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This Parasha is entitled Noach (Noah) which means ‘rest’, or ‘quiet’. It covers Genesis 6:9-11:32. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, Noah walked with God, despite living during a time of great unholiness. We ourselves must understand that we cannot use the excuse of the corruption of our times to justify the deficiency of our holiness.  To walk with God means submitting to His ways.

Noah was the son of Lamech.  Noah also had brothers and sisters but the Scriptures do not give us their names. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and each of them had wives.  Shem, is always mentioned first in Scripture because it was through his lineage that the seed of the woman, the Messia, would come.  Noah’s occupation was farmer-turned-shipbuilder and preacher. The Scriptures tell us that, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The earth was depraved and putrid in God’s sight, filled with violence, cruelty, the lust for power and the rejection of God, much like things are today. Adonai looked upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, and vicious it had become; all humanity had corrupted their way on the earth and lost their true direction.

Adonai did not hesitate to let His attitude be known about this pervasive wickedness.  Even today we have no excuse for not knowing that our sinful conduct is evil in the sight of a holy God.

If we are going to fight sin, we must be outspoken about it. Secret discipleship and secret denouncing of evil are not acceptable to the Three-In-One God.

Noah was told to build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with pitch, inside and out. Pitch was a tar-like substance which sealed the seams and cracks in the wood, and it would have made the ark black in color.

The Scriptures tell us that the ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. The volume of space in the ark was 1.4 million cubic feet, equal to the capacity of 522 standard railroad box cars, which could carry 125,000 sheep. It had 3 stories, each 15 feet high; each deck was equipped with various rooms. The window may have actually been a low wall around the flat roof to catch water for all on the ark, and a door was built into the side of the ark.

It took Noah 120 years to build the boat, which was also a period of grace.  For 120 years Noah preached the repentance of sin.  It is also interesting to note that this word ‘pitch’ – the tar covering the inside and outside of the ark, has the same three letter root, as the word for ‘atonement’. If you think about it, this pitch was responsible for keeping the ark afloat and delivering Noah and his family alive through the judgment of the Flood.  In a similar way, the atoning blood of Yeshua is what delivers us from the coming judgment and enables us to have fellowship with the Father.

Chapter 7

Adonai’s message to Noah was this: “I have seen that you are a good man, even among the evil people of this time.  Gather your entire family and go into the boat. Get seven pairs, seven males and seven females of every kind of clean animal and also of all the birds.  Get one pair, male and female of every unclean animal on the earth. Lead all these animals into the boat with you.” Noah was also to take into the Ark of every food that could be eaten.

Once all the preparations had been completed, the Flood came.  From above came a torrential rain for 40 days and nights. From below there was seismic upheaval and shifting of the earth’s crust, causing the ocean floor to rise and break up, releasing their reservoirs of subterranean waters. As a result the whole earth was flooded in the disaster.

For 120 years God was patient toward callous and rebellious sinners; but they ignored His warnings and forfeited their opportunity for salvation. Every living thing on the earth (outside the ark) was destroyed. Only marine life survived. Sin had infected every aspect of life, and nothing short of a new beginning would suffice, just as it will also be at the end of this Age.

Chapter 8

The ark finally rested in the mountains of Ararat – After 150 days it was made clear that the earth was once again suitable for habitation. Then the eight people and all the animals exited the ark. This was 377 days after they had first entered it.

Noah’s name, which means ‘rest’, seems appropriate to this story. For instance, the ark rested; and at first the dove could find no resting place for its feet. When the ark came to rest on Ararat, this represented much more than a physical landing on dry ground. It was a new beginning; the world was clean again and at rest.

Leaving the ark, Noah offered a sacrifice to God, which was pleasing to Him. Noah received God’s grace, and responded with worship and sacrifice. Adonai promised never again to curse the ground in this way.

Chapter 9 

God instructed Noah to be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth, just as He had told Adam. Noah, like Adam, was to have dominion over all the animals.  Noah and Adam both were given food to eat, but now the meat of various animals were added to man’s diet (9:3).

Noah’s new beginning included a covenant. It was necessary now to have a covenant with obligations for mankind and a promise from God. Because of the Flood’s destruction of life, people might begin to think that God held human life in low esteem, and assume that murder was no big deal. The covenant Adonai made with Noah showed that life is sacred, and that man is not to destroy man, who is made in the image of God.

Chapter 10

Here the genealogy of Noah’s family provides information on the future history and the geographical distribution of peoples in the ancient Near East. Clues are given about the settlement of the coastal areas, northern Africa, Syria-Canaan and Mesopotamia. All of the major regions are thus represented, as well as most of the nations who would in some way interact with Israel.

Chapter 11 

The descendants of Noah’s three sons repopulated the earth, but the new beginning with Noah soon experienced corruption, because man was still contaminated by original sin. Eventually it led to one of the most arrogant revolts against God ever recorded in Scripture.

Adonai had commanded humanity to be fruitful and multiply and that they should scatter across the earth. But they decided instead to gather together into one large collective and settle in Nimrod’s city of Babylon.

Adding to their sin, they decided that they would build a tower at Babel. This tower was built primarily for religious purposes. At its top was a special shrine dedicated to a god or goddess. The sin of this was that they exalted themselves, and turned away from the true God to serve false gods.

This infamous project was an arrogant declaration of war against the Three In One God. To begin with, the people defied God’s edict to scatter and repopulate the earth.  They wanted to make a name for themselves so others would admire and want to join them. Their objective was the very same lie that Satan uttered in Eden: “You will be like God!”

Adonai came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. Then He said, “Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; this is only the beginning of what they will do, now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them. So Adonai confounded their language, so that they could not understand each other’s speech. And he scattered them over the whole earth.

In the close of chapter 11

Moses traces the family line of Shem, this shows how Abraham fit into the plan of God. We see here another evidence of divine election:  God chose Abraham in His grace! This would also be the beginning of the  Nation of Israel.