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The name Noach in the Hebrew means rest and is in many ways a prophetic
story. Here is a man who was called righteous in his generation and
it was obvious to our sages that his righteousness was measured according
to the people of his day. According to G-d, no one is righteous.
Noah lived in an unrighteous society so he shone like a like in the
darkness in comparison.
He is referred to as another Adam and in reality is the father of
all nations since everyone on earth today descends from him and his
sons. At the time of Noah, it is written that there was "chaos"
and "violence" all over the earth. The word in Hebrew for
violence is "hamas" which represents total destruction.
"G-d
saw that the earth was corrupt and full of "hamas" (lawlessness,
violence." Bereshit 6:11 Today we know of
a group who call themselves "Hamas" indicating that we
are in a similar situation to the times of Noah. Yeshua in Matthew
24:37-39 described the end times to be just as in the days of Noah.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah were also an indication of
what it would be like in these last days. The world was filled with
Law- (Torah)-lessness, destruction and violence was rampant on the
earth and self-love reigned. No one cared about G-d. Those days are
here. God was giving humanity a second chance through Noah. I have
read the translation that said that God repented for creating human
beings…as if he were sorry for something that He did. This is
a terrible translation into a language other than Hebrew. G-d was
capable of destroying humanity if He wanted but He already knew that
we would fail. He also knew that He was going to create a people,
a nation that would be set apart from the others to fulfill a specific
role on earth.
In chapter 9 we hear the prophetic aspect of Noah. He is speaking
about blessings and curses, the direction the world would take and
the destiny of Shem, Ham and Yaphet. Each one would play a special
role for the future. Shem the second born would be chosen instead
of the first born, Yaphet who would spread out and be successful
when he lived under the tents (ochel-covering) of Shem. Ham was cursed
through Canaan. Genesis 9:25-27. If we follow the descendants of
these brothers, we find that from Shem comes Israel, the Europeans
from Yaphet and from Ham come Africa and the rest of the world. God
is the God of Shem. Here we can see that there is a spiritual relationship
between Yaphet and Shem. The children of Ham would play the role
of subordination and rebellion toward the descendants of his two
brothers.
The world would be in turmoil over God's election or choosing of
a people. Among all the descendants of Shem again He chooses one
man, Abram the father of the Hebrews, semites. Every other nation
would develop a spiritual jealousy against Israel simply because
they were not chosen by God for that role.
Israel was chosen, elected to be the carrier, the conductor of God's
Light to the others. The Messiah has the same responsibility as Israel.
He would be the Light of the world. Our sages confuse the role of
Israel and the role of Messiah. For them Israel was the light of
the world, the go-between God and the nations. This is the reason
that Rashi insists that Isaiah 53's suffering servant was Israel.
He bases this theory on Isaiah 42 where Israel is called Gods servant.
There clearly exists the idea of interchangeability of roles. It
was Israel who failed in her role but Messiah fulfilled it to the
last letter.
Later we will examine how the countries develop from Chapter 10 and
where the descendants of the three brothers will settle. All were
rejected accept the Hebrews creating them to be the adversary, despised
and envied. This portion, Noach and the next, Lech Lecha bring many
prophetic passages about the acharit yamim, the last days. If we
carefully examine all the pictures painted here, we can read the
signs of the end times. These days are similar to the days of Noach.
We are close to the end and close to the return of Messiah. May we
be faithful to obey God without question, as Noach did, thus saving
humanity.
May
G-d add blessings to His Word!
Rabbi
Percy Johnson
Netanel
ben Yochanan
[nxy
[b lantn
©
2008 Use by Permission
Kehilat
She’ar Yashuv
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