Friday, April 16
Read Ellen G. White, “The Flood,” pp. 90-104 and “After the Flood,” pp. 105-110, in Patriarchs and Prophets.
“The rainbow, a natural physical phenomenon, was a fitting symbol of God’s promise never to destroy the earth again by a flood. Inasmuch as the climatic conditions of the earth would be completely different after the Flood, and rains would in most parts of the world take the place of the former beneficent dew to moisten the soil, something was needed to quiet men’s fears each time rain began to fall. The spiritual mind can see in natural phenomena God’s revelations of Himself (see Romans 1:20). Thus the rainbow is evidence to the believer that the rain will bring blessing and not universal destruction.” The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 265.
Discussion Questions:
1. “In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour. Enlil heard the clamour and he said to the gods in council, ‘The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel.’ So the gods agreed to exterminate man.” — “The Story of the Flood” in The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. N. K. Sanders (London: The Penguin Group, 1972), p. 108. Compare this reason for the Flood to the reason given in the Bible.
2. Noah did more than warn his generation of God’s approaching judgment. The purpose of his warning was to help the people sense their need of salvation. Why are the truths of salvation generally unpopular? List and discuss some things that hinder many persons from accepting God’s plan for their salvation. See John 3:19; John 7:47-48; John 12:42-43; James 4:4.
Summary: In this week’s study, we have noted that the covenants God made with Noah are the first to be discussed explicitly in the Bible. They display His gracious interest in the human family and His desire to enter into a saving relationship with them. God reaffirmed His covenant with Noah, and it was Noah’s commitment to God that shielded him from the prevailing apostasy and eventually saved him and his family from the devastating judgment of the Flood.
“This symbol [the rainbow] in the clouds is to confirm the belief of all, and establish their confidence in God, for it is a token of divine mercy and goodness to man; that although God has been provoked to destroy the earth by the Flood, yet His mercy still encompasseth the earth.” Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 71.
