What is the Lesson of Noah and the Ark?
Noah and the ark, according to Nicole, 8: "Noah had built an ark, and other people did not believe him. He got two of each animal, and then he loaded all of his stuff. It flooded, and he lived."
A child who once appeared on Art Linkletter's show thought the lesson of loading all the animals two-by-two was obvious: "If you don't get married, you get left behind."
Well, that's one lesson, but not the one Noah or the Lord had in mind.
We'll probably never hear any commercials with jingles like, "Noah, I want to be like Noah." Nevertheless, "We should be more like Noah," says Jenna, 10.
Why? Because Noah was the only one in his generation who obeyed the Lord. Even though Noah lived in a generation described as "corrupt" and "violent," he "found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6). Corruption and violence. Does this sound like the evening news or the morning newspaper?
"Everyone except Noah was wicked," says Maria, 11. "He probably had a lot of peer pressure." I'm sure he did, Maria. Imagine being the only person in the world following God.
If Noah lived in our day, Jay Leno and David Letterman would never run out of material for jokes. Right up until the day Noah closed the door to the ark, I'm sure people were telling the latest Noah jokes. Who but a crackpot would build a gigantic ship with no water around?
Brittany, 11, says we learn from Noah to resist peer pressure and ridicule by doing what God says: "Even if people doubt you and say you're crazy, just ignore them. Remember, you're doing it for God."
Brittany, your advice sounds like something the Apostle Paul wrote, "And whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not for men" (Colossians 3:23).
Noah is described as a just man who walked with God. Anyone who walks with God can resist the temptation to go along with the crowd, even when the crowd resorts to ridicule.
Another lesson we could learn is "Don't laugh at your neighbor `cause they might be right," says Rebekah, 10.
The laughter of Noah's peers stopped the day it began to rain. The good news is that God made a covenant (symbolized by the rainbow) that he would never again destroy the world by water. The bad news for the scoffers of this generation is that the flood is only a token of a greater judgment to come.
Jesus compared the people of Noah's day to the generation who will witness his triumphant return to the earth. Like Noah's generation, they will engage in the normal activities of life with no thought of an impending judgment by God. Jesus said he will return "at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:44).
"Always prepare for things that are coming up," says Brian, 10. Or, to be more specific, "God can destroy us at any time, and we should believe that because we need to be ready at the second coming of Christ," says Garrett, 12.
What's coming up is judgment. Just as God provided the ark in Noah's day, he has prepared a safe haven from judgment in our day. The floodwaters, according to the Apostle Peter, symbolize baptismal waters, and baptism symbolizes salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Peter 3:21-22). On the cross, Jesus absorbed the flood of God's judgment for our sins.
"Don't fail to believe before it's too late," says Richard, 13, who knows Jesus as his ark of salvation.
Carey Kinsolving is a syndicated columnist, producer, author, speaker and website developer. To see more material like this, visit www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. The Kids Talk About God website contains free, online content for children and families. See Carey’s Kid TV Interviews. Hear a book talk. Print free lessons from the "Kids Color Me Bible" and make your own book. Let an 11-year-old girl take you on a trip around the world in the Mission Explorers Streaming Video. Print Scripture verses illustrated by child artists. Receive a complimentary, weekly e-mail subscription to our Devotional Bible Lessons.
Bible quotations are from the New King James Version.
Copyright 2007 Carey Kinsolving