Lesson 4: The Prophet Noah and the Flood
Before you do this lesson, read the following verses from the Taurat:
Genesis 6:5-22 -- 5 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 was sorry
that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. 7 said, "I will destroy man whom I
have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping
things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." 8But found favour in 's eyes.
9This is the history
of the generations of . was a righteous man, blameless among the people
of his time. walked with God. 10 became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and
Japheth. 11The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was
filled with violence. 12God saw the earth, and saw that it was
corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13God said to , "The
end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence
through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14Make an
ark of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ark, and shall seal it inside
and outside with pitch. 15This is how you shall make it. The length
of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height
thirty cubits. 16You shall make a roof in the ark, and to a cubit
shall you finish it upward. You shall set the door of the ark in the side of
it. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. 17I,
even, I do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having
the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will
die. 18But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come
into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19Of every living thing
of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them
alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds after
their kind, of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the
ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come to you, to keep them alive. 21Take with you of all food that is eaten, and gather it to you; and
it will be for food for you, and for them." 22Thus did. According to all that God commanded him, so he did.
Genesis 7:1-24 -- said to , "Come
with all of your household into the ark, for I have seen your righteousness
before me in this generation. 2You shall take seven pairs of every
clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not
clean, take two, the male and his female. 3Also of the birds of the
sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all
the earth. 4In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for
forty days and forty nights. Every living thing that I have made, I will
destroy from the surface of the ground."
5 did everything that commanded him.
6 was six hundred years old when the flood of
waters came on the earth. 7 went
into the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, because of the waters of the flood. 8Clean
animals, animals that are not clean, birds, and everything that creeps on the
ground 9went by pairs to into
the ark, male and female, as God commanded . 10It happened after the seven days, that the waters of the flood
came on the earth. 11In the six hundredth year of 's
life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day
all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky's windows were opened. 12The rain was on
the earth forty days and forty nights.
13In the same day , and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of , and 's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them,
entered into the ark; 14they, and every animal after its kind, all
the cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth
after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15They
went to into the ark, by pairs of all
flesh with the breath of life in them. 16Those who went in, went in
male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and shut him in. 17The
flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ark,
and it was lifted up above the earth. 18The waters prevailed, and
increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the surface of the
waters. 19The waters prevailed greatly on the earth. All the high
mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. 20The waters
prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21All
flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, cattle, animals, every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22All in
whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry
land, died. 23Every living thing was destroyed that was on the
surface of the ground, including man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the
sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24The waters
prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.
Genesis 8:1-22 -- God remembered , all the animals, and all the cattle that were with
him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters
subsided. 2The deep's
fountains and the sky's windows
were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3The
waters receded from off the earth continually. After the end of one hundred
fifty days the waters decreased. 4The ark rested in the seventh
month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat's mountains. 5The waters receded
continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the
month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6It happened at the
end of forty days, that opened the window
of the ark which he had made, 7and he sent forth a raven. It went
back and forth, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 8He
sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the
surface of the ground, 9but the dove found no place to rest her
foot, and she returned to him into the ark; for the waters were on the surface
of the whole earth. He put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to him
into the ark. 10He stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent
forth the dove out of the ark. 11The dove came back to him at
evening, and, behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So knew that the waters were abated from off the
earth. 12He stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove;
and she did not return to him any more.
13It happened in the
six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the
waters were dried up from off the earth. removed the covering of the ark, and looked. He saw that the surface of the
ground was dried. 14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day
of the month, the earth was dry.
15God spoke to , saying, 16"Go forth from the ark, you, and your wife, and your
sons, and your sons' wives with
you. 17Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of
all flesh, including birds, cattle, and every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and
multiply on the earth."
18 went forth, with his sons, his wife, and his
sons' wives with him. 19Every
animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth,
after their families, went forth out of the ark.
20 built an altar to , and took of every clean
animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 smelled the sweet savour. said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever
again strike everything living, as I have done. 22While the earth
remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and
day and night shall not cease."
Now read the lesson and do the test at the end. The lesson explains what you have read in the Taurat.
Abel and Cain were sons of Adam and Eve. These two brothers each brought an offering to God. God was pleased with Abel's offering. But he was not pleased with Cain's offering (Genesis 4:1-7). So Cain became angry with Abel and killed him (Genesis 4:8).
Adam and Eve were very sad. They remembered that they had refused to obey God. Now they saw that their sin had brought killing and death into their own family.
As people increased, they sinned more and more. They killed each other just as Cain had done to Abel. People were selfish and proud. The Taurat says, "The Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time" (Genesis 6:5).
God was sorry about the wickedness of people on the earth (Genesis 6:6). Why was God sorry? God was sorry because when people sin, they separate themselves from God.
To be cut off from God is terrible. The whole earth suffers because of the sin of mankind. God does not want people to separate themselves from him. This is why God was sorry about the sinfulness of mankind.
God Punished the Wicked People
The wicked people on earth were punished by death. God made a great flood of water which covered the earth. It destroyed most of the people and animals.
Only the family of the Prophet Noah still believed God (Genesis 6:8). God saved Noah by warning him about the flood. He told Noah to build a large boat (Genesis 6:13-17). So for many years Noah and his sons built the big boat. The wicked people probably laughed and thought Noah was foolish.
Finally the boat was finished. Noah and his family and some animals got into it. Then the rains fell and the flood came. Only Noah and his family were saved. Every one else died (Genesis 7:19-23).
After forty days the rain stopped and the flood became less. Finally the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat in western Asia (Genesis 8:4). Noah and his family left the boat. They prayed to God and thanked him for saving their lives. God accepted their prayer.
God made a covenant* with Noah and all the earth. He said that he would never send such a flood again. Then God put the rainbow* in the sky as a sign of his covenant (Genesis 9:11-13).
We must think carefully about the way we live. The story of the flood is a great warning to us. It shows us that God does not accept sin.
Sometime there will be another great punishment. This last great punishment will begin at the Day of Judgement. The prophets of God have warned us that on the Day of Judgement the people who have rejected God will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is hell.
Noah's Children Sinned
All the unbelievers* were dead. Only Noah and his family were still alive. Perhaps Noah hoped that people would never sin again. But sin is in everyone. Even before Noah died, people began to sin again. Noah himself became drunk with wine (Genesis 9:20-21).
The power of sin and unbelief became great in the world again. In a few more years Noah's children built a very tall tower. It was called Babel. They were proud and wanted to be famous and powerful.
This did not please God. So God stopped the work at the Tower of Babel by giving the people many different languages. After that the people separated and left the Tower of Babel, because they could not understand each other (Genesis 11:8-9). Everywhere the children of Noah went, they continued in their sin.
God's Plan to Save Us
But God did not forget his plan to save us from sin. God could not forget us because he cares for us.
After Noah left the boat, God gave him one rule. God told Noah not to eat meat with blood still in it (Genesis 9:4). Even today many Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not eat meat with blood or drink blood.
Why did God command Noah not to eat meat with blood in it? Later you will learn that blood poured out in sacrifice* is a sign of God's plan to save us from sin. As you study more lessons, God's plan will become more and more plain.
Here is a list of difficult words in this lesson.
covenant - an agreement which cannot be broken
rainbow - pretty colours in the sky after it rains
unbeliever - one who does not believe
sacrifice - when one suffers for the sake of another
Learn this verse. Ezekiel 18:4 "The person who sins is the one who will die."
Test 4: The Beginning of People
Here is the test for Lesson 4. Write the letter of the correct answer on the line provided.
1. After Adam and Eve,
a) people stopped sinning.
b) people sinned more and more.
c) people sinned just a little bit. ___
2. God punished mankind
a) because the sinfulness of mankind was great.
b) because there were too many people.
c) because mankind had too much knowledge. ___
3. God destroyed the people
a) with a flood.
b) with hunger.
c) with sickness. ___
4. Noah and his family
a) were killed in a flood.
b) escaped in a boat.
c) killed all the animals. ___
5. At the Tower of Babel
a) God gave the people different languages.
b) God told the people about the flood.
c) God sent fire upon the people. ___
Write "True" or "False" after each of the following sentences.
6. Abel killed Cain. _____
7. Noah's children sinned. _____
8. God told Noah to drink blood. _____
9. God wants us to separate ourselves from him. _____
10. God's plan to save us from sin includes blood poured out in sacrifice. _____
Name:__________________________________No.:______
Address:__________________________________________
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