Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Noah Youth Bible Study

Brief: God spared Noah for a reason.
Needed: nothing
Scripture: Genesis 6:1-22; John 14:15

Genesis 6:1-7: When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”

Why do you think that God was sad that He made humans? (Because they sinned.)

Why do you think God cares when we sin? Why should it matter to Him?

God created humans to be in a loving relationship with Him. The only reason that humanity exists is to be loved by God and to love Him back. When humans sin, they are betraying God.

Imagine a man and a woman who are married. They are in a loving relationship together. If one of them does something bad against the other person, that other person will feel hurt. That’s what it’s like with God and us. When we sin, it’s like we’re cheating on God. And that makes God sad. If I were to cheat on my spouse, one of his or her options would be to divorce me. If we sin against God, the Bible is telling us here that one of God’s options is to punish us.

Our relationship with God is also like a parent to a child. Parents want what’s best for the kids, and when they see them acting wrongly, they get disappointed and upset. They also have to punish their children to get them back on the right track.

A third way to look at our relationship with God is as a king or government to its subjects. The king or the government has the right to make laws. When we disobey those laws, we’re showing disrespect to the king or the people who made the laws. We’re in rebellion, and the ruler feels disrespected. 

Genesis 6:8-22: But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Why do you think God spared Noah? What are some of the differences between Noah and the rest of the people that God had decided to destroy?

Characteristics of the People Destroyed
Great wickedness (verse 5)
Continuous evil inclinations and thoughts (verse 5)
Corrupt (verse 11)
Full of violence (verse 11)

Characteristics of Noah
Righteous (verse 9)
Blameless (verse 9)
Walked with God (verse 9)
Obeyed God (verse 22)

Verse 9 says that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord because he was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. What does it mean when it says that Noah was righteous and blameless?

It means that he did not do things that were wrong. Noah did the right things. Even in the midst of all the bad decisions everyone else was making, Noah did what was right. Noah kept himself clean. And he didn’t wrong anyone else, either, no matter what they did to him. He was righteous before God and blameless among the people of his generation.

What does it mean to walk with God? (To have a relationship with God.)

Verse 22 says that Noah obeyed God. Obedience to God is a huge part of being righteous and blameless and having a relationship with God. Jesus said,

John 14:15:  “If you love Me, keep My commands.

One of the ways – the primary way – we show our love for Jesus is to do what He said. When we take Him at His word and obey Him, we ensure that we’re in a right relationship with Him. If we disobey Him, we’re telling Him that we don’t love Him enough to honor Him in our actions. We can’t be in a right relationship with Him if that’s our attitude.

We need to be like Noah, obeying God no matter what other people are doing, being in a right relationship with Him, and making sure we’re not wronging anyone around us. Then, we’ll be righteous and blameless.

But God makes it clear that Noah is not the only one to be saved, but is extending His grace to Noah's family. Why do you think God also saves Noah’s family from the Flood?

As Noah was the head of his household, he would have had much influence regarding the moral conduct of his family. Perhaps they were living righteously as well as Noah, and that's why they were saved.

Or maybe they were saved simply for Noah's sake. If Noah survived the Flood and his family didn't, he may not have appreciated God's sparing him. He may have been depressed and looked on his survival as a curse rather than an awesome blessing. Saving Noah’s family could have been simply another sign of God’s grace toward Noah.



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