What worked well this week? Did you do anything in your personal study or family study that helped make these scriptures more meaningful for you? Do you have any teaching ideas that you’d like to share?
*Just a reminder that one of the things I personally want to point out through the year is the covenants made by God to Israel. So as we read, I’ll note some of the promises as we discuss them though there are several we likely won’t get to. (And just a side note...covenant Israel hasn’t actually been established at this point in the Old Testament...however, I think the promises given to Noah are just as relevant to us today as the promises given to covenant Israel...and Noah is the progenitor of Israel.)
Well let’s dig in!
Genesis 6 and Moses 8 are closely related...Moses 8 is the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 6. As we read and discuss the flood, I liked a perspective shared in the Unshaken Podcast that there were 3 floods taking place then (and again now!)
There was a flood of wickedness. 2. There was a flood of truth. 3. There was a flood of consequences (which the actual flood of water was part of.) So as we read I would love for us to notice examples of each of these 3 types of floods.
Moses 8: 9 (His name was a play on words. His name sounded like the Hebrew word that meant comfort, console or bring relief. And that was what Noah did.
Moses 8:13-16 What do we know about Noah from these verses? What do we learn about the majority of people and what is beginning to happen with them?
Genesis 6: 3 and 4 and 5
Genesis 6: 11 Hebrew word translated as corrupt here is the same word used in vs. 13 but translated as destroyed...The people were corrupting and destroying themselves, others and the Earth. And the destruction sent upon the Earth matched the corruption. Sin covered EVERYTHING, so the flood had to cover everything.
Are you seeing parallels between Noah’s day and our day?
Genesis 6: 6 Remember we have a God who weeps.
Repent: Naham A perfect blend of justice and mercy...this word means grieving, sadness, pain and mourning, but it also means to comfort and console.
Despite the wickedness, we learn some important things about Noah and about God...
Moses 8:18-20
Genesis 6: 8-9
*Noah finds grace (Promise to covenant Israel). Noah is perfect. Noah ordained to the priesthood and given power from God.
What lessons can we learn from this?
Reading of this massive destruction could easily sound harsh to many people. But I believe that God and Jesus Christ are merciful and loving to ALL.
2 Nephi 26:24 says, “For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in adarkness.
24 He doeth not aanything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he bloveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw call men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.”
So my question is how do we reconcile this massive destruction with a God who loves His children and does only things that are for the benefit of the world? I have some thoughts but what are your thoughts?
*ESV Study BIble says that God’s ultimate purpose in judgment is never destruction but restoration. Examples would include a surgeon removing tumor or a gardener trimming a tree...it looks destructive but really is helpful and restorative.
* Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that God intervened “when corruption had reached an agency-destroying point that spirits could not, in justice, be sent here” (We Will Prove Them Herewith [1982], 58).
President John Taylor said: “Why did the Lord destroy the world? Was it an act of love? YES! The people were so wicked they would have transmitted their unrighteous natures and desires to their children. Someone may ask, “Is it right that a just God should sweep off so many people. Is that in accordance with mercy?” YES! It was just to those spirits that had not received their bodies, and it was just and merciful too to those people guilty of the iniquity. Why? Because by taking away their earthly existence he prevented them from entailing their sins upon their posterity and degenerating [or corrupting] them, and also prevented them from committing further acts of wickedness”
Protection: Neighbor children mistreat my kids...wanted them to be in a safe place. Set down rules. Tried to make them feel welcome. But they would hit and kick and say mean things. And eventually I had to stop them from coming over. It’s not exactly the same, but I had a responsibility to protect my children and so did God.
Moses 8: 20-24 “And it came to pass that Noah called upon the children of men that they should arepent; but they hearkened not unto his words;
21 And also, after that they had heard him, they came up before him, saying: Behold, we are the sons of God; have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men? And are we not aeating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage? And our wives bear unto us children, and the same are mighty men, which are like unto men of old, men of great renown. And they hearkened not unto the words of Noah.
22 And God saw that the awickedness of men had become great in the earth; and every man was lifted up in the bimagination of the thoughts of his heart, being only evil continually.
23 And it came to pass that Noah continued his apreaching unto the people, saying: Hearken, and give heed unto my words;
24 aBelieve and repent of your sins and be bbaptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made cmanifest; and if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you; nevertheless they hearkened not.
**Flood of truth. First principles and ordinances. People divorced choices from consequences and thought that they were getting away with their wickedness. Noah was mocked, his life threatened and most didn’t listen but he CONTINUED to call upon the children of men to repent. This continues in our day with our prophet and apostles.
Genesis 7: 5 And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.
Lessons from the ark:
Genesis 6: 14-16
*It’s huge. It took a long time to build (about 120 years). There was room for everyone! People had many chances to repent. It was pitched within and without...it was sealed tight. How can we pitch our homes within and without and make our homes modern day arks?
Eva Timothy is an artist who writes beautiful words to match her artwork. She wrote this about Noah:
“There is something wonderful about the story of Noah’s Ark. a vessel built to preserve life against the storms and floods as part of God’s promises. In life we all come up against mountain waves beyond our control. We face currents of crisis that, if left solely to our own devices, would carry us to places both dark and cold. Yet we are not stranded, helpless upon this ocean of life. We too are given a vessel to buoy us upon the waters so that even as the storms rage and the floods gather we need not fear for we will ride them out. Isn’t it interesting that the vessel into which Israel entrusted God’s most sacred promises was also given the title of Ark and it is these covenants through which God can use even the adversity in our lives to carry us to lands of HOPE, JOY, and PROMISE. Not only that but while journeying upon the waters we too are given windows of light and revelation by which to see . Tzohar=treasures of radiance (the orginal Ark-en-stone) which shine into the recesses of our souls so that even as the Windows of Heaven open it is not just rain that pours down but truth and guidance, comfort, strength and perspective which shower us. We may not be able to single-handedly change the ocurse of history and the world. But individual choices to DO and BE BETTER have GREAT POWER. We can do a great deal to chart the course for our own lives. To make covenant keeping our compass and to trust our vessel to the hands of He who LOVES us PERFECTLY, who has borne our every burden and who will bear homeward.”
How well are we following the counsel of our modern day Noahs? Our prophet and apostles?
President Eyring said, “The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future. The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked. Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit. ANd so each time his request would have seemed more foolish, until the rain came. And then it was too late. Every time in my life when I have chosen to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm’s way. Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety.” (April 1997, Finding Safety in Counsel)
When have you experienced blessings/safety/comfort from following the prophet’s counsel?
Genesis 7: 18-24 keeps repeating that the waters prevailed. I think there are times in our life when it seems that chaos, trial, difficulty, sorrow are prevailing. That times are hard and it may feel like it will never get better. BUT eventually the floods do recede and ultimately God always prevails. The question is “Will we let God prevail in our life?”
Chiasmus...center/focal point is Genesis 8:1...”And God remembered Noah”. This is in the middle of the flood. The rain has stopped but they are still in the boat. THis isn’t before the flood (though clearly God remembered Him then too and prepared Him...) and this isn’t after the flood is over and the land is dry (though we can tell that God remembered him then as well...) this is right in the middle of the hard. When they are on a boat and the people they love and have prayed for and preached to have been destroyed and I imagine it stinks and maybe they are seasick and things are still hard. And I think the lesson is that God remembers us in the middle of our hard too!
Moses 8: 15-17 This was a fresh start for the earth and for man...many parallels to the creation and to Adam and Eve. And again the command is given and is still in force to multiply and replenish the Earth.
Covenant: 3 parts (see JST footnotes for 2 of them): no more floods, posterity, city of Zion will return.
Read Genesis 9:8–17 and pondering how symbols or tokens can serve as reminders of our covenants. To help class members share their thoughts, you might bring to class some objects that remind us of important things—such as a wedding ring, a national flag, or a missionary name tag—and compare them with the “token” of the rainbow. What does Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 9:21–25 (in the Bible appendix) teach us about this token? How does God use tokens or symbols to help us remember our covenants?
Genesis 8: 20 After the flood ended, Noah offered sacrifice and gave THANKS!
Chapter 10 serves to show us that the promise that all nations of the earth would come through Noah is being fulfilled. It gives not just names of individuals but of groups or areas.
If time, Tower of Babel:
Genesis 11: 1-9 (we also learn a lot more about this time period from the Book of Mormon)
These people would have grown up hearing stories about the flood. Perhaps part of their motivation was to build something tall enough to avoid a future flood. It may have been partly to control their feelings of fear and vulnerability. HOWEVER, whatever their motivation, they showed a lot of pride and an utter lack of trust in God. Lack of trust that He would keep His promise not to flood the Earth. Lack of trust that He had the power to save. I wonder in what ways we act like these people...in what ways do we try to “earn” our way into heaven on our own or in what ways do we refuse to trust God?
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