Joy in the Messiah

נֹחַ
Noach
Genesis 6:9−11:32
HafTorah  Isaiah 54:1-55:5
Brit Chadasha 1 Peter 3:18-22

        This parsha contains one of the most famous Biblical stories, Noah and the flood. Genesis 6 prepares Noah for the end as he knew it. Chapter 7 details the ark, the animals and the flood. Genesis 8 is the resting of the ark. Chapter 9 is the covenant God made with Noah, the sign of the rainbow, and the curse on Canaan. Chapter 10 list the nations descendant from Noah and his sons. The Torah portion closes with the Tower of Babel, and the descendants of Shem and Terah. 
   Genesis 6:11 states that ‘The earth was corrupt before God…’ The concept is that the earth was corrupt before God, or in the sight of God, not before or in the sight of man.  As man is swallowed up in his own lawlessness, he becomes oblivious to the lawlessness.  This verse in the Hebrew reads: V’atimahley ha’aretz chamas’  (And the earth was filled with violence). Hamas. 
      The truth becomes the lie and the lie becomes the truth. People equate violence with only physical actions, but any lie is considered evil, and any half-truth is really a lie. Therefore, any substance rather than true substance from Adonai can be a lie.  Proverbs 6:16-19  ‘There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.’
     Noach found favor with God and Scripture states that Noach was righteous, blameless and walked with God.  God reveals to Noach that He will establish His covenant with him, and that He will destroy the earth as Noach knew it.
     Finding favor with God seems to be a lost concept. Topical and popular teachings are that everyone now has favor due to grace. Favor has become obsolete; we don’t need it because we already have it due to the death and resurrection of (Jesus) Yeshua. To an extent, yes we do have that unmerited grace, as Roman 3:10-12 states no one is righteous. But Psalm 14:1-3 clarifies why people aren’t righteous: ‘The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good’. 
     Yeshua in Mark 10:18, clarifies it even more: ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone’. 
     There are many meanings to the word favor; to be accepted, to receive blessings or gain approval. Moses found favor, Exodus 33:12-13, those that walk blameless find favor and honor, Psalm 84:11. The angel Gabriel told Miriam in Luke 1:30 that she had found favor in the eyes of God. Yeshua finds favor in Luke 2:52 as He grew in wisdom.
    Judges 6:17 ‘Gideon said to Him, If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You Who talks with me.’
     Ruth 2:13 ‘Then she said, "I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.’
     Psalm 5:12 ‘Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.’  
   There are two Hebrew words for favor. The word used in this parsha is chen; חן. In English it is also defined as grace. The word chen is connected to khanan, or chanan, חנן which means “to be gracious” or “to show favor, have mercy, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior.” This word is frequently associated with God’s graciousness towards humanity, as well as the favor that individuals find in the eyes of others.  Generally, it means unconditional or unmerited favor or kindness that one receives from another, especially from God. It is expressed in the oldest Hebrew blessing, The Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26.‘
       God states that Noah was a righteous man in Genesis 6:9. Was he righteous because he found favor, or was he given favor because he was righteous? In this parsha, Noah silently did as he commanded. Scripture doesn’t state that he obeyed, in fact there is no Hebrew word for obey in the Tanakh, rather the word is ‘listen’. Genesis 22:18 and 26:5 state in English that Abraham ‘obeyed’ but listen is the word. 
     The translators in 1 Peter 3:20 state that the events in Noach’s time were due to disobedience. But since listen is the word used, we know the people of the time did not listen to God, the did not ‘hear’. We are told to give ear and listen; Isaiah 28:23, James 1:19, Proverbs 2:2, Matthew 11:15 and Matthew 15:10. 
      Listening and doing brings us faith in His faithfulness. Hebrews 11:7 clarifies: ‘By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.’
    The other famous story of Noach is the Tower of Babel. On the surface it may appear that the people of Babel were committed to working together, as a unit for they said to each other, “Let us make bricks,” Genesis 11:3. Thus, the building would become “a city and a tower with tops in heaven.” 
     So, why did God destroy Babel, shattering what appears to be the unity that defined the people? Why did God confuse the common language shared by the people, creating a mix of languages that confounded the people of Babel, making it impossible for them to understand each other?  Then scattering the people over the face of the earth abruptly ending the building of what might be seen as a community working together? The false unity of the people within Babel was only a group of people concerned with building their city, “the tower with tops in the heaven.” Those in Babel didn’t really care about each other. The tower had seven steps from the east and seven steps from the west. Bricks were hauled up from one side, and the descent would be from the other. If one man fell and died, no attention was paid to him, but if one brick fell down, they would sit and weep.
     The unity of Babel was superficial. It was not a place where the people were concerned with one another, but rather the bricks that would make a tower to God. Sefer Yashur states that the tower was created to reach God to kill Him. 
     Noach ends with the summary of Abram’s family, Genesis 11:27-31, and with the death of Abram’s father, Terah, Genesis 11:32.  
 

Noach
Genesis 6:9-11:32
Isaiah 54:1-55:5
1 Peter 3:18-22 

      Genesis 6:16 states: ‘You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above…’
     The Hebrew word for window in this sentence is tzohar. Since "tzohar" does not appear anywhere else in Scripture, there is some debate on what the word means. The sages agree that it refers to a light, like an illumination source. They teach that the tzohar is what will give light within the ark itself, even in the darkness. But what exactly was it? Some say this was a window and would then be related to tzahorayim meaning midday, therefore the light would come from the sun. Others say that it was a precious stone that would illuminate and shine. The latter view relates the Hebrew word tzohar to zohar -‘radiance’ which suggests something that radiates its own light, hence the idea of a miraculous precious stone.   Another view is that Noah had both, which most agree with since he would need a Light in the darkness.
    This radiant light was guiding Noah by day and by night. Think of our lives without any light to guide us; we wander in the dark, lost in the chaos that we cannot see. Eventually, we would try and make our own light to mark our paths, but that is not the Divine Light as spoken of in Scripture.  
     Psalm 27:1 ‘Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’
     Psalm 119:105 ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’
     1 John 1:5 ‘This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’
     John 8:12 ‘Again Yeshua spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light
    of life.”
     Revelation 21:23 ‘And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.’
     Proverbs 6:23 ‘For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.’
     The imagery of light appears throughout Scripture and it is the result of God’s first act of Creation, Genesis 1:3.  Could it be because it is a primary characteristic of His divine nature? (Psalms 89:15; Isaiah 60:1,19, 20; Micah 7:8; Revelation 22:5). Special expressions of His presence, His “Shekinah” are often described in terms of light as in Exodus 13:21; Acts 9:3; 22:6,9; 26:13; 1 Timothy 6:16; and Revelation 22:5. The Divine Word of God is also spoken of as light in Psalm 119:105,130; John 1:1-2,4,5,9; and Acts 26:23.   
     Light in the darkness, the tzohar.