Genesis 7
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in. 17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. (Genesis 7, ESV Bible)
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1, ESV Bible)
The Way of Escape
Rather than completely obliterate the world, God chose to fix it. The world was filled with sin and violence. If anything was to be preserved, God needed to find someone who did not merit destruction. He found Noah.
Justice demands that God punish sin and wickedness, but justice also demands that the innocent not be punished along with the wicked. Noah was innocent of the sins committed by his generation. Therefore, he did not deserve to be swept away in the flood with the rest of the generation.
The Torah does not say that Noah's family was also righteous and deserved to be saved. They were spared because of their association with the righteous Noah. This illustrates how salvation works. Yeshua of Nazareth, the Son of God, lived a life of perfect righteousness. He did not share in the sins of other human beings. He did not merit the punishment of other human beings. Therefore, God raised Him from the dead. Others can join Him. We simply need to repent and come to Him. Simply by virtue of being associated with Him and His righteousness, we are spared from the final judgment.
The Apostle Peter explains that Messiah "died for sins once for all.” The just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" (I Peter 3:18). Peter says that the story of Noah and his family illustrates how salvation through Messiah's resurrection works. God has chosen His Son, Yeshua, as the righteous man through whom He is fixing the world. We just need to get on board with Him.
Clement, the disciple of Peter, echoes these ideas when he says "Noah, being found faithful, preached regeneration to the world through his ministry; and the LORD saved by him the animals which, with one accord, entered into the ark" (I Clement 9:4).
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Unrolling the Scroll.
2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, (Genesis 7:2, ESV Bible)
Clean and Unclean Animals
The LORD told Noah to collect only one pair of each unclean animal and seven pairs of each clean animal. Apparently Noah knew the difference. This indicates that distinctions between ritually clean and ritually unclean animals existed before the giving of the Torah at Sinai and predated the Torah's Levitical purity codes.
Why was Noah told to gather seven pairs of the clean animals? Many readers assume that Noah and his family did not eat unclean animals. Therefore, they needed only one pair of unclean animals onboard the ark. Since Noah and his family did eat the permitted clean animals, they needed multiple pairs to avoid extinctions.
This explanation forgets that God did not introduce the Levitical prohibition on unclean meat until after the completion of the Tabernacle. Contrary to the theory that Noah and his sons ate only clean animals, the LORD explicitly instructed Noah, "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant" (Genesis 9:3). This means that God sanctioned the eating of unclean animals for Noah and his sons.
If dietary laws are not in view, why did Noah gather seven pairs of clean animals? Ceremonially clean animals are those animals that are appropriate for sacrifice. Ancient Near Eastern cultures had a concept of clean and unclean as it pertained to ritual states in sacrificial, temple contexts. Animals designated "clean" could be offered to the deity. Those designated "unclean" did not qualify for sacrifice. Noah needed multiple pairs of clean animals to enable him to offer sacrifice without obliterating a species:
Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, command Noah to save more clean animals than unclean? These clean animals were meant to be brought near for sacrifices. (Genesis Rabbah 34:9)
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” (Genesis 7:4, ESV Bible)
Death of Methuselah
The LORD gave Noah a seven-day warning prior to the beginning of the rains. Some say that the seven days correspond to the seven-day period of mourning following the death of Noah's grandfather Methuselah. " The oldest man in the world died in the same year that the flood began. Until then, the merit of godly Methuselah had kept the impending judgment at bay:
As long as Methuselah lived, the flood did not come upon the world [because of his merit]. When Methuselah died, the rain was withheld for seven days after his death. (Avot DeRabbi Natan 32:1)
The Targum says that the LORD gave humanity those seven days as a last chance to repent: "Behold, I give you the space of seven days; if they will repent, they will be forgiven, but if they will not repent, seven days from now, I will cause rain to come down upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. (Genesis 7:8, ESV Bible)
The Animals
Noah's mission was not just to save humanity. God also used Noah to save the animal kingdom. Godly people should be concerned with protecting endangered species of animals because God is concerned about preserving them. A true believer should be a defender of the environment and all creation. We are the custodians of God's creation.
How many of each kind of animal did Noah bring onto the ark? Two, right? A male and a female. Remember the children's artwork that clearly shows two lions, two zebras, two turtles and two of everything, fling onto the ark in a long line. Would you be surprised to learn that Noah actually brought seven pairs of each clean animal?
You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:2-3)
What makes an animal clean? What makes an animal unclean? The words
"clean" and "unclean" actually do not reflect anything about the tidiness or grooming of a particular animal. "Clean" and "unclean" are ritual terms that describe which animals are fit for sacrifice and/or eating. The word "clean" (tahor, טָהוֹר) would better be translated as "ritually fit." The word "unclean" (tamei, טָמֵא) would better be translated as "ritually unfit." God regards certain animals as fit for sacrifice and food, whereas other animals are not fit for sacrifice and eating. Leviticus 11 describes the characteristics by which animals can be categorized as "fit" or "unfit." In a nutshell, the Bible says that land animals that do not both ruminate (chew their cud) and have a split hoof are not fit. Fish and sea creatures without both fins and scales are not fit. Birds of prey are not fit. Except for certain grasshoppers, bugs are not fit.
Why did Noah need to bring seven pairs of the fit animals but only one pair of the unfit animals? Since the fit animals were used for both food and sacrifice, more than a single pair was needed to ensure their survival. Had Noah only brought two sheep and then, after the flood, sacrificed one of them or decided to serve lamb chops, he would have caused the extinction of the whole species of sheep.
The concept of clean and unclean (fit and unfit) will become more important later in the Torah.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Unrolling the Scroll.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. (Genesis 7:11, ESV Bible)
The End Will Come Like a Flood
According to apostolic interpretations, the LORD allotted six thousand years of redemptive history corresponding to the six days of creation. The thousand-year Messianic Era corresponds to the seventh day—the day of Sabbath rest. The kingdom will be a universal era of peace. Before the earth gives birth to that era of peace, however, it must pass through a period of apocalyptic judgments, cataclysms, and disasters called the birth pains of Messiah. The rabbis refer to the troubled times preceding the advent of the Messiah as "the birth pains of Messiah" (chevlei mashiach, חֶבְלֵי מָשִׁיחַ). The prophets employed birthing imagery, often comparing times of distress and the trials of the day of the LORD to the travails suffered by a woman in labor. The Talmud contains several passages warning about the time of suffering that will mark Messiah's coming. Rabbinic legend predicts seven years of tribulation before the coming of the Messiah amidst signs from heaven.
In the year in which King Messiah will be revealed, all the kings of the nations of the world will provoke each other ... and pangs will take hold of them like unto the pangs of a woman in childbirth. And Israel will tremble and fear, and they will say: "Where shall we come and go, where shall we come and go?" (Pesikta Rabbati 35)
The kingdom and the seventh millennium will begin with wars, rumors of war, and natural disasters. Yeshua warned His disciples that before He could bring peace, He must bring a sword.
The story of Noah alludes to the short period of birth pains that preface the Messianic Era. In the year that Noah entered into his seventh century of life, the floodgates of heaven opened and the day of judgment began. Likewise, the book of Daniel predicts a time of war and distress that comes like a flood prior to the Messianic Era: "And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26).
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:16, ESV Bible)
As in the Days of Noah
In the days of Noah, God judged the world with a great flood. The gospel teaches that one day in the future, God will again bring judgment on all of humanity. He will send His divine Agent, Yeshua of Nazareth, to judge the earth.
Nowadays, people tend to laugh off end-times scenarios like the ones described by the Bible. Many Christians no longer believe in a real, literal second coming of Jesus. After all these centuries, the second coming seems unfathomable.
The situation was similar in Noah's time. Life had been going on for thousands of years. No one really believed in God anymore. Then, one day, it was too late. Yeshua predicted that, in the days before His coming, life will be going on as normal. No one will be expecting the coming judgment:
For the coming of the Son of Man [i.e., Yeshua] will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:37-39)
The Apostle Peter predicted that in the last days before Yeshua's second coming, mockers would say, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:4). Peter answers by reminding his readers of the flood. The mocker forgets that the world was once destroyed by water. It may take centuries and millennia, but there is an end to God's patience. In the comments above, we learned that God demonstrated His patience with mankind by suspending judgment for 120 years while Noah built the ark, thereby giving men time to repent. Peter also explains the current long delay in terms of God's patience. He says, "The LORD is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
When the rains began, God closed Noah and his family inside the ark. The people outside no longer had the opportunity to repent. Judgment had begun. It was too late.
We always mean to change and become better people, but we put it off. Repenting is hard. It's easy to say, 'I'lI repent later." The problem is that a person never knows when it will be too late. We will probably not die in a sudden flood or cataclysm, but we will certainly die, and no one knows the day of his death.
A rabbi said to his disciples, "Repent one day before you die." His disciples asked, "How does a person know what day he will die on?" The rabbi replied, "That's why you have to repent every day, just in case you die tomorrow. That way, a person spends his whole life repenting."
Someday it will be too late. One day, the door of the ark will close.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Unrolling the Scroll.
The Closed Door
God commanded Noah to place a door on the side of the ark. In Chasidic teaching, the door in the ark symbolizes repentance. Along the same lines, Our Master compared repentance to a door. He taught His disciples to escape the coming judgment by repenting and passing through the narrow door to enter God's salvation.
During the decades that Noah built the ark and preached repentance, anyone could have entered the ark. Even after the rains first began to fall. The people still had time to enter through the door and find salvation in the ark. They did not heed Noah's warnings. They did not seek first to enter the ark because they were busy with the concerns of life, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear for clothing?" (Matthew 6:31). They were busy "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark" (Matthew 24:38-39).
God closed the door of the ark behind Noah and his family. This teaches that God appoints a deadline for repentance. He does not leave the door of repentance open indefinitely. A day comes when the time for repentance expires and it will no longer be possible to find entrance into the kingdom. Then the judgment begins.
Our Master also warned us that the door of repentance will close:
Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, "Lord, open up to us!" then He will answer and say to you, "I do not know where you are from." (Luke 13:24-25)
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. (Genesis 7:17, ESV Bible)
Poetry of the Flood
Hebrew poetry saturates the flood narrative. A series of artful repetitions interweave to create a solemn, sing-song telling of the story that has more similarities to poetry than to prose. Elaborate chiastic patterns span the narrative. Genesis 7:6-16 staggers the account of Noah entering the ark with the onset of the flood, switching back and forth to create a dramatic montage of scenes. The reader sees the amazing spectacle of a seemingly endless procession of creatures. The rains begin to fall. Noah and his family enter. The animals enter. As the flood begins, the Hebrew parallelism makes the passage sound like an epic poem comparable to the Epic of Gilgamesh. For example, consider the following short passages for their poetic merit.
THE WATERS PREVAILED
The water increased and lifted up the ark,
So that it rose above the earth.
The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth,
And the ark floated on the surface of the water.
The water prevailed more and more upon the earth,
So that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher,
And the mountains were covered. (Genesis 7:17-20)
ALL FLESH PERISHED
All flesh that moved on the earth perished,
Birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth,
And all mankind; of all that was on the dry land,
All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land,
From man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky,
And they were blotted out from the earth. (Genesis 7:21-23)
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. (Genesis 7:23-24, ESV Bible)
Portent of the Kingdom
On board the ark, Noah had lions, tigers, bears, and other ferocious predators, yet they came to him and conducted themselves under his care as if they were tame, domesticated animals. Noah also had seven of every kind of clean animal, which are the natural prey for predators, yet the predators did not attack the clean animals. The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that the situation on the ark anticipates the fulfillment of kingdom prophecies:
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. (Isaiah 11:6-7)
The LORD miraculously sustained Noah and the animals on the ark with sufficient food and drink, a portent of the miraculous provision that will characterize the Messianic Era. Therefore the Torah portion foreshadows the coming kingdom of heaven on earth. In the Messianic Era, humanity will rest in satisfaction. "There will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor competition, for good things will flow in abundance. "
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.