LESSON 4 - NOAH

Time went on and a man named Lamech was born who would have been Adam’s great- great- great- great- great- great- great-grandson who had a son named Noah when he was 182 years old! Noah was a good man and after he was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. As all the people began to grow in numbers and there were many, many people on the earth, Yahweh said He would not contend with man forever, and from then on a man’s days would be a hundred and twenty years, Genesis 6:3. Man would no longer live as long as they had in the past.

Man was very evil and everything most men even thought was evil! Yahweh was very unhappy that He even MADE man! He was so heart-broken; He said He would wipe mankind, who He created, from the face of the earth, Genesis 6:7.

But Yahweh liked Noah for Noah was a righteous man and obeyed Yahweh’s laws. The whole earth was full of violence. Yahweh talked to Noah and told Noah that He was going to put an end to all people, for the earth was filled with violence because of them. He would destroy them, Genesis 6:11-13.

Yahweh gave Noah very specific instructions on building an ark. An ark is a very, very large boat which can hold lots of people or, in this case, lots of animals and just a few people! Yahweh told Noah how long to make it, how wide, how high, how to put the doors on and how to make lower, middle and upper decks. He intended to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life, but He made a very special agreement with Noah.

Yahweh said that He would establish His “covenant” with Noah. A covenant is a special agreement where both sides agree to do something. You will read a lot about covenants as you study your Bible.

Now, Yahweh said that Noah and his sons and their wives were to enter the ark. They were told to bring two of all living creatures, a male and a female. That meant two of every bird, every small critter, every big critter, even snakes! They were also told to take seven of every clean animal and every kind of food to be stored for them to eat. That would have included grains and such. They were going to be on the big boat for a long time and Yahweh wanted to make certain they would have enough food to last them.

Yahweh told Noah then to enter the ark, him and his whole family along with the food and all the animals, clean and unclean. In seven days He would send the rain. It would rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights and every living creature He made would be wiped from the earth, Genesis 7:4. Noah did everything just like Yahweh asked.

Noah and his family along with all their supplies entered the ark and, just as Yahweh said, in seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. As the rain continued to come down, the water rose higher and higher until, finally, the boat lifted up and began to float upon the water. As the water rose, so did the boat, until it was floating above the mountains. In fact, they were twenty feet above the mountains, Genesis 7:20. Every living creature which had been on the earth was destroyed and existed no longer. Only Noah, his family and the animals on the boat were still living.

Even though the rain stopped after forty days, the whole earth remained flooded for a hundred and fifty days. Yahweh never forgot Noah, though, and He sent a wind over the earth to help the water go back. As the days went by, the water got lower and lower until, finally, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat on the 17^th day of the seventh month. It wasn’t until the first day of the tenth month that you could see the tops of the mountains, Genesis 8:5.

After forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven and it kept flying back and forth. Then he sent out a dove, but the dove could find no dry land to set its feet so it came back. Noah waited another seven days and tried it again. When the dove returned to him in the evening, in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth, Genesis 8:11. In seven more days, he sent the dove out once again only this time the dove did not return, Genesis 8:12.

By the first day of the first month when Noah was 601 years old, the water had dried up from the earth and by the 27^th day of the second month, the earth was completely dry. Yahweh then told Noah to come out of the ark, him, his wife, their sons and their wives and all the animals were brought out so they could be fruitful and multiply on the earth.

Yahweh blessed Noah and his sons, telling them to be fruitful, increase in number to fill the earth. He told them other rules too and established His covenant with them. Yahweh said that never again would all life be cut off by the waters of a flood and never again would there be a flood to destroy the earth, Genesis 9:11. Yahweh gave a very, very special sign of the covenant between Yahweh and the earth. He said, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth,” Genesis 9:13. He also said that whenever He sees the rainbow, He will remember the everlasting covenant between Him and all living creatures of every kind on the earth,” Genesis 9:16.

LESSON 4 - ACTIVITIES

Here are some questions to see how much you learned from the Lesson you just completed. You can print out this page to write your answers and do any activities that follow. Make sure you have an adult or a big brother or sister check your work! You may even get a "star" on it!

Questions

1. How many animals was Noah told to get into the big boat?
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2. What type of boat did Yahweh tell Noah to build?
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3. How many days was it going to rain on the earth?
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4. What was Noah's sons' names (hint: 3)?
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5. How old was Noah when the water dried up?
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6. Yahweh gave a very special sign to Noah. What was it?
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7. What will Yahweh remember whenever He sees this "sign"?
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8. What was Noah's father's name?
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9. How many people can you name who were on the Ark?
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10. How did Noah know that the water had finally lowered?
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BONUS QUESTION: You should get extra credit if you get this one correct!

Which day of which month was the earth completely dry?

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WORD PUZZLE

This is a different type of word puzzle. Take the list of words and put them where they belong in the puzzle. If you get real stuck, you can contact the office for the answers (but we think you can do it!)!

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Memory Verse

And Noah and his sons and his wife
and his sons' wives entered the ark
to escape the waters of the flood.
Genesis 6:7

HalleluYAH!