Archive for September 29th, 2010
October 3, 2010: Noah and the Flood
The text for this lesson is Genesis 6:1-9:17
Key Points
- 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.
- Law: God demands obedience to His Law.
- Gospel: God sent His Son to obey the Law perfectly for me.
- Law: God used water in a flood to drown sinful humankind.
- Gospel: In Baptism, God uses water to drown my sins, granting me eternal life through Jesus, His Son.
- In December 2004, a tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia. In late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast underwater. What images of these disasters come to mind? How would they compare to the universal flood that God sent in Noah’s day?
- “I just don’t believe that Noah could have built that ark with the primitive technology they had then. And how could a flood cover the entire earth?” How would you respond to a friend who said such things?
- “It seems so cruel that God would destroy all those people and animals in the flood. How could He choose to save only eight people and still be a good and gracious God?” How would you respond to a friend who said this?
- Read Genesis 6:5–7. What was the condition of the human heart at the time of Noah? Read Genesis 6:11–13. What kind of behavior resulted from the condition of the human heart? Was humanity any better off after the flood? See Genesis 8:21. Are we any better off today?
- Read Genesis 6:8–9; 7:1. What motivated God to save Noah? Why was Noah called “righteous”? Note that Genesis 9:18–29 indicates that Noah was not without sin.
Read Hebrews 11:7. How was Noah’s faith demonstrated? - Once Noah and his family and the animals had entered the ark, Genesis 7:16 says that God shut Noah in. Could Noah have done this himself? What does this lead us to conclude about the nature of salvation, that is, rescue from harm and danger?
- Read Genesis 8:20–21. Why did Noah offer sacrifices to the Lord? How did the Lord receive the sacrifices? What kind of sacrifices are we to offer to the Lord today? See Romans 12:1.
- Read Genesis 9:8–11. What might the fact that animals are part of the covenant indicate?
- Read Matthew 24:37–39. What were the wicked, faithless people doing when the flood came? How do the wicked live in our own generation? Should Christians be involved in the same deeds as unbelievers?
- Read Genesis 9:12–17. How is the rainbow a more effective sign of God’s promise than words alone? What visible signs of His promise does God give to the Church?
- It says in 1 Peter 3:20b–21, “In [the ark] a few people, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you . . . through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” What images does this verse bring to mind about the salvation we receive in Baptism?
- In Genesis 9:4, God tells Noah, “You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” This verse is the first of many in the Bible that prohibit the consumption of blood (Leviticus 3:17; Deuteronomy 12:15–16; Acts 15:29; and others). Here, and elsewhere in the Old Testament, blood is equated with the life of the living being. How does this fact about blood help us understand the significance of the true presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper?
