CENTRAL THOUGHT: God is faithful to those who obey Him.
HYMN: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD.
TEXT: Genesis 6:1-22
INTRODUCTION
Before the flood in the days of Noah, “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
In the midst of this wickedness, Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord and separated himself from the evil in the land. God’s response to the wickedness was to destroy the world with a flood. He warned Noah about this impending judgement upon the earth. Noah’s faith carried him to act on God’s warning that a flood would cover the world. While Noah believed God and constructed the ark, the rest of the people, by contrast, ignored Noah’s message of coming judgement.
His obedience was an indictment on those who persisted in their disobedience. The situation is not different today, as evil abounds in the hearts of men, with many not believing the gospel and scoffers mocking at the truth of an impending judgement. In this study, we shall be examining the life and times of this man, whose family was the only one saved in an entire generation.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are:
1.To identify who Noah was.
2.To understand what was the state of Noah’s day and relate it to ours.
3.To examine how Noah lived among his people.
4.To identify the need to bring up our children the right way.
5.To understand how we can escape God’s impending judgement.
BIBLE TRUTH
Q1. WHO WAS NOAH? Gen. 5:28-32
Noah was the son of Lamech and the grandson of Methuselah. The name Noah signifies rest, or comfort. The Bible describes Noah as a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time who walked in close fellowship with God (Gen. 6:9). He walked in faith with God, as a living example to his generation.
Q2A. WHAT WAS THE STATE OF NOAH’S DAY? Gen. 6:5-6, Matt. 24:37-39
In the Bible we read from Gen. 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”. This implies that all kinds of sin was found in that generation. The earth was corrupt before God, it was filled with violence and injustice towards fellow men. People had dead consciences and there was no fear of God. All flesh had corrupted his way and did not remember God in anything.
Q2B. WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN NOAH’S DAYS AND OURS?
One can rightly say that the wickedness of that generation is here again. All kinds of sin is found in our world today just as it was in the days of Noah. There is corruption in high and low places and even in most unexpected places, like churches. Violence and injustice towards fellowmen have filled the land. There is great wickedness everywhere and the fear of God is no more there. Places of Christian worship that used to be regarded by all as sacred have come under attack by men of violence. Just like the days of Noah, men are becoming too conscious of themselves and relegating God perpetually to the background in all they do. God still desires men who will stand for righteousness and declare His whole counsel to our generation.
Q3. HOW DID NOAH LIVE AMONG HIS PEOPLE?
Noah please God by following Him whole heartedly. He loved God with all his heart and obeyed, thus walking with Him for all his lifetime. In a perilous generation, Noah refused to partake in the riotous living pattern of his time. He found grace in the eyes of God. Noah preached to his neighbors and warned them about God’s impending judgement. Noah was a man of integrity and righteous in all his ways despite the evil generation in which he found himself. Even when it looked foolish and unimaginable to believe that God was going to bring judgement of flood upon the earth, Noah trusted God to do what He says He would do. He walked with God faithfully and committedly, carrying out the instruction that God gave him to the letter (Gen. 6:22).
Noah lived in a world filled with evil but did not partake of the evil. In the same vein God expects us as His children not to partake of the evil around us today, but we should influence the evil world to turn to righteousness. We should always remember that our Lord has made us light and salt to the world.
Q4. WHAT DOES NOAH’S LIFE WITH CHILDREN TEACH US ABOUT THE WAY TO BRING UP OUR CHILDREN? Gen. 7:7
We see that in Genesis 7:7, Noah, his three sons, his wife and daughters-in-law all went into the ark even though there was probably no visible sign yet that the flood was approaching. The family did not doubt him as they followed him obediently into the ark. This singular act of absolute obedience to their patriarch must have been made possible by the exemplary lifestyle Noah lived. Noah had a firm grip on his family and was able to tailor their ways of life along the path of righteousness. He lived by example and had a godly influence on the family.
They knew Noah as a man of integrity and honor and so could believe in him to lead them aright. As parents, we must be good examples of Christians to our children in all areas of life so that we can easily lead them to Christ. We should always remember the saying that example is the best precept. If our lifestyle contradicts our profession of Christianity, we will create doubts in the minds of our children and consequently may not be able to carry them along. We must teach them the ways of God and help them to walk in them from their early ages while serving as role models in righteous living to them in a fast decaying world.
Q5. HOW CAN WE ESCAPE GOD’S IMPENDING JUDGMENT? John 3:16, Acts 16:31, 1 Cor. 15:58, Heb. 2:1
Today, things have not changed much. Each day, thousands of people are warned of God’s inevitable judgement, yet most of them don’t really believe it will come to pass.
The entire gospel comes to focus in John 3:16. Here God sets the pattern of true love to the point of self-sacrifice. He paid dearly for the sin of the world with the life of His Son and invites man to accept this once and for all sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin and escape the impending judgement. To believe is a far more than intellectual agreement that Jesus is God. It means to put our trust and absolute confidence in Him that He alone can save us; and put Him in charge of our present plans and eternal destiny. Like Paul and Silas told the jailer in Acts 16:31, we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved with our house hold. We must accept the method God has adopted to reconcile the world to Himself by a mediator. This is the only sure way to salvation as there is no other (way of salvation) than by Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). This is the gospel that is to be preached to every creature.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION Our sins displease God as much as sin did in Noah’s day. Noah however pleased God. We can follow his example and find grace in the eyes of the Lord in spite of the sin that surrounds us. Throughout the Bible, we see God showing His love and patience toward men and women in order to save them. When we sin or fall away from God, we surely bring ourselves under His judgement, but He has promised never again to destroy everything on earth until the judgement day when Jesus returns to destroy evil forever. Therefore, every change of season should remind us of this and consequently amend our ways to escape this impending judgement.
MEMORY VERSE
2 Peter 3:11
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness”.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Monday: From Adam to Mahalael.
Gen. 5:1-17
Tuesday: From Jared to Noah.
Gen. 5:18-32
Wednesday: The Lord is grieved with men.
Gen. 6:1-8
Thursday: The building of the ark.
Gen. 6:9-22
Friday: Noah and the beasts enter the ark.
Gen. 7:1-10
Saturday: The great flood.
Gen. 7:11-24