VERSES: Gen. 6, 7, 8, 9
MEMORY VERSE: Gen. 7:5 Write the verse out on a slip of paper cut in the form of a cloud.
BOOK TO REMEMBER: "Numbers"
PRAYER: Thank God for the rain He sends and for His protection when we do His will.
SPECIAL SONG: Read, Read Every Day (see Songs We Sing In Bible Class #1 on this blog)
VISUAL AID: TV Box (see February - Visual Aid #1 on this blog) On a long strip of paper which will fit into the TV box, draw simple pictures of the story about Noah. It is helpful to draw pictures of the main events of the story, highlighting those events that will help you tell the story.
LESSON POINTS: (Note: Lengthy Story...practice telling the story, so you know how long it will take to tell it. Allow a little longer than usual.)
- Who can remember the last time it rained? Did it rain for a short time or a long time? Today we are going to hear about a man and his family who lived in an ark--which was a large boat--while it rained for forty days and forty nights. Can we count to forty? Let's try! (Count to 40). WOW! That's a lot of days of rain!
- Now this is the way it happened: There were more and more and more people on the earth.They were people who did NOT listen to God; they did exactly what they wanted to do without even thinking about God. The Bible says that it grieved God's heart (Gen 6:6); He was sorry that He had made man. God said that He was going to destroy everything that He made...the birds, the animals, man, everything!
- But, there was one good man. Only one. Noah. Noah was a good man, a righteous man, and he always listened to and obeyed God even when no one else did. The Bible says that Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9). ALL the people should have walked with God, but they didn't. They were bad people. People hurt other people, said bad things, did bad things, and God made a plan to destroy the earth.
- God told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth. God wanted Noah to build an ark. An ark is a really, really big boat. God was very particular. He told Noah exactly what kind of wood He wanted him to use for this ark. He only wanted gopher wood. (Gopher wood is like acacia wood today.) Could Noah use oak wood? NO! Could Noah use hickory wood? NO! Noah could only use gopher wood. God also told Noah exactly how to make the ark. How high to make it, how long to make it. He told Noah that it was to have three stories, one window, one door. Things like that. God said He was going to bring a flood of water to destroy the earth. Uh-oh! How did God water everything? Had it ever rained before? No! Remember in the Garden of Eden, how did God water the garden? That's right! With a mist! They had never ever seen it rain! But do you know what Noah did? He built the ark anyway!
- God told Noah to come into the ark with his wife, his three sons--Shem, Ham, and Japheth--and their wives. How many people is that? Let's count! That's right! Eight people! God told Noah that He "establish His covenant with Noah." A covenant is a promise. God also told Noah to bring into the ark two of every kind of animal, in fact certain animals and birds, Noah was told to bring seven of each (Gen. 7:2, 3). Noah was to bring their food and people food, too! That's a lot of work! Do you think Noah did what God wanted? Let's turn our Bibles to Genesis---what does "Genesis" mean? (Beginning)--chapter 6 and verse 22. Let's see what Noah did. (Read the verse). Noah was a good man! He did EVERYTHING God told him to do! Good Noah!
- After Noah and his family went into the ark and all the animals were in the ark and all the food was in the ark, and God shut the door, guess what it started to do? It started to rain! All the fountains of the ocean opened up and the windows of heaven opened up (Gen. 7:11) and it rained. As more and more rain came, the ark began to rise up and up and pretty soon, it was floating! But still it rained and rained..for forty days and forty nights! Everything was covered with water! The trees and the hills and mountains! And everything that was on the dry land died (Gen. 7:22). Only Noah and his family lived because they were in the ark that God had told them to build...and they did what God told them to do! God protected them from the flood with the safety of the ark. We, too, should always obey God and do what He says.
- The waters stayed on the land for 150 days, then God remembered Noah. God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters went down. The fountains of the ocean and the windows of heaven were closed and the water went down, down down. Finally, the ark rested on top of Mt. Ararat. They waited inside the ark until another 40 more days passed, then Noah opened the window and let out a raven and a dove. The raven didn't come back to the ark, it flew and flew until the waters were all dried up because it had strong wings, but the dove couldn't find anywhere to make a nest, so it flew back to the ark and Noah took it back inside.
- Noah waited seven MORE days, then he sent the dove out the window again, and this time it brought back an olive branch in it's mouth which told Noah that the water was almost gone. After waiting seven MORE days, Noah sent out another dove, and the dove did not come back. A little bit longer and the earth was dry (Gen. 8:14). God told Noah to go out of the ark and be fruitful and multiply. Noah and all of his family and all of the animals went out of the ark. Do you know what Noah did as soon as he left the ark? He built an altar and offered an offering. Do you know what God did? He set a rainbow in the sky and said that He would never destroy the whole earth again with water. When we see the rainbow in the sky, we will remember this story about Noah and the flood and how God promised to never destroy the earth with water again. Will you remember?
- Elaborate on the fact that God only wanted gopher wood and He had his reasons. Gopher wood will float and that fact was very important! Why?
- Noah was 600 years old when he went into the ark with the other seven members of his family. People Lived longer before the flood than they did after the flood. The oldest man that ever lived was named Methuselah and he was 969 years old! (Gen. 5:27) There's a saying that people say even today: "He is as old as Methuselah", meaning he was a very old man. Many things that people say like that are taken from the Bible, but people do not know it.
Materials needed: blue, brown, tan, yellow, black construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons.
- Cut a mountain out of tan construction paper.
- Glue to blue paper.
- Cut bottom of ark out of brown paper. (It is shaped like a bowl; cut a rectangle and round two corners.)
- Glue to top of mountain. (See picture above for example.)
- Cut top of ark out of brown paper. (Using smaller brown rectangle, cut sharp wedges to form roof--see above for example.)
- Cut strip of yellow for window.
- Glue to yellow strip to the bottom of the ark at top.
- Glue top of the ark to the top of the window. (See top picture for example.)
- Write "Genesis 6-8" at top. Write "Gopher wood", "3 stories", "1 door", and "1 window".
- Draw a few animals (two of each) coming out of ark.
- Cut small circles to form altar and glue to bottom of mountain.
- Draw Noah by altar.