Parsha Short Talks - Parsha Noach
Parsha Short Talks - Parsha Noach
Standing with God (#8)
Noah was a righteous man in that he was perfect in his generations. The Torah says his generations which is interesting because the word is plural. Perhaps it is because Noah lived for quite some time. If the generation is defined as 20 years, Noah lived 6 to 7 generations. God told Noah to build an ark so that every animal and insect could survive the coming flood. The people of Noah’s day mocked him for building a boat several hundred miles away from the ocean. An interesting lesson from the story is what you will do if someone starts to denigrate you. In Noah’s case, he simply ignored them as he knew that what he was doing was the Lord’s work.
So let me refine the question: What will you do if someone denigrates you for following God’s law defined by the Torah and the prophets? Will you continue to follow the Lord’s way, or will you cave to society? The sign of a righteous person follows God’s way even when society is entirely against it. In today’s society, there are so many things that are considered acceptable which are against God’s laws in the Bible. Do you bend to society or stay firm in following God’s way?
It is not easy in today’s society to be set apart for God. To be set apart for God means to be sanctified. Each of us should want to be sanctified because the reward in heaven is much greater than a society’s reward.
What is a Sinner (#9)
What is sinning? It is a corruption of behavior, either immorality or idolatry, which contradicts the LORD’s word in the Tanakh. It is a breakdown of one’s moral and ethical internal code. It is offensive to God’s people. The problem with the people in Noah’s time was that they did not understand their corruption. The power of their immorality was so great that it blinded them to the depravity of their souls. The people believed that the way they behaved was acceptable and moral.
Therefore the Lord had to act. Unfortunately, the solution was to destroy humankind and start all over again. So the Lord selected Noah. Noah was considered a righteous man in his time to build an ark that would carry two of every animal and his family into a new world. Unfortunately, in the Noah story, Noah gets drunk after the ark is opened, and sin reenters the world.
The question for us today is how our society accepts immoral and unethical behavior. Our society has come to a point where it has determined that most immoral and unethical behavior are now acceptable. The liberalization of our large cities in the United States is proof of that. We have people committing unlawful acts and within minutes of being released back into the public because the politicians have decided for some strange reason that it’s okay to put criminals back on the streets. As long as the people of these large cities continue to elect liberal leaders, they’ll have to put up with the city’s immorality. One day the LORD might act just as He did in Noah’s time. It will be interesting to see what happens if your leaders are corrupt and immoral and why you would expect their policies not to be corrupt and immoral?
I know that some of you who read this will see this as a political statement. I apologize that it sounds this way. The bottom line is if you elect leaders who believe that certain actions by people are acceptable when you think that the act is immoral, then you shouldn’t elect that leader.
Two Possibilities (#10)
It appears that the perversion of flesh, sexual immorality, and probable robbery of property caused the LORD to make his final decision. There is the question of whether sexual immorality or robbery forced the issue. However, it also might have been both. If you think about it having sex with a married woman is the same as robbing her husband of her. I know that might sound strange, but think about it.
What is the difference between judgment and wrath? Judgment was usually delivered from the LORD because of the sin of thievery. Robbery was serious enough to warrant strict judgment but to a point. It might not have been enough to push the LORD to destroy humanity. However, the desire to gain someone else’s property and the arrogance of sexual immorality brought judgment and God’s wrath upon the earth.
When lustful desires are integrated with selfish greed, a wake-up call to humanity is imperative. In Noah’s day, we know that was enough. Are we receiving the same message today? Zohar says that God gives us time between our sins and his judgment, allowing us to repent. However, even the Lord has limited patience.
A windows into the Ark (#11)
Have you ever wondered what the Ark looked like on the inside? There were three floors. Noah and his family lived on the first floor. The second floor was filled with a collection of the world’s animals, both wild and domestic. The lowest floor was used for refuse. In the book of Genesis, the Lord gave Noah detailed blueprints of what the Ark was to look like. Noah worked pretty hard on that Ark for some time. While he was doing that He tried to warn his neighbors about the wrath of God that was on its way. He told them that if they changed from their evil ways, God would forgive them. Nevertheless, Noah’s words fell on deaf ears. He could not rehabilitate any soul.
Think of the Ark as a metaphor for salvation. Noah and his family were saved from certain death by entering the Ark when the rain started. The Lord God saved Noah by allowing him to enter the Ark he built. Noah was committed to the Lord. It is easy to build an ark. However, Noah had to breathe, live, and be committed to salvation to obtain salvation. Noah was passionate about his faith because he tried to help others come to salvation.
Anyone can build a church or synagogue building. Nevertheless, that does not mean that the person who built it nor the people who attended will have salvation unless they truly believe and have faith in the Lord. These people also have to live by the word of the Torah. For Christians, it means following the ways that Jesus taught on how to live by the Torah. It means walking the walk while you do the talk. Noah lived in the light of the Lord his whole life. He never wavered, and he never wandered. We know that the Lord forgives sins as long as we ask for forgiveness and perform absolution. That process is different for every person. Therefore, we build our own Ark. Are you ready to start or finish your Ark?
The Ark of Triumph (#12)
According to the book of Genesis, Noah spent 120 years building the Ark. Some naysayers and scoffers made fun of him during those years, but Noah continued to do what the Lord asked him to do. Midrash tells us that during this time, Noah tried to get his neighbors free from their sins so that perhaps the Lord would allow them to join Noah in the Ark. That did not happen. Noah was not able to change or save a single soul.
Noah built the Ark, and he also lived in it. Noah was totally committed to the purpose of the Ark. He was passionate about building the Ark because he had faith in the Lord. Unfortunately, his passion for the Lord did not touch a single soul outside his family. The question arises from the Genesis story that God told Noah to enter the Ark once the art was complete. If Noah had an authentic faith that was 100% pure in the Lord, he would’ve entered the Ark and closed the door immediately. However, he did not. The rains came in the Lord said to Noah it is time for you to go into the Ark.
The way Noah held onto the Ark is the beginning of the example of how we should hold onto the Torah. The Torah is a special gift from God that should be cherished. It also should be something we want to pick up regularly and read for understanding. We should do this not because the Lord tells us to do it but instead because we want to. Absolute faith is when one does what God expects of us without being told when to do it.
The Man who lacked faith (#13)
In Genesis chapter 7, verse seven says Noah, with his wife and sons and his sons’ wives with him, when into the ark because of the flood waters. I found this verse interesting because it indicates that Noah may have been a man who lacked full faith in the LORD. I read this verse and had to think about it for quite some time. After all, the LORD came to Noah and said I want you to build an ark even though you live hundreds of miles away from the sea, and I am going to send two of every animal to you. Then the rains will come, and you, your family, and the animals will be saved.
The Bible says that Noah built the ark, which took 120 years and quite a large amount of resources. Noah was faithful to God in building the ark. But then comes chapter 7, verse seven and the inference of this verse is that Noah entered the ark when the rain started. Does this mean that he lacked all faith in the LORD? When the last animal came to him, if he would’ve gone into the ark with his family and closed the door immediately, the rabbis and sages say that he would show full faith in the LORD. But he didn’t do that. He waited.
Did Noah think that the flood was not going to happen? If he was thinking this, why did he put two of every animal on the ark? He must’ve believed that the LORD would do what he was saying because he built the ark. Can you see the problem in the puzzle that this causes?
Let me go a little further by saying that if Noah was truly faithful, why did God not start his chosen people with Noah. Instead, God had to wait until Abraham was born. God decided that Abraham would be the father of his chosen people Israel? A lot of questions in this. There had to be a difference between Noah and Abraham that forced God to create his chosen people through Abraham. A little later in these Parsha short talks, we will get to Abraham and talk about him. So I’m going to leave Abraham until then. Abraham will show us what accurate and complete faith in the LORD is. Noah, on the other hand, showed us what it is to have faith and doubt. Therefore if you want to pick a person to emulate, it is best to emulate Abraham than Noah.
Exit Strategy (#14)
On the 27th day of the second month, the earth was fully dry, so why did Noah wait to open up the Ark and leave? For 120 days, Noah and his family were confined in the Ark with the animals and the waste. You would think they would want to get out into the world as fast as possible. The Torah declares that the earth was fully dry, but Noah waited for the Lord to tell him to leave
Noah could have exited the Ark without any instruction from the Lord because he saw dryland, but he did not. Noah did not have an exit strategy to leave the Ark. Or perhaps we could say that his exit strategy was to wait until the Lord told him it was time to leave the Ark. Whenever we engage in any endeavors, we should have an exit strategy. Many things happen in our lives that are not that complex. Perhaps these don’t need a strategic analysis. However, some things occur in life that need to be planned out and an exit strategy. It is usually good to have two exit strategies, one if your strategy works out and two if it doesn’t.
Life is like a chess game; each player sets a strategy in their mind of how they will play the game. But as the game progresses, the strategy might change because the nature of the game changes. Sometimes you need to have an exit strategy and at other times a completely different strategy. So next time you’re involved with a complex situation in your life, think about the different strategies, especially the exit strategy.
For Who (#15)
Here’s an interesting commonality between Noah and Abraham. Noah planted a vineyard, and Abraham planted an orchard. I always wondered why God did not select Noah to be the father of his chosen people. One of the reasons is that Noah planted the vineyard for himself. He took the grapes that grew in the vineyard, turned them into wine, and got drunk. While Abraham planted his orchard for others. Abraham’s goal in life was to educate, nurture and help people to learn about the LORD.
On the other hand, Noah told people that a tragedy was coming to the earth. He spent 100 years building an ark. Yet he couldn’t convince one person to join him besides his family.
One of the things we can learn from the Noah story is to ask ourselves who are we producing for? Is what you’re doing going to benefit humanity or just help yourself. It should be noted that not every one of us can do something that would benefit all humankind. Therefore, I’m going to modify my previous statement by saying, are the majority of things you do in your life yourself, or is it to help others. The LORD expects us to take our talents and gifts and use them not only for ourselves but also to help others.
The Tower of Babel is at the end of the Parsha Noach. The world community came together and decided they wanted to build a colossal tower to reach heaven. They thought that if they made the Tower, they could do battle with God himself and perhaps become gods of their own rights. Midrash tells us that God convened a tribunal in heaven and discussed whether it was time to destroy man and the Tower’s builders. But God decided not to destroy humanity but rather to confuse them. A small civil war erupted at the construction site, and the building of the Tower ceased for a time.
Eventually, the building started again, and God had to do something a little drastic. So what he did was he gave the different races of people that descended from Noah and his three sons different languages so that it would not be possible for them to communicate with each other to work ahead. Unfortunately, when the humans came together, they decided to do evil instead of good.
This can be seen today on the world stage. Nations come together in New York City as the United Nations, yet they are far from each other. Unfortunately, we can also see that churches that say they are for God will not work together locally. It is a strange situation. The people that call themselves God’s people treat each other poorly. As an aside, one could consider today’s modern church to be one large Tower of Babel, especially during the Civil War at the Tower.
Did God create the many denominations of the church so that they could not work together? That sounds crazy, but it is working that way. If all churches worked together, the church could learn everything about God. One church with every person loving each other was the goal of Jesus. In fact, Jesus did not want a new religion. Instead, he wanted Judaism to work and love each other. The Tower of Babel is an example of what happened yesterday and today.