- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Oct 12, 2018 1:38:35 GMT -8
Date of reading- 21 October, 2018/ 1 Cheshvan 5778
Name of Par’shah- Noach- Noah
Par’shah- Genesis 6:9-11:32
Haftara- Isaiah 52.13-55:5
Brit Chadashah- Matthew 24:36-44; Luke 17:26-37; Acts2:1-6; 1 Peter 3.18-22; 2 Peter 2.5
D’rash: The obvious subject of this week’s par’shah is judgement and redemption.
Luke 17:26-37 (ESV) Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Luke would have been intimately acquainted with Jewish writings in the Apocalyptic Tradition. The “Son of Man” is a recurring figure in these works. We now understand this to be HaMoshiach Yeshua, and the reference here to His return.
Luke 17:31-33 (ESV) On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
This is not a suicide pact with the Almighty. Contextually this refers to our former life. Those who continually look back, yearning for the way things were will, as Lot’s wife surely die.
Luke 17:34-37 (ESV) I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
This is typically taught in church as evidence of the “Rapture.” However a closer look debunks this teaching. “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” The one taken suffers death and the wrath of our Shofet, our Judge (Psalm 75:7). Like with Noach in our Par’shah, “one” of each above example is also left alive. They were not ‘raptured out,’ but left as witness of the long suffering but inevitable judgement of Avi Ad, Possessor of Eternity (Isaiah 9:6). God does not just remove us from the flood, He stays with us and preserves us through it:
Genesis 8:1-5 (ESV) But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the … waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
150 days, that’s 5 months water covered the earth. 5 in Biblical terms is believed by many to be the number of God’s grace. It rained only 40 days- 40 being the number generally associated with judgement, testing, and purification. Often we make it through the judgement and trials, but all is lost in the time of His grace which may be much longer. We become impatient for deliverance and, losing faith we also lose the victory which has already been won.
It was in the 7th month, 7 thought to mean “completion,” that the Ark came to rest. And in the 10th month land (mountain tops) started to reappear. One of the meanings of the number 10 is ‘the completeness of order.’ The earth was reformed to its present configuration; the natural order as we know it today.
Genesis 8:6-9a (ESV) At the end of forty days Noah … sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried … Then he sent forth a dove …, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. …
The raven is a carrion eater, and so could find sustenance landing on decaying carcasses. The water had subsided, however the land must have been one huge mud bog. But the dove needed seeds and grains. So as long as the dove returned Noach knew it was not safe to leave the Ark. However when it did not return Noach knew the land was regenerating:
Genesis 8:11-12 (ESV) And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
Just a leaf, not a branch. Still, Noach waited for God’s command to leave the Ark:
Genesis 8:13b-16a (ESV) … and behold, the face of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, …
Another trap we often fall into is getting ahead of God. While we were given the gift of judgement, we need to exercise it with caution, waiting on the Lord. Not procrastinating nor shirking, but praying, taking Godly counsel if needed, and then going cautious but confident.
In our haftara we see the best known and most obvious Messianic prophecy in all scripture, Isaiah 52:13-53. This is the source of our salvation which all scripture points to:
Isaiah 54:5 (ESV) For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
This is all summed up in one passage from our haftara:
Isaiah 54:8-10 (KJV) In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
We may incur His wrath for a time. However if we will wait on His deliverance, trusting in El Elohay Yisroel, the Lord God of Israel (Exodus 32:27) and Him alone, He will deliver us. With Yeshua our example, this may mean trusting Him even unto death. However in Yeshua we also have the promise of resurrection. Baruch HaShem!
Dan C
Name of Par’shah- Noach- Noah
Par’shah- Genesis 6:9-11:32
Haftara- Isaiah 52.13-55:5
Brit Chadashah- Matthew 24:36-44; Luke 17:26-37; Acts2:1-6; 1 Peter 3.18-22; 2 Peter 2.5
D’rash: The obvious subject of this week’s par’shah is judgement and redemption.
Luke 17:26-37 (ESV) Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Luke would have been intimately acquainted with Jewish writings in the Apocalyptic Tradition. The “Son of Man” is a recurring figure in these works. We now understand this to be HaMoshiach Yeshua, and the reference here to His return.
Luke 17:31-33 (ESV) On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
This is not a suicide pact with the Almighty. Contextually this refers to our former life. Those who continually look back, yearning for the way things were will, as Lot’s wife surely die.
Luke 17:34-37 (ESV) I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
This is typically taught in church as evidence of the “Rapture.” However a closer look debunks this teaching. “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” The one taken suffers death and the wrath of our Shofet, our Judge (Psalm 75:7). Like with Noach in our Par’shah, “one” of each above example is also left alive. They were not ‘raptured out,’ but left as witness of the long suffering but inevitable judgement of Avi Ad, Possessor of Eternity (Isaiah 9:6). God does not just remove us from the flood, He stays with us and preserves us through it:
Genesis 8:1-5 (ESV) But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the … waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
150 days, that’s 5 months water covered the earth. 5 in Biblical terms is believed by many to be the number of God’s grace. It rained only 40 days- 40 being the number generally associated with judgement, testing, and purification. Often we make it through the judgement and trials, but all is lost in the time of His grace which may be much longer. We become impatient for deliverance and, losing faith we also lose the victory which has already been won.
It was in the 7th month, 7 thought to mean “completion,” that the Ark came to rest. And in the 10th month land (mountain tops) started to reappear. One of the meanings of the number 10 is ‘the completeness of order.’ The earth was reformed to its present configuration; the natural order as we know it today.
Genesis 8:6-9a (ESV) At the end of forty days Noah … sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried … Then he sent forth a dove …, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. …
The raven is a carrion eater, and so could find sustenance landing on decaying carcasses. The water had subsided, however the land must have been one huge mud bog. But the dove needed seeds and grains. So as long as the dove returned Noach knew it was not safe to leave the Ark. However when it did not return Noach knew the land was regenerating:
Genesis 8:11-12 (ESV) And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
Just a leaf, not a branch. Still, Noach waited for God’s command to leave the Ark:
Genesis 8:13b-16a (ESV) … and behold, the face of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, …
Another trap we often fall into is getting ahead of God. While we were given the gift of judgement, we need to exercise it with caution, waiting on the Lord. Not procrastinating nor shirking, but praying, taking Godly counsel if needed, and then going cautious but confident.
In our haftara we see the best known and most obvious Messianic prophecy in all scripture, Isaiah 52:13-53. This is the source of our salvation which all scripture points to:
Isaiah 54:5 (ESV) For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
This is all summed up in one passage from our haftara:
Isaiah 54:8-10 (KJV) In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
We may incur His wrath for a time. However if we will wait on His deliverance, trusting in El Elohay Yisroel, the Lord God of Israel (Exodus 32:27) and Him alone, He will deliver us. With Yeshua our example, this may mean trusting Him even unto death. However in Yeshua we also have the promise of resurrection. Baruch HaShem!
Dan C
