Adult Lesson Plan: Genesis 6–11;Moses 8

OPENING (2–3 minutes)

Have you ever noticed how the scriptures sometimes describe a catastrophe, and then quietly insist that it was also a kind of rescue? That tension sits right in the middle of this week’s reading. On the one hand, the Flood account uses stark, unsettling language about destruction (Genesis 6:7). On the other hand, the Come, Follow Me introduction points us toward a different question: not only “What went wrong in Noah’s world?” but “What did the Lord provide so a family could stay spiritually alive inside a collapsing society?” Living in the latter days, we have special reason to pay attention, because Jesus Christ Himself framed our time with this comparison: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man” (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:41). So here is the opening puzzle to put on the table: If the Savior thought “the days of Noah” would be a useful mirror for us, what exactly are we supposed to see when we look into it—and what are we supposed to do about it?

SCRIPTURE EXPLORATION (15–20 minutes)

Start with the way the text describes the spiritual atmosphere Noah lived in. Come, Follow Me highlights that words like “corrupt” and “filled with violence” could describe our time too (Genesis 6:12–13; Moses 8:28). Rather than rushing past those phrases, linger with them. Ask the class to look closely at the Lord’s diagnosis in Genesis 6:5–13. Come, Follow Me invites us to notice “what…shows the Lord’s tender mercy and love for the people” in that passage (Genesis 6:5–13). That’s a fascinating invitation because the passage is not emotionally “soft.” It is morally clear. So ask: What does it tell us about God that He does not minimize evil, and yet His actions can still be framed as mercy? Where do you see evidence that the Lord is not indifferent to human suffering or moral chaos?

Then move into Moses 8, because it adds prophetic texture. Come, Follow Me suggests we look in Moses 8:15–24, 28 for repeated themes, and then make “a list of truths you learn about prophets from Moses 8:13–30” (Moses 8:13–30). As a whole class, you might simply ask: What do you learn about the Lord from the fact that He calls a prophet in a corrupt society? What do you learn about the people from the fact that a prophet’s message can be available and still rejected? Let the class wrestle a little with the uncomfortable realism of revelation: God speaks; humans choose.

Now pivot to a symbol that is deliberately meant to be remembered. Genesis 9:8–17 describes the rainbow as a “token” of covenant (Genesis 9:12). Come, Follow Me asks, “According to Genesis 9:8–17, what can a rainbow bring to your mind?” (Genesis 9:8–17). It also asks what Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 9:21–25 adds (JST, Genesis 9:21–25). Without turning this into trivia, help the class see the pattern: God doesn’t only command; He also gives reminders. He builds memory into discipleship. Ask: Why would covenant life require reminders? What happens to covenants when we stop remembering?

Finally, take the Tower of Babel as a second “latter-day mirror.” Come, Follow Me notes that the Babel story feels applicable to our day: “pride followed by confusion and then division.” In Genesis 11:1–9, the people explicitly say, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11:4). Come, Follow Me invites a contrast: Enoch’s Zion also “reached” heaven, but by a different path (Moses 7:18–19, 53, 62–63, 69). So ask: What’s the difference between trying to “reach unto heaven” by human construction (Genesis 11:4) and obtaining heaven the Lord’s way (Moses 7:18–19, 53, 62–63, 69)? And then bring in Come, Follow Me’s direct question: “What has God provided to help us ‘reach unto heaven’?” (Genesis 11:4; John 3:16). The text itself answers with the Savior: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION (10–15 minutes)

One doctrine that rises naturally from this week is that prophetic warnings are not evidence of an angry God; they are evidence of a loving Father who refuses to abandon His children to confusion. Come, Follow Me states it plainly: “There is spiritual safety in following the Lord’s prophet.” It then quotes Elder Allen D. Haynie: “A perfect and loving Father in Heaven has chosen the pattern of revealing truth to His children through a prophet” (May 2023, Haynie, “A Living Prophet for the Latter Days”). That line is worth slowing down for. If God is perfect and loving, then revelation through prophets is not merely an organizational convenience; it is a relational act. It is God making Himself knowable in real time.

A second doctrine is that divine judgment and divine mercy are not opposites in scripture; they often appear together because God’s work is to preserve moral agency and make salvation possible. Come, Follow Me addresses the hard question directly: “Some people wonder about the justice of God in sending the Flood to ‘destroy man’” (Genesis 6:7). Then it provides Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s explanation: at the time of the Flood, “corruption had reached an agency-destroying point that spirits could not, in justice, be sent here” (Maxwell, We Will Prove Them Herewith [1982], 58). That is a sobering doctrinal claim: there is a kind of societal corruption that doesn’t merely break commandments; it crushes the conditions needed for meaningful choice. If that is true, then the Flood is not only about punishing the wicked; it is also about protecting the future—protecting the possibility of agency for generations not yet born.

A third doctrine is that covenants are sustained by remembrance, and God graciously provides “tokens” to help us remember. Genesis 9 teaches that the rainbow is “the token of the covenant” (Genesis 9:12). Come, Follow Me then broadens the principle: we can make “a list of other things…that God has given you to remind you of your covenants.” This is a deeply hopeful doctrine for ordinary discipleship: God does not assume we will remember perfectly on our own. He builds reminders into our lives.

As you teach these doctrines, weave in questions that invite real thought rather than quick answers. When you discuss Noah and modern prophets, ask: If a prophet is a sign of God’s love (May 2023, Haynie, “A Living Prophet for the Latter Days”), why do you think prophetic messages can sometimes feel uncomfortable before they feel comforting? When you discuss “agency-destroying” corruption (Maxwell, We Will Prove Them Herewith [1982], 58), ask: What kinds of cultural forces today tend to shrink people’s capacity to choose freely and knowingly? When you discuss covenant tokens (Genesis 9:12), ask: What is the difference between remembering a covenant as a rule and remembering it as a relationship? When you discuss Babel, ask: Where do you see the modern temptation to “reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11:4) through status, technology, or sheer self-invention—and what does John 3:16 suggest God’s alternative really is? And finally, ask the class to compare Zion and Babel: both are “building projects,” but one ends in unity and heaven, the other in confusion and division. What kind of “building” does the Lord seem to bless?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION (5–7 minutes)

Adults in Gospel Doctrine are often quietly carrying two burdens at once: the burden of living in a noisy, sometimes violent world, and the burden of trying to keep a home steady inside it. Come, Follow Me frames these chapters as a guide for “how to keep ourselves and our families safe during corruption and violence.” So make it concrete. Noah’s story suggests that spiritual safety is not the absence of storms; it is the presence of a covenant path and prophetic guidance inside the storm. Invite class members to choose one prophetic “warning” and one prophetic “invitation” they have heard recently and ask themselves, with real honesty, which one they most need to take personally right now (Come, Follow Me, “There is spiritual safety in following the Lord’s prophet”).

Then bring in the rainbow principle. In a week where life feels frantic, what is one intentional “token” you can place in your environment to trigger covenant memory? Come, Follow Me suggests looking for “symbols, objects, or anything else” that remind you of covenants. This could be as simple as approaching the sacrament with a more deliberate act of remembering (Doctrine and Covenants 20:75–79 is suggested in the children’s section as a connection to sacrament remembrance). The point is not sentimentalism; it is spiritual attention.

And for Babel, make it uncomfortably relevant: confusion and division are not just out “in the world.” They can seep into marriages, extended families, ward councils, comment threads, and even our own interior life. Ask: What would it look like this week to reject the Babel instinct to force heaven by human pride (Genesis 11:4) and instead accept God’s provided way: His Son (John 3:16)? Sometimes the most practical act of discipleship is simply refusing to participate in the kinds of speech and habits that multiply confusion.

CLOSING TESTIMONY & INVITATION (2–3 minutes)

The unifying thread across Noah, the rainbow, and Babel is that God is not merely describing history; He is teaching patterns of rescue. He warns because He loves. He remembers His covenants and gives us tokens so we can remember too (Genesis 9:12). He provides the only true way to the Father, not as a tower we build, but as a Savior He gives: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). I trust the Lord’s pattern of guiding His children through prophets because it reflects a Father who is “perfect and loving” (May 2023, Haynie, “A Living Prophet for the Latter Days”). This week, consider carrying one question with you: Where is the Lord offering me an “ark”—a specific act of obedience or remembrance—that will keep my discipleship steady even when the world feels unsteady?