Mat 24:35 “The heaven and the earth shall pass away,
but My words shall by no means pass away.
Mat 24:36 “But concerning that day and the hour no one
knows, not even the messengers of the heavens, but My Father only.1
Footnote:1Mk. 13:32.
Mat 24:37 “And as the days of Noaḥ, so also shall the
coming of the Son of Aḏam be.
Mat 24:38
“For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noaḥ entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39
and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so
also shall the coming of the Son of Aḏam
be.
These are the words of our
Messiah – He is telling us that no one knows the hour when destruction shall
come upon those who are not under his protection. The Messiah is also saying
that very, very few people are going to
make it in the last days.
But neither groups of people from the
generation of Noach and Lot would listen to the 'present truth' of their time
and judgment came swiftly upon them unawares!
2Pe 1:12 And so I intend to remind you of these matters
again and again, though you know them and have been established in the present
truth.
2Pe 2:4 For if Elohim did not spare the messengers
who sinned, but sent them to Tartaros,
and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be kept for judgment, - Τάρταρος Tartaros̄ (the deepest abyss
of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment: -
2Pe 2:5 and did not spare the world of old, but
preserved Noaḥ, a proclaimer of
righteousness, and seven others, bringing in the flood on the world of the
wicked,
2Pe 2:6 and
having reduced to ashes the cities of Seḏom
and Amorah condemned them to destruction – having made them an example to those
who afterward would live wickedly,
2Pe 2:7 and
rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the indecent behaviour of the
lawless1 Footnote: 1The Greek word here, and in 3:17, is athesmos
(not the usual one, anomos) but it also means “lawless.”
2Pe 2:8 (for
day after day that righteous man, dwelling among them, tortured his righteous
being by seeing and hearing their lawless (Torahless) works),
2Pe 2:9 then יהוה knows how to
rescue the reverent ones from trial and to keep the unrighteous unto the day of
judgment, to be punished,
Rev 14:12 Here is the endurance
of the set-apart ones,1 here are those guarding the commands of
Elohim and the belief of יהושע.2 Footnotes:
1In 12:17 they are called “the remnant”
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was
enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed,
those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע Messiah.
“A "woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" is
seen (Revelation 12:1). According to Genesis 37:9,10, these represented the
first family of Yisrael: Yakov (the "sun"), Rachel (the
"moon"), and Yakov's twelve sons (the "twelve stars"). Yisrael
was the "embodiment" of the Law/Torah, which consists of YHVH's eternal
commandments, rules, and guidelines.” http://www.tedmontgomery.com/bblovrvw/emails/thewoman.html
Our Torah portion:
Gen 6:9 This is the genealogy of Noaḥ. Noaḥ was a righteous man,
perfect in his generations. Noaḥ
walked with Elohim.
The Hebrew word for “perfect” (8549) is an adjective and comes from
the verb “tammam”(8552).
“tammam” means to “complete or to make it to the
end” – Php 1:6
being persuaded of this, that He who has begun a good work in you shall
perfect1 it until the day of יהושע Messiah.
Footnote: 1Mt. 5:48.
Mat 10:22 “And you shall be hated by all for My Name’s
sake. But he who shall have endured to the end shall be saved.1
Footnote: 1See 24:13.
“Elohim hithalech Noach” or “Elohim walked about with Noach” – note
the order of the sentence and the use of the hitpael verb. It was YHVH who walked about with Noach.
Joh 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should
remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name He might give you.
Gen 6:10 And
Noaḥ brought forth three
sons: Shĕm, Ḥam, and Yepheth.
Noach
means “rest”. Shem means “name” and implies authority honour and character (Ha
Shem) Ham or Cham means “hot”. Canaan was the son of Cham and we all know what
he did!!! These descendants seemed to have spawned civilizations that were
deeply involved in depraved sexual behaviour. Yepeth means “opened” the
3rd son of Noah whose descendants after the flood settled on the coastal lands
of the Mediterranean spreading north into Europe and parts of Asia.
Gen 6:11 And
the earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.
The Hebrew says -
“All the earth had become corrupt”. The Hebrew word for “corrupt” is
“shachat.” This word clearly conveys a meaning that an object or person in this
state is beyond human redemption.
Humpty
dumpty sat on a wall ……..
According to popular
opinion it was sin and rebellion that caused the flood to come, yet the word
“sin or rebellion” is not used once in this parasha.
“Shachat” is the Hebrew
word used as the reason for the destruction of the flood. It is found in
different places in the scriptures:
Jer 18:4
And the vessel that he made of clay was ruined (shachat) in the hand of
the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the
potter to do.
The vessel could not be repaired, it had
to be remade.
Without
Messiah we are a “shachats” people. Sadly most of our teaching and preaching
today does not adequately address the seriousness of our condition. Our pulpits
are filled with motivational messages and send a clear message that “things”
are not “so bad”.
When Yeshayahu saw YHVH his own condition
was revealed and he cried out:
Isa 6:5 And I said, “Woe (oivai) to me, for I am
undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips – for my eyes have seen the Sovereign, יהוה of hosts.”
Gen 6:12
And Elohim looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt – for all
flesh had corrupted their way on the earth –
niphal verb is used which means “become corrupt” (nishchat)
Gen 6:12 And
Elohim looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt – for all flesh had
corrupted their way on the earth –
Gen 6:13 and
Elohim said to Noaḥ, “The end of all
flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence (Heb - chamas)
through them. And see, I am going to destroy them from the earth.
Vs 11,12,13 all contain word ‘shachat’ Strongs
7843 which means “ marred beyond recognition”
Gen 6:14
“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it
inside and outside with tar.
Gen 6:15
“And this is how you are to make it: The length of the ark is three
hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
Gen 6:16
“Make a window for the ark, and complete it to a cubit from above. And
set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third
decks.
Gen 6:17
“And see, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy all
flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens – all that is on
the earth is to die.
Gen 6:18
“And I shall establish My covenant with you, and you shall come into the
ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
Gen 6:19
“And of all the living creatures of all flesh, two of each, you are to
bring into the ark, to keep them alive with you – a male and a female.
Gen 6:20 “Of
the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, and of all
creeping creatures of the earth after their kind, two of each are to come to
you, to keep them alive.
Gen 6:21 “As
for you, take of all food that is eaten and gather it to yourself. And it shall
be food for you and for them.”
Gen 6:22 And
Noaḥ did according to all
that Elohim commanded him, so he did.
Vs 22 also appears in Ex 40:16 And Mosheh did according to all that יהוה had commanded him, so he did.
We see many comparisons
between the ark of Noach and the tabernacle of Moshe. Both were designed and
initiated by YHVH and built by man. Both had three main sections. Both had one
entrance. Both were made with wood and covered. Both were mobile, one moved by
water and one moved through the desert. Both travelled, one for period for 40
days and one for 40 years. Both had special features that measured one cubit by
one cubit, the window in the ark and the golden altar of incense and both point
us to Messiah’s ministry and our call to be co heirs with him.
Gen 7:1 And יהוה said to Noaḥ,
“Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you
are righteous before Me in this generation.
The Hebrew word for
"ark," teivah, also means "word." "Come into
the word," says YHVH; enter within the words of prayer and Torah study.
Here you will find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning and set apartness amidst the
raging floodwaters of life - Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
Gen 7:2 “Of all
the clean beasts take with you seven pairs, a male and his female; and of the
beasts that are unclean two, a male and his female;
Gen 7:3 and of
birds of the heavens seven pairs, male and female, to keep offspring alive on
the face of all the earth.
Gen 7:4 “For after
seven more days I am sending rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights,
and shall wipe from the face of the earth all that stand that I created.”
Gen 7:5 And Noaḥ did
according to all that יהוה commanded him.
Gen 7:6 Now Noaḥ was
six hundred years old when the flood-waters were on the earth.
Gen 7:7 And Noaḥ and
his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went into the ark because of the
waters of the flood.
Gen 7:8 Of the
clean beasts and of the beasts that are unclean, and of birds, and of all that
creep on the earth,
Gen 7:9 two by two
they went into the ark to Noaḥ, male and female, as Elohim had commanded Noaḥ.
Gen 7:10 And it
came to be after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.
Gen 7:11 In the
six hundredth year of Noaḥ’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the
month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the
windows of the heavens were opened.
Gen 7:12 And the
rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
Gen 7:13 On that
same day Noaḥ and Shĕm and Ḥam and
Yepheth, the sons of Noaḥ, and Noaḥ’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, went
into the ark,
Gen 7:14 they and
every living creature after its kind, and every beast after its kind, and every
creeping creature that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after
its kind, every bird of every sort.
Gen 7:15 And they
went into the ark to Noaḥ, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of
life.
Gen 7:16 And those
going in, male and female of all flesh, went in as Elohim had commanded him,
and יהוה shut him in.
Gen 7:17 And the
flood was on the earth forty days, and the waters increased and lifted up the
ark, and it rose high above the earth.
The torrential rains
lasted for forty days and nights. The waters rose to great heights and covered
even the highest mountains, killing all humans and animals; everything died
aside for Noach and the other occupants of the teivah. After the waters
raged on the earth another 150 days, YHVH caused the waters to subside. The teivah
eventually rested on the Ararat Mountains, (on the 17 th Aviv, the Sages said)
and shortly thereafter the mountain peaks came into view. Noach opened the
window of the teivah and dispatched birds to see whether it was time to
leave the teivah. First he sent a raven, which refused to execute its
mission and just circled the ark. He then sent out a dove. On its second
attempt the dove went and did not return, signaling that the earth was once
again habitable. After one full year in the teivah, the earth had dried.
Gen 7:18 And the
waters were mighty and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about
on the surface of the waters.
Gen 7:19 And the
waters were exceedingly mighty on the earth, and all the high mountains under
all the heavens were covered.
Gen 7:20 The
waters became mighty, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.
Gen 7:21 And all
flesh died that moved on the earth – birds and cattle and beasts and every
creeping creature that creeps on the earth, and all mankind.
Gen 7:22 All in
whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry
land, died.
Gen 7:23 So He
wiped off all that stand, which were on the face of the ground – both man and
beast, creeping creature and bird of the heavens. And they were wiped off from
the earth. And only Noaḥ was left, and those with him in the ark.
Gen 7:24 And the
waters were mighty on the earth, one hundred and fifty days.
Midrash:
One of the first things
that strike a person when reading this account of Noach is that YHVH protected
the righteous man Noach and his family and destroyed all other life on
earth. Yahshua says the same pattern
will be repeated in the last days.
While we are alive on this earth we have this
amazing opportunity to come to terms with our spiritual condition and embrace
our way of escape from this present world. The teaching of this parasha
introduces a key understanding in our preparing for the world to come – “olam
ha ba” revealed in the “mikvah”(baptism)
This “mikvah” represents a kind of dying to self
and to any kind of notion that we can somehow make it on our own. This ordained
“mikvah” or emersion of people is YHVH’s chosen method of bringing about a NEW
CREATION -Resurrection through death.
According to the Sages the “Mikvah”, or
ritual bath must contain 40 “seah” of rainwater (a seah is a typical halachic
measurement that corresponds to approximately 20 litres). The “forty” being a
hidden reference to the forty days and nights that rain came upon the earth
during the flood.
The sages teach ““What is the meaning of this
Mitzvah? What is the Mikvah’s religious purpose? We understand that a ritual
bath with 40 measures of water must be a place of transformation
and rebirth. This is indeed the case. After all, who goes to a Mikvah? In
Temple times, Mikvah immersion was an integral part of regaining ritual purity;
especially important for Kohanim, but also, at times, vital for all Jews. Restored
purity conferred new status on the individual; he was spiritually refreshed,
reborn. Nowadays, the Mikvah is only halakhically required for converts and
married women. When a gentile converts, he or she takes on a new
religious identity. A convert, say the Sages, is like a newborn child. What
about a woman, whose visits are coordinated with her monthly cycle? Quite
simply, a woman’s physical change at that time of the month indicates that her
body’s preparation to create life was not actualized. The ritual impurity that
results reflects the Torah’s recognition of this loss of potential life. The
Mikvah’s 40 seah of water soothe and restore; they help a woman become
sensitive to the potent, spiritual force inherent in her body’s ability to
create life.
Hasidic men, unwilling to cede the Mikvah experience entirely to women, immerse every erev Shabbat, to elevate themselves in preparation for the seventh day. Ashkenazic men typically limit their Mikvah use to the days immediately prior to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. In tandem with repentance, the Mikvah helps us refashion our inner selves.” End quote.
Hasidic men, unwilling to cede the Mikvah experience entirely to women, immerse every erev Shabbat, to elevate themselves in preparation for the seventh day. Ashkenazic men typically limit their Mikvah use to the days immediately prior to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. In tandem with repentance, the Mikvah helps us refashion our inner selves.” End quote.
We now can understand the importance of this
practice by Yochanan the immerser prior to Yashua’s first coming. Will we see
an emergence of this practice again in these days?
We see this doctrine or “teachings of
immersions” is one of the foundational principles of our faith in Messiah
Yahshua. We see that unless this and other foundational principles are
established in our lives we will not be able to move on into spiritual
maturity.
Heb 6:1 Therefore,
having left the word of the beginning of the Messiah, let us go on to
perfection,1 not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead
works, and of belief toward Elohim, Footnote: 1Mt. 5:48.
Heb 6:2 of the
teaching of immersions (there are more than one kind of immersion), and of
laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of everlasting
judgment.
Heb 6:3
And this we shall do, if Elohim indeed permits.
There is a reference to the events of this parasha
in the apostolic writings that gives us important insight into the significance
of this event:
1Pe 3:18 Because even Messiah once suffered for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to Elohim,1 having
been put to death indeed in flesh but made alive in the Spirit, Footnote: 1Rom.
5:18.
1Pe 3:19 in which also He went and proclaimed unto the
spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20 who were disobedient at one time when the
patience of Elohim waited in the days of Noaḥ, while the ark was being prepared, in
which a few, that is, eight beings, were saved through water,
1Pe 3:21
which figure now also saves us: immersion – not a putting away of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward Elohim – through
the resurrection of יהושע Messiah,
1Pe 3:22 who,
having gone into heaven, is at the right hand of Elohim, messengers and
authorities and powers having been subjected to Him.
Hegg comments on this
scripture and says “But the idea that Yeshua ascended to Hades
(apparently during the time His body was in the tomb) is not substantiated by
any other Scriptures, and is not taught by the text in Peter’s epistles.
Rather, those who were “in prison” describe those who lived in the days of
Noach, who were doomed by their unrighteousness and perished in the flood. We
should understand Peter’s words to mean that the spirit of Messiah was active
in the message of Noach as he called his generation to repentance and
submission to YHVH. Even as the Messiah is active today in the whole
proclamation of the good news, so He was active in Noach’s day as well. Noach
preached the same message as we proclaim today. This is the point of Peter’s
message: The good news comes to us with the same message as in Noach’s day:
repentance toward YHVH, and faith in YHVH’s promise of redemption (centered in
the Promised One).”
When we enter into a mikvah we humble ourselves. We
immerse ourselves into a watery grave because our sinfulness has brought death
into our lives. We are raised to the hope of new life when we come up out of
the mikvah.
We see then through this Torah portion that it is
through this watery grave that a new creation was made possible. It is through
death and dying to self that we are made into the likeness of our Messiah. The
Hebrew word for “likeness” is “damuth” (daleth, mem, vav, tav) The word death
in Hebrew is “mut” It is the same word as likeness only with a “daleth” added.
We can assume from the construction of this word that death is the doorway
(daleth) to bring us into the likeness of Yahshua.
Today religious men still continue to seek
transformation through their own faith, grace-preaching, self-effort, religious
experiences and so called special prophetic revelation. Genuine transformation
can only take place through death to everything that will stand in the way to our
genuine and everlasting transformation.
This Torah portion teaches us that it is through death
that mankind is saved.
Please
note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are
in no way a final authority on any subject