LESSON 7
A Warning From the Past
Jehovah will not allow bad people to ruin Paradise. Only his friends will live there. What will happen to bad people? To learn the answer, consider the true story of Noah. Noah lived thousands of years ago. He was a good man who always tried hard to do Jehovah’s will. But the other people on earth did bad things. So Jehovah told Noah that He was going to bring a flood to destroy all those wicked people. He told Noah to build an ark so that he and his family would not die when the Flood came.—Genesis 6:9-18.
Noah and his family built the ark. Noah warned people that the Flood was coming, but they did not listen to him. They continued to do bad things. After the ark was finished, Noah took animals into the ark, and he and his family also went inside. Then Jehovah brought a great storm. Rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights. The water flooded all the earth.—Genesis 7:7-12.
The wicked people lost their lives, but Noah and his family were saved. Jehovah brought them safely through the Flood into an earth cleansed of wickedness. (Genesis 7:22, 23) The Bible says that once again the time is coming when Jehovah will destroy those who refuse to do what is right. Good people will not be destroyed. They will live forever on the Paradise earth.—2 Peter 2:5, 6, 9.
Today many people do bad things. The world is full of trouble. Jehovah sends his Witnesses again and again to warn the people, yet most do not want to listen to Jehovah’s words. They do not want to change their ways. They do not want to accept what God says about right and wrong. What will happen to these people? Will they change someday? Many will never change. The time is coming when wicked people will be destroyed and will never live again.—Psalm 92:7.
The earth will not be destroyed; it will be made into a paradise. Those who become God’s friends will live forever in the Paradise on earth.—Psalm 37:29.