Noah B’resheet/Genesis 6:9-11:32
1.Look at Genesis 7:2, 8. In these two verses we see Noah is commanded by G-d to take seven pairs of clean beasts and one pair of unclean beasts. What are we to make of this? Why did G-d specifically tell him to bring seven pairs of clean animals and only one pair of unclean?
The easy answer is Noah would need clean animals for sacrifices after the flood.
Remember, this is 400 years before we will see this again appear in Torah in Leviticus chapter 11. In Leviticus the scripture goes into more detail about what animals are clean and which ones are unclean.
Also, before the flood Noah and his family were not meat eaters. But evidently Noah understood which ones were clean and which were unclean. Do our verses today in Genesis have any impact on how we understand the kosher food laws and to whom they apply? At this point in time there was no Jewish nation.
It says to me that G-d had a plan from the beginning. He doesn’t decide one day that an animal is unclean and the later it is clean. So, in my understanding there were always clean and unclean animals. Clean animals were the only ones used in sacrifices from the beginning as we read here with Noah. As we read through scripture we see G-d’s covenants grow in depth. First were the basics in the covenant with Noah.
Then His covenant with Avraham was deeper and more intimate. Later the Mosaic covenant with the children of Israel established them as G-d’s chosen with regulations on how to live and serve Him.
Lastly, Ezekiel 36:28-37:28 talks about the New Covenant – G-d’s promise of the ultimate spiritual restoration of Israel that will take place when the Messiah Yeshua returns to set up His Kingdom on earth.
So, did Noah eat all meat from all animals when the flood was over? Or did he only eat clean animals? I believe if he knew which animals should be used for sacrifices he would know which animals were clean for eating.
2. When we think of the flood, we usually think the main subject is that the people of Noah’s day were deep into sin and the flood was G-d’s judgement on them for their actions. That is truly what happened for sure. Maybe, a deeper question would be, why? Genesis 6:11-12 says the earth was corrupt and filled with violence. Why had it come to this? What caused this situation?
The people suffered from basically one major issue. The pursuing of their own will kept them from understanding, grasping and following the will of G-d. We see this happening over and over throughout scripture, both in the Torah and also in the Messianic Scripture. We all remember the story in the Messianic scriptures of the woman at the well who was able to accept the message of Yeshua and change her life by accepting G-d’s will for her life. On the other hand, you also remember the rich young ruler who could not let go of his possessions (his own will) and follow Yeshua.
In this Torah portion we are struck by the sin and depravity that held the people in such a tight grip that they could not, would not change. They continued on following their own depraved desires.
3. Genesis 1:26-27 says, “And G-d said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So G-d created man in His own image, in the image of G-d created He him; male and female He created them.” Then we read in Genesis 9:6 says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of G-d he made man.” Both verses talk about man being made in the image of G-d but what changes do you see from Genesis 1 to Genesis 9?
The difference here is fundamental. Genesis 1 tells me that I am in the image of G-d. Genesis 9 tells me that the other person is in the image of G-d. Genesis 1 speaks about man’s dominance over the rest of creation. Genesis 9 speaks about the sanctity of life and the prohibition of murder. The first chapter tells us about the potential power of human beings, while the ninth chapter tells us about the moral limits of that power. We may not use it to deprive another person of life.
So, here we see a new era beginning. We are created in the image of G-d. Others are also created in the image of G-d. G-d reminded them of that fact and warned they were not to kill another human because they were also made in His image. We know all people made in G-d’s image deserve our respect.
After the flood a covenant or moral bond was made between G-d and man. When we speak of covenant, we are talking about relationships. A covenant is a moral bond between persons.
That is why, with one simple move, G-d transformed the terms of the equation. After the Flood, He taught Noah and through him all humanity, that we should think, not just of ourselves but of the human other as in the image of G-d.
This really is a life-changing idea. Is it sometimes a challenge to see G-d’s image in one who is not in my image – whose color, class, culture or religion is different from mine? Yes, sometimes it is. Would our world today be different if everyone believed and acted upon these verses?
People fear others that are not like them. That has been a source of violence for as long as there has been human life on earth. The stranger, the foreigner, the outsider, is almost always seen as a threat.
This is a life-changing idea. G-d asks us to see His image in one who is not in my image. Adam knew that he was in the image of G-d. Noah and his descendants were commanded to remember that the other person is in the image of G-d.
The great challenge for us in this unredeemed world is: Can I see a trace of G-d in the face of a stranger?
4.In Genesis 11:1-9 what were the sins of the people building the tower of Babel?
The people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves and make themselves great, in disobedience to the commands of G-d. Through their own might, they attempted to become powerful.
Genesis 11:1-9 suggests that the people who built the tower were guilty of inflated pride and self-sufficiency. The people’s sins included:
- Love of praise: They wanted to make a name for themselves. (No one makes a name for themselves. That is given to them by others)
- Love of security: They built a city instead of filling the earth as G-d commanded Genesis 9:1, “So G-d blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” But the people said in Genesis 11:4, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
- Seeking independence from G-d: They valued their own construction more than the world given to them by G-d.
G-d punished the people for their sins by confusing their languages, making it impossible for them to understand each other and complete the tower. The place where the tower was built is now called Babylon, which means “confusion” in Hebrew.
What does this story teach us? How were they trying to secure their future? Do we ever try to find security in things, position, people or possessions other than G-d Almighty?
The story of the people of Babel is in sharp contrast to the prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 2:1-5, “This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the L-rd’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the temple of the G-d of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the L-rd.
Here people will gather at the highest mountain, the mountain of the L-rd. But they will gather for another reason. They will not be gathering to make a name for themselves or for power. Rather they will gather to learn about G-d and how to walk in His ways. As the Messiah reigns the law will go out from Zion.
5. In Genesis 6:13 G-d told Noah His plan to wipe out life on earth with the exception of Noah and his family. What was Noah’s response? Then in Genesis 18:20-33 G-d told Avraham His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. What was Avraham’s reaction? Then in Exodus 32:10-13 G-d told Moses in His wrath He was going to destroy the children of Israel because they were a stiff neck people. What did Moses do?
Did Noah plead with G-d? Did he try to tell people what was going to happen if they didn’t change? As far as our verses here are concerned he basically got to work on the ark. We read of no communication with the people around him. G-d said this is what I am going to do and Noah got to work on the ark. He accepted G-d’s will and got busy building an ark to the exact specifications G-d sat out.
When G-d came to Avraham and told him of His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Avraham argued with G-d in an effort to save the people who lived in these cities.
Moshe, in Exodus 32:10-13 interceded with G-d over His plan to destroy the people.
For sure G-d gives us opportunities to intercede for people who are lost in darkness and to speak to them about G-d. We cannot sit idly by and say that situation or person is of no concern to me.
But also, our lives need to be a living testimony to who G-d is and what we believe as Noah did in his day. II Peter 2:5 says Noah was a preacher of righteousness. For years Noah faithfully worked on the ark, a living testimony of his faith in what was to come.
The Heavenly Father will put people and situation on our hearts when there is a time to intercede. We need to develop a sensitivity to G-d speaking to us about people who are in need and let Him guide us in what to do.
A few places in scripture where Noah is mentioned
- Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with G-dly 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.
- 2 Peter 2:5
and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
- Matthew 24:37-39
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
- Genesis 7:5
And Noah did according to all that the L-rd commanded him.
- Ezekiel 14:14
Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,’ says the L-rd G-d.