Lesson 5: Catastrophe, Part 1

by Stacia McKeever and Dan Lietha on December 28, 2015

“The Seven C’s of History” (Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, Consummation) help us remember the big events which have affected—and will affect—the history of the universe.

“So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. . . . Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive” (Genesis 7:23).

God created a perfect world in six normal-length days (Genesis 1–2), but Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit and brought corruption and death into the world (Romans 5:12). Adam’s sin passed to his children, his children’s children, and so on. This brings us to the third “C” of history found in Genesis 6–9 . . .

As time went by, people began to invent new machines, explore new places, try new ideas.

Because their hearts were wicked, though, they did things that displeased their Creator. They didn’t listen to their ancestor Adam as he told them what had happened in the Garden of Eden and how they needed to obey and worship only the Lord. This grieved God so much that He determined to destroy everything with the breath of life in it. Only one man, Noah, found favor in His eyes. God told Noah that He would send a great flood to judge the entire globe by covering it with water.

Lions and Tigers and . . . Dinosaurs?

Because the Creator knew Noah was a righteous man, God provided a way for him, his wife, his three sons, their wives, the land animals and birds (the fish and other sea creatures could survive in the water) to survive this catastrophe by building an ark. Noah and his family worked on the Ark for many years, probably warning those around them about God’s judgment that was coming. Nobody but his family believed. When they finished building, God brought two of every animal (including dinosaurs!), and seven of some, to the Ark.

And the Rains Came Down . . .

After all were on board, the “windows of heaven” opened and the “fountains of the great deep” broke up. These provided the water that would cover every spot on the whole earth.

We’ve all seen the damage a local flood can do—ripping up trees, depositing layers of mud, destroying everything in its path. Now imagine the damage done by a flood covering the entire planet! Nothing would be the same after the waters had left and the earth had dried. How strange everything must have looked to Noah and his family as they came off the Ark!

After leaving the Ark, Noah built an altar to the Lord, sacrificing one of each of the clean animals. The Lord saw the sacrifice and promised to never flood the entire earth again. The sign of this promise is the rainbow.