NOAH MAKES AN ARK Genesis 5:28-6:22

First: Lamech belonged to the ninth generation and Noah to the tenth generation after the creation. From Adam to Noah people lived without God’s law. The only law was “the Golden Rule” written into people’s heart: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matt 7:22). Noah’s story is important to us to understand because Jesus said that in the Last Days life will be quite similar as it was in Noah’s time.
Verses 5:28-32

• Check the footnote for the verse 29. Lamech named his son Noah. What does it tell you about Lamech’s life and faith? (What was the life like during the first nine generations?)

• In which situation could you give your child a name meaning “a comfort”?

• Noah had to wait to become a father for a long time, three times longer than his progenitors. Why did God make him wait for a child for such a long time?

• The Bible mentions only the first sons of all the progenitors, but all three of Noah’s. Why is that?
Verses 6:5-7 Read the verse 5.

• How was it possible that the world had turned that violent only during the first ten generations? Check the verses 11-12, too.

• What was the life like with the kind of people described in verses 5,11 and 12?

• There was no law for people at that time. Could that explain the magnitude of the violence?

• What would have happened to the mankind if there would not have been the Flood at all?

• Compare the violence in Noah’s time with the present time.

• What do verses 6 and 7 teach you about God?

• What was the relationship between people and God in Noah’s time? (What was their God like if they had a faith in God at all?)

• Why don’t more people nowadays have faith in God who can act like it is described in verses 6 and 7? (What will happen if people totally forget that God is the Holy, and He is going to punish evil?)

• How does the idea of God in Noah’s time differ from the idea of God today?

• How could the Christians today try to prevent the magnitude of the violence in the world?

• God decided to destroy not only all the people but also all the animals (7). What do you think about that?
Verses 6: 8-10. A blameless man can also be translated a righteous man. It means a man is pleasing to God. This is the very first time the word righteous can be seen in the Bible. Later it can be noticed that Noah knew about sacrificing and its meaning.

• What was the biggest difference between Noah and the other people around?

• What is the difference between the old and new versions: “Noah received mercy in the eyes of the Lord.” (The old version), and “Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.” (The new version)?

• Why does the Bible describe Noah’s relationship with God in this order (verses 8-9)?

• Did Noah please God by his faith or by his deeds? Why?

• How was Noah able to keep his faith in the middle of all the bad around him?
Verses 6: 13-16. An ell is 50 cm, and the size of the ark was 150m x 25m x 15m. It had three floors and the whole area was 1000 square meters – as big as a huge oil tanker. Iron could be found only from meteorites. Noah built the ark for about one hundred years (5:32, 6:3 and 7:6).

• How does the ark differ from an ordinary ship?

• Building the ark required many steps and different kinds of tools. What problems might there have been with tools or labour? (The first builders were Lamech (father) and Noah’s wife. Later the three sons took part as well.)

• What was Noah’s three sons’ childhood and youth like?

• How, perhaps, Noah would have spent his life unless he hadn’t been building the ark?
Verses 6:17-22. There was hardly any other three -floor-building around and no big ships, not on dry land anyway. The ark must have been a real “tourist trap”.

• What was Noah thinking when God revealed him His plan about the flood?

• How did Noah understand God’s will to establish His covenant with him, what do you think?

• How did other people comment on Noah’s slow work on the ark?

• Peter calls Noah a preacher of righteousness (2Pet 2:5) and in Hebrews (11:7) it is said that Noah have condemned the world by his faith. So, while building the ark Noah also preached . How did he do that and what was his message?

• Nobody believed his words. Why? Why wasn’t there any awakening?

• What did Noah’s wife think about the long-lasting building project?

• Who and what kind of girls from ungodly world agreed a proposal and married Noah’s sons?
Righteousness by faith. “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family…and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Heb 11:7).

• How did Noah build the ark by faith?

• What kind of struggles did Noah probably have in his heart during the long building project?

• How is it possible to stay in faith for a hundred of years if all the others disagree with you, except your own family?
Finally: Noah was given mercy and righteousness, not by his deeds but because he had faith in God’s mercy . When he was sacrificing the sacrifices, he believed in God’s promise about the Saviour who will crush the serpent’s head.

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