Noah & the
Flood
by
Gordon Hayes
Conya ben M'Levin
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.
Introduction
The story of Noah is a pivotal story in the
Torah.
It tells us of how evil the world had become
in such a short time (10 generations)
It tells us how one person being obedient
can be used to save the world
Today, I would like to look at these and
several other lessons I have learned from this
story.
Lessons that have made my walk with The
Almighty and my life a better experience.
Main Discussion
I. THE FIRST LESSON I LEARNED FROM NOAH AND THE
FLOOD IS THAT MAN BECOMES PROGRESSIVELY MORE
EVIL WHEN THEY REMOVE THEMSELVES FROM THE
ALMIGHTY!
A.
It is not impossible for a non-believer to be moral. But it
is more difficult.
B.
Rom 2:14-15 -- For when Gentiles who do not have the
Torah instinctively perform the things of the Torah, these,
though not having the Torah, are a law to themselves, in
that they show the work of the Torah written in their
hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts
alternately accusing or else defending them,
C.
However, when a person openly rejects The Almighty or
His Word, they become evil because they lack an
accurate moral compass.
D.
This is truer the further one gets from The Almighty and
His instructions.
E.
This level of evil was reached in only 10 generations.
II. THE SECOND LESSON I LEARNED FROM THE STORY OF NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS THAT FAITH IS A VERB!
A.
Noah Began Building The Ark When Told To.
B.
He Followed The Instructions Of The Almighty To The Letter.
C.
Had He Not, I Believe The Story Would Have Been Told Quite Differently.
III. THE THIRD LESSON I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE STORY OF NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS THAT ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, WHETHER FOR GOOD OR EVIL
A.
Esther –saved the Jewish nation in Persia
B.
Moses – lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage
C.
Sir Nicholas Winton – saved 669 children from the Holocaust
D.
Claudette Colvin & Rosa Parks – two individuals who fought racial segregation in the south E.
Keisha Thomas – a "black" lady who saved the life of a Klansman by shielding him with her body against attacks by a mob
F.
Yehoshua HaMoshiach - Undeniably, the ONE individual who has changed more lives for the good than anyone in history
IV. THE FOURTH LESSON I LEARNED FROM THE STORY OF NOAH AND THE FLOOD WAS
THAT THERE WAS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN CLEAN AND UNCLEAN ANIMALS EVEN IN
NOAH'S LIFETIME
A.
Prior To The Flood, Mankind Appears To Have Been Herbivores/Vegetarian In Their Diet.
B.
Yet, The Almighty Still Had Already Established A Distinction Between Clean And Unclean
Animals.
V. THE FIFTH LESSON I LEARNED FROM THE STORY OF NOAH AND THE FLOOD WAS THAT
THE JEWS ARE CORRECT IN OCCASIONALLY ADDING A 13TH MONTH TO THE YEARLY
CALENDAR TO KEEP IT SYNCHRONIZED
A.
This Is Not Immediately Apparent When Reading This Text.
B.
We Must Do Some "Cypherin'" As Jethro Clampett Would Say.
1)
First, let me openly declare the following information is not original with me. It was shared with me by another teacher who found it on a website called Biblical Calendar Proof.
2)
I am NOT promoting the site. I believe they misunderstand some important biblical information to come to their conclusion on the calendar they promote. But Don Roth, the author of the site, is right on the math.
3)
Noah and his passengers entered the ark on the 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah's 600th year of life.
4)
The flood waters were drying up from the ground; but, the ground was still muddy on the first day of Noah's 601st year.
5)
They exited the ark on the 27th day of the 2nd month of Noah's 601st year of life. 1 year and 9 days.
6)
Traditional counting is: 40+150+40+7+7+7=251 days. Do you see a problem?
7)
Now it is time to do some cypherin'. This is a wonderful Word Problem math equation. Not all information given is necessary to arrive at the length of the first year of the flood. (Year 600 of Noah's life) 8)
We are looking, though, for the time from the first day of the first month of year 600 to the same in year 601 of Noah's life. We are not necessarily looking for the length of the flood or the time Noah and his passengers spent in the ark.
9)
Sidenote: If creation of Adam and Chava was truly on Rosh Hashana, as Jewish thought says, this would make the month we know today as Tishrei, the seventh month, the first month in Noah's lifetime. This plays into the resurrection of Yehoshua. The ark rested on the 17th day of the seventh month.
IV. B. (cont.)
IV. B. (cont.)
10. Gen 7:6-8:19 (TS2009)
Now Noaḥwas six hundred years old when the flood-waters were on the earth. And Noaḥand his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of the clean beasts and of the beasts that are unclean, and of birds, and of all that creep on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noaḥ, male and female, as Elohim had commanded Noaḥ. And it came to be after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noaḥlife, in the second new moon, the seventeenth day of the moon, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that same day Noaḥand Shĕm and Ḥam and Yapheth, the sons of Noaḥ, and Noaḥ’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark, they and every life form 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. And they went into the ark to Noaḥ, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. And those going in, male and female of all flesh, went in as Elohim had commanded him, and YHVH shut him in. 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. And the waters were mighty and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters were exceedingly mighty on the earth, and all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered. The waters became mighty, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died – the creeping creature on the earth – birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming creature that swarms on the earth, and all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 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 Noaḥwas left, and those with him in the ark. And the waters were mighty on the earth, one hundred and fifty days. And Elohim remembered Noaḥ, and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark.
IV. B. 10. (cont.)
And Elohim made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were stopped, and the rain from the heavens was withheld. And the waters receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters diminished. And in the seventh new moon, the seventeenth day of the new moon, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased steadily until the tenth new moon. In the tenth new moon, on the first day of the new moon, the tops of the mountains became visible. And it came to be, at the end of forty days, that Noaḥopened the window of the ark which he had made, and he sent out a raven, which kept going out and turning back until the waters had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. But the dove found no resting place for its feet and returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of all the earth. So he put out his hand and took it, and pulled it into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. And the dove came to him in the evening, and see, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in its mouth.
And Noaḥknew that the waters had receded from the earth. And he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return to him again. And it came to be in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the new moon, that the waters were dried up from the earth. And Noaḥremoved the covering of the ark and looked, and saw the surface of the ground was dry. And in the second new moon, on the twenty-seventh day of the new moon, the earth was dry. And Elohim spoke to Noaḥ, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. “Bring out with you every life form of all flesh that is with you: of birds, of cattle and all creeping creatures – the creeping creatures on the earth. And let them teem on the earth, and bear and increase on the earth.” So Noaḥwent out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him, every beast, every creeping creature, and every bird, whatever creeps on the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark.
11. See the printouts for the "real" math.
Noah's 13th Month
Reference/Event
# of Days
Genesis 7:11 – Flood begins on 17th day of 2nd month (30 days
in the 1st month plus 16 days in the 2nd)
Genesis 7:12 – Rain for 40 days and 40 nights
Genesis 7:24 – Waters prevail
Genesis 8:3 – Waters abate
Subtotal
Genesis 8:13 – Water dried on first day of the next year
-1
Final Total:
A chaserah year (Hebrew for "deficient" or "incomplete")
is 353 or 383 days long. Both Cheshvan and Kislev have
29 days.
A kesidrah year ("regular" or "in-order") is 354 or 384
days long. Cheshvan has 29 days while Kislev has 30 days.
A shlemah year ("complete" or "perfect", also "abundant")
is 355 or 385 days long. Both Cheshvan and Kislev have
30 days.
This fits PERFECTLY with a Shlemah Year in Jewish
tradition and Biblical examples. There is also Ezekiel’s 13th
Month (see Excel printout on Ezekiel’s 13-month Year).
Two witnesses to an intercalated year. Using the traditional
counting of the account of Noah and the flood gives us
only 251 days. Far short of even 365.25 day solar year or
354 days of a “defective” (12 lunar months) year.
VI. THE SIXTH LESSON I LEARNED FROM NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS THAT THE
TRADITIONAL TEACHING OF THE RAPTURE IS NOT BIBLICAL
A.
Orthodox Christianity Takes Passages Like Mt. 24:40, 41; :Uke 17:34-37; And 1 Thess.
4:15-18 Out Of Context.
B.
They Teach That The Righteous Will Be Taken To Heaven To Escape The Tribulation, Or
The Worst Of It In The Least, While The Wicked Remain And Are Destroyed.
C.
The Story Of The Flood And The Exodus Of The Israelites From Egypt Teach Us That We
Will Be Protected In The Midst Of It All.
D. Then We Will Continue To Live Here On A Cleansed Earth.
VII. THE SEVENTH LESSON I LEARNED FROM NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS THAT WE
REALLY MUST PUT ASIDE PRECONCEIVED IDEAS OF WHAT THE SCRIPTURES MEAN
A.
This Means We MUST Study To Show Ourselves Approved To The Almighty As A
Good student/Talmidim.
B.
Many Like To Misuse Eccl 12:12 To Say That Study Is Not Good. "But Beyond This, My
Son, Be Warned: The writing Of Many Books Is Endless, And Excessive Study Is Wearying
To The Body."
C.
Many Like To Say That We Need To Read And Study The Scriptures With Only The Holy
Spirit To Guide Us.
D. From My Experience With Others Who Use This Approach, This Is A Recipe For Disaster.
E.
Yehoshua Said We Must Worship The Almighty In Spirit AND In Truth.
F.
I Think This Means We Must Study From Others With Knowledge On A Topic/Passage/Etc.
And Ask The Almighty To Guide Us In Discerning What Is True.
G. We MUST Use Proper Rules Of Biblical Interpretation When Studying The Scriptures.
VII. (cont.)
1.
Read a passage in context literarily, historically, topically, etc. Is the passage written poetically, as a command, as an explanation of another text, etc.
2.
Determine who is the author and the recipients. How would they have understood the passage.
Meanings of words when they were written don't necessarily mean the same as they mean today.
3.
Look for any unusual words used. For example, the Apostle Paul coined the word hagios for “a saint” in the Greek text of his writings.
4.
Remember the Law of First Use. Let the scriptures interpret themselves when possible.
5.
Take a passage literally unless context demands otherwise. Use figurative interpretations only when necessary
6.
Remember that no scripture will ever contradict another scripture. When using the Jewish approach of PaRDeS, remember that the deeper levels will never contradict the basic meaning of a text.
7.
Remember that a text taken out of context becomes a pretext for error.
8.
If the spirit of The Holy One and you are always in agreement on interpretation, you may be listening to the wrong spirit.
9.
There are many more rules that, when used properly, will allow you to come to the proper interpretation of the scriptures.
VI. G. (cont.)
Conclusion
1)
We can learn many lessons from this
parsha from the account of the flood itself.
2)
Hopefully, the seven I have shown you
today from my own life will bring you
encouragement in your walk with The
Almighty through Yehoshua our Anointed
One.
3)
These lessons can serve to make our walk
with The Almighty more productive.
4)
Let us take courage in knowing that The
Almighty has given us everything we need
in HIS word to walk in unity with HIM and
one another.
5)
Let us also be comforted in knowing that
as we study, seek for answers, and pray to
The Almighty; HE WILL give us the desires
of our hearts in the matter.
