"Shut Door. Open Books."
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
God will pronounce everyone who confesses their sin and claims the blood of Christ for their life
“not guilty.” Forgiven. Pardoned. Restored. But now is the time to make that choice.
Scripture Passages
OVERVIEW
For over 120 years Noah preached a coming flood. Nobody listened. It wasn’t that the ark wasn’t spacious enough for more people to come inside! It wasn’t that Noah wasn’t a great preacher! Why then didn’t more people get in the ark? It’s one of the questions today’s lesson is going to answer.
OPENING ACTIVITY
ARK CHARADES
Supplies: small index cards
Instructions:
QUESTIONS
TRANSITION
Life or death. Each decision we make has an impact on the outcome of our life. If you knew the impact your decisions would have on your life, do you think you would make different choices? Would it really make your life better to make some different choices? Are the bumps and bruises of life really a negative influence? Only time will tell.
This scene is worth pondering:
“I saw many who profess to believe the truth for these last days, think it strange that the children of Israel murmured as they journeyed, and after the wonderful dealings of God to them, should be so ungrateful, and forget what God had done for them. Said the angel, ‘Ye have done worse than they.’ I saw that God has given his servants the truth so clear, so plain, that it cannot be resisted. Everywhere they go they have certain victory. The enemies cannot get round the convincing truth. Light has been shed so clear that the servants of God can stand up anywhere and let truth, clear and connected, bear away the victory. This great blessing has not been prized, has not been realized. If any trial arises, some begin to look back and think, they have a hard time. Some of the professed servants of God do not know what purifying trials are. They make trials sometimes for themselves, imagine trials, and are so easily discouraged, so easily hurt, self-dignity is so quick to feel, that they injure themselves, injure others, and the cause. Satan magnifies and puts things into the mind that if given way to will destroy the usefulness and influence of such.” (Review and Herald, January 6, 1983, paragraph 6)
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read Genesis 7:6-20.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits
QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 7:21-23.
21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
QUESTIONS
Read Revelation 20:11-15.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
QUESTIONS
APPLICATION
Choice! Each of us make choices. Good or bad, every time we make a decision there is an outcome. The question each of us must ask is “Am I choosing God’s voice or choosing to follow the other voices?” It’s very simple—are you going to be outside the ark/outside the Holy City or safe inside the refuge provided by God?
FOLLOW UP
What’s different between the choices those being invited on the ark were asked to make, and the choices we are being asked to make for G
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
Genesis 6:11 to 7:23
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
As we continue our studies based on the book The Great Controversy we often think of the Bible book of Revelation. This week we focus on one verse in Christ’s Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24 (and Mark 13 and Luke 21). Verse 37 reads, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
That takes us back to Genesis 6-9. We won’t necessarily read the whole passage during Sabbath School (although you could). The lesson limits itself to Genesis 7:6-23. For our RBS (Relational Bible Study), we’ll expand that to Genesis 6:11-7:23 to compare Noah’s day with our day and our anticipation that Christ will return soon.
But before we do that, return to Matthew 24 and read the verses after verse 37 because Jesus described certain things about Noah’s day. Verses 38-39 continue the description of Noah’s day: “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
Some people interpret this to mean that the people in Noah’s day were so wicked, including “drinking,” that they didn’t even notice the construction of the ark, the preaching of Noah, or the animals that entered the ark on their own (with invisible guidance by angels—see Patriarchs and Prophets, page 98).
Others interpret this to mean that life was just going on—eating and drinking like everyone does, getting married and going to the weddings of family and friends. It was just “life as usual” until suddenly it all came to a catastrophic end.
Which way will it be at the end of the world—super wicked like Noah’s day or life goes on and then suddenly doesn’t?
It’s Coming
Of these three calamities, would you rather be in a fire, a flood, or a fight/war?
Read Genesis 6:11-7:23.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it:
The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Chapter 7
1 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits., 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
1. Put a mark by what describes the world in:
Noah’s Day Today
___ Corrupt and depraved. ____
___ Filled with violence. ____
___ Random acts of kindness. ____
___ Lots of churches. ____
___ Lots of technology. ____
___ Busy, busy, busy. ____
___ The Gospel to the whole world. ____
___ Other:_________________________. ____
2. Why did God direct Noah to construct an ark?
3. What is a good way to relate to this wicked world?
4. What seems the MOST miraculous about the flood?
5. What makes it hard to believe God will soon destroy this earth?
6. Why do you believe God will someday soon destroy this earth?
7. What would be an “ark of safety” today? What are you doing to build it?
8. When and why would others come to you for help?
SUMMARY
Would you rather live in Noah’s day or today? Well, you don’t really have a choice, do you?! What was it about Noah’s day, as recorded in the Bible, that can prepare you as you live in the last days of this earth’s history? How can you be like Noah, listening to God, building the ark, and going into the ark? That will be much different from staying outside the ark and thinking your life will just go on and on like previous generations.
APPLICATION
Seventh-day Adventists, with part of the name being “Adventists,” believe Jesus will return—the “Advent.” We actually expect it to be soon. That affects the way we live. Here are three application ideas so those in your Youth Sabbath School don’t just talk about it, but actually live it this week. Use any of these ideas or have them spark your own applications for you to live out the Scripture message God has for you at this time.
Noah told others what God told him. Of course, constructing the ark created quite a stir, with a necessary explanation. But if you say, “The end of the world is coming tomorrow” each day, it sort of loses its punch after a few days if Jesus doesn’t return the next day. What will be your message? When and where will you share it? And how will you share it? Adventism has gradually shifted from “Jesus is coming soon” to the generic Christian message “Jesus loves you.” Both are true.
Part of Christ’s love is to let others know the way life is on earth will not continue like this forever. Prophets throughout the Old Testament era gave the message that the “Day of the Lord” would soon arrive—the Day of Judgment. We tend to cringe when we hear the word “judgment” but God’s people looked forward to setting things right, especially when they had been oppressed. But those who were guilty needed repentance before the Day of Judgment—which should bring fear to the guilty.
The animals went into the ark without any human aid. Today animal lovers point out that animals often sense danger before humans—such as leaving the forest before a fire or earthquake. But most of us don’t live in the forest. And humans have special senses too.
Google or YouTube search for “animal senses” or observe animals at some time during this week. While humans are part of the animal kingdom, we could pick up a few things and be more discerning when we pay attention to what other animals sense in their areas of strength.
