The story of Noah isn’t a beautiful poster of a man with cute animals. The flood event was the response from God after the people had grossly sinned. This Noah and the Flood Object Lesson will help our kids describe why God flooded the Earth, how God saved humanity, and why God always chooses a remnant.
Scripture Focus: Genesis 6-9
Materials:
- 2 cups of water in a closed sandwich bag
- 9 children volunteers
Background: After Abel’s death, Cain left his parents to live in another part of the world. Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, and people began to spread across the land. As more and more people were born, they forgot about the God who had created them.
Bible and Object Lesson for Noah and the Flood:
{Hold up the water. Choose a child to come to the front and hold the cup of water straight out in front of them. Have him stay there while you tell the story. Read Genesis 6:5-10 aloud.}
{Ask:}
- How wicked had people become? [All of their thoughts were evil all the time.]
- How did God feel about the people? [He regretted that He made human beings and His heart was troubled.]
- Who found favor with God? [Noah]
- Why? [Because Noah was a righteous man and blameless among the people; he walked faithfully with God.]
- How many sons did Noah have? [3]
- Does the Bible say that Noah’s sons had found favor with God? [No]
{Choose 4 boys to represent Noah and his sons. Have them stand along the front. Check on the water holder to be sure that the water is still in the air.}
Here are Noah and his sons. God saw Noah as a righteous man among all of the others who lived sinful, violent lives. We don’t know much about his sons, but the Bible does not tell us that they were righteous.
{Read Genesis 6:13-14 and 17-19.}
{Ask:}
- Why was God going to destroy the people and the Earth? [The people were evil all the time; the earth was filled with violence.]
- What did He tell Noah to do? [make an ark]
- Of what was the ark made? [Cypress wood; and it was coated with pitch inside and out.]
- What was the purpose of the floodwaters? [To destroy life under the heavens; everything on earth was to perish.]
- BUT what was God going to do? [He was going to establish a covenant between Himself and Noah.]
- What is a covenant? [An agreement between God and His people.]
- Who gets to be on the ark? [Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. 8 people]
{Choose 4 girls to represent the women on the ark and ask:}
- Do you see everyone else in the room? What happens to us? [We would be destroyed by floodwaters.]
2 Peter 2:5 tells us that Noah preached righteousness to those around him. Therefore, all of the people were encouraged to repent and get right with God before the flood occurred.
{Have the 8 children sit. Read Genesis 6:20-22 and 7:2-4.}
{Ask:}
- Did Noah go and find all of the animals? [No, they came to him.]
- How many of each kind? [Two of each kind, male and female]
- What else did Noah do besides build the ark? [Gathered and stored food]
- Was Noah obedient? [Yes]
{Read Genesis 7:2-4.}
- How many of each clean animal (sheep, cattle, goats, doves, etc) was Noah to take? [seven pairs of each – 14 of each]
- How many days were left until God destroyed the earth? [7]
- (Speak to the child with the water. Take the water from him.) How’s your arm? It’s only been a few minutes. Does your arm hurt? [Yes]
- How long did God say He would send rain? [40 days and nights]
- Can water do some mighty things during that time period? [Yes]
There is only a little bit of water in this bag. It’s enough to make your arm sore. It’s enough to drink. It’s enough to wash away some dirt. Think about big storms. Hurricanes usually last one to two days as they travel over land leaving destruction in their path. Imagine how damaged and changed the earth would be after 40 days! And what would happen to all of the dead bodies of the people and the animals? It was a terrible time! It broke God’s heart to destroy what He had created.
It rained for 40 days and if you keep reading in Genesis you figure out that Noah and his family were floating around on the ark for about nine and a half months. Once the waters receded, and the ark landed on Mt. Ararat, God told Noah they could all come out.
{Read Genesis 8:20-21 and 9:13-17.}
- What is a covenant? [An agreement between God and His people.]
- What is God’s promise? [He will never send a flood to destroy all life again.]
- Does this mean we will never see floods? [No. We will have local floods, but not world-wide.]
- What is the symbol of this promise? [A rainbow]
God is now doing what He promised He would do. In fact, He says the word over and over. When God repeats something we need to stop and take notice.
Life Application for Noah and the Flood:
God takes sin seriously. But God always has a remnant. This is an important Truth that is told all throughout the Old Testament. God will find those who are righteous. God will use righteous people to work his plan.
Noah, despite being surrounded by people who were against God, preached repentance and was righteous in God’s eyes. Noah walked with God. He was different. He stood out. He was probably mocked, laughed at, and ignored.I’m sure it was hard to face people being mean.
The story of Noah is a great picture of Jesus. While hanging on the cross Jesus was mocked, laughed at, and ignored. Everyone born on this earth is born into sin. All have sinned. Because of that sin we are all supposed to be destroyed because God is holy and cannot have anything to do with sin.
The ark saved Noah and his family from destruction. Jesus saves those who believe in Him from eternal destruction. Those who choose to believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life because God is a God of grace.
However, there is one thing different between Noah’s event and ours. Noah’s sons were not found to be righteous, but they were saved anyway because they were Noah’s sons. When it comes to believing in Jesus as your Savior, you must decide alone. Just because your mom or dad believes in Jesus does not mean that you do.
If you choose to believe in Jesus and let Him guide your life, please understand, that you will be mocked, laughed at, or ignored. But we are to be different. Those who are righteous do not blend in with the society around them. Those who are walking with God do not walk in behaviors that mock or ignore the God who saved them. People who claim to believe in Jesus try to act like Jesus.
What if you know a person who says he believes in Jesus, but does not act like it? Start asking questions. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus would ask people questions to get them thinking about their behavior. And you can do the same thing.
What can we learn from Noah and the flood? Sin is a serious matter and all people need a Savior. If we choose to believe Jesus has saved us, then we must understand that others might not treat us well. But Noah remained righteous and we can too.
NOTE: This object lesson worked well with 3rd-6th graders. For the K-2nd grades I chose to hold the water myself and just have 8 children stand and then sit down.
