The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1913-01-30
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SUNDGS01OOL
LESSON
Cpy n. O. SELLERS. Director OF Eve
ming Department The Moody Bibie In
stitute OF ChicagoD
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 2.
THE FLOOD.


LESSON TExT-Genesis ss-i1 1:ii.n
GOLDEN TExT-'rhe wages OF sin 10
death, but the free Gift OF God 10 eternal
life In Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom. s:n
nv
The FIRST great fact recorded In the
book OF Genesis In that OF Creation,
which may be- divided into several les
ser facts The second great fact 10
that OF the Fall. which began with the
temptation and ended with the exclu-
sion from Paradise. In this lesson we
come TO the third great fact. the
Flood the account OF which embraces
the NTH TO the ninth chapters. Chap
ter 1--WE gives us Noahs genealogy:
six. the history Of the building OF the
ark: seven. the occupancy OF the ark:
eight, Noahs departure from the ark.
and nine. Gods covenant with Noah.
In this lesson sin fourishes like tho
proverbial green bay tree. Every
Imagination OF the thoughts OF mans
heart was only evil continually" " 8.
These thoughts we're crystailized into
the lives OF men. for we read that
the earth was flled with violence"
Viewing this awful development Of
ain. God was so deply grieved In his
heart that he turned aside (repented)
from his plan and purpose thus far. TO
a determination TO destroy man ".
~. Noah. however. found grace in
Gods sight. as we see from v 3, even
Tn he ~ "a 81
stances. Environment Is powerful but
not all.powerful. and II 10 never Q
match for Gods grace. We must not
gather from this verse that Noah was
faultless. but rather than he sought
90 conform his life to Gods will and
not to the standards OF those among
whom he dwelt Noah gave himself
TO q whole hearted service to God
We are told that the foundation OF
Noah's acceptance before God was his
faith. Heb. Ii:7. like his great grand
father Enoch. he had walked with
God" f5.22l Noah stood absolutely
alone and was thus thrown upon COM
partnership with God. compare '.
with John 10
Given Due Warning.
God could no longer endure the
sins OF men. their iniquity was full.
therefore God determined 20 destroy
them He did not. however, cut them
on. for We read that they had 100
years announcement OF the coming OF
the food ". l3D. time enough in
which to repent They also had q
faithful preacher 10 warn them dur
Ing this time. Q Peter as But their
apostasy was complete and they
would have none OF Gods mercy nor
heed his warning. Prov. gal Noah's
obedience as he built tho ark was
daily reminder OF the impending
food
The ark was q nat.bottomed chest
$50 feet long. rs feet broad and IS
feet deep. built OF cyprus Gopher
wood and coated with pitch Under
the caves OF the roof was an open
space for ventilation and its three
decks were divided into compart.
ments
As TO the eight souls" n Peter
S'20) who entered the ark we need
TO remember that Usually children and
servants are understood without men.
tion In such enumerations. We are
not 20 infer that OF all created animals
two OF each entered the ark The
flood certainly was not universal and
hence such q miracle was uncalled
for
Race Swept Away.
At last the food arrived at the er
act moment prophesied. Its cause
seems to be twofold. Q subsistence OF
the ground and a downpour OF rain.
The Euphrates valley where this
event took place nils all the necessary
conditions. Subsistence would allow
an inundation from the sea. Such an
inundation took place In 1911 in the
fangtse valley and another in 1901
rendered moro than ten million people
homeless; the water rising from so TO
30 feet. All that the account do
mands. however, 10 that q corrupt
race was swept away and that God
saved his righteous servant and his
household II Is the privilege OF ev
cry believer In God TO save his house
hold. See Acts l6: 81. 40: I. Cor. TIA.
The only way God could insure the
purity OF the race was to destroy ir
revocably the impure
Skeptics have read into the story
OF the food much extraneous matter.
some have sought to prove that be-
cause nearly every race under the sun
has food tradition therefore the
writer OF Genesis is merely passing
On "Babylonian tradition" II is far
more reasonable TO believe that these
traditions are corrupted forms OF tho
true account found In the Bible
For the younger pupils get the
story OF the food as told by Dean
Hodges and tell a connected story OF
what has already happened In the past
essons and tell them that the story
Will la continued navt UaaL CANA