Genesis 8
1 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 subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 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. 6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 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. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 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. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. 13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8, ESV Bible)
1 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 subsided. (Genesis 8:1, ESV Bible)
God Remembered Noah
The Torah says that God remembered Noah and the animals on the ark. That is not to say that God forgot Noah and the animals in the ark and later remembered them the way an absent-minded man might forget his briefcase in his car and remember it only later in the day. In the Torah the word "remember" can mean to act according to one's obligations. For example, the LORD instructed the children of Israel to remember the Sabbath day by hallowing it and resting on it. He instructed them to remember His commandments by doing them: "That you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God" (Numbers 15:40). Likewise, He promised Noah, "I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you" (Genesis 9:15).
Rashi explains that the Bible uses the statement "God remembered" to indicate when He answers the prayers of the righteous. For example, Abraham beseeched God to spare the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Torah says, "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow" (Genesis 19:29). God heard the prayers of the righteous Rachel: "God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb" (Genesis 30:22). He heard the prayers of the righteous Hannah: "The LORD remembered her ... she gave birth to a son, and she named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the LORD" (I Samuel 1:19-20). When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, "God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Exodus 2:24).
Noah prayed from within the ark. The LORD heard his prayer and "remembered" him and the animals. He caused a wind to pass over the earth. The Hebrew word for wind (ruach) also means "spirit." Wind does not cause waters to subside, nor does it cause the fountains of the deep to close, nor does it seal the windows of heaven or restrain the rains. Therefore, the word ruach in Genesis 8:1 must refer to a spirit dispatched by God to bring an end to the flood. Rashi says that God sent "a spirit of consolation and relief."
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:4, ESV Bible)
Ararat
Noah's ark rested somewhere on the mountains of Ararat in modern Turkey. This does not refer to any specific mountain or peak, but rather a mountain range within the region of the proto-Armenian kingdom of Ararat. Nonetheless, one particular tradition identifies the mountain as Mount Masis, the highest peak in the Armenian highland, which is therefore called Mount Ararat. In the days of the apostles, King Izates, the God-fearing Gentile (who may have also been a believer), briefly ruled over the area as the king of Carrae. Jews believed that the remains of Noah's ark could still be seen on the mountain by anyone who desired to see them.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
Noah’s Calendar
The Torah provides specific calendar information for the flood narrative in Genesis 7-8. It says that the rains began abruptly on the seventeenth day of the second month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, and a year and ten days after the flood began, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth had dried. Two possible numberings of the biblical months, however, create some ambiguity about the timing of the flood story.
On the biblical calendar we ordinarily reckon the springtime month of Nisan as the first month. It corresponds to March or April on our solar calendar. In Exodus 12, God commanded Moses and the children of Israel to reckon the month of the exodus from Egypt as their first month. He said, "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:2). Ever since then, we have counted the month of Nisan as the first month.
Originally Tishrei was the first month and the biblical year started in Tishrei, which corresponds to September/October. Subsequent to Exodus 12, the Jewish people reckoned Nisan as the first month and Tishrei as the seventh month. The following chart illustrates the two reckonings of the biblical year.
As the chart illustrates, the two reckonings of the calendar allow for two possible interpretations of the timing of events in Genesis 7-8. When the Torah speaks of the flood beginning on the seventeenth day of the second month, is it referring to the reckoning of the months according to the ancient Near Eastern calendar or according to the reckoning of the biblical calendar subsequent to Exodus 12? In other words, did the flood begin in May or in November?
The rabbis had differing opinions, but perhaps the climate of the land of Israel provides a clue. Along the eastern Mediterranean seaboard the rains come to an end in Nisan or Sivan and they ordinarily do not recommence until the month of Tishrei or Cheshvan. The flood narrative seems to follow this pattern by depicting forty days of rain beginning in Cheshvan, the second month according to older reckoning. The paraphrase in Targum Pseudo-Yonatan supports this chronology as well:
The waters of the flood poured down heatedly from the heavens to the earth. In the six-hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, which was the month of Cheshvan, for in those days, the months were numbered from Tishrei, which was the new year, the anniversary of the completion of the world. On the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken open. (Genesis 7:10-II, Targum Pseudo-Yonatan)
Based on the information from the Targum, we can correlate the dates from the story of Noah's flood with significant events on the Jewish calendar:
Genesis 8:4 states that the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month which, on Noah's calendar, corresponds to the seventeenth day of the month of Nisan, the Passover month. The seventeenth day of Nisan falls during the week of Passover-within a day of the anniversary of our Master's resurrection.
The mountain tops became visible on Tammuz 1. Noah sent out the raven on the tenth day of the month of Av- the day after the infamous fast of Av on which the First and Second Temples were destroyed. The tenth day Of Av is also a grievous occasion on the Jewish calendar because the First Temple was consumed in flames on that day. The waters receded and the surface of the earth was dry on the first day of the first month, which Corresponds to Tishrei 1, the Festival of Rosh HaShanah-the new year and the anniversary of the completion of creation. On that day, Noah removed the covering from the ark.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. (Genesis 8:6-7, ESV Bible)
The Raven and the Dove
The Bible sometimes uses unclean birds to represent unclean spirits. Regarding the unclean raven, the Torah says Noah "sent it out" of the ark. Regarding the dove, the Torah says literally that Noah "sent it forth from with him" (Genesis 8:8). The dove came from Noah's presence. The raven did not. The dove returned. The raven did not. The dove was a clean bird. The raven was not. The Talmud explains that Noah exiled the raven, calling it "Evil One." He sent it away for transgressions it had committed in the ark. He sent out the dove, on the other hand, on a reconnaissance mission.
Noah did not welcome the raven back into the ark. It continued to circle, flying here and there. One can imagine that the raven, a carrion bird, was in no hurry to return to the ark. He would have had has his fill on the corpses washed up by the flood. Like the raven, Satan roams the earth, going to and fro, circling and returning, seeking those whom he may devour.
When people asked Yeshua for a "sign" that He was the Messiah, He replied, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the Prophet Jonah" (Matthew 12:39). The name "Jonah" means "dove" (Yonah, יוֹנָה).
The dove, on the other hand, represents the Spirit of the LORD. It can be compared to the Spirit of Messiah which hovered over the primordial waters at the creation. When our Master immersed Himself in the Jordan River, the Spirit of God came upon Him like a dove. Noah released the dove three times. This corresponds to the three Temples. The first time Noah released the dove it returned to him because it could find no rest. This corresponds to the Shechinah returning to heaven from the destruction of the Temple in the days of the Babylonian exile: "As long as the Shechinah is in exile it may be said of her, 'The dove found no rest, because no righteous one was found who would give her rest." Shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Dwelling Presence of God departed from Jerusalem by way of the Mount of Olives on the east of the city, as it says, "The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city" (Ezekiel 11:23). The dove found no rest in exile: "She dwells among the nations, but she has found no rest" (Lamentations 1:3). "Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot" (Deuteronomy 28:65).
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 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. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. (Genesis 8:8-9, ESV Bible)
The Window, the Raven, and the Dove
Lodged up in the mountains, Noah has no way of knowing if the flood has receded or not. He opens a window in the ark and releases a raven and a dove. The raven does not return with any proof that the water has receded. Instead "it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth" (Genesis 8:7). When the raven fails to bring Noah the information he needs, he releases a dove. The dove returns because it could find no perch. Seven days later he sends out the dove again, and it returns with a fresh olive leaf, Noah takes this as a sign that the waters had receded, and he opens the ark.
Ravens are unclean (unfit) birds. Therefore, he only had one pair of them. His decision to send out a dove is justifiable. He had seven pairs of doves, If the dove failed to return, it would not be the end of the dove species. By sending out the raven, Noah risked the extinction of the species.
We don't know what might have motivated Noah to choose the raven. Perhaps he considered the nasty black birds expendable.
From God's perspective, however, nothing is superfluous. Everything in creation has its purpose. Much later in the Bible, the prophet Elijah is grateful for ravens. When the famous prophet was in the wilderness without food, "the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening" (I Kings 17:6).
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Unrolling the Scroll.
The Mystical Dove
In Christian iconography, the dove represents the Holy Spirit. When our Master immersed Himself in the Jordan River, the Spirit of God came upon Him like a dove.
To Christians who are familiar with the gospel stories, it may not seem like a great leap to compare the Holy Spirit with Noah's dove. Outside of the Gospels, however, Judaism has no obvious, symbolic link between the Spirit and a dove, much less Noah's dove. Nevertheless, one mystical source does make an explicit connection between Noah's dove and the Spirit of God resting upon the righteous. The Zohar Chadash compares Noah's dove to the Dwelling Presence of God (the Shechinah) in exile with Israel. Just as Noah's dove could find no place to rest her feet, the Shechinah can find no righteous person to rest upon:
As long as the Shechinah is in exile it may be said of her, "The dove found no rest," because no righteous one was found who would give her rest. (Zohar Chadash)
Yeshua of Nazareth is the righteous one on whom the dove found rest. The image of Noah's dove circling over a landless world of water reminds us of the opening words of Genesis: "And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters" (Genesis 1:2), which also reminds us that the Spirit of God upon the waters was the Spirit of Messiah. In our mind's eye we can imagine the stark and graceful image of Noah's dove circling over a world of water, hovering over the waters, circling and returning, not unlike the Spirit of God hovering over the primordial waters of creation. The waters of the flood seemed to return Noah's world to its default state.
In the days of the apostles, similar thoughts passed through Shimon Ben Zoma's bewildered mind as he sat brooding on the steps of the Temple Mount. Lost in his mystical vision, he did not even notice his teacher and colleague Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah approaching with his disciples.
Rabbi Yehoshua asked him, "Where is your head and what are you thinking about, Ben Zoma?"
He replied, "I was looking between the upper and lower waters of creation and there is only a bare three fingers-breadth between them, for it is said 'the spirit of God was hovering over the waters? The Spirit hovered like a dove which hovers over her young without touching them."
Rabbi Yehoshua turned to his disciples and said, "Ben Zoma is still outside [our world]."
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
11 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. (Genesis 8:11, ESV Bible)
The Olive Leaf
The second time Noah released the dove, it returned to him with a freshly torn olive leaf in its beak. This corresponds to the end of the Second Temple Era during the days of our Master and the beginning of this current exile. The torn olive leaf indicates that, during her second mission, the dove did find some place to rest her feet. In keeping with our allegorical interpretation, this means that the Shechinah must have found a righteous individual upon whom to rest.
Paul refers to the nation of Israel as an olive tree. The Dwelling Presence of God found a righteous individual among Israel on which He could rest: Yeshua of Nazareth. The Messiah is associated with an olive tree because He is anointed by olive oil: "What are these two olive branches? ... these are the two messiahs." The Hebrew of Genesis 8:11 indicates that the olive leaf was torn. This alludes to the Messiah who was wounded and torn from Israel. Furthermore, the sages note that the taste of an olive leaf is only bitter. This alludes to the Messiah who suffered in bitter anguish. The torn olive leaf with the bitter taste hints toward the sufferings of the Messiah son of Joseph:
What does the word "torn" mean [in Genesis 8:11]? It means nothing but "killed," as Jacob says (in Genesis 38:33], "Joseph has surely been torn to pieces." (Genesis Rabbah 33:6)
In addition to the suffering of Joseph, the rabbis connected the words, "Behold! In her beak was a torn olive leaf" with the words of Hosea: "For He has torn, but He will heal; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him" (Hosea 6:1-2).
Why does it compare Israel to an olive? Just as the olive releases its oil only through crushing, so too Israel produces its best only through crushing. In her beak was a torn olive leaf. The olive leaf symbolizes the punishments of Israel, for it was torn: "He has torn, but He will heal." This means that the affliction itself will bring the healing. By means of the affliction, He brings healing. The cure is in the coming of the Messiah. The torn olive leaf is Messiah son of David. (Beer Mosheh)
On the third day after His suffering, Yeshua rose from the dead, and on the fortieth day, He ascended like a dove from the Mount of Olives, forty years before the destruction of the Temple. Noah stretched forth his hand and received the dove back to himself, even as the heavens opened to receive the Messiah. Rav Abba declares, "Noah's dove brought the olive leaf from the young shoots of the Land of Israel." Rav Levi says, "She brought it from the Mount of Olives." The Targum says, "She took it from the Mount of the Messiah."
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. (Genesis 8:12, ESV Bible)
The Dove Does Not Return
A third time Noah sent forth the dove, and on the third occasion, she did not return. Why did the dove not return? The waters had completely abated, and the dove found sure footing on the earth. This alludes to the Third Temple and the Messianic Era when the Spirit of the LORD will be poured out on all flesh, and the Dwelling Presence will reside in Zion. Then there will be no more exile, and the presence of God need not withdraw from the earth again.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. (Genesis 8:13, ESV Bible)
Noah Saw a New World
On Rosh HaShanah, the anniversary of the completion of the creation of the world, Noah uncovered the ark and peered out across the world from his lofty perch on Mount Ararat. Rosh HaShanah is the festival on which we hear the shofar blown in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. At Rosh HaShanah, we listen for the trumpet of Messiah that will inaugurate the Messianic Era.
On that Rosh HaShanah, clear skies allowed Noah to see the surface of the ground far below, and he perceived that the waters had dried up from the earth: "Behold, the surface of the ground was dried." The Midrash Rabbah says, "Noah saw a new world. Chasidic teaching expands upon the statement:
Noah saw a new world-not only a new world in that the water of the flood had receded. He also saw the new heaven and the new earth. He saw that day of which it is written [in Isaiah 5I:4], "A Torah will go forth from me." (Sefer Sichos)
After the judgment has abated, and the trumpet of the Messiah sounds, Yeshua will usher in a new era and a new world. Then the Torah will go forth from Him as "a light of the peoples" (Isaiah 51:4). The Messiah will teach a new Torah because He will reveal the inner, hidden mysteries of the Torah.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20, ESV Bible)
Noah’s Altar
Noah and his family left the ark and stepped into the new era. He immediately built an altar to the LORD. This corresponds to the reestablishment of Zion and the construction of the Temple in the Messianic Era. After the days of judgment have passed, and after the LORD has given the land peace from their enemies all around, the Messiah will rebuild the Temple of the LORD and reinstitute the divine service. The prophets say that all nations will participate in the worship: "Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house Of prayer for all the peoples" (Isaiah 56.7). Likewise, Noah built an altar for all nations -he and his sons and they worshiped the LORD by offering burnt offerings from every type of ritually clean bird and animal.
How did Noah learn to sacrifice burnt offerings? He received the tradition of the sacrificial service from his forefathers, and they received the tradition from Adam. The LORD Himself taught Adam how to worship through the offering of sacrifices.
Every time a non-Jew offers a sacrifice in the Bible, he offers a burnt offering. One never sees a Gentile offering a sin offering or a peace offering.
The burnt offering is a unique type of sacrifice in which the fire on the altar completely consumes the entire sacrifice. In that sense, the burnt offering represents a total surrender of the sacrifice to God. The worshiper does not retain a share of the meat or profit from the sacrifice in any way.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21-22, ESV Bible)
The Soothing Aroma
The LORD smelled the "soothing aroma" of the sacrifice. Does God enjoy the smell of cooking meat like a human being might? Not literally. The Bible personifies God for the benefit of human readers who would otherwise be unable to conceptualize Him. A personification like this is an "anthropomorphism," a word that means to make something into a man. The Bible uses anthropomorphisms to speak about God as if He was a human being when it uses terms like "the arm of the LORD." God is Spirit. He has no physical form, but the Torah speaks in the language of men. The soothing aroma of the sacrifice is an anthropomorphic way of saying that God accepted the worship of Noah with pleasure.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
Waiting for Messiah
The LORD promised Noah that, henceforth, the agricultural seasons would not cease to revolve throughout the year, and the sun would not cease to rise and set each day. This promise alludes to the new covenant in which the LORD promises the Jewish people that, so long as day follows night and seasons continue to revolve, He will not reject the descendants of Jacob nor break His promises to David to set a ruler from his sons over the Jewish people:
If My covenant with day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them. (Jeremiah 33:25-26)
This important prophecy of the new covenant says that God will honor His covenant with the Jewish people and His covenant with the house of David so long as the earth remains, the seasons turn, and the sun continues to rise and set.
No one doubts that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, but the Chofetz Chaim asks, "How can we be so sure? Yes, the sun rose today and there was light, but why should that guarantee that the same thing will happen tomorrow?" He answers his own question by quoting Genesis 8:22 which says, "Day and night shall not cease." By the same token, he states that we should have just as much confidence in the coming of the Messiah because God explicitly states in the Torah, "As I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD" (Numbers 14:21). The day will come when God's glory will fill the world, and we must believe this promise with the same certainty that we have regarding the promise that the sun will rise tomorrow. The Chofetz Chaim says, "And we are obligated to wait for that day expectantly. This is the meaning of the statement 'You loved my Torah, but you did not eagerly wait for my kingdom.' The Chofetz Chaim offers a parable to explain the principle of waiting for Messiah:
Although the Messiah may tarry, I am still obligated to anticipate, wait, and seek every day that he will come, which is why we pray, "When will you rule in Zion?" This can be illustrated with a parable. An only son was sent away from the table of his parents for many years, and when the days of his exile were over, he let his parents know the date of his return and the train on which he would be arriving. Will his parents be able to sleep that night? Rather, they will rush to meet him. If it happened that he did not arrive on the first train, they will wait for the second one, and the third, and so forth. They will give no rest to their eyes until they see his face. (Chofetz Chaim)
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.
The Six Seasons
The LORD took an oath not to curse the ground or destroy all life again as a punishment for man's evil. He observed, "For the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth." He would need to flood and reflood the earth every few generations if He was to continue to bring punishment commensurate with the evil in the human heart.
He took an oath to continue the cycle of the seasons so long as the earth remains. The Torah lists six seasons: seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter. The six seasons correspond to seasonal changes in the land of Israel as described in the Talmud:
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.