This lesson is compatible with the "Enoch, Noah, and Babel" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.
Scripture References: Genesis 7:1-24; Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5
"Wow! I've never seen clouds like that before! Look how dark they are! They are almost black! We better hurry home!" Grandpa took his two grandchildren home from the market. They started walking faster as they weren't sure about this storm. It looked bad. Very bad.
"Leave the plow there and lead the horses to the stable, son!" The woman yelled at her son in the cornfields.
“Dad, Mom says you should get off the roof! She doesn't like clouds that come in so fast. ”Her daughter yelled at her father that she had been fixing the roof.
In the city, people started running in a panic once the thunder started to rumble. It was so strong that houses shook with every thunder! There was lighting all over the sky. It looked like a fireworks show.
Then the raindrops began to fall. They were huge drops!
Soon, the ground began to shake. Tremors!
Some people must have remembered Noah at this point. "Come on! Let's go to the boat with Noah! We will be safer there than in our little houses! Run!!!
The neighbors were already there, banging on the door. "OPEN UP! Let us in!" Some shouted.
"I promise to make a sacrifice to God if you let me in!" Someone else yelled.
"PLEASE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE US HERE!" Said a neighbor.
Someone else yelled in anger, "You're supposed to be a good person! A good person would never leave us here to die! You are a horrible hypocrite!"
God had given all those people many, many opportunities. He had been very patient with them. He sent Noah to preach to them, but they had always denied God. The Bible calls God "just." That means He is sinless and fair in his judgement of people. Would it be fair to let a murderer stay out of jail? No. He would have a chance to kill someone else. God would not be a just God if he never punished sin. Not only is he just, and he punishes sin, but he is full of grace, and he forgives sins because God the Son took the punishment for us!
Now, it was too late for the people in our story. They had chance after chance, and still refused to obey God and put their faith in him.
The Bible says that God opened the fountains of the deep. There are places under the ground with large water holes. This means that all that water would rush to the surface of the earth. The Bible also says that the windows of heaven were opened. Many scientists who believe that the Bible thinks that there was a layer of water above the sky, between the earth and space ... something like an umbrella that protects the earth from the harmful rays of the sun. They believe that God opened this pocket above the sky, and all the water fell to the ground.
So now there was a torrent of water coming from the sky, and from the earth, all at the same time. There has never been a rush of water like this before or after! People rushing home never made it. The water came in like a fast river. Those who could swim must have tried to reach tall trees and rocks. But the water kept rising. Soon it was over the trees completely. The tallest building had people on the upper floors and roofs that looked out over the new sea of water. It kept rising, too. They saw Noah's ark in the distance. "Oh, how I wish I had listened to Noah ..." I imagine some thought.
"We'll be fine. The water will drop soon. There's no way it can keep raining ..." thought the others. They still stubbornly refused to acknowledge that what Noah had said was true. “God will send a flood! Ask for forgiveness for your sins! Make the right sacrifice of the blood of a lamb! God will forgive you! You can be saved from the flood! "Those words might have echoed in their memories, but they just didn't want to believe it. They wanted to continue living the way THEY thought was good and fun. What they didn't know was that when we accept God and the forgiveness of sins through of Jesus, we can have an even better life! We can have a peace, joy and hope that those who reject God will never have.
Soon, the water covered the tallest buildings and the last swimmers battled the waves. Soon, they were all gone. The animals had also been covered by the waters. Some of the sea creatures had survived, but God said that everything that lived on dry land would be destroyed. All that was left was Noah and his family.
I imagine that on the ark that day, there was a silence among Noah's family. What great sadness they must have felt. The people they had seen at the market each week were gone. Aunts, uncles, and cousins were gone. They too had rejected God. Noah's brothers and sisters had even rejected God. He must have been so heartbroken. I'm sure Noah begged them to accept God and ask for forgiveness. But they refused. "We're tired of hearing about God!" Don't talk about Him anymore, or we won't invite you to the family reunion next year! "They may have said.
As much as we want to, we cannot make people accept God. I can't get any of you to put your faith in Jesus. I can't make you accept Him, as much as I want you to. It is your own decision. And our moms, dads, grandparents, and brothers and sisters also have to make their own decision.
What can we do if they reject God? (allow responses)
We can pray! And we must tell them about God and how much He loves them. We should tell them all about Jesus, and how he paid for our sins on the cross, and how he rose again three days later. In the end, they must decide. But in the meantime, keep praying.
Noah and his family were safe in the boat, and soon the days turned into weeks. The Bible says that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. That's more than a month! Would you like to be stuck in your house for more than a month, with rain all day and all night?
I don't think Noah and his family cared too much. They were very busy! Someone had to cook meals for the family, and several of them had to feed the animals every day. Imagine how long it took to feed 3 floors of animals! Some of them also had to clean the cages. There was no time to think of anything else. But I imagine they surely thanked God when they were doing his chores. God had given them grace and forgiven their sins because they put their faith in him. They made the blood sacrifices, and God saved them. Maybe they sang songs about how good God is. Then the rain stopped. "Look, my dear! The sun is shining!!! Oh, how good those rays feel on my face!" Mrs. Noah said to her husband. She had opened the window to see what was happening outside the ark. If I was there, I think I might have had a party that day!
Outside the ark, the waters were as far as the eye could see. In fact, they were covering the highest mountains! Not a bit of land could be seen. Every now and then a fish would jump out of the water. Some of the sea creatures had survived, as they did not live on dry land. Today, fossils of sea creatures have been found in the mountains! Some people think this is very strange, but when we read the Bible and the story of Noah, it is not that strange, is it? God sent the flood to cover even the mountains, which means that the sea creatures were very high up.
Aside from the animals on the ark, the sea creatures that survived the rush of waters were the only living things on the planet.
Noah and his family just had to wait for the waters to go down again and for the ark to fall on dry land.
"Noah, I've marked today's box on the wall. We've been on this boat for 150 since the rain stopped. That means it's day 197! It hasn't been that bad. I'm keeping busy, that's for sure! "Noah's wife said.
That is more than 6 months! For 6 months they took care of the animals, cleaned up the mess and made sure everything went well. They could have had a written record of everything that happened to Adam and Eve, and a book full of their family tree. I'm sure they spent time praying to God and thanking Him for keeping them safe. You must have wondered every day when God would send the One who would pay for all sins. They certainly had enough time to think about how good God is! Imagine being in a boat full of animals from now until the end of May!
Next week, we'll see how much longer they had to wait before putting their feet on dry land.
Right now, we are going to pray and ask God to help us choose it. He can help us have faith in him, even in life's sad and difficult times. We will also ask God to help our friends and family who have not put their faith in Jesus to accept him before it is too late.