world and its inhabitants became very angry and displeased.  He was very sorry that he had made man on the earth.  And with that grief and displeasure came the decision and purpose in the heart of God to bring it to an end.

But, thank God, there was one family that was still seeking to do what was right and pleasing in His sight.  This helps us to see and realize that we as humans do not have to go the way that is displeasing to our gracious Creator.  Noah did not follow the current of society.  He, along with his wife, their three sons, and their wives, were striving to hold fast to the LORD.  It is the same today.  The world that we live in is sunk in the mire of lust and sinful desires and ways.  But we do not have to follow that kind of way of living.  Just as Noah was a good example of faith and obedience to God, we can do the same in our day.  Oh, how much better it is to resist temptations and the allurements of sin and the world around us and to strive to live and conduct ourselves after a godly manner that is pleasing to our Creator!  2 Peter 2:5 speaks how God “…spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”  It is evident that while Noah and his sons worked on building and preparing the ark, they spoke to those around about, declaring what was coming and warning them to turn from their sinful ways to seek the mercy and pleasure of God.  Thus Noah was a preacher of righteousness.

Noah did according to all that God commanded him to do.  Sad to say, there were no converts to his preaching.  Noah and his wife and their three sons and their wives were the only ones who entered the ark along with all the animals and birds that also went in.  Today we are living in the last and final days of time.  Jesus will soon come from the Heavens to bring this world to eternal judgment and damnation.  It is for us to take diligent heed to His Word of warning found in the New Testament and prepare our hearts to meet the Saviour in the air and be accounted worthy to share with Him His eternal glory!              —Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

1. How did Noah manifest the true faith that God was pleased with?
2. Why was God so sorry that He had created man on the earth?
3. What did God decide that He would do about it all?
4. What did God tell Noah to do in order to escape the flood?
5. What was Noah’s response to God’s instructions given to him?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

We would all be wise to consider the challenge and responsibility that faced Noah in comparison with what we today are facing.  We are living in an age much like what Noah lived in if not a worse one.

We are persuaded by the Holy Scriptures that Jesus will come again in power and great glory and accomplish the utter destruction of this present heavens and earth.  He will gather all mankind to face Him in a great judgment bar.  And just as the flood destroyed the ungodly multitudes in the flood in Noah’s day, even so will God Almighty send to eternal damnation all who are not obedient to the faith of His Son Jesus Christ.  Over 2000 years have passed since Jesus passed from earth up to the right hand of God to intercede for us.  The ages past have looked for His second coming, but the years have passed and we are still looking for Him.  It will pay us a great reward to be diligent in our faith and obedience to Christ and the will of God in preparation of that great and awful day.  Personally, I have deep convictions that the time is very close at hand.  May God bless and help us all to take heed and be prepared to meet that day with victory.         —Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

The future’s civilization depended on one man’s obedience to the great God of heaven’s call to build the ark to save the people’s lives from the flood that would come on the earth.  There could be no improvements on past designs, no testing for leaks, balance, ventilation, nor sanitation.  The whole ark was designed by the master planner, our wonderful creator who would be the only one outside giving the last check before liftoff and closing the door on the vessel.  It sounds exciting to think about while we are sitting in our comfortable pews this morning in a clean air conditioned building with electric lights etc. But what was it like when the door closed and the last rays of light were seen for days as the old world began perishing?

Do you suppose through the noise of the heavy rain as the fountains of the deep opened up and the canopy that covered the earth came down that the cries were unbearable of the men and women pounding on the outside?  “Let us in, Noah, let us in.  Please, Noah open the door!”  We don’t know the answer to that, but we can imagine Noah and his family kneeling down and asking God for mercy as the waters started climbing higher and higher around them.  What an eerie sound it must have been.

The careful placement of all animals involved strategically built pens with latches to keep them in and apart from the sleeping quarters of all four families and their sealed food supplies that nothing could be lost or spoiled.  Do you suppose the first few days there was little sleep as they checked for leaks and rechecked the animal cages for safety?  The weight distribution in the ark had to be perfectly balanced to keep it from having a list.

When you consider the faith that Noah had, he stands out as one of the greatest in the Bible, taking into account that he probably sold all of his possessions to buy materials and spent 100 years to build it.  I find it amusing that it has been said that he was the richest man that ever lived because he floated all his assets.  No matter what speculations man has, we know God designed it and Noah faithfully followed his plan and it worked!  Can you imagine the excitement they had when the waters receded and the ark began to settle back down on the earth, carefully guided again by the hand of the loving creator into a special spot where it would stay upright and not tip over?  Our faith becomes stronger when we read about God’s plan for mankind and one man named Noah who followed that plan.                      —Bro. James Bell