What has happen on the earth so far? Creation, Adam
and Eve in garden of eden, Eve partkes of the fruit, Adam and Eve cast
out, Adam taught to offer sacrifice,Adam is taught the plan of salvation,
Adam and eve have children, Adam teaches his children the gospel, Cain
kills Able,
Why did cain kill able? Because he
was able!
We often just take the primary approach to the story of Noah
and we all kind of know the story by heart - I suppose that any one of us
would not feel like they could not articulate the story at the drop of a
hat. But today let's dig a little deeper - let's try to understand why the
Lord was so angry that he felt that he need to destroy the earth let's explore
a little further.
First what was unique to every person living on the
earth before the flood? Adam was around aprox 930 years Methusala
969 so between the two of them every person would have heard the gospel
either from Adam directly with his first hand testominy or from a prophet
like Enoch of Methusula who would have heard it first hand from Adam. so
the stories and testimonies are not far from the source.
What was the world like when Noah was called to preach the gospel? What
made it so wicked that the Lord felt like he need to destroy the inhabitants
thereof?
Read Genesis 6:1-2
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God [born under the covenant, holder of the priesthood] saw the daughters of men [outside the covenant] that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Read Moses 6:67-68 Defines a son of God
67 And thou art after
the order [
Adam held the priesthood Moses 6:7 ] of him who was without beginning
of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.
68 Behold, thou art one in
me, a son of God; [ Adam
was baptised vs 64-65, and then received the priesthood Moses 6:7 also
compare with D&C 34:4 so a son of God is one who has made covenants
with God Baptism, Priesthood. ] and thus may all become my sons.
Amen.
so what then defines a son of God?
Read Moses 5:27-30
Defines the daugthers of men
27 And Adam and his wife mourned before
the Lord, [ talk about way ward children. How
hard must have it have been for Adam and Eve - for they knew full well
that Cain and those doing like him were not going to be able to have appied
to them the laws associated with the atonement - they were to be come perdition? Mos
5:24] because
of Cain and his brethren.
28 And it came to pass that
Cain took one of his brothers’ daughters to wife,
and
they loved Satan
more than God. [ Notice that Cain does not just
kill Abel and then become like Satan - No he first chooses Satan - he wants
to become like him more than God. Looking into this deeper we can understand
that he started to communicate with Satan and not with God anymore. This
is evident by the next verse where Satan gets Cain to Swear by his throat
- he takes an oath with Satan.]
29 And Satan said unto Cain:
Swear unto
me by thy throat,
[Cain becomes the first
to make a covenant with Satan - but not the last] and if thou tell
it thou shalt die;
and swear thy brethren by their
heads,
[ sounds like he is not alone in this
covenant as well ] and by the living God, that they tell it not;
for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may
not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.
30 And Satan sware unto
Cain that he would do according to his commands.
And all these things were
done in secret.
[
Hence the name secret combination Helaman 6:21-30; Ether 8:13-25 ]
READ Moses 8:13-16
Further defines why the Lord is angered with his children.
13 And Noah and
his sons hearkened unto the Lord, and gave heed, and they were called the sons of
God. [See Mos 6:67-68 for the definition of
a son of God]
14 And when these men
began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto
them, the sons of men
saw that those daughters were fair, and they took them wives,
even as they chose.
15 And the Lord said unto
Noah: The
daughters of thy sons [or
the Daughters of the sons of God - they were those born under the covenant,
they were the daughters of the sons of God - those that held the priesthood
of God,] have
sold themselves;
[they
were marrying out of the church and cutting themselves off from the blessings
provided by the priesthood which was contrary to the teaching of Noah and
the commandments of God. Answers to Gospel Questions 1:136-37] for
behold mine anger is kindled against the sons of men, for they will not hearken to
my voice.
16 And it came to pass
that Noah prophesied,
and taught the things of God, even as it was in the beginning.
With these contexts what then is the definition
of the daughters of men?
so what then is the big deal here to the Lord?
The fact that they are making covenants with Satan
and not the Lord - it is a little more than just not keeping their covenants.
Reverse to Book of Mormon Chapter verse? Daughters
of God with the sons of man
Are there any similiarities to today - If so what?
Why did Noah build and Ark? Hebrews 11:7
7 By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned
the world, and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith.
Any thoughts for us in our lives from this verse?
Just to give you an idea of great amounts of labor would be needed....similiar
to the little red hen...no one really believes this
man...not
willing to participate in this foolishiness. compare the size
of other ships and boats that we may be fimiliar with ...to get feel
for size of the ARK..
Remember...construction
of these modern day vessels of the sea are build by many men in shipyards
with equipment and tools and even with our modern day resources it usually
takes several years to complete the building
The modern day ice breaker is approximately 490
feet long.
The Titanic in all of her magisty was
only 885 feet long
And Modern tankers average about 1100 feet in length
In comparison then
Noah's ark is 450 feet long, 76
feet wide and 45 feet heigh. A basketball
court is 47 feet from the end line to half
court. so
the height of the ark would have been have been about the same distance
as from the end line to half court, the width would have been about the
distance from the end line to the free throw line
or abot 3/4 of the court. The length would have been 9 1/2 basketball courts in
length It
had three decks so the would have bee about about 96,000 sq ft of
space
A
remarkable feat for a man to accomplish by himself, from layout to design,
from shaping the timbers to final production imagine how focused he would
have had to been to get it completed
Short Video of what it might be like
if we had a noah next door...
When you watch that does it give you any ideas
what it must have been like for Noah? His Family? Why didn't people believe
him?
What keeps us from being different from the times
of Noah...there are certianly a lot of differnet ideas out there?
How do we know which is right?
Is the answer really as easy as following the prophet?
If that is the case are we following everything
that he say's today?
Are there some places that we as a church are not
ready for the modern day floods?
Are there ark's that we should be building today? What are
they?
What is the relationship to when it starts raining and building an ark?
Do you suppose that some of the people felt that they would take a wait and see attitude toward the flood?
What are the qualities that Noah demonstarted
in building the Ark? Patience, diligence
Read Genesis 7:14-23
14 They, and every beast after his kind,
and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird
of every sort.
15 And they went in unto
Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein
is the breath
of life.
16 And they that went in,
went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him:
and
the LORD shut him in.
[This seems
to imply that God took him under his especial protection, and as he shut
HIM in (the Lords seal's it) , so he shut the OTHERS out.]
17 And the flood was forty
days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was
lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed,
and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark
went
upon [Hebrew interupetation would be "it
had no steering gear - so it simply floated about until the flood subsided
] the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed
exceedingly upon the earth; and all the
high hills, that
were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20 Fifteen cubits upward
did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21 And all flesh died that
moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils
was the breath of
life, of all that
was in the dry
land, died.
23 And every living substance
was destroyed which was upon
the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and
the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth:
and Noah only
remained calive, and they
that were with him in the ark. [This
verse brings to light the fact that man has dominion over the earth, the
the creation was for him, that all living things are for him and that it
is by his actions that the earth is punished or blessed, man's actions take
a precedence over the other living things.]
What are your initial thoughts as you read these verses?
How
can a loving God destroy all the children on the earth? Or did he? First
God trys to give his children every opportunity
to repent as he leaves Methuselah around ( his name means "when
he dies, it shall be sent/has been sent" or "his death shall send") when
the city of Enoch is taken up Mos 8:2. Lord took the
righteous from the earth earilier - city of Enoch was not the only one Moses 7:27 ; Mormon Doc p804
Did the Lord destroy the earth out of love or anger - your
thoughts?
Where does the principle of agency come into the equation?
What happened when the floods came?
What must it have been like for Noah to hear the pleas
from the drownding victims for hours pleading for him to open the doors?
What implications does that have for us and the second coming or death?
Read Genesis 8:7-12
7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth
to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8 Also
he
sent forth a dove from him,
[ What
is the difference between a Raven and a Dove? A
Raven will scavenge from trees or any where. A Dove on the other hand will
only eat off of the ground - so the dove is looking for dry ground to feed,
hence its return after finding a live olive tree.] to see if the waters
were abated from off the face of the ground;
9 But the dove found no rest
for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters
were on
the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and
pulled her in unto him into the ark.
10 And he stayed yet
other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
11 And the dove came in to
him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth
was an olive leaf pluckt off:
so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
[
symbolic that a Dove is sent out to see if salvation is possible - if there
is hope to live on the land again. The doves return from flight with the confirmation
the (knowledge) that life is possible again. ]
12 And he stayed yet other
seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any
more.
After the rain stopped why did noah send out a Dove?
What finally happened with the Dove?
Read Genesis 8:20
20 ¶ And Noah
builded an altar unto the LORD; and took
of every clean beast, and of
every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on
the altar. [ Whoa cowboy - If
there were only two of ever animal how was he able to do this and still have
both male and female to pro- create? See
Gen 7:2 for the answer. The clean beasts were taken by sevens.]
What was the first thing that Noah did after
leaving the Ark? Whoa if there was only two of everything and he offers one
from every clean fowl and every clean beast if my math is right that does not
leave alot for procreation. How do you answer that?
Read Genesis 7:2
2 Of every clean beast thou
shalt take to thee by sevens, [so we find the
distinction between clean and unclean animals existed long before the Mosaic
law. This distinction seems to have been originally designed to mark those
animals which were proper for sacrifice and food, from those that were not.
See Leviticus 11] the male and his female: and of beasts that are not
clean by two, the male and his female.
Thoughts about the law of sacrifice - we are going to hear
alot about the principle in the next few weeks so take a moment and thnk
about it in regard to your own life. Think aboutthe fact that it was the first
thing that Adam did after leaving the Garden of Eden, It was the first
thing that Noah did after exiting the ark. It was so important to the Lord
that Noah was commanded to take extra of the clean beasts in order to sacrifice
them.
so how important should it be in our lives?
What can we learn from the story of Noah?
Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark.
ONE: Don't miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something
really big.
FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be
done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the
cheetahs.
NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile..
TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow
waiting.
TWELVE: God will not allow wickedness to take over. This
can be great comfort given current conditions. (Read 1 Nephi 3:7)
THIRTEEN: God is the creator and is in control of the creation.
Ask: Does knowing this make any concrete difference in your life?
FORTEEN: God will perserve the righteous by his hand is necessary.
Do we think of ourselves this way? Should we?
FIFTEEN: Be obedient - even if you look stupid at least for
a while. What is the tipping point of
your own obedience? What makes it hard for you to obey and how do you overcome
those things?
SIXTEEN: Be prepared, build your ark while it is calm not
when it starts to rain - temporally and spiritually. Start now and build
your own ark.
SEVENTEEN: Listen to the prophet - if he says something - DO IT.
Read Genesis 11:1-9
1 AND the whole earth was of one language,
and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they
journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar;
and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another,
Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone,
and slime had
they for morter.
[Ironic note that man is made
of clay Gen 2:7 and now man trys to build a way back to God using clay.]
4 And they said, Go to, let
us build us a city and a tower,
whose top may reach unto
heaven;
[Thus, the people saw the tower of Babel
as a gate to the heavens, a counterfeit temple raised in the rebelliousness
of Satan. It was this symbol of their pride and wickedness that angered the
Lord.] and
let us make us a name,
[monumental
arrogance that accompanies wickedness] lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
[
Here we go again, we will do as we please. They have decided to contradict
the will of the Lord that command that was issued when they left the ark to
multiple and fill the earth Gen 9:1. ]
5 And the L
ORD came
down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the L
ORD said,
Behold, the people
is one,
and they have all one
language;
[ I don't know if it would be streching
it to far to also imply that they had one belief system, one religion, not
the one of God so by confounding that belief system different religions came
about and this caused the concentrated wickedness to become dispelled somewhat.
So language, religion, custom...would all create caos. This would be a cause
for them to scatter as well as we know how well religions like to mix.] and
this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which
they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and
there confound their language,
that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 so the L
ORD scattered
them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to
build the city.
9 Therefore is the
name
of it called Babel;
[ The Cainite city devoted
to power, murder, and gain (“business as usual”) was thus restored. The tower
of Babel was actually a temple devoted to the cult of Satan, symbolizing
rebellion against God. In the Babylonian language, the word “Babel” is compounded
of bab, which means “gate” and el, which means “god. “{“Babel, Tower of,”
Jewish Encyclopedia, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com } (“Babel” is the
root of the word “Babylon,” which is throughout the scriptures a symbol of
the capital of wickedness.)] because the L
ORD did there confound the language of
all the earth: and from thence did the L
ORD scatter them abroad upon
the face of all the earth.
Why did the descendeants decide to build a tower?
What was to be accomplished by "making
a name for themselves"?
Are there similiarities to us today?
What is the difference between making a name for ourselves and taking on us the name of Christ?
