Genesis: The Flood - Guide

Open with Prayer.

Lord, we wish to prepare well for this time. We want to make ourselves ready and

available to you. In all that we are and try to do, in all our encounters and reflections,

even the frustrations and failings, help us to place our lives in your hands.

Lord, we give you ourselves and we give you this time. Amen.

● How have you heard and thought about the story of Noah?

Read Genesis 6:1-6 and 12-20

Four chapters are dedicated to the story of Noah. There are so many things to talk about and so

many parts that stir questions. As with many ancient stories this one has many parts that made

sense to the original hearers but that are confusing to us. Jonny covered some of these in the

sermon and it is good to go back and listen to it.

We will focus on a few in this reflection.

● Genesis 6:6 says that people’s inclination toward evil “grieved the Lord to his heart.”

What do you think this means?

● While there is death and devastation, God is committed to a plan of restoration. Do you

see the Lord’s grace and mercy anywhere in this story? (8:1, 20-22 might be examples

of this.) Where and how? What does this say about the Lord?

● The Hebrew word for the rainbow sign is simply "bow" (like a weapon used in warfare). It

is actually a military word. What is the theological significance of God hanging His "battle

bow" in the clouds, pointed away from the earth?

● 2 Corinthians 5:17 says anyone in Christ is a new creation. How has the Lord made you

a new creation, done a restart in your life, or washed away some evil and made you

new? To ask this another way, how and in what ways have you become new?

● Genesis 9:6-7 emphasizes that every human being is made in the image of God. This

has already been highlighted in the first chapters of Genesis. How should this truth

impact the way we speak to, treat, and value people who disagree with us or look

different from us?

Close with sharing and prayer