This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study covers Genesis 6-11 and Moses 8, which includes the story of Noah’s ark.
Following are a few quotes from past and present Church leaders and scholars about these chapters of scripture.
Genesis 6
“Scriptures have described Noah, Seth and Job as perfect men (see Genesis 6:9; Doctrine and Covenants 107:43; Job 1:1). No doubt the same term might apply to a large number of faithful disciples in various dispensations. …
“This does not mean that these people never made mistakes or never had need of correction. The process of perfection includes challenges to overcome and steps to repentance. …
“Mortal perfection can be achieved as we try to perform every duty, keep every law and strive to be as perfect in our sphere as our Heavenly Father is in His. If we do the best we can, the Lord will bless us according to our deeds and the desires of our hearts.”
— The late President Russell M. Nelson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 1995 general conference, “Perfection Pending”
“In the Old Testament we are taught the Lord’s covenant pattern in Noah’s experience with a wicked world and the Lord’s plan for cleansing the earth. Because of Noah’s faithful, steadfast commitment, the Lord said to him:
“‘But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. …
“‘And Noah did … all that the Lord commanded him’ (Genesis 6:18; 7:5). …
“We too have entered into sacred covenants with the Lord that we might be preserved from the adversary. Just as in Noah’s time, we live in a day of prophetic promise and fulfillment.”
— The late Elder Paul E. Koelliker, then a General Authority Seventy, October 2005 general conference, “Gospel Covenants Bring Promised Blessings”
“As with all gifts, [the priesthood] must be received and accepted to be enjoyed. When priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, ‘Receive the Holy Ghost.’ This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion. Scriptures warn us that the Spirit of the Lord will ‘not always strive with man’ (Genesis 6:3). When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted.”
— The late Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2003 general conference, “The Unspeakable Gift”
“‘A just man and perfect in his generations,’ one who ‘walked with God’ (Genesis 6:9), was the prophet Noah. Ordained to the priesthood at an early age, ‘he became a preacher of righteousness and declared the gospel of Jesus Christ, … teaching faith, repentance, baptism and the reception of the Holy Ghost’ (Bible Dictionary, ‘Noah’). He warned that failure to heed his message would bring floods upon those who heard his voice, and yet they hearkened not to his words.
“Noah heeded God’s command to build an ark, that he and his family might be spared destruction. He followed God’s instructions to gather into the ark two of every living creature, that they also might be saved from the floodwaters. …
“Noah had the unwavering faith to follow God’s commandments. May we ever do likewise. May we remember that the wisdom of God ofttimes appears as foolishness to men, but the greatest lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and we obey, we will always be right.”
— The late President Thomas S. Monson, then first counselor in the First Presidency, October 2002 general conference, “Models to Follow”
Genesis 7
“The second dispensation is known as that of Enoch, who ‘walked with God’ (Genesis 5:24). He established the city of Zion, which became a powerful symbol of the righteousness that can be obtained on earth as well as in heaven (see Moses 7:18-21).
“Next in line is the dispensation of Noah. Noah lived in times of great wickedness, and although he cried to the people to repent, they did not heed his words. When the flood came, only Noah and his family were saved (see Genesis 7:23).
“The second and third dispensations teach us great lessons about what comes from choosing good over evil. Enoch and all who were with him were blessed mightily as a result of their righteousness. The people who would not follow Noah found that destruction follows the sinner.
“These two dispensations teach us to seek after that which is good and wholesome. In our plan for life, certainly our objective will be to absorb as much of the good as we can find on this earth. We can find much of this good by searching the scriptures daily. They will lead us to life eternal.”
— The late Elder L. Tom Perry, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the February 2009 Liahona article “The Great Plan of Our God”
“The Lord said to Noah, ‘Make thee an ark’ and ‘with thee will I establish my covenant’ (Genesis 6:14, 18).
“‘And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. …
“‘And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark’ (Genesis 7:5, 23).
“We all need to build a personal ark, to fortify ourselves against this rising tide of evil, to protect ourselves and our families against the floodwaters of iniquity around us. And we shouldn’t wait until it starts raining, but prepare in advance. This has been the message of all the prophets in this dispensation … as well as the prophets of old.”
— The late Elder W. Don Ladd, then a General Authority Seventy, October 1994 general conference, “‘Make Thee an Ark’”
Genesis 9
“Each week, in partaking of the sacrament, we covenant to always remember Him. … We can always remember Him by having confidence in His covenants, promises and assurances.
“The Lord remembers His everlasting covenants — from Adam’s time to the day Adam’s posterity ‘shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy’ (Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 9:22).”
— Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then a General Authority Seventy, April 2016 general conference, “Always Remember Him”
“With Heavenly Father’s plan as a fixed point of reference, the purpose of marriage comes clearly into focus. The commandment to leave father and mother, cleave to one another in marriage, and multiply and replenish the earth (see Genesis 9:1) makes His plan possible. Through marriage we bring His spirit children into the world and become partners with Him in helping His children participate in His plan.”
— The late Elder Robert D. Hales, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the October 2015 Liahona article “The Plan of Salvation: A Sacred Treasure of Knowledge To Guide Us”
Genesis 11
“Language has been the object of interest and study among humans probably for as long as languages have existed — certainly as far back as we have written records. Linguists and anthropologists are continually trying to show relatedness among existing and extinct languages and would like very much to discover the original language. Unfortunately, we have no information about the early history of human speech except for a couple of scriptures such as Genesis 11:1, which refers to the time just prior to the building of the Tower of Babel: ‘And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.’ In verse 8 we read that the Lord was not pleased about the building of the tower, so He confounded the language of the people and ‘scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth.’ …
“Like many things that our Father in Heaven has blessed us with, language can be used as a force to bring about much righteousness, to bring us blessings and to bless the lives of those around us. But it can also be used as a tool of destruction. It can edify and uplift as well as vilify and destroy. …
“Watch your language. It is a tool far more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Think of the good you can accomplish by using it in the way that the Lord has intended.”
— The late Randall L. Jones, then a professor of Germanic languages and linguistics at Brigham Young University, in the March 1998 BYU devotional “Language: A Miraculous Gift”
Moses 8
“I find our popular culture to be increasingly violent, voyeuristic and misogynistic. So it was in the days of Noah, when the ‘earth was corrupt before God, and it was filled with violence’ (Moses 8:28).
“Unfortunately, there is violence and alienation in the world. But I believe that focusing entirely on evil is a form of tunnel vision — a soda-straw view of the universe. ... The truth is that the Creator knows and loves each of us as individuals. Isn’t it moving that the first thing Joseph Smith heard from Heavenly Father in the Sacred Grove was his own name? And so it is with each of us: the first words we hear when we are baptized are our own names. But in this life we sometimes forget that God knows us intimately as individuals. This ‘mortal middle’ is the only period in our entire existence in which we can live under the illusion that we are not surrounded by love.”
— Paul Alan Cox, then the dean of general and honors education at Brigham Young University, in the October 1995 BYU devotional “Seeing With New Eyes”
“The last days will be rampant with the cardinal sins, just as in the days of Noah. Society in the days of Noah, scriptures advise, ‘was corrupt before God’ and ‘filled with violence’ (Moses 8:28). Corruption and violence — sound familiar? Both of these awful conditions crest because of surging individual selfishness. When thus engulfed, no wonder men’s hearts in our day will fail them because of fear. Even the faithful can expect a few fibrillations.”
— The late Elder Neal A. Maxwell, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 1990 general conference, “Put Off the Natural Man and Come Off Conqueror”
“Because prophets speak for God, and because God is consistent, they say the same things, over and over.
“If you look for novelty, you will gain one of the great benefits of following a living prophet. For instance, prophets before Noah hadn’t built arks, and it was important to heed the new message to get in it. But the people who didn’t get in it were drowned because they laughed at the old message every prophet had repeated over and over since the days of Adam. It was simple and it was familiar. Here it is:
“‘Hearken, and give heed unto my words;
“‘Believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest; and if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you’ (Moses 8:23-24).
“Those who survived recognized truth in a message as old as time. Without that, the novel message would have been of no worth.”
— President Henry B. Eyring, then the first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, in the May 1986 Brigham Young University devotional “Child of Promise”
“From the days of Father Adam to the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors, whenever the priesthood has been on the earth, a major responsibility has been the preaching of the saving, eternal principles of the gospel — the plan of salvation. Father Adam taught these things to his own children (Moses 5:12). Consider Noah’s long years of missionary effort and the preachings of all the ancient prophets (Moses 8:16-20). Each in his day was commanded to carry the gospel message to the children of men and call them to repentance as the only means of escaping the pending judgments.”
— The late President Ezra Taft Benson, then the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 1974 general conference, “Missionary Work: A Major Responsibility”
