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TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA)
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Washing the Problems Away
Here's an at-home bible study to do with your household or friends. Many of the questions are accessible to all ages. There's a household activity at the end.
1. Have you ever done anything that hurt someone else (physically, emotionally, etc.)? What caused you to hurt other people?
2. Read Genesis 6-9 (the Flood). For a child-friendly reading, use the following: Genesis 6:5-8, 6:13-22, 7:6-12, 7:18-22, 8:1-19, 9:8-17.
3. Focus on Genesis 6:5-7 and 6:13. Why is God sad? How do you think God feels today when he looks at the earth?
5. Using Genesis 7-8, determine how long Noah was on the Ark. It was more than 40 days! Hint: Check your work using Genesis 7:11 (remember Noah boarded the Ark seven days before that date), and Genesis 8:14.
6. Focus on Genesis 9:8-17. A covenant is a promise or a legal contract between two or more parties. Who are the parties included in this covenant? Hint: It's not just God and Noah. What does God promise to do?
7. A covenant usually includes a sign, something to help us remember the covenant. What's the sign of this covenant? Who will this sign help remember the covenant? Have you ever felt the need to reminded God of how much he loves you?
8. God describes the Flood as a new creation. What were God's hopes for this new creation? Did the Flood achieve God's goal? Hint: Remember what the problem was that God was trying to address.
9. In Holy Baptism, we often mention the Flood as one of God's saving waters. How is Baptism like the Flood? What does the Flood tell us about Baptism?
Using Genesis 6:14-16, figure out how big the Ark is. A cubit is the length of a forearm (elbow to wrist), or roughly 18 inches. Go outside and measure out the size of the Ark.
These questions are from the sections that weren't included in the child-friendly reading. The questions are generally good for all ages, but the content in the story may require adult guidance.
1. Focus on Genesis 8:20-22. The first thing Noah does when he gets off the Ark is worship God. Have you ever worshiped God outside of church? What might cause you to worship God like Noah?
2. Focus on Genesis 9:1-7. Between Adam and Noah, we get reports of lots of killing, starting with Cain killing Abel and continuing until people are known as warriors. God says we're not supposed to kill because people are made in God's image. How do you think we're to relate to each other if we're all made in God's image?
3. Between the previous two questions, it's clear God already feels the Flood didn't work. The Lord admits in his heart that people are still evil, and God recognizes that people are still going to kill each other. Before the Flood, people were supposedly vegetarians, and now God gives them animals to eat, seemingly in hopes that it will keep them from killing each other. What do you think of this solution?
4. The fate of humans and animals and the whole are intimately connected in the Flood. Bad people caused the animals and whole earth to be destroyed (Genesis 6:6-7). Animals and the whole earth is included in God's covenant (Genesis 9:11-13). What does it mean that your actions may have consequences for all life and the whole earth?
5. When Noah is born, his father says that he'll break the curse of Adam (Genesis 3:17 and Genesis 5:29). How does God fulfill this prediction (Genesis 8:20-22)? Noah stumbles upon his own solution. What does Noah do to make it so people don't have to work and toil (Genesis 9:18-27)? What do you think of these two solutions? What do you think God thought of Noah's solution?
Do you see any connections between the Flood and the Cross? How are they similar? How was God's solution of the Cross different from the Flood?
Steward-what? English Please!
The Cost of Forgiveness
The Freedom of Repentance
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2170 Route 212, Coopersburg, PA 18036-9770
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