Genesis 6–11; Moses 8: Lesson 20

Genesis 6–8

“Noah Did … All That the Lord Commanded”

God lovingly asks us to obey His commandments. Some commandments may be difficult to understand, but they are always for our good. Noah’s family was saved from an unprecedented, miraculous flood because they obeyed God’s commandment to build an ark. This lesson can help students increase their desire to obey God’s commandments.

Student preparation: Invite students to ponder and come prepared to share how a specific commandment shows Heavenly Father’s love for us and His desire to protect us.

Possible Learning Activities

Commandments of God

Consider beginning the lesson by encouraging students to ponder why our loving Father in Heaven gives us commandments. One way to do this is to display the following pictures and to create a discussion using the questions below. Another way is to have students share rules their parents have set to keep their children safe.

Imagine you are caring for a large group of young children in this campground.

• What specific rules might you give the children to keep them safe?

• If the children were mad at you for setting rules, what would you explain to them?

  Invite students to share with a partner how they might compare this situation to Heavenly Father’s commandments for us.

  Then invite students to record their personal feelings about God and His commandments in their study journals using prompts like the following. You might invite a few volunteers to share what they wrote.

• Why do you think that God wants you, personally, to keep His commandments?

• How willing are you to obey what God asks, even if you don’t understand the reason for the commandment? Why?

The people in Noah’s day

Consider displaying the image of Noah at the beginning of the lesson. Ask students to share what they already know about the following concepts. Invite them to use the suggested scripture passages if needed.

• The spiritual condition of the people in Noah’s day and what God did as a result (see Moses 8:17, 20, 22, 28–29)

• What God commanded Noah to do to save the obedient (see Moses 7:43)

As students continue to study, encourage them to seek the influence of the Holy Ghost to understand God’s love for us. Everything God does, including the Flood, is motivated by love (see 2 Nephi 26:24). Help students recognize that Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of the people who died in the Flood so that they could learn and repent in the spirit world (see Moses 7:38–40; 1 Peter 3:18–20). Also, God’s choice to send the Flood protected His other spirit children from being born into such dangerous and wicked circumstances (see John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses, 19:158–59).

The ark

Consider providing paper for small groups of students and giving them a short time to complete the following activity together. (Be careful to save time after this activity for students to discuss what they learn and to relate it to their lives.)

1. Read Genesis 6:14–22; 7:1–12, 23; 8:13–17, looking for what this account teaches about God and what we can learn from Noah.

2. Make a simple drawing of what happened.

3. Include with your drawing one thing you learned about God and one thing you learned from Noah’s example.

Invite groups to show and explain their drawings (even if they are incomplete) to another group. Then invite groups to share with the class what they learned about God and what they learned from Noah’s example.

One truth that students might identify from this account is as we obey the Lord in faith, He will bless and protect us.

Consider displaying the following statement and inviting groups to read and discuss how it applies to us today.

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) shared some reasons why Noah and his family needed faith in Christ to fulfill the commandment to build the ark.

As yet there was no evidence of rain and flood. [Noah’s] people mocked and called him a fool. His preaching fell on deaf ears. His warnings were considered irrational. There was no precedent; never had it been known that a deluge [or flood] could cover the earth. How foolish to build an ark on dry ground with the sun shining and life moving forward as usual! (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 140–41)

• What are some of the Lord’s commandments that people ignore or mock today?

• What do you know about God and His prophets that can help us obey the Lord despite opposition?

Invite students to share commandments that they believe are loving protections from God.

Obedience to God in our lives

Consider displaying the following statement along with the personal reflection prompts below.

President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) shared one of the greatest lessons we can learn in our lives.

Noah had the unwavering faith to follow God’s commandments. May we ever do likewise. May we remember that the wisdom of God ofttimes appears as foolishness to men; but the greatest lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and we obey, we will always be right. (“Models to Follow,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002, 61)

Record in your study journal:

1. How you feel President Monson’s statement relates to situations or commandments in your life.

2. What you learned or felt today about Heavenly Father and His commandments.

3. What you believe Heavenly Father would have you do to follow Noah’s example of faithful obedience.

You might conclude the lesson by inviting students to mark Noah’s example in Genesis 7:5 and cross-reference it with the Savior’s premortal example in Moses 4:2. Consider testifying that God will bless your students for their faithful efforts to follow the Savior’s example of obedience.

Additional Resources

How can world conditions today be compared to a flood?

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency explained the following to seminary and institute teachers:

The world in which young people live is changing rapidly. When their older brothers and sisters return to visit the same schools and campuses they attended, they find a radically different moral climate. The language in the hallways and the locker rooms has coarsened. Clothing is less modest. Pornography has moved into the open. Not only has tolerance for wickedness increased, but much of what was called wrong is no longer condemned at all and may, even by our Latter-day Saint youth, be admired. …

… Too many [youth], far too many, say to themselves: “… I’ll go with the flow.”

Well, the flow has become a flood and soon will be a torrent. It will become a torrent of sounds and sights and sensations that invite temptation and offend the Spirit of God. (“We Must Raise Our Sights” Ensign, Sept. 2004, 14)

What can we learn from people’s rejection of Noah’s warnings?

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency said:

Another fallacy is to believe that the choice to accept or not accept the counsel of prophets is no more than deciding whether to accept good advice and gain its benefits or to stay where we are. But the choice not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand. It becomes more dangerous. The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future. The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked. Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit. And so each time his request would have seemed more foolish, until the rain came. And then it was too late. (“Finding Safety in Counsel,” Ensign, May 1997, 25)

What did the rainbow become a token of after the Flood?

The “bow” is a token that God will never flood the entire earth again (see Genesis 9:13–15). Yet, there was more to the covenant God made with Noah. The Joseph Smith Translation helps us understand that God was renewing the same covenant He made with Enoch (see Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 9:21–25, in the Bible appendix). This covenant included a promise that when Noah’s posterity obeyed all of God’s commandments, the heavens and earth would rejoice, and Enoch’s city of Zion would again come upon the earth.

What were the dimensions of the ark?

The scriptures measure the ark in cubits. One cubit is generally estimated to be between 18 and 22 inches (46–56 centimeters). If using 18 inches as one cubit, the ark was 450 feet long (about 138 meters), 75 feet wide (about 23 meters), and 45 feet high (about 14 meters). It may be helpful to relate the size of the ark to something you are familiar with. For example, a professional soccer field is 330–360 feet long (about 100–110 meters) and 210–240 wide (about 64–73 meters). The ark would be longer than a soccer field but roughly one-third as wide.

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternative beginning

To help students focus on how the Savior and His gospel can protect them from the wickedness of the latter days, consider beginning the lesson by displaying President Eyring’s first statement in the “Additional Resources” section. Ask students to share what they think about the statement. They might share ways the wickedness and temptations they face are like a flood.

Invite students to seek inspiration today for what they can do to receive God’s blessings and protection from the modern flood of wickedness and temptations.

Genesis 6:14. “Pitch it within and without”

Students may benefit from studying how God can insulate us from the temptations and sins around us. You could invite them to read the instructions God gave the following two prophets to protect their families from water entering their boats. Then invite students to discuss the questions below with a partner.

1. Noah – Genesis 6:14 (Note: Pitch is a tar-like substance used for waterproofing.)

2. The Brother of Jared – Ether 2:17

   • How do you think God’s instructions to these prophets could help someone who is trying to keep sin from entering their life?

   • What are some ways we can spiritually “pitch [our lives] within and without” to keep sin from sinking us?

You might also invite students to read the following poem, quoted by President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. You could have them record the poem in their scriptures near Genesis 6:14. Ask them to share how they believe it applies to their lives.

All the water in the world,

However hard it tried,

Could never sink the smallest ship

Unless it [gets] inside.

And all the evil in the world,

The blackest kind of sin,

Can never hurt you the least bit

Unless you let it in.

(Author unknown. Quoted by Boyd K. Packer, “The Spirit of Revelation,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 24)

Symbolism of the Flood

You may want to help students practice understanding symbolism in the scriptures by making comparisons. You could invite students to fill in the following blanks with a partner.

“The Flood could be compared to baptism because ___________.”

“The ark that Noah built reminds me of Jesus Christ because_____________.”

You could then ask students to be creative and to share how the account of Noah and the ark can teach them about any other gospel principles such as faith, repentance, temple worship, missionary work, prophets, and so on.

You might invite students to share what they learn from the teachings of Jesus Christ, who compared preparing for the Flood in Noah’s day to preparing for the Second Coming (see Matthew 24:36–39).