Good evening. Let’s just begin our time tonight with a word of prayer.
Tonight I want to attempt to get through Genesis chapters 6-9. So let’s go ahead and jump right in. Of all the animals that are on the earth today, which one would you be happy had it died during the flood?
Well, today we are covering the account of the flood. Let’s go ahead and begin with chapter 6, but tonight we are going to have a rather long passage, because we are going to read strait through chapter 8 right now. So go ahead and let’s read through the first 6 keys. (READ)
Okay, now that was a lot of scripture, so now let’s break it down and take a deeper look at the story of Noah and the Ark. Why do you think that God felt the way He did about human wickedness back in 6:6?
We what we learn in this passage, is that human wickedness became so bad that it grieved God and as a result He destroyed all living creatures with a few exceptions. The account of the flood is written into the history of many ancient people. Jesus believed in the flood. In fact in Matthew 24:37-39 it says, “1”
In I Peter 3:20, Peter says, “… who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,…”
And the author of Hebrews writes in 11:7, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family…”
So a flood of some kind really did happen back in the day of Noah. As we are looking at Noah, what can we learn about Noah’s character from 6:8-9?
If you had been Noah, what would you have thought when God asked you to build a huge ark in the middle of nothing, with no rain in sight?
What do you think was the hardest thing that Noah faced while building the ark?
What do you think it must have been like when Noah and his family first entered the ark?
How about when they heard the first raindrops?
What about when the ark began to float?
And finally when the ark ran aground?
From this account of the flood, and other accounts, what do you believe about the flood? Was it a world wide flood or not?
Well, God brought judgment to the world in the form of a flood. Noah and his family have been in the ark for a total of over a year before they are able to leave the ark and find dry land all around them. What is the longest that you have ever had to wait in t line or wait for something?
Was it worth it?
What do you think Noah and his family did while they were on the ark waiting?
Okay, out of this whole story of the flood that we have read so far, what is the one thing that you find most amazing about this story?
Now I now that was a lot of questions, but hopefully it provided us with a better understanding of the story of Noah and the Ark. The last question I asked what you found amazing from the story, well I have 4 things that I think are amazing from this passage.
First, is the holiness of God. We can see that in 6:1-7. God saw a world of people who were inwardly corrupt, outwardly violent, and upwardly rebellious. Noah was the 10th generation from Adam, so it didn’t take long for sin to spread throughout the human race. So God decided that things needed to change, and in order to make things a little more holy, God decided that He needed to wipe out the sin.
Second, we find in verses 8-7:10 the grace of God. You see, Noah was saved just as any other sinner is saved, by grace through faith. In fact in Ephesians 2:8-9 it says, “2”
In Noah’s case, he heard God’s word, believed God’s promise of protection, and proved his faith by his works. There was only one way to be saved from destruction and that was to enter the ark, and the ark had only one door. It is a picture of the salvation that we have in Jesus. It is the only way to be saved from destruction, and there is only one way there as well, and that is through Jesus.
As we move on and look at 7:11-24 we read about the wrath of God. You see, God does deliver punishment to those who deserve it. God was very patient and gave the world at least 120 years of opportunity to be saved. However, the world refused Noah’s witness and rejected God’s grace up to the very day that Noah and his family went into the ark. God even waited another week but then the judgment came. I can imagine the people making fun of Noah when they entered the ark, not knowing that in a week the true judgment was on its way.
Now we never have to worry about a world wide flood again, but the judgment that we do have to worry about is the final one. Now we are not going to read it, but in II Peter 3:1-12 we read about the judgment being with fire and not water.
And as we conclude what we have read, we find the faithfulness of God. Noah had faith in God and in His promises, and God did not disappoint him. True faith does not get in a hurry, Noah simply waited until the word of God told him what to do, and then he did it. And then the neat thing is that the first thing Noah and his family did on the cleansed earth was worship the God who had faithfully cared for them through a sacrifice.
God then gave them a covenant that assured them that He would never destroy mankind again despite man’s evil heart. This covenant makes possible the sustaining of life on earth. God has been faithful to His covenant, but man has not been faithful in his stewardship of the earth.
Noah and his family were the only believers on earth, yet they witnessed courageously or God and against the evil of their day. They were faithful to God when everything seemed to be against them. God still calls for His people to stand alone if need be, and He promises never to leave or forsake us. You see, God will judge us not on the basis of how many friends we have, but on how faithful we have been to Him. God needs courageous witnesses today as well.
Now, what I want to do before we look at chapter 9 is ask a few application questions. What is something difficult that God has asked you to do, either now, or earlier in life?
How are you at waiting for the blessings that God has told you about?
Noah built an altar, and worshiped God with sacrifices. How have you expressed your gratitude toward God recently when He has brought through a difficult situation?
Does anyone have anything from these chapters that you would like to add?
Okay, well if there is nothing else, I want to get through the first half of chapter 9 tonight as well. Here in this passage, we read about the covenant between God and Noah. Could I get that last key to go ahead and read Genesis 9:1-17 for us please? (Read)
In verses 1-7, why does God repeat much of what He told Adam in the beginning?
What does He tell Noah that is different?
In this passage, what is the sign of the new covenant?
What purpose does the sign serve?
Well this first half of the chapter was all about a promise that God was making to Noah, and the covenant sign that He put in place. Now, I didn’t want to spend much time on this passage anyway, so let’s move to the application questions to close our time out this evening.
What symbolic rainbow have you experienced recently?
In what areas of your life does this passage bring you comfort?
And finally, where does this passage challenge you?
Does anyone have anything that they would like to add about this half of the chapter?
Well, if there is nothing else, I will close us in a word of prayer, and then we will be dismissed. For next week, try and read the rest of Genesis 9-11. we should be able to get through that much next week hopefully. Keep in mind the folders and writing down things as you are reading through the passage during the week to bring here to our time together.
Let’s Pray |
