Bible Studies

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Parshat Noach

“These are the offspring of Noach—Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noach walked with God.” B’reshit 6:9 (Stone)
In Genesis 6:14, Father says, “Make for yourself an Ark of gopher wood; make the Ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.” (Stone)
The word for “cover” is Kaphar. Kaphar means “cover” “pacify” “cancel” or “make atonement.” The word for “pitch” is also kaphar. Father is telling Noach not only to watertight the Ark with pitch, but also to make atonement for it. So the atonement is to keep the water out. What is the water? “And as for Me—Behold, I am about to bring the Flood-waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which there is a breath of life from under the heavens; everything that is in the earth shall expire.” Genesis 6:17 (Stone)
In this case water is death and destruction. What is death? According to Paul, death is the wages of sin. (Romans 6:23) Atonement is the covering that keeps out the wages of sin.
But there is another covering in this parsha. Genesis 8:13 says, “And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first (month) on the first of the month, the waters dried from upon the earth; Noach removed the covering of the Ark, and looked—and behold! The surface of the ground had dried.” (Stone)
In this verse, the word for “covering” is Michseh. Michseh is a concealing covering, such as the veil in the Tabernacle, or the badger-skins. It comes from the root-word Kasah, which means, “to fill up” or “hide.” The word translated “removed” is Yasar, which means, “to chastise” or “rebuke.” Noach rebuked this concealing covering. Remember, this covering is the same word as the word used for the veil in the tabernacle. Matt. 27:50-51 says, “Then again Yeshua cried out with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. And immediately, the curtains at the door of the temple were torn in two from the top to the bottom.” (Younan)
When Yeshua released His breath, or soul, it rebuked the covering hiding Father from the redeemed. It is not that there is no longer a covering. What has changed is that the covering no longer separates the redeemed from Father.
Some have said that there would not be enough room for all of the animals on the Ark if there were two of each species. But Scripture does not say “two of each species.” It says two from each kind, in Genesis 6:19-20. A kind is broader than a species. This means that there were two dogs, and two cats, two horses, and two finches. The individual species descended from these. Saying that there had to be two of each species would be the same as saying there had to be two of each human race. But there was not. All races descended from the same human beings.
Genesis 7:1, “Then HASHEM said to Noach, ‘Come to the Ark, you and all your household, for it is you that I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.’” (Stone) It is interesting that Father chose Noach because he was righteous. First, Noach showed his desire to follow Father by being righteous, and only then did Father make atonement for him.
Also in this verse, Father tells Noach to bring his whole household into the Ark because “it is you that I have seen to be righteous”. “You” in this case is Otcha, which means you singular. This is specifically referring to Noach. It does not say that his entire household was righteous, but that his entire household is saved because of Noach’s righteousness. Paul echoes this in I Corinthians 7:14, “For the husband who believeth not, is sanctified by the wife that believeth; and the wife who believeth not, is sanctified by the husband that believeth: otherwise their children would be impure; but now are they pure. ” (MUR)
The one following Father sanctifies the whole house. But, the days are coming when, “Rather, every man will die for his own sin, and the man who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.” Jeremiah 31:29 (Stone)
Genesis 7:2; “Of every clean animal take unto you seven pairs, a male with its mate, and of the animal that is not clean, two, a male with its mate” (Stone)
How did Noach know what was clean and what was unclean if there was no Torah at this time? Why did Father make a distinction between the clean and the unclean here, when He does not make a distinction in Genesis 9:3, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; like the green herbage I have given you everything”? (Stone)
Torah must have been in existence, though not written, in order for Noach to have known the difference.
There is no way to tell why Father told Noach to get more clean animals than unclean, but there are some apparent reasons. Clean animals are generally herbivores, which means they are prey for other animals. There needed to be more of them to be able to support the meat-eaters. Also, Noach made sacrifices in B’reshit 8:20. There had to be animals to be sacrificed. If there had only been two of the clean animals, then there would have been no way for them to continue.
Did Father really mean that Noach could eat everything? If Torah already existed, then obviously, no, He did not.
Some try to teach that there will not be a new heavens and a new earth, but a renewed heavens and a renewed earth. Genesis 8:22 says, “Continuously, all the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
If, then, day and night were to cease, it would mean that the earth did not exist anymore. Revelation 21:25, “And the gates of it shall not be barred by day, for there is no night there.” (Lamsa)
There will be no more night, and so there must be a new earth.
In the beginning of chapter 9 Father distinguishes between man and animal in an interesting way. He allows Noach to eat flesh, but not blood. So He allows Noach to kill animals. But then He forbids Noach from killing men, and says that if anyone kills a man, his soul is forfeit, because man was created in the image of God. Clearly, then, the animals were not created in the image of God, and so it is not wrong to kill them.
Genesis 9:14-15, “And it shall happen, when I place a cloud over the earth, and the bow will be seen in the cloud, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living being among all flesh, and the water shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Stone)
No matter how much He would like to destroy the earth, if He starts to gather a storm together, He sees the rainbow, and remembers His covenant.
In the latter half of Genesis 9 Noach plants a vineyard, (verse 20) then became drunk and uncovered himself in his tent (verse 21). Then his son, Ham, found his father naked in his tent and Ham goes and tells his brothers (verse 22). Shem and Japheth then walk into the tent backwards and cover their father’s nakedness (Verse 23). A great deal could be written about this passage. For some reason, Noach then curses Canaan, Ham’s son, rather than Ham. Some have said that this is because Noach could not bear to curse Ham himself. But then, Noach never blesses Shem, either. What he says is, “Blessed is HASHEM, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Genesis 9:26 (Stone)
So why is it that Noach never directly addresses either one of his sons? “The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s shame.” Leviticus 18:8
Perhaps it was because the offense was not directly against Noach. If it was Noach’s wife who was in the tent naked, then the offence against Noach was indirect, and so the punishment for Ham and the blessing for Shem were both indirect.
“And it came to pass, when they migrated from the east they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn them in the fire.’ And the brick served them as stone, and the bitumen served them as mortar.” B’reshit 11:2-3 (Stone)
Why is it important that they used brick, rather than stone, and bitumen, rather than mortar? Brick and bitumen don’t last, while stone and mortar do. What they were building was very temporary, and earthly. It could not stand the test of time.
The Readings: Parshat Noach, Genesis 6:9-11:32. Haftarat Noach, Isaiah 54:1-10, Tehillim Noach, Psalm 29. Brit Chadesha Noach, I Corinthians 7:10-16, Hebrews 11:1-7, I Peter 3: 20-21.

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