A Sunday School Lesson On Noah

Here is a Sunday school lesson or Bible study on Noah.

The Favor of God

Genesis 6:8-9 “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

God showed favor on Noah because he was blameless before him in all his generation or among all those who were his contemporaries but “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5) and at that time, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:11-13). God knew that those outside of Noah’s family would never repent and believe because they hadn’t listened to Noah for at least forty years.

Had mankind reached a point of no return or where repentance was impossible?

Is the present world like the days of Noah?

Why was Noah considered righteous by God?

Enter the Ark

Genesis 7:1 “Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.”

Several times we have seen why God spared Noah, and for his sake, the lives of his family, since “Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him” (Gen 7:5). Today, we know that the very righteousness of Christ is what we need but God imparts His righteousness upon all who trust in Him (2nd Cor 5:21). Part of the gospel message of being saved by faith and not by works (Eph 2:8-9) is that salvation comes by Christ alone (Acts 4:12) and that God seals it by His Spirit (Eph 1:13-14), and so “those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in” (Gen 7:16). Did you notice that Noah didn’t close the door because there was probably no inside door handle but “the Lord shut him in,” meaning it was God alone Who saved Noah and his family. Without God telling Noah to build an ark, Noah and his family would have also been drowned in the flood.

Why is it important to point out that “the Lord shut him in?”

Do you think Noah’s family members were righteous or blameless?

Were they saved on account of Noah?

The Flood of Judgment

Second Peter 2:5 “if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

The Apostle Peter is writing to the dispersed Christian Jews that God won’t spare the ungodly in this present world any more than he didn’t spare the ancient world in Noah’s day. God “brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” and He “did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment” (2nd Pet 2:4). One example of God’s judgment was “by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (2nd Pet 2:6). Jesus warned about this same type of society in the last days by saying it will be just like it was in the days of Noah when the Son of Man comes (Luke 17:26).

Do you think God has changed His mind about ungodliness? Why?

What angels did God not spare “but cast them into hell?”

Does Noah and Sodom’s example still apply to today?

Fear and Faith

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

We know for sure that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov 9:10) but this is not the way the world thinks about fear. It’s like a child who fears discipline if their hand is caught in the cookie jar. The child doesn’t fear that their parent won’t love them; they fear getting caught, so out of respect or revering what dad or mom said, they will obey them (most of the time). Noah had a godly fear, not a fear of being struck dead, but a reverential fear that showed up in obedience and belief. He built an ark for something he had never seen before because He feared God, trusted God, and believed God. By this, God could declare Noah as a man of faith which makes him (and us) “an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

What is the difference between what the world calls fear and what Christians call the fear of God?

Was the gospel message contained in the account of Noah?

How did Noah condemn the world?

Conclusion

I urge you in your study to look at all of the Bible verses and read them aloud in the class so that you can get the most out of this lesson on Noah which brings us to the present day when Jesus said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27). Today, we should warn people of God’s coming wrath (Rev 20:12-15) on all unrepentant sinners (Rev 21:8) and those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior (John 3:36b) because we are called for this purpose (Matt 28:19-20).

Is there another “flood” coming to this world?

Is this world similar to what Jesus said as in the days of Noah?

What has changed in your understanding about Noah after this study?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.