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Firm Foundations

Creation to Christ

Lesson 15 - God Remembered Noah and All in the Ark; God Scattered the Rebels at the Tower of Babel

Questions for the LFC Firm Foundations Coordinator may be emailed to firmfoundations@lenoxchurch.org

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REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. What was the attitude of the majority of the people in the time when Noah lived? They were obsessed with sex, marriage, and pleasing themselves. They were selfish and violent. They were not interested in knowing or pleasing God.

2. Do we see many similarities in the world today to the times of Noah? Name some of these similarities. Yes, there are many, such as: refusal to acknowledge God, thinking only of self, and actively pursuing all kinds of evil—adultery, stealing, murder, etc.

3. Who was speaking to the people’s minds, telling them to change their attitude and come to God in faith? God the Holy Spirit.

4. Who reminds people of God’s Word and wants each one to seriously consider and believe what God has written in the Bible? God the Holy Spirit.

5. What did God say He was going to do because the people would not repent? God said He would destroy all living things on earth.

6. Did Noah deserve to be delivered from everlasting punishment by God? No, Noah was also a sinner. He deserved to be killed like all the other people.

7. Why then did God decide to save Noah? Because Noah agreed with God that he was a sinner and trusted God to save him through the coming Deliverer.

8. What did God tell Noah to do? God told him to build an ark.

9. Did God allow Noah to build the ark however he thought best? No, it had to be built exactly as God commanded Noah.

10. What one important thing should we remember about the ark? The ark had only one door. There was only one way to enter the ark and be saved from the judgment of God.

11. Did Noah build the ark just as God said? Yes.

12. What else did Noah do while he was building the ark? He was telling the people God’s message and warning them that God was going to make it rain and the whole world would be destroyed by a flood.

13. Had the people ever seen rain before? No, it had never rained before this time.

14. Did the people accept what Noah said and change their attitude? No, they refused to believe and agree with God.

15. How long did God wait for the people in Noah’s time to agree with Him and to believe His Word? 120 years.

16. How did those saved from judgment get into the ark? They all entered by the one and only door which God had told Noah to put in the side of the ark.

17. Who shut the door? God did.

18. Why did God shut the door? So that all those inside the ark would be safe and those outside the ark would not have the opportunity to enter and be saved.

19. Can anyone escape God when He decides it is time to punish sin? No.

20. How did God cause the flood to cover all the high mountains and the earth? God returned to the earth the water that He had placed above the sky on the second day when He was creating the earth, and He opened up the “springs of the great deep.”

21. Did anyone outside the ark escape death? No, they all died.

OPTIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTION:

22. The Bible tells us that the people who predated Noah were skilled men—materialistic but very capable. By Noah’s time, men had become so thoroughly sinful that their every thought was totally evil and godless. What does this tell you with regard to the theories of so-called “evolution” of man, which imply that man is continually improving? Man did not and does not evolve. Man was created perfect by God, but he degenerated spiritually and morally because of his sin.

The Bible is an amazing book. It has the answers to the most important questions of life. And it also explains the history of mankind in depths unattainable by any other resource. For instance: have you ever wondered why people around the world speak so many different languages? The Bible has the answer. We are going to look at that answer in a moment. But first we are going to complete the record of Noah and his family.

Noah and his family and the animals in the ark were kept safe by God.

- Not one of them died.

- God remembered them, and He stopped the rain.

- He sent a strong wind to dry up the water, and the dry land again appeared.

- God controls the rain and the wind. God never changes; He never forgets.

- He didn’t forget Noah and the others in the ark.

- He does what He says.

- He said He would save them, and He did.

- He said He would destroy all outside of the ark, and He did.

NOTICE LOCATION OF MT. ARARAT (located in the top center of the map in what is now Turkey).

- Consider:

Many expeditions in the past several years have attempted to find the ark on Mt. Ararat. This is an interesting possibility, and one day God may allow men to find the ark there in the ice. But the thing we need to remember is that regardless of whether or not the ark is found, the account of Noah and the ark and the flood is true. Many scientists now see that the biblical record of the flood is the true scientific explanation for the great number of fossil remains of animals such as dinosaurs and other now-extinct animals. The flood also accounts for many geological formations that were once thought of in terms of evolutionary processes. The more we learn about the Bible, the more we realize that God’s Word is an amazing, accurate, scientific record of historical fact.

God gave Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, control over the animals, birds, and fish just as He had given it to Adam in the beginning.

- The world and everything in it belongs to God.

- But He gave it to man to take care of for Him.

- The rainbow was given as God’s sign to show that He would never again destroy the earth by a flood.

- Many thousands of years have passed since the flood.

- God has kept His word.

- When you see a rainbow, remember that God gave the rainbow as a sign that He will never again destroy the world by a flood.

- God can be trusted.

Genesis 10, often called the “Table of Nations,” records the generations of the sons of Noah.

Though we won’t take time to study this chapter, it is truly an amazing document—a carefully composed, objective record made by the God who knows everything and every person. God’s record stands in sharp contrast to the often mythical writings of ancient men from ungodly civilizations. Just as all of us find our ancestry in Adam, so we also find our ancestry somewhere in Genesis 10.

Many years had passed since God saved Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their sons’ wives from the great flood. Once again, many people lived on the earth.

The majority of the descendants of Noah soon forgot about God’s terrible judgment on the earth by the flood.

They deliberately ignored God.

- They refused to consider His will for them.

- They did not want to know and believe on the Lord like Abel, Seth, and Noah.

They were under Satan’s control and like Satan in their thinking.

- They wanted to be great and exalt themselves.

- They were not interested in knowing, worshiping, or trusting God, nor in obeying His Word. Among these people were our ancestors.

- They had heard about the flood, and they knew that God was their Creator. Every day and every night, they could see His mighty power revealed through all the things that He had made. God also continued to show His faithfulness to His promise never to destroy the earth again by a flood—by putting the rainbow in the sky. They didn’t have any excuse for not believing God.

- But they would not give God the place of honor which He deserves or thank Him for life, health, sunshine, rain, and food.

- They deliberately turned away from what they knew to be the truth about God, and their minds became more and more evil and foolish. They made images of people and worshiped them. They worshiped animals and birds. Finally, they worshiped snakes and other reptiles.

Satan was leading our ancestors in rebellion against God and His will.

- Satan wants people to worship false gods.

- Many primitive societies still worship the sun, moon, stars, birds, or animals.

- Consider:

How easy it is for us to look at the people who do these things and see their folly. But Satan is clever. He knows the weaknesses of each culture, and he knows what lies will be culturally “acceptable.” Even though we may not think we see many people obviously involved in idol worship, we do find that the horoscope is printed in our daily paper! We do see people going more and more deeply into debt and sacrificing all their time and energy and even relationships in order to keep up with the incredible pressures of our materialistic culture. We do see people centering their thoughts, time, and energies on exalting self. Where does God fit into all of this?

Worship has to do with the giving of our thoughts, our hearts, our resources—even our lives—to serve the object of our worship. Worship comes from the word “worth.” God, and God alone, is worthy of our adoration and worship. Satan doesn’t care what we worship as long as we don’t worship the only true and living God.

God is sovereign.

- He and He alone is God.

- In Isaiah 42:8 God says, “I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images [idols].”

But the builders of Babel (also called Babylon) were not thinking about God.

- The Bible Knowledge Commentary gives some interesting insights into the idolatrous, prideful thinking of the builders of this city:

“Written Babylonian accounts of the building of the city of Babylon refer to its construction in heaven by the gods as a celestial city, as an expression of pride....These accounts say it was made by the same process of brick-making described in verse 3 [Genesis 11], with every brick inscribed with the name of the Babylonian god Marduk. Also the ziggurat, the step-like tower believed to have been first erected in Babylon, was said to have its top in the heavens (cf. v. 4). This artificial mountain became the center of worship in the city, a miniature temple being at the top of the tower. The Babylonians took great pride in their building; they boasted of their city as not only impregnable, but also as the heavenly city, babili (‘the gate of God’).”

- Marduk, by the way, is another name for Baal, one of the false gods the people set up to worship instead of the one true God. The practices associated with Baal worship were evil, sensual, and cruel.

LOCATE ON MAP BELOW THE AREA WHERE BABEL WAS SITUATED IN THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES PLAIN.

- In the area of the Tigris-Euphrates plain, there are many visible remnants of later civilizations which still bear towers, or ziggurats, calling to mind the tower of Babel. Construction of these structures also reveals the burnt clay and bitumen (tar) mentioned in the Bible.

The people gathered to build the tower of Babel because they did not want to be scattered over all the earth.

Whom were they thinking about? Themselves! These men were full of pride! They should have been interested in exalting God’s name, not their own! But look again at the last part of this verse. What else was wrong? Do you remember what command God gave to Adam and then repeated to Noah and his descendants?

- God had told Adam and Noah that they were to multiply and to take control of all animals, birds, and fish in all parts of the world.

- God didn’t want people to live together in one place, doing only as they pleased.

- God knew that, if they all stayed together, they would quickly forget about God and His will.

- Man was created by God to do God’s will on the earth. God is the Creator and owner of us all, no matter where we live, what color we are, or what language we speak. These people deliberately disobeyed the command given to Noah and Adam by God, their Creator.

- They did not want to be scattered into different parts of the world as God commanded.

- They congregated in one place, built a city, and began to erect a great, tall tower.

Was God interested in these rebellious people?

- Did God see them?

- Did He know their thoughts and what they planned?

- Did He care what they did?

Yes, the Lord was interested in them even though they had forgotten Him. God sees all people everywhere.

- He is interested in every person.

- He knows all about us, too.

Neither you nor I can keep any secret from Him. He knows everything we have ever thought, said, or done. He is our Creator.

- He owns every person.

- He even owns those who are separated from Him because of their sin.

Can anyone fight against God and win?

- When Satan was in Heaven, he tried to fight against God, but he lost.

- The other angels who followed Satan also lost in their fight against God.

- Adam and Eve, Cain, and the people at the time when Noah lived lost in their fight against God.

- What do you think happened this time? Did Satan and the people win? No one can fight against God and be the winner; He is greater than all.

Now we will read how the Lord took control of the situation.

- Note:

Do you remember that God said in the beginning, “...Let us make man in our image...” (Genesis 1:26)? Now again we see the Lord—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—discussing what He was about to do.

- The Lord caused the people to speak different languages.

- Because men could no longer understand one another, they separated into their various families and moved away to different parts of the country.

- Over many years, they moved to other parts of the world on foot or by boats.

This was God’s original plan—that man populate the whole earth, not just one region.

- Consider:

Often we hear explanations of the history and development of nations and languages told only from the standpoint of man’s limited understanding. If we really want to know the true origin and history of man, we need to look closely at the Bible. We need to realize that God alone can give us many of the details of the past. When we believe His Word, we have a framework on which to place archeological discoveries and other historical evidences. Apart from the Bible, we cannot possibly construct an accurate history. God created everything and has recorded accurately for us those foundations that man needs to know.

This passage in Genesis tells us how the different nations and races began, including each of our particular ancestors. Our ancestors were at the tower of Babel. This is the beginning of the history of your family as part of a distinct nationality or language group. Our ancestors turned away from the truth of God which they knew and followed the ideas which Satan and his spirits gave to them. If you have studied ancient cultures, you know of the prevalence of idol worship and false gods. Both sophisticated and unsophisticated societies turned away from the true and living God to follow after human leaders, sinful desires, false gods, and idols.

There were a few people who continued to worship the true and living God, but the majority turned away from God. The Bible gives us insight into history; but more than that, it shows us what God is like and how God deals with man. You may already be noticing some patterns in these ancient stories that sound a lot like the pattern of life today—men and women are still rebelling against God.

But God hasn’t changed either. He cares about every individual. He knows exactly what is happening in each life. He still judges sin. And He is still calling people to believe in Him.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why could God give Noah and his sons control over all the animals, birds, and fish?

2. What sign did God give to show He would never again destroy the earth by a flood?

3. Has God kept His promise?

4. Did the generation following the flood know the truth about God?

5. How did they know?

a.

b.

c.

6. Did the descendants of Noah all worship God? Did they agree with what He said and trust in His promise to send the Deliverer?

7. What did the majority of the people do?

a.

b.

8. Who were these people?

9. Why did they begin to build the tower of Babel?

a.

b.

10. Did God know what they were planning to do?

11. Does God know all the secrets which people have?

12. What did the Lord do?

13. What was the result?

14. Where did our earliest ancestors get their religious beliefs?

THE FOLLOWING ARE OPTIONAL QUESTIONS

15. Name some attitudes prevalent among the people of Babel that are common to people today.

16. What would you say are some of the things that men and women worship today?

Suggested Daily Bible Readings:

Day 71: Numbers, Chapters 24 and 25

Day 72: Numbers, Chapters 26 and 27

Day 73: Numbers, Chapters 28 and 29

Day 74: Numbers, Chapters 30 and 31

Day 75: Numbers, Chapters 32 and 33