Tuesday, December 4, 2012
December 4 - Noah - the Ark as a Type of Christ
Just as the ark was the only way the people could be saved from the flood, Jesus Christ is the only way we can be saved from sin and death.
Timeline: c. 2350 B.C.
Opening Song: Christmas Bells, Children’s Songbook 54
Have the children ring bells while singing.
Ornament: Ark
I have made an ark from felt, and was gifted the ark pictured above by a friend.
When Noah was a prophet, the people on earth were very wicked. Heavenly Father sent Noah to tell the people to repent or they would be destroyed. Noah warned them many times, but they did not listen to his words. The Lord commanded Noah to build an ark. He gathered pairs of animals of every kind into the ark, as well as food and supplies. But Noah and his family were the only people who hearkened to the warnings of the Lord. When God sent the rain, and the world flooded, all the people and animals that were not on the ark were destroyed. Noah and his family were saved from the flood because they obeyed God’s commandments.
What did Noah and his family do to be saved from the flood? (Get in the ark.) Was there any other way for them to survive the flood? (No. The ark was the only way.) The only way for us to return to live with our Heavenly Father is through Jesus Christ. We have to follow Jesus Christ and keep his commandments to be saved from sin. He is the only way.
Alma taught: “…There is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world” (Alma 38:9).
Hang the ornament on the tree.
After the flood, God made a covenant, or a promise, with Noah to never send another flood that would destroy the world. As a sign of this promise, He put a rainbow in the sky.* The rainbow reminds us that when the Lord makes promises, He keeps them. The rainbow can also remind us of our baptisms. Just as the earth was washed clean from sin, we are washed clean through baptism. Let’s try to make our lives clean and come unto Christ.
Sing or read the words to the song, “When I Am Baptized,” CS 103:
I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain
And ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again.
I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.
I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away,
And I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.
I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.
Discuss ways to make your life clean and to live more like Christ.
*The rainbow also meant that when men will keep all the commandments, embrace the truth and look upward, then Zion will look downward and again come to the earth (JST Genesis 9:21-25).
Rainbow ornament alternative/addition:
I made a felt rainbow.
My friend found a painted wooden rainbow.
Closing Song: “Angels We Have Heard on High” verses 1 and 3, Hymns, 203
or “Build an Ark” by Marianne P. Wilcock, Friend Sep 2010
After Noah died he became the angel known as Gabriel. Gabriel is the angel who appeared to Mary and told her she would be the mother of the Son of God. He knew from his own experience what he testified to her: “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) The angel Gabriel also appeared to the parents of John the Baptist (Zacharias and Elisabeth) telling them of their miraculous pregnancy.
Complete Devotionals HERE.
Watch “Noah” (3:14) or use a flannel board story. Tell the following:
