Introduction
“Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.” Genesis 7:5
Adam and Eve had other children besides Cain and Abel. Their other children had children, which were grandchildren of Adam and Eve. As the years passed, the population increased so there were many people on the earth.
Some of the people tried to do good like Abel tried to obey God. Yet many more did not listen to God. The wicked people grew and grew and influenced the good. So soon the whole world was evil, and God was sorry He had ever made them. He decided to destroy these evil people with a great flood of water.
There was one good man living in those days. His name was Noah. Noah never associated with the evil people. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, whom he had taught to obey God.
God wanted to save Noah so He told them to build a great ship which He called the Ark. He gave a description of how it was to be built. He was to use gopher wood, and have enough: rooms inside for everyone and the animals and food.
For many years Noah worked on the Ark while those around made fun of him. Noah kept telling them that God was going to destroy them. They only laughed at Noah and the Ark.
When the Ark was finished, God told Noah to go into the Ark and take with him a pair of every kind of animals and birds on the earth. He included seven animals that would help furnish food. Noah’s wife, his three sons and their wives all went into the Ark. When they were all in, God shut them in. For seven days it did not rain. They were living in suspense.
Then it began to rain as never before, as if the sky had opened. The ocean rose over all land and rivers. All water basins overflowed. It went higher and higher, and nothing was in sight, and all peoples had drowned.
God himself watched over the Ark and kept them safe. For forty days and nights it rained. This was the hand of God. He caused it to rain and caused it to cease after forty days. The water stayed on the earth many days. Winds blew and began to lower the water until one day it rested on the high mountain of Ararat. Other mountains began to appear.
One day Noah sent out a raven to see if there was any dry land. The raven never came back. So he sent out a dove. He came back when he found no trees. A week later, he let the dove fly out again. This time it returned with a tree branch.
This was a sign that the waters had gone down enough for the trees to put on leaves again. The next week he sent the dove out and it never returned. He knew the flood was over.
He opened the door and all the animals and the eight people God had saved came out of the Ark. This must have been a beautiful sight after being closed up so long. The first thing they did was to build an altar and burn an animal sacrifice.
God was so pleased with Noah and his sons that He made a promise that the earth would never again be destroyed by a flood. As a sign of His promise He set the rainbow in the sky or clouds. The same promise is to us today.
Quiz
1. Whom did God want to save?
2. Did people on earth grow better or worse?
3. What safety thing did God have Noah make?
4. Give God’s instructions for preparing the Ark.
5. What and who went in the Ark?
6. How long did it rain?
7. How did Noah know he could go back to earth?
8. How did Noah thank God?
9. What promise did God make Noah?
