Noach

The name of the main character in this Parashah. It means rest and comfort.

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The First Aliyah, 6:9-22

6:9    “Here is the history of Noach. In his generation, Noach was a man righteous and wholehearted; Noach walked with God.”(CJB) – The rabbis interpret this text in two ways. One of the interpretations says that Noach seemed righteous only in comparison to the evil lifestyle of his generation.

But the Torah testifies clearly that he was a righteous man (Hebrew ish tzadik) who walked with God. There is also the text in 7:1 where HaShem testifies personally to Noach’s righteousness before Him.

This brings us to the second interpretation, which says that Noach was righteous and spiritually mature in spite of the evil among the people around him.

This teaches us that neither culture, habits of a nation, surrounding people, or environment can be held responsible for a person’s way of life. Each individual has a responsibility to live righteously and wholeheartedly before God.

“Noach walked with God” – The Hebrew verb is in the hitpalel form, which can be understood as something you cause yourself to do. This means, therefore, that Noach himself was the reason that he walked with God. It was not an easy thing. He made an effort to do it, and he succeeded. This teaches us that walking with God requires personal discipline.

It is not written that Noach walked with HaShem (“the Lord”) – the sacred name, which is written with the letters yud, he, wav and he – but with God – in Hebrew Elohim. The name HaShem (YHWH) expresses his compassion and the name Elohim expresses his righteousness. Noach made a daily effort to walk with his heavenly Father in relation to His righteousness.

In the midst of a perverse generation, where standards no longer held any meaning in daily life, Noach walked with the righteous God. This was the reason he could be chosen to be the instrument of salvation for the future world.

In Ezekiel 14:12-20, it mentions Noach as one of the most influential people in the history of humanity, together with Iyov (Job) and Daniel.

“walked” – that is the Hebrew word hithalech – “walked himself,” “caused himself to walk” – which comes from the same root as halachah. The word halachah is a noun that means “a walking”.

The word halachah is used in Judaism as a legal term. Halachah is the law of the Eternal expressed in commands and rules, which the appointed leaders within Israel establish. The purpose of halachah is that the Jewish people should be able to apply the eternal commands of the Torah to all situations of the present life.

The written Torah cannot be changed, but halachah changes according to the varying circumstances at different times in history.

By this we can learn that Noach was interested in living out, in a practical way, the commands that the Eternal had revealed to Adam and that applied to all people. There is one straight way for man, which was established when man was created. Noach walked in this way, and therefore he was called tzadik and tammim, righteous and perfect.

6:11  “The earth was corrupt before God, the earth was filled with violence” (JPS) – According to the Scriptures, there are three specific sins that bring the judgment of the Eternal over the people more than other sins. They are idolatry, illegitimate sex, and murder. When a nation or a people reach a certain level in these sins, the Eternal will come with cleansing judgment.

The Scriptures also show us a fourth sin that cause the cup of God’s patience to overflow – robbery.

The Hebrew text says that the earth was filled with chamas – robbery in connection to violence. Compare with Amos chapters 1 and 2. The word chamas is the same word used today as the name of one of the terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

6:12 “And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.”(JPG) – According to Rashi, the word “corrupted” has to do with idolatry and sexual sins. These are the only two sins mentioned in the teachings of Paul to the God-fearers among the nations as something that one must flee from.

In 1 Corinthians 6:18, it is written,

“Flee fornication. Every other sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who is committing fornication sins against his own body.”(MRC)

In 1 Corinthians 10:14, it is written,

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”(MRC)

It was not only the people who were living in sexual sin. The animals were also corrupted. It is written that all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. The right way for each animal is the natural behavior that the Eternal gave each species. There is a torah, an instruction, for each created being. Each animal knows how it should behave in order to live according to the plan that the Eternal has for that animal. There is a way for each species.

There is also a way for man. But in the time of Noach, all flesh had corrupted its way, and thus the reason that the judgment came through the flood.

By this text we can understand that man was manipulating the animals by cross breeding the different species. It was a type of gene manipulation. In this way all flesh was corrupted, ruined, and the Eternal decided to put an end to this type of defilement.

Only the animals that had retained their originality within their species – given at creation – could come with Noach in the ark to be kept alive for the future, compare with verse 20 which says,

“Of the fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.”(JPS)

Only those animals that still lived according to their species were worth being kept.

6:14 “Make yourself an ark of gofer-wood”(CJB) – The rabbis have discussed the type of wood the ark was made of. The Hebrew word used is similar to the word for sulfur. Rashi says that this type of wood was chosen as a reference to the sulfur that accompanied the underwater floods that came in the flood.

Something similar to the ark can be found in the mountains of Ararat in Turkey.[1]

6:18 “But I will establish my covenant with you; you will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you.”(CJB) – The relationship between the Eternal and man is based on the principle of covenant. Because of the covenants that he has established one can get in contact with Him. Adam had a covenant by which he could have fellowship with the Eternal in the beginning, as it is written in Hosea 6:7,

“And they, as Adam, transgressed a covenant, There they dealt treacherously against me.”(YLT)

A covenant is the strongest bond that exists between two or more parties. A covenant cannot be annulled or dissolved. The covenant mentioned here means, according to the rabbis, that the Eternal promised to keep the fruits that would be eaten during the time of the flood and that he promised a special protection from the people that wanted to harm Noach and his family while they were building the ark.

“you will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you.” – From this we learn that they did not have intimate relations during the time of the flood. When the Eternal later commands them to leave the ark, he permits them to once again be united with their spouses, as it is written in 8:16,

“Go out from the ark, you, your wife, your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”(CJB)

6:20-21 “Of each kind of bird, each kind of livestock, and each kind of animal creeping on the ground, two are to come to you, so that they can be kept alive. Also take from all the kinds of food that are eaten, and collect it for yourself; it is to be food for you and for them.”(CJB) – According to this text the animals were not considered food. First it speaks about all animals and then about all kinds of provisions where evidently the animals are not included. For 1,656 years of human history, meat was not eaten but only fruit and vegetables, according to the command that was given to man in Genesis 1:29. Permission to eat meat was given after the flood.

6:22 “This is what Noach did; he did all that God ordered him to do.”(CJB) – This is the secret to success for all. The key to success for man is that he does exactly as God commanded him.

The Second Aliyah, 7:1-16

7:1    “HaShem said to Noach, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household; for I have seen that you alone in this generation are righteous before me.”(CJB revised) – Observe that in this moment the Torah uses the name which is written with the letters Yod, He, Wav, He, HaShem, the Eternal. As we said before, that Name has to do with His attribute of compassion. We see, therefore, that Noach walked not only in relation to God’s righteousness, according to 6:9 where Elohim is mentioned, but he also had a relationship with the compassion of the Eternal, as it is written in the final pasuk, verse, of the previous week’s parashah, Genesis 6:8,

“But Noach found grace in the sight of HaShem (YHWH).”(CJB revised)

Grace is undeserved favor. Grace goes together with the Eternal’s compassion and here in chapter 7, we see how this relationship is strengthened. The Eternal commands Noach to enter the ark in order to save the human race and the animals, especially the clean animals which would serve as sacrifices to the Eternal.

It is interesting to see that the revelation about clean and unclean animals existed already at the time of Noach. That did not mean that the clean animals could be eaten because man could not eat meat before the flood. The difference between clean and unclean animals was, at that time, only in connection with the sacrifices. The clean animals were able to serve as “food” for the Eternal, if we speak allegorically speaking. In Numbers 28:2, we see that sacrifices were considered by the Eternal as his “food”, or lechem in Hebrew.

“I have seen that you alone in this generation are righteous before me.” – When the Eternal testifies to the fact that a person is righteous before Him, then there is no man, angel or demon that can change that verdict from the highest court, as it is written in Romans 8:33,

“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the One Who justifies!”(MRC)

To look righteous in the eyes of man is not the important thing, but to really be righteous in the eyes of the Eternal, who sees everything, that is the most important thing.

7:4    “For in seven more (Heb. od) days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; I will wipe out every living thing that I have made from the face of the earth.”(CJB) – The Hebrew text uses the word od, which means “one more time”, “further”, “besides”, “still” etc. This gives the passage the meaning that the flood must wait one week after its appointed time. According to a Midrash, this was so that Noach and his family would have one week of mourning, in Hebrew shivah, after the death of Metushelach, which occurred on the day that the flood was to come.

Metushelach’s father was the prophet Chanokh (Enoch). He had given his son a prophetic name. The name Metushelach means “his death sends”, and is referring to the flood that would come at the time of his death.

Isn’t it wonderful to see how Metushelach’s age of 969 was the longest of all people in the history of the world? We see how the Eternal was patient with those who sinned and waited as long as possible with the judgment.

In 1 Peter 3:20-21, it is written,

“who were once disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noach, the ark being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, immersion now saves you –not the putting away of filth from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience– through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah.”(MRC)

7:11 “On the seventeenth day of the second month of the 600^th year of Noach’s life all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the sky were opened.”(CJB) – In Talmud there is a discussion between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua about which month this is referring to. According to Rabbi Eliezer, it is referring to the month Marcheshvan (Cheshvan – Oct-Nov). But according to Rabbi Yehoshua it is referring to the month Iyar (April-May). Judaism’s official stand was established according to rabbi Eliezer’s theory.[2] If it is correct, it means that from the time of the Exodus from Egypt there was a change in the calendar that was used since the creation. That which had been the seventh month of the year, counted from the creation of Adam, now became the first month of the year, as it is written in Exodus 12:2,

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

(JPS)

The expression “to you” hints at the fact that it is not this way for the other nations who had counted the years since creation.

Thus we can say that the flood came at the time of what would later be autumn in Israel.

“the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the sky were opened.” – We see that the flood was not just a result of the rain, but also of the underground wells that were opened in order to flood the earth.

By this we can learn that what happened during the flood was a type of tevilah, a ritual purification bath. In order for a tevilah to be proper, it has to be done in a mikveh, a body of water that has natural spring water that comes mainly from underground wells.

According to the Torah there are two substances that can be used to clean other things, water and fire, as it is written in Numbers 31:23,

“everything that can stand the fire, you shall make go through the fire, and it shall be clean. Only it shall be purified with the water of separation. And all that cannot stand the fire you shall make go through the water.”(MKJV)

This time, the Eternal decided to cleanse the earth with water. And in order for it to be a perfect cleansing, it was necessary for the majority of the water to come from underground wells.

The world was cleansed the first time through water. Next time it will be cleansed by fire.

“the windows of the sky were opened.” – As far as I understand, the protective water covering that had existed above the atmosphere, (compare with Genesis 1:6-7), had created a spring-like climate all year round on the whole earth. It had also protected the living creatures from harmful radioactive radiation from space.

There are scientists who say that a water coating/covering outside the atmosphere would increase the air pressure by several times. It has been proved that patients who have heart problems have a greater chance of surviving a heart surgery performed in a room with several times greater air pressure than normal. That gives us reason to believe that man was created to live under greater air pressure.

All this could be part of the reason that man lived much longer before the flood. The changes in the climate were so drastic that man’s age was reduced to a tenth of what it had been earlier.

Now the “windows of the sky” were opened and all that had previously been above the atmosphere fell down to the earth. From this time forward the world would be very different. Even the stars would appear differently in the sky.

7:16 “Those that entered went in, male and female, from every kind of living being, as God had ordered him; and HaShem (YHWH) shut him inside.”(JPS revised) – The ark is a picture of salvation for all people. The door is the door of grace. There will come a time when the door of grace will be shut by the Eternal. His grace has a limit for the sinner. If the sinner does not turn in time, the Eternal (YHWH), the Compassionate, must close the door of grace in order to leave room for the impending judgment. When He closes, no man can open.

The Third Aliyah, 7:17-8:14

7:21  “All living beings that moved on the earth perished – birds, livestock, other animals, insects, and every human being,”(CJB) – In this section we see how it is repeated many times that all flesh, including all the people, died. This is the testimony of the Eternal declared to us through the prophet, Mosheh. Eight people alone survived the flood. All other human beings died.

7:22 “everything in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life; whatever was on dry land died.”(CJB) – The Hebrew words for “breath of the spirit of life” is nishmat ruach. Nishmat comes from neshamah which is the higher part of man’s soul, something that animals do not have. Animals have a body and a living soul, a nefesh chayim, as do humans. But humans have something more, a higher soul, a neshamah.

8:4    “On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.”(CJB) – If the theory of rabbi Eliezer, which has been accepted officially within Judaism, is correct, then the ark stopped on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth of Nissan, the same day that the Messiah Yeshua was resurrected from the dead, three days and three nights after his burial. He was buried on the fourteenth of Nissan and resurrected on the seventeenth of Nissan.

According to my calculations, the death of the Messiah occurred on Thursday, the 26^th of April, year 31, and the resurrection occurred on the night between Saturday and Sunday the 28^th-29^th of April on the same year, forty years before the temple was destroyed. 

8:5    “And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.”(JPS) – Sometime after Shavuot (Pentecost) the tops of the mountains were visible. A Midrash says that there were two mountains that were seen at that time, Sinai and Tzion. On Mount Sinai the Torah was given on Shavuot after the exodus from Egypt. And on Mount Tzion, the Spirit was given on the same day, Shavuot, fifty days after the resurrection of the Messiah Yeshua.

8:13 “By the first day of the first month of the 601^st year the water had dried up from off the earth; so Noach removed the covering of the ark and looked; and, yes, the surface of the ground was dry.”(CJB) – The first day of the first month from the creation of Adam corresponds to the first day of the seventh month according to the Jewish calendar, the 1^st of Tishri. On that day one of the feasts of the Lord, Yom Teruah, the day of the sound of alarm, also called Rosh HaShanah, the new year, is celebrated. On that very day, the water had dried up from the earth and Noach removed the lid of the ark.

In the same way that the lid of the ark was removed, there is a gate in heaven opened year after year, so that there can be a special grace period for repentance. This grace period lasts from Yom Teruah until Yom Kippur, from the first to the tenth day of the seventh month. At the end of Yom Kippur, that gate is closed.

The Fourth Aliyah, 8:15 – 9:7

8:20 “And Noah built an altar unto the Eternal; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.”(JPS revised) – The Hebrew word for altar, mizbeach,[3] comes from the root zavach[4], which means to offer. An altar is a table where one offers “food” to the Eternal. An altar is a meeting place for man and God.

Noach had to build the altar. He had to make an effort in order to show the Eternal his love and submission. Every person has the responsibility to build an altar for the Eternal in his life, to find an intimate meeting place, a place where they can have a relationship with the Father through an offering that is costly.

The burnt offering means that the whole animal is burnt up. The animal that is sacrificed on the altar represents the person that offers it. In this way the burnt offering becomes a symbol of complete dedication to the Eternal. My whole life is yours. Everything that I am and have belongs to you. My life means nothing to me. The only thing that is important is to please you, HaShem. This is the message that the burnt offering brings when offered in the right way.

The Hebrew word that is translated as burnt offering is olah,[5] which comes from the root alah[6] that means to rise up, go up. A literal translation would then be “the ascension offering”. A life that is completely dedicated to fulfilling the purposes of the Eternal is like an offering that ascends as a “pleasing aroma” in Heaven.

8:21a “The Eternal smelled the sweet aroma, and the Eternal said in his heart,”(CJB revised) – The pleasing aroma did not come from the burnt flesh of a dead animal. Our heavenly Father does not enjoy when the blood of an innocent animal is spilled and its flesh consumed by fire. The source of the pleasing aroma is the heart behind the sacrifice. In this case it was Noach’s heart. He was willing to offer up these precious animals in order to show his dedication to the Creator.  At the same time, he was prophesying about the Lamb of God that would one day in the future come to take away his sins and the sins of the whole world. This was pleasing to the Eternal, and therefore, he swore an oath, as it is also written in Isaiah 54:9,

“For me this is like Noach’s flood. Just as I swore that no flood like Noach’s would ever again cover the earth, so now I swear that never again will I be angry with you or rebuke you.” (CJB)

8:21b-22 “I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; I will not again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”(JPS revised)

“day and night” – Rashi upholds that since the words “I will not again” are repeated twice, they become an oath. An oath is a part of a covenant. Here a covenant is cut between the Creator and heaven and earth, as it is written in Jeremiah 33:20 and 25,

“Here is what the Eternal says: ‘If you break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that daytime and nighttime no longer come when they are supposed to’… Here is what the Eternal says: ‘If I have not established my covenant with day and night and fixed the laws for sky and earth…’”(CJB revised)

“planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter” – Talmud[7] speaks of these six different seasons in the land of Israel.

Planting – half of Tishri, Marcheshvan, and half of Kislev (October – November)

Winter – half of Kislev, Tevet, and half of Shvat (December – January)

Cold – half of Shvat, Adar, and half of Nissan (February – March)

Harvest – half of Nissan, Iyar, and half of Sivan (April – May)

Summer – half of Sivan, Tammuz, and half of Av (June – July)

Heat – half of Av, Elul, and half of Tishri (August – September)

By the coming of the flood, the whole ecological system was altered. Some of the changes were:

1. Geological layers were formed by sedimentation at the bottom of the waters.

2. Fossils were formed by the pressure on the living animals that were buried alive in the mud that was formed at the bottom of the valleys. Many of these valleys were later lifted up to the heights and thus many fossils can be found high in the mountains.

3.  The water that was above the atmosphere vanished, which meant:

1. A loss of the hothouse-like climate – vegetation was thereafter never the same.

2. The radioactive radiation from space could reach the living creatures and their immune system was reduced – men died at a younger age.

3. The air pressure in the atmosphere was reduced drastically – the living conditions were different.

4. The earth shifted on its own axle – the geographic poles are moved which means that the six different seasons began.

9:1    “God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.’”(CJB) – This blessing enabled the three sons of Noach to multiply and become the forefathers of the three main people groups that can now be found on the earth.

9:3    “Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I have given you green plants before, so now I give you everything”(CJB) – From that point on man was permitted to eat meat. The descendants of Noach have the permission to eat unclean animals. It is not sin for them. The prohibition against eating unclean animals was given to the people of Israel at Sinai, Compare with Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. But God-fearers among the nations do well if they don’t eat unclean animals.

9:4    “only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat.”(CJB) – The text speaks about the prohibition of eating flesh, i.e., limbs of an animal, which still has its blood circulating in it. This includes the blood coming out of it as long as it is still alive. This applies to all of Noach’s descendants, i.e., all humans.

In the covenant with Noach and his descendants, there are seven foundational laws for the whole human race. These laws are in accordance with the conscience, as Paul teaches in Romans 2:14-15, as it is written:

“For whenever Gentiles, who have no Torah, do naturally what the Torah requires, then these, even though they don't have Torah, for themselves are Torah! For their lives show that the conduct the Torah dictates is written in their hearts. Their consciences also bear witness to this, for their conflicting thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them.”(CJB)

These seven are:

1. Do not practise idolatry.

2. Do not blaspheme.

3. Do not murder.

4. Do not commit fornication.

5. Do not steal.

6. Do not eat the blood or parts of a living animal.

7. Establish courts of law, authorities.

The Fifth Aliyah, 9:8-17

9:12-13 “God added, ‘Here is the sign of the covenant I am making between myself and you and every living creature with you, for all generations to come: I am putting my bow in the cloud – it will be there as a sign of the covenant between myself and the earth.’”(CJB) – This covenant was made with Noach and his sons for all future generations as well as with the earth.

“my bow” – The sign of the covenant is the rainbow that on earth can only be seen as a half. When the prophets saw visions of the heavenly throne they could see the bow of the Eternal around the throne, and there they saw it is completely round, not half, compare with Ezekiel 1:28 and Revelation 4:3. As long as the rainbow can be seen in the sky, the covenant stands. Just as there are seven colors in the rainbow, there are seven foundational laws in this covenant.

9:17 “God said to Noach, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between myself and every living creature on the earth.’”(CJB) – In this passage, the word “covenant” is found seven times, the word “flesh” six times, and the word “earth” ten times.

The Sixth Aliyah, 9:18 – 10:32

9:18 “The sons of Noach who went out from the ark were Shem, Cham and Yefet. Cham is the father of Kana’an.”(CJB) – Kana’an became Noach’s first grandchild. In Scripture, grandchildren can also be called sons or children. Descendants that come several generations later can also be called sons or children. So the Messiah is called ben David, the son of David, since he comes from the royal line of David.

9:19 “These three were the sons of Noach, and the whole earth was populated by them.”(CJB) – All people on earth come from these three sons of Noach.

9:22 “Cham, the father of Kana’an, saw his father shamefully exposed, went out and told his two brothers.”(CJB) – A rebellious person always finds a way to reveal the flaws of their authorities and through that will lose his own blessing. Instead of covering over his father’s faults, Cham spread the news of them. Here Kana’an is mentioned again. This gives us an indication that he had something to do with it.

9:23a “Shem and Yefet took”(CJB) – In the Hebrew text the verb is in singular form, which means that it was Shem who took the initiative to honor his father and cover his nakedness. One who is humble will cover over the flaws of his superiors and as a result will receive honor and blessings.

9:24-25 “When Noach awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. He said, ‘Cursed be Kana’an; he will be a servant of servants to his brothers.’”(CJB) – Noach’s youngest son was Kana’an. The Torah does not say what he had done. Midrash literature speculates about what he could have done. Some say he castrated his grandfather. Others say he committed a perverse act. Personally I believe that he committed some homosexual act. Kana’an’s descendants founded the cities Sodom and Gomorra, which were judged for their homosexual activities. Noach saw prophetically what Kana’an’s children would do in the future, and therefore he cursed the one who had this behavioral pattern. In Leviticus 18 we read about many other homosexual acts that his children would commit in the future.

9:26-27 “Then he said, ‘Blessed be HaShem, the God of Shem; Kana’an will be their servant. May God enlarge Yefet; he will live in the tents of Shem, but Kana’an will be their servant.’”(CJB revised) – The words of a father have great influence over the future of his children. These words that Noach uttered over his children marked the whole of mankind’s future history.

The people of Israel, as descendants of Shem, became the carriers of the Presence of the Eternal and were to receive the Torah and give it out to the nations.

The descendants of Yefet became those who were the most spread out over the earth. Cham, the father of the dark skinned, did not receive a blessing. He had, however, already been blessed by the Eternal in 9:1. No curse was spoken over him, but over his first born son.

The children of Israel had to destroy the children of Kana’an after the Exodus from Egypt. This was because they had committed all kinds of idolatry and sexual perversion and had shed much innocent blood. These sins resulted in their annihilation.

When a person turns away from the sins of his forefathers and receives grace from heaven, he will experience the curses over his life being broken. This happened to the Kana’anite woman, Rachav, who hosted the Israelite spies when they were about to take over Yericho. Through her repentance she was even given the honor of becoming one of the mothers in the genealogy of the Messiah, compare with Matthew 1:5. In this case we can see how the curse was broken.

“Blessed be HaShem” – In Hebrew: Baruch HaShem. This blessing, which is commonly used by the Jewish people today, is one of the most ancient blessings in the world.

If we compare the texts in 5:32 and 11:10, we see that Shem was not Noach’s first-born son. The Hebrew text in 10:21 is difficult to interpret. It can either mean that Shem was Yefet’s elder brother, or that Yefet was the elder brother.

If we look at the order of their genealogy in chapter 10, we see that Yefet was first, then Cham, and lastly Shem. It is possible that this was the order they were born in.

The Eternal changed the order of rank of these three sons by putting Shem first whenever they are named together. This was because Shem was the carrier of the blessings and the promise of the woman’s Seed, the Messiah.

The Seventh Aliyah, 11:1-32

11:1  “And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.”(JPS) – The one language of all mankind for 1,996 years of history was the original language that the Eternal used when He Hecreated the world, the Hebrew language. This language was kept by Ever, Shem’s great-grandson, and this, among other things, is why the language is called Hebrew from the name Ever.

11:2 “And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.”(JPS) – The land of Shinar is Babylon. Occultism and astrology was birthed there. Babylon is the mother of all harlots on earth and the harlots are the false religions.

11:3  “They said to one another, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them in the fire.’ So they had bricks for building-stone and clay for mortar.”(CJB) – There are no natural stones in Babylon.

11:4  “And they said: ‘Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’”(JPS) – Nimrod was taking control over the whole world and a revolt against the Eternal began under his leadership. This building project was part of the rebellion against HaShem. Man no longer wanted to submit to the Creator, but instead they founded their own religious system. In the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans he talks about how this falling away happened.

11:5  “The Eternal came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.”(CJB revised) – The Eternal is everywhere. This type of coming down refers to his messengers, the angels, who come as His representatives. The Eternal comes through his ambassadors, the messengers.

11:6  “And the Eternal said: ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be with held from them, which they purpose to do.’”(JPS revised) – The unity of language also means a unity of thinking. This capacity for unity and organization enabled the people to do everything they could dream. Unity in organization gives much power to do good as well as evil. A unified people are very powerful. A divided people are weak.

11:7  “Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.”(JPS) – The Eternal was speaking with his heavenly council so that they could make a decision together in this situation. The Targum text translates the verse this way: “And HaShem said to the 70 angels that stand before him, ‘Come, let’s go down’” Each of the 70 different families that existed at the time had their own language. The number 70 represents the Gentile nations.

11:26 “Terach lived seventy years and fathered Avram, Nachor and Haran.”(CJB) – According to a Midrash called Sefer HaYashar – The Book of Jasher 7:22, Terach was 38 years old when he fathered Haran and Nachor. And according to the same book (7:51), Terach was seventy years old when Avram was born, which means that our father Avraham’s year of birth was 1948 after Adam.

Why does it say then, in Acts 7:4, that Avraham was moved to the land of Israel after the death of Terach? Dr. David Stern gives us the answer to that question[8]:

“After his father died. Was Stephen biblically uninformed? Genesis 11:26 seems to say that Terach, Avraham’s father, was 70 when Avraham was born; and Genesis 12:4 clearly says that Avraham was 75 when he left Charan; these data imply that Terach was 145 at the time. But Genesis 11:32 says that Terach died at 205, sixty years later… Stephen was using a text of the Pentateuch in which Terach’s age was given as 145, not 205. The Samaritan text of the Pentateuch does say 145, so we are not dealing with a dues ex machine…

The first century Alexandrian Jew Philo, in De Migratione Abrahami, also speaks of Avraham’s leaving Charan after Terach’s death.”

The Messiah in this Parashah

Noach

• His name – rest, comfort.

• The only righteous one.

• Walked with God.

• Obeyed the commandments.

• Went from one world to another – death and resurrection.

• Offered burnt offering to the Eternal.

The Ark

• One way of salvation.

• Between life and death there was a piece of wood.

• Brought humanity over from one life to another.

The Flood

• Waters of purification for all the earth.

• Eight people were saved – eight is the number of salvation

• On the 17^th of Nissan, the ark landed on the mountains – the same day Yeshua was raised from the dead

• On the 1^st Tishri, the lid was removed from the ark – the day when Yeshua will return

The brother of every man, 9:5    

Shem

·         Bears the Name of the Eternal.

·         The Eternal is Shem’s God, 10:26.

·         Carrier and transmitter of blessing to the entire world.