Children’s Bible Program – Level 2: Lesson 10 “Noah and His Family are Delivered”
Featured Passage: Genesis 7:1–16; Hebrews 11:7; 2 Peter 2:5, 9
Noah was a man who obeyed God and was faithful to Him. Noah had faith that God would do what He promised. God told Noah how to build a very large boat, called an “ark.” Noah built it just like God told him to. Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, worked on building the ark for about one hundred years. While the people made fun of Noah for building an ark, Noah would tell people that God was not pleased with their disobedience to Him. He warned them to repent and obey God. But the people did not listen. God told Noah to bring seven male and female pairs of clean animals and birds into the ark. And He also said to bring one male and female of the unclean animals to repopulate the earth after the flood. The animals came to the ark two by two, and Noah saved them. When the rains came, only Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives—eight people—believed God and were saved.
Discuss:
- Explain to your child that people lived longer before the flood than they do today; so, taking one hundred years to build an ark is not unrealistic. (See Genesis 5.)
- Some Christian groups wrongly believe that dinosaurs were aboard the ark because they think the earth is only 6,000 years old. Help your child see that there is a large time gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. God created the earth in perfection, not in chaos (Isaiah 45:18). Satan’s rebellion caused devastation, and a restoration of the earth is described in Genesis 1.
- Many people think that laws concerning clean and unclean foods were only part of the Old Covenant. Point out to your child that Genesis 7 shows that Noah knew that there were clean and unclean animals, which was a long time before the Old Covenant and the time of Moses.
- Explain that Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Righteousness just means obeying God and keeping His commandments (see Psalm 119:172). Ask, is the Living Church of God teaching people to be righteous today as well?
Memory Challenge:
2 Peter 2:5
“[God] did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly…”
