God makes covenants to His people. Even when the people don’t want to hear His voice. In Genesis 6-11 and Moses 8 we have the stories of people that hear what God has to say and do the exact opposite from the Tower of Babel to the wickedness around Noah. But through it all God makes covenants, and those covenants are promises that we can lean on today even when the world around us seems as chaotic as when the flood rain was starting to come down.
Segment 1
Scriptures:
Matthew 24:37–39 (As the days of Noah were)
Genesis 6–11
Moses 8
Genesis 8:1 (God remembered Noah and every living thing)
Words of the General Authorities:
“The gift of the Holy Ghost … quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being” (Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed. [1965], 101).
Segment 2
Scriptures:
Moses 7
Moses 8:22
Genesis 6:4 (Giants in the earth)
Genesis 6:6
Joseph Smith Translation (JST), Genesis 6:6
Words of the General Authorities:
“When corruption had reached an agency-destroying point that spirits could not, in justice, be sent here” (Neal A. Maxwell, We Will Prove Them Herewith [1982], 58).
Segment 3
Scriptures:
Moses 8:9 (Noah’s name means comfort)
Moses 8:13 (Noah and his sons hearkened and gave heed)
Moses 8:16 (Noah prophesied and taught the things of God)
Moses 8:19 (Noah ordained and commanded to declare the gospel)
Moses 8:23–24 (Believe, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost)
Moses 8:27 (Noah found grace; walked with God)
Words of the General Authorities:
“We must cease fighting against God and instead give our whole hearts to Him, holding nothing back. Then He can heal us. Then He can cleanse us from the venomous sting of sin.” (Patrick Kearon, ‘Come unto Me with Full Purpose of Heart, and I Shall Heal You,’ October 2010)
Translations:
Noah = comfort, rest (Hebrew)
Segment 4
Scriptures:
Moses 8:17 (My spirit shall not always strive with man; 120 years)
Genesis 6:14–17 (Description and dimensions of the ark)
Words of the General Authorities:
“In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” (Russell M. Nelson, 2018)
Translations:
Zohar = window
Not a window; some rabbis believed it was a precious stone that shone in the dark (Hebrew)
Segment 5
Scriptures:
Genesis 6:18 (“But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark…” First appearance of the word “covenant” in the Bible. Covenant explicitly tied to entering the ark and being preserved)
Genesis 6:18 (Joseph Smith Translation, footnote a)
Genesis 8:1 (“And God remembered Noah…”)
Segment 6
Scriptures:
Genesis 9:9–13 (Repeated phrase: “I will establish my covenant” vv. 9, 11, 12)
Genesis 9:13 (“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” The rainbow is introduced after the covenant is established. The rainbow is a token of the Abrahamic covenant, not merely a sign of no more floods)
Quoted Source:
“The rainbow is a token or sign of the Everlasting Covenant, a reminder of God’s promises, including His promise to never flood the earth again. This covenant had first been given to Enoch (see Moses 7:50–51), and now the covenant was renewed with Noah. The rainbow became a symbol of God’s mercy to His children on earth.” (Old Testament Seminary Student Manual)
View transcript here.