Key Thought: What did sin do to God’s creation? What were some of the characteristics of Noah? What elements were involved in the covenant with Noah? In what ways is God’s grace revealed in the covenant with Noah before the Flood? What does the covenant God made with humanity after the Flood teach us about His universal love for us?

Prepared by William Earnhardt

April 17, 2021 Sabbath School Class.

1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 6:5-9, 11.

A. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?

B. Why did God repent that He had made man? (Try to help the class understand that God was sorry because His creatures were in pain. For example Malachi 2:16 says God hates divorce. Does God hate divorcees? Of course not! He loves divorcees which is why He hates the divorce that brings pain to the divorcees.) What does His solution teach us about true Biblical repentance? (Try to help the class the understand that God repented by undoing what He had done. True repentance on our part is undoing what we have done as far as lies in our power.)

C. Personal Application: In the midst of a wicked world how do we find grace in the eyes of the Lord? What hint does the last part of verse 9 give us?

D. Case Study: Your friend says his pastor says that if Jesus does not come soon to destroy sin and sinners that He will need to apologize to the antediluvians for destroying them? Do you agree with your friend?

2. Have a volunteer read Genesis 6:10-18.

A. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?

B. How is the covenant in verse 18 related to the covenant in Genesis 3:15 and why does that make it crucial for God to preserve a posterity on the ark?

C. Personal Application: What part did peer pressure play in Adam choosing to sin in Genesis 3:6 and what part do you believe peer pressure played in no one besides Noah’s family getting on the ark? When it comes to salvation why is it so important that we make our own decisions?

D. Case Study: Your young nephew who just lost his favorite puppy asks you if his pet will be in heaven. After all he says, God saved the animals on the ark. What do you tell your nephew?

3. Have a volunteer read Genesis 9:12-17.

A. Ask the class that is the main idea of this passage?

B. What is the significance of “every living creature” in verse 16 and “all families of the earth will be blessed” in Genesis 12:1-3? Have unbelievers benefited from the covenant? If so how? Hint: “To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring. All this Christ has taught in appointing the emblems of His great sacrifice. The light shining from that Communion service in the upper chamber makes sacred the provisions for our daily life. The family board becomes as the table of the Lord, and every meal a sacrament.” -Ellen White, Desire of Ages Page 660.

C. Personal Application: How well has God kept His covenant with your personally? How well have you kept your covenant with Him?

D. Case Study: Your neighbor asks if the flood covered the entire globe or just the known world in the middle east at that time? What implications does such a question have? What do you tell your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 12:17.

A. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?

B. What relation is there if any, between the “seed” in Genesis 3:15 and “the remnant of her seed” In this passage? How is the remaining and surviving seed identified?

C. Personal Application: If you are a part of God’s remnant how has the dragon made war with you personally? How has God protected you?

D. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 149).