Week 4: The Flood
As a family, read the story of the Flood in Genesis 6-9. Afterwards, share the following discussion.
What happened?
In Genesis, we read that there were lots of people on the earth, but these people thought evil things and did not follow God. God’s creation had chosen to get so far away from His intended purpose that God decided to send a flood that would wipe everything away and provide a new start. God found one man He was pleased with, and this man’s name was Noah.
Noah was a godly man who was faithful and followed God’s commands even when no one else did. God told Noah that He was going to send a flood that would cover the whole earth. So, He gave Noah instructions on how to build an ark (a big boat) that could hold him, his family, and lots of animals. The ark would keep them safe from the flood. Noah immediately went to work on the ark, doing exactly what God asked him to do. All the people around Noah’s family laughed at them and thought they were crazy!
When Noah finished building the ark, God gave him further instructions. Noah was to bring two of every kind of animal into the ark. God said the rain would last for forty days and forty nights without stopping. Noah did as God instructed, and the animals came to him to get on the ark. “Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.'” (Genesis 7:1). Once everything was loaded, God shut the door, and it started to rain.
The rains came down, the oceans opened up, and the earth was flooded. In fact, for 150 days, the earth was completely covered with water. When Noah and his family were finally able to leave the ark, he made an altar to God and made sacrifices to Him. God was pleased with Noah, and He blessed him and his family. God then made a promise to Noah: He would never destroy the earth with a flood again. He then told Noah that a rainbow in the sky would be a sign of that promise.
Why is this important to us, today?
You may have heard the story of Noah and the ark several times. But stop to think about some of the lessons from this story. First, as God looked over the earth, He saw two types of people: those who loved and followed Him (Noah and his family) and those who rejected His love and did only what they wanted. Noah and his family loved what was good and right; everyone else loved what was wrong and evil.
Next, Noah followed and obeyed God even when it was unpopular and others criticized him. It took 120 years to build the ark. Year after year, he worked without seeing a single drop of rain. Noah was able to be faithful to what God asked him to do because he trusted what God said.
We can see from Noah’s story that God takes sin very seriously. A few weeks ago in Family Time Week 3, we discussed that sin is doing something that displeases God. Sin harms our relationship with God; it harms others, and it even harms us. God desires that we follow Him and that we do what pleases Him.
Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering these questions together:
After learning about Noah, how do you still see two types of people in the world today: those who love what is good and those who love what is bad? Why is it better to follow what God says is right?
How can we better follow God this week?
Think about this…we deserve to be punished for our sins just as the people on earth were in the flood. Sin is serious! But then remember, God provided Jesus as a sacrifice for our sin. He died as the payment for our sin.
When you are tempted to sin this week, stop and think about how seriously God takes your sin. Remember what He did by sending His Son to take the punishment for your sins. Ask God to help you live to please and honor Him, as Noah did.