The Great Flood
MEMORY VERSE
Romans 6:23, ESV
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
DAY 1
Genesis 6:5-8, NIrV
5 The Lord saw how bad the sins of everyone on earth had become. They only thought about evil things. 6 The Lord was very sad that he had made human beings on the earth. His heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I created human beings, but I will wipe them out. I will also destroy the animals, the birds in the sky, and the creatures that move along the ground. I am very sad that I have made human beings.” 8 But the Lord was very pleased with Noah.
BIBLE STUDY
The first six chapters of the book of Genesis have been a real roller coaster ride of history! Chapter one told us about the creation of God’s very-good world. Chapter two described the forming of the first pair of people. Chapter three shared the sad tale of the eating of the forbidden fruit and the deadly curse of sin. Now, by chapter six, the entire world was crawling with evil people doing nasty things! God was angered and saddened to see his very-good world filled with so much evil. What did he plan to do about it? Simple: he’d wipe every single living thing off the face of this sinful planet!
+ What were the thoughts of the people on earth like? (vs. 5)
+ What did God say he was going to do to all living things on earth? (vs. 7)
DAY 2
Genesis 6:9-17, NIrV
9 Here is the story of Noah’s family line.
Noah was a godly man. He was without blame among the people of his time. He walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons. Their names were Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 The earth was very sinful in God’s eyes. It was full of people who did mean and harmful things. 12 God saw how sinful the earth had become. All its people were living very sinful lives. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to everyone. They have filled the earth with their harmful acts. I am certainly going to destroy them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Here is how I want you to build it. The ark has to be 450 feet long. It has to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it. Leave below the roof an opening all the way around that is a foot and a half high. Put a door in one side of the ark. Make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring a flood on the earth. It will destroy all life under the sky. It will destroy every living creature that breathes. Everything on earth will die.
BIBLE STUDY
In a world swarming with sinners, one man stood out: Noah. What was so special about him? While everyone around him did whatever their sinful hearts felt like, Noah did what God commanded. He wasn’t perfect, but he trusted that God was in charge and believed in God’s words. Because of this, God told Noah about his plan to flood the whole earth. To keep his family afloat in the coming water world, God told Noah to build a huge boat, which we call an “ark.” To picture the size of Noah’s ark, pick a starting spot outside, then walk 240 steps. That’s about how big the ark was!
+ What words does the Bible use to describe Noah? (vs. 9)
+ What did God ask Noah to build? (vs. 14)
DAY 3
Genesis 6:18–7:5, NIrV
18 But I will make my covenant with you. You will go into the ark. Your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives will enter it with you. 19 Bring a male and a female of every living thing into the ark. They will be kept alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will also come to you. And so will two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground. All of them will be kept alive with you. 21Take every kind of food that you will need. Store it away as food for you and them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
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1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark with your whole family. I know that you are a godly man among the people of today. 2 Take seven pairs of every kind of ‘clean’ animal with you. Take a male and a female of each kind. Take one pair of every kind of animal that is not ‘clean.’ Take a male and a female of each kind. 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. Take a male and a female of each kind. Then every kind will be kept alive. They can spread out again over the whole earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
5 Noah did everything the Lord commanded him to do.
BIBLE STUDY
Before the flood came, God made a covenant with Noah. A covenant is a super-serious promise, one so special you’d rather die than break it! God told Noah to take his family on the ark with him. He also told him to bring two of each kind of animal (a boy and a girl) so they could refill the earth with baby animals after the flood. Here was God’s covenant promise to Noah: no matter how scary or dangerous things became, God would care for him. Noah, his family, and the animals would survive the flood safe and sound. Noah believed God’s promise, so he got right to work building his big, old boat.
+ What was God’s covenant with Noah? (see 6:18-20)
+ How long did God say it would rain for? (see 7:4)
DAY 4
Genesis 7:6-16, NIRV
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came on the earth. 7 He and his sons entered the ark. His wife and his sons’ wives went with them. They entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Male and female pairs of “clean” animals and pairs of animals that were not “clean” came to Noah. So did male and female pairs of birds and of all the creatures that move along the ground. 9 All of them came to Noah and entered the ark. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days the flood came on the earth.
11 Noah was 600 years old. It was the 17th day of the second month of the year. On that day all of the springs at the bottom of the oceans burst open. God opened the windows of the sky. 12 Rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
13 On that same day Noah entered the ark together with his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah’s wife and the wives of his three sons also entered it. 14 They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock, creature that moves along the ground, and bird that flies. 15 Pairs of all living creatures that breathe came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
BIBLE STUDY
After Noah finished building his big boat, God started the countdown. In seven days, the worldwide flood would begin! Would that be enough time for Noah to round up two of every kind of animal and chase them into his ark? It didn’t matter! God himself directed two of every animal to hop, trot, and waddle their way right into the ark! When every critter was safe inside, God shut the door. On that day, the great flood began. Huge water spouts burst up from the ground, spilling water everywhere. At the same time, rain poured down from the sky and didn’t stop for 40 days and nights!
+ How did God flood the earth? (vs. 11-12)
+ What do you think Noah was thinking as the flood began?
DAY 5
Genesis 7:17-24, NIRV
17 For 40 days the flood kept coming on the earth. As the waters rose higher, they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose higher and higher on the earth. And the ark floated on the water. 19 The waters rose on the earth until all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20 The waters continued to rise until they covered the mountains by more than 20 feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on land died. The birds, the livestock and the wild animals died. All of the creatures that fill the earth also died. And so did every human being. 22 Every breathing thing on dry land died. 23 Every living thing on earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds in the sky were wiped out. Everything on earth was destroyed. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
24 The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.
BIBLE STUDY
Even with rain pouring down from above and bursting up from below, it still took 40 days to cover the tallest mountains. God’s great flood covered every inch of the earth with water for 150 days. Not even a world champion swimmer would be able to stay afloat for that long! God promised to wipe every living thing off the face of the planet and he kept his word! These sinful people lived their lives ignoring God’s rules and following their own sinful hearts. Because of that, they were destroyed. The only living creatures left in God’s great big world were the ones tucked safely inside Noah’s ark.
+ Look back at Genesis 6:5-7. Why were all these living things destroyed?
+ How much of the earth was covered with water? (vs. 19-20)
DAY 6 – PART ONE
romans 6:23, NIRV
23 When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.
BIBLE STUDY
God’s great flood is a frightening picture of how deadly and destructive sin can be. But for anyone who has read the Bible, this should come as no big surprise. Wherever you read about sinful people following their sinful hearts instead of following God’s commands, you find death and disaster waiting right around the corner! This isn’t simply true of those who lived in Bible times; it’s true for you and me, too! Here in Romans, the apostle Paul tells us that the wages (or pay) we earn for sinning is death. This is no ordinary death, either. It’s a forever, fiery death outside of God’s good kingdom!
+ What wage do people earn when they sin? (v. 23)
DAY 6 – PART TWO
Hebrews 11:7, NIRV
7 Noah had faith. So he built an ark to save his family. He built it because of his great respect for God. God had warned him about things that could not yet be seen. Because of his faith Noah showed the world that it was guilty. Because of his faith he was considered right with God.
BIBLE STUDY
When God warned him about the great flood, Noah could have answered, “God, that sounds nuts! I don’t believe you!” Thankfully, he didn't! Because he believed God would do exactly what he promised, Noah built an enormous floating zoo. Because he had faith, because he believed God’s words, Noah and his family, were saved! That’s what this verse from the book of Hebrews is telling us. Noah wasn’t saved from the flood because he was a good guy; he was saved because he had faith in God!
If we had the time to read all of chapter 11 in the book of Hebrews, we would see that word “faith” over and over again. It talks about the faith of Abel, the faith of Abraham, the faith of Moses, and on and on and on! God rescued all sorts of people from all sorts of deadly disasters. Were they saved because they were great or important people? Nope! It was because they all had faith, just like Noah!
Why should we care about this? Because you and I are facing a deadly disaster, just like the sinners in the days of Noah! Remember what Romans 6:23 taught us. We’ve sinned (everyone of us) and earned the wage (or pay) of death. It’s a forever, fiery death outside of God’s kingdom. That’s a way bigger disaster than the great flood!
But there’s good news! Noah was saved because of his faith, and you and I can be saved by faith, too! But what are we to have faith in? Do we need to build a great big ark like Noah did? Nah! Instead, God wants us to have faith in Jesus. He wants us to believe the good news: that Jesus died on the cross to pay the deadly curse of our sins and rose from the dead on the third day. If we put our faith in Jesus, we’ll be saved from our forever fiery death of sin like the ark saved Noah from the flood!
+ God used the ark to save Noah from the flood. What did he do so we could be saved from our sins?
© 2023 Andrew Doane. All rights reserved.