Noach (Noach)

Genesis 6:9-11:32
Isaiah 54:1–55:5

"Walking by Faith"

POSTED 31 OCTOBER, 2008

by Mark Huey
mhuey@outreachisrael.net

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:8-9).

Each year when we reconsider this Torah portion, which deals with the account of Noah, we are faced with another five chapters of Scripture that cover a great deal of human history. As you can imagine, there is much that can be and has been said, as people down through the ages have hypothesized about what transpired from the time of Noah to the appearance of Abraham. While most of this speculation is interesting reading, many of the assumptions have a tendency to muddy the waters of what God is trying to communicate to us who are trying to take this material and apply it in our lives today. Oftentimes, hungry Torah students spend considerable time munching on so-called “nuggets”—mostly pure conjecture—and can overlook the serious questions that arise concerning God’s judgment upon the world via the Flood.

We live in a world that incessantly belittles the Creation account of Adam and Eve and the Noadic Flood. Seeds of doubt can be planted by modern science or “the enlightened” that can germinate into unbelief or full blown apostasy from belief in God. Questioning the veracity of these opening accounts in Genesis, or attempting to fill in the gaps with imaginary scenarios, can be damaging to the point of generating cracks in a person’s faith. This not only extends to attacks on the Bible by skeptics, but even liberal theologians who question the validity of these events. These fissures can lead to the instability that is characterized by the double-minded person who is considered unstable in all of his ways:

“But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).

While pondering Noach in conjunction with last week’s Torah portion, Bereisheet, the lack of details regarding this period of human history is thought provoking. Certainly, no one studying the Torah wants to be unstable in his or her ways, but instead should want to have unwavering faith in what God has stated.

In the Creation account, almost like an annual spiritual examination, we have the yearly reminder that God created the Heavens and the Earth out of what is termed in Hebrew tohu v’bohu (Whbw Wht), “welter and waste” (Genesis 1:2, Alter), basically meaning “confusion and emptiness.” We have to consider that when God said, “let there be light,” that out of the darkness came illumination. We have to believe that in just six days—not knowing exactly what constituted an actual “day” at this time[1]—that the Almighty spoke into existence the elements of the universe. Additionally, without the analysis of scientific explanation, we have to believe that God created all the plants and animals that inhabit Planet Earth. Next, we have to consider that God formed man and woman out of the ground and that He breathed life into them. Furthermore, we have to believe that a serpent communicated to Eve in order to deceive her into eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Moreover, we see that Adam, upon learning of his wife’s indiscretion, voluntarily chooses to disobey the command of God—fully aware of the repercussions. From here, we read about the curses placed upon the serpent, Eve and Adam, and the fallout from there continues. There are a great deal of events that are subject to various interpretations.

Now in Noach, by the time we come to the fuller account of Noah, we are told that a great flood destroyed all of humanity except Noah and his family. Quite frankly, without faith in God and the veracity of His Word, especially coupled with the confirmations found in the words of Yeshua the Messiah that treat it as an actual event (Matthew 24:37-39), it would be difficult for some to believe that a Flood came and destroyed the world of men. Skepticism combined with human logic has definitely persuaded the unbelieving world to discount these stories as allegories at best, fables and myths at worst.

As you consider some of the episodes recorded in the opening chapters of the Bible, you might see that a pattern is being established. This pattern has to do with faith and trust in what has been preserved down through the ages for our personal edification and encouragement. It is likely that in these opening eleven chapters of Genesis, God is describing some of the basic themes that establish and affirm the system of faith and righteousness that makes communion with Him possible.

Just what is God trying to communicate to us in these opening chapters of the Bible? Is it possible that He is giving the student of the Torah an overview of what to expect throughout the course of human history? Certainly from a personal perspective, one can perhaps identify with various aspects of the figures such as Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth, Enoch, or Noah and his sons, as representatives of the human race. Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of the Creator God and became the representatives of all of humanity that would follow them. They were given a free will to choose to obey the will of the Creator. However, they eventually chose to disobey God’s first prohibition about eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which resulted in the punishment of physical death:

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:15-17).

Their willful disobedience to God results in unrighteousness. Along with the serpent, Adam and Eve were cursed and thrown out of the Garden of Eden. However, as this was taking place the first Messianic prophecy was uttered about the Redeemer to come from the seed of the woman:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15).

This prophecy not only forecasts the crushing of the serpent’s head that would occur via the crucifixion and sacrifice of the Redeemer. For its more immediate audience, it also demonstrates the need for a blood sacrifice, as God mercifully sheds the blood of an animal and fashions a “skin covering” for Adam and Eve so their nakedness can be covered. The pattern of blood sacrifice for the transgression of sin is being established:

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’—therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:21-24).

Additionally, we see that God deliberately removes Adam and Eve from the Garden, where they might have eaten from the Tree of Life, and possibly lived forever in the fallen or unrighteous state. By expelling the lawbreakers from the Garden into a world overrun with thorns and thistles, with the knowledge that they would eventually return to the dust they were made from, Adam and Eve now had to start making some choices about how they were going to conduct their lives. There is an indication in the Epistle to the Hebrews that Adam and Eve understood the principle of shedding blood as atonement for sin. Apparently, their son Abel learned this righteous act from his parents, and in so doing offered up sacrifices that were pleasing to God:

“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

Even the Messiah Yeshua recognizes the righteousness of Abel, as He shares about the blood of “righteous” Abel and blood of Zechariah continuing to bring guilt upon the perpetrators of their deaths:

“So that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:35).

In so many Genesis vignettes, the faithful student of the Torah is beginning to see some patterns emerge. Consequences for the transgressions of Adam and Eve, and the curses uttered against Cain for the murder of his brother, are contrasted with the blood sacrifices of the animals for the loin coverings, or simply as a pleasing aroma to the Holy One by righteous Abel.

By the time we get to Noach, it is safe to say that Noah was following the patterns established by his forefathers. There is a distinct indication that Noah was aware of the importance of animal sacrifices, and that he even knew the difference between what were considered clean and unclean animals. God commanded Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals into the Ark:

“Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth” (Genesis 7:1-3).

Upon completing the Ark’s sojourn and settling on dry ground, one of the first acts of faith performed by Noah was the construction of an altar and the sacrifice of the proper clean animals:

“Then God spoke to Noah saying, ‘Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, ‘I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, 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’” (Genesis 8:15-22).

Clearly, the Lord was communicating about the need for blood sacrifices as either an atonement for sin, or perhaps simply as praise offerings that recognize His mercy toward humanity. Whatever Noah was doing, God considered him righteous and blameless as he walked with Him. Of his entire generation, there was only one person who God considered for the responsibility of building the Ark to preserve elements of His Creation. As stated earlier, God is establishing a pattern where one man’s work actually serves to save humanity from extinction. Of course, that prefigures the ultimate need for a Messiah who would save the world. By coupling the need for a blood sacrifice with an individual who will save the world, we see typeology that all points to the crucifixion of Yeshua the Messiah.

The critical axiom we find in Noach is that faith in the work of the Holy One ultimately generates the righteousness He requires for fellowship with humanity. Let us never lose sight of the fact that absolute faith in the Creator and His righteous provision for our restoration to Him are the critical components expressed throughout the balance of the Scriptures. Perhaps no better verse summarizes the necessity for faith than the realization that without faith it is impossible to please God or be rewarded for seeking Him. The author of Hebrews expresses this reality when he couples the necessity of faith with the faith exhibited by Noah:

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:6-7).

Did you notice that Hebrews 11:7 describes Noah as an heir of righteousness according to faith? Interestingly it is in Noach, this week’s Torah portion, that we are first introduced to the concept of a person being righteous and blameless before the Lord:

“These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

This is the first time that the Hebrew words tzaddiq (qyDc), meaning “righteous one,” and tamim (~ymT), “complete, sound” (BDB),[2] are used to describe a human being. While the brief statements about Enoch describe him as one who “walked with God,” there is no direct mention of Enoch’s righteousness or blamelessness in the Genesis account:

“Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:22-24).

The Greek Septuagint actually says that “Enoch was well-pleasing to God” (LXE), obviously an extension of what it means to write from Him. This view is validated by the author of Hebrews, who indicates that Enoch pleased God in his walk, just before he describes the faith of Noah and states the impossibility of pleasing God without faith:

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:5-6).

Whether Enoch was considered righteous and blameless before God is not stated directly, but apparently a righteous and holy God was pleased by Enoch’s walk to the point of translating Enoch from Earth without the necessity of physical death. It would not be a stretch of our thoughts to believe that Enoch was considered righteous and blameless before Him. But even more than obtaining perfect personal righteousness and blamelessness, which is impossible to achieve, is the absolute principle that God truly desires a people of faith.

The concept of faith in our Creator is no doubt one of the absolute principles in the Scriptures. In short order, as our Torah study continues next week, we will be introduced to Abraham. He is often considered to be the father of faith. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the need for faith as exhibited by Abraham in his letter to the Romans:

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.’ Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.’ How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. For this reason it is by faith. in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:1-16).

Here in this passage, Paul quotes from Genesis 15:6 two times in order to get his point across that it is by our faith, not our works, that we are considered righteous:

“Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

Additionally, the Prophet Habakkuk reiterates this principle of faith resulting in righteousness:

“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

In coming weeks, we will look more intently at this principle. So let me conclude with a few thoughts.

As you read this week’s text and the selected Haftarah portion, is there something that the Holy One is trying to communicate about our walk of faith? If you look briefly at the Haftarah selection from Isaiah 54, you will note that God promises to show compassion on Israel and ultimately gather them after a period of estrangement:

“‘For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,’ says your God. ‘For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer. ‘For this is like the days of Noah to Me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again; so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ says the Lord who has compassion on you” (Isaiah 54:5-10).

We need to have faith in not only the Redeemer’s work, but also in the fact that God has promised to restore us to a covenant of peace. This is a great truth to meditate upon as we look forward to learning more and more about the faith of our predecessors. It is my prayer that by once again looking at the Torah, we will each be further impressed with not only their levels of faith, but most importantly, growth in our own individual walks of faith. Without a doubt, it is only by faith in the work of the Messiah that anyone receives the righteousness that the Father requires for fellowship with Him. May we each grow in our faith daily!

Mark Huey (B.A., Vanderbilt University in History and Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is the Director of Outreach Israel Ministries (www.outreachisrael.net). He is the author of several books, including: TorahScope, Volumes I & II, and Counting the Omer: A Daily Devotional Toward Shavuot. He is also co-author of Hebraic Roots: An Introductory Study.

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