THE TORAH IS OUR ARK

“There is a time when HaShem will act, they voided Your Torah.” Psalms 119:126

As I put this Op together it is 8 October 2021, the eve of Shabbat, Baruch HaShem! The level of insanity we are witnessing consume our world, country and society as of late is truly astounding and disturbing! Despotic tyrants solidifying their power without so much as a whisper of resistance from the people. The embracing of truly abominable behavior and unspoken debaucheries is mind boggling! We have witnessed more and more acts of violence and tyranny, while truth is suppressed and the utterly wicked with their lies and deceptions are elevated as truth. It is truly the ‘Emperors new clothes’ scenario which is rapidly ascending as the new norm in society! How many times this week have I heard people from all over the country cry out to HaShem that can it now be time for Him to act?

Is it just a coincidence then that this weeks Torah portion is ‘Noach’ which is found in Genesis 6:9-11:32? Nothing is a coincidence with HaShem! This vitally important portion discusses Noach and his family but also discusses the state of the earth as well as the state of humanity and their wild, unrestrained embracing of sin and every abomination mankind can imagine. Further, it discusses the complete disregard by humanity for HaShem and His Ways and their living of their lives without any concern for HaShem. Why is this important for us to know today? Because Yeshua Himself warned in Matthew 24:37 “And as the days of Noah, so also shall the coming of the Son of Adam be.” Very interesting! So, if we want to know when we are approaching the Day of HaShem, He gave us a sign i.e. the Days of Noah. In other words, if we want to know when we are getting close, we better delve into the beginning of His Word and deeply study what His Word says about the generation of Noah and what was happening then because He reveals the end from the beginning (Is 46:10)!

Before we pour ourselves into this study, always remember the following eternal characteristics of HaShem because now more than ever they are vital and relevant to know in order to suppress and counter all the lies, deception and wicked attempts to silence HaShem and His Torah. The utter rage and hatred of HaShem and His Torah by the wicked as of late is truly astounding and just as fierce as it was against Noah and his family, nothing new under the sun:

• HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
• His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
• He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
• He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
• He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
• He says His Torah is the ONLY truth there is per Psalms 119:142
• He says His Torah is a tree of life and eternal per Proverbs 3:18-19 and Psalm 119:160
• He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm 119:45 and James 1:25
• He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
• He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
• He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
• He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
• He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
• He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
• He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
• He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
• He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
• He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
• He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
• He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
• He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
• He says His Torah is the way of faith per Psalms 119:29-30
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His Torah is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path per Psalms 119:105
• He says one who finds His Torah has found life per Proverbs 8:35
• He says one who finds His Torah has found favor from HaShem per Proverbs 8:35
• He says Messiah Yeshua is the GOAL of His Torah, meaning without His Torah, Messiah cannot be known per Romans 10:4
• He says if we had believed Moshe/Torah, we would have believed Messiah per John 5:46
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His salvation is far from the wicked for they sought not His Torah per Psalms 119:155
• He says to hold fast to and guard His Torah, for it is our life per Proverbs 4:13

No doubt our world today is technologically savvy and to generations past those people would say we are akin to the Jetsons! The more technologically capable we become, the more those in power seek to unify the globe but in reality the more they seek to unify, the more divided we become and more wars and conflicts erupt. In other words, its nothing new! Man has attempted to unify the world under his rule since the Tower of Babel and in every attempt HaShem has thwarted those plans! Now it is true per the Word of HaShem, during the seven year Birth Pains, the False Messiah will unify Europe under his rule i.e. the Roman Empire reborn, but he will by no means unify the entire world as he will be fighting other powers during his entire reign until Messiah Yeshua finally defeats him once and for all. Point is, there is only one way this world will ever be truly unified and that is after the Birth Pains and Messiah Yeshua is ruling from Jerusalem and HaShem’s Torah will be going out from Jerusalem to the entire world, Baruch HaShem! May it be so very soon in our days!

So, with this said thus far, what was the state of the world in the time of Noah? Genesis 6:11 tells us. It says “Now the earth had become corrupt before Elohim; and the earth had become filled with robbery.” This word ‘Robbery’ in Hebrew is ‘Chamas’ (pronounced Hamas) and it implies ‘devious robbery’. The example used here in Tractate Bava Metzia 4:2 from the Yerushalmi Talmud says “When someone would come to the market with a container full of beans to sell, people would steal them from him, but in a cunning way; each person would steal only one bean, the value of which was too small for the person to be taken to court. Not only did they steal, they did so in a way that protected them from being held responsible.” Gee, does this not sound like our society today and especially those in government power?

Insights from the Midrash Rabbah Noach is very, very enlightening. It says “Robbery, says our Midrash, acts as rod against the wicked. How does this occur? First, the term ‘Chamas’ is translated here as ‘robbery’. The truth is that chamas is not just any robbery; as the Midrash states below, chamas refers specifically to robbery or other wrong doings that are too petty to be remedied through legal proceedings, but if committed repeatedly can gradually bring the victim to ruin. In a linguistic and conceptual sense, chamas is related to ‘chometz’ i.e. vinegar. Like chamas, the fermentation process does not cause wine to sour all at once, but slowly, gradually, turns it into vinegar.” So, we see this process of corruption is a slow process, something that grows and intensifies over time. Keep this in mind!

The Midrash goes on: “Where did all the chamas come from? How did this insidious practice develop and spread? The Torah itself describes the process. Now the earth became corrupt before HaShem, and the earth became filled with chamas. To begin with, there was a corruption of morals, a proliferation of sins that no one imagined would have any effect on civil society. People thought that even if the young are dissolute and marriage has lost its sanctity, trade and commerce can still flourish and business relationships can proceed honestly.” Can you see American society in this description thus far?

“But they were wrong. Once the world is corrupt before HaShem, manmade laws and institutions will be to no avail; all aspects of society will break down and go to ruin. Not through out right robbery, which society can fend off through penal codes and prison terms, but through chamas, evil done with devious cunning. Against such evil there can be no protection unless people develop a conscience that will hold them accountable to HaShem for their actions. This conscience is the inner core of humanity, and it is fatally undermined by immorality.”

“We have before us, then, the progression of evil. It begins with immorality, what the above verse terms corruption. Immoral behavior impairs man’s conscience; the lack of conscience promotes chamas; the uncontrolled chamas tears apart the social fabric; and a society is ruined. So inexorable is the process that HaShem declared before the Flood, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with chamas.’ In effect, HaShem was saying, ‘The world’s end is already before Me; if I do not intervene, it will all go completely to ruin by itself.”

“Thus, when Ezekiel said that chamas acts as a rod against the wicked (Ezekiel 7:11), he meant that the conscience free practice of chamas destroys the perpetrators own society and brings them down as well. The inevitable calamity does not come from the natural state of men; not from their multitudes, it does not come from over crowding; and not from social relationships. Neither does the misery lie in them, i.e. in men as such. Rather, the calamity springs from chamas. Because of chamas, human society becomes chometz, it turns sour and decays.”

Now, isn’t all this from the Midrash, a very accurate description of American society today? How far we have fallen and how much debauchery, wickedness and immorality have we as a society willingly embraced, a little bit at a time? How we have embraced the chamas and as a result it is destroying our country a little more each day! Keep all this in mind!

HaShem goes on in verse 12 and says “And Elohim saw the earth and behold it was corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.” This word ‘Corrupted’ in Hebrew is ‘Hash’chasah’ which is referring to sins involving prohibited relationships or idol worship. Yikes…..prohibited relationships is now the new normal in our society! Everything from homosexuality, homosexual marriage to pedophilia are now being encouraged as being ‘normal’ and those who resist and reject such relationships are labeled as being tyrannical bigots who should be excommunicated from society.

So, HaShem equates prohibited relationships to idolatry. But idolatry isn’t just defined as perverted prohibited relationships, it is also defined as worshiping forbidden images and doctrines! Tractate Sanhedrin 57a from the Talmud Bavli says the following: “Anywhere that the term corruption is
stated, it is referring to nothing other than a matter of licentiousness and idol worship. The Gemara cites proofs for this claim: Corruption refers to a matter of licentiousness, as it is stated: “For all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth” (Genesis 6:12); the word “way” alludes to sexual intercourse. And corruption also refers to idol worship, as it is written: “Lest you deal corruptly, and make you a graven image” (Deuteronomy 4:16).”

It wasn’t just humans who had corrupted themselves, but that corruption extended to every other parts of Creation to include the animals! Tractate Sanhedrin 108a from the Talmud Bavli says “For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth” (Genesis 6:12), Rabbi Yoĥanan says: This teaches that the people of the generation of the flood mated male domesticated animals with female undomesticated animals, and male undomesticated animals with female domesticated animals, and all male animals with human females, and human males with all female animals.” Good grief, how many articles have been published recently about how scientists are working hard to splice human DNA with those of pigs, cows, monkeys, etc? Again, this is nothing new!

Ultimately it was the robbery which sealed the fate of humanity but it was for the rampant promiscuity which warranted their obliteration by the Hand of HaShem! HaShem tells Noah in verse 13 “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them; and behold, I am about to destroy them from the earth.” The commentary of verse 13 is very interesting and says “The Decree concerning man’s impending doom has reached this world from before Me in the uppermost heavens. Humanity has descended to such a state that I must bring it to an end. Unless I intervene, humanity will continue on a course that will inevitably result in its own ruination. The end was implicit in man’s behavior; had HaShem not intervened, even the spark of purity still alive in Noah would eventually have been extinguished.” So, we see HaShem acted yes out of judgment, but also out of mercy since He desired to preserve humanity!

How does HaShem preserve humanity? He instructs Noah in verse 14 to “Make for yourself an Ark of gopher wood; make the Ark with compartments and cover it inside and out with pitch.” The commentary on this verse says “There are numerous ways HaShem could have saved Noah. Why then did He burden him with the task of constructing an ark? So that when the curious would see him cutting down lumber and involved in building the ark for 120 years they would ask him why it was being made. He would answer, ‘Elohim is about to bring a flood on the world because of your sins, and they will be given an opportunity to repent. But Noah’s contemporaries paid no attention to him.” Even here HaShem is showing great mercy and compassion as He is giving humanity 120 more years to repent with a constant reminder of His impending judgment in front of them, and yet they do not take advantage of the opportunity! This is a very good reminder to all of us that HaShem is good, kind, merciful and compassionate, but He does have limits and red lines which are not to be crossed!

What is interesting about the ark HaShem commands Noah to build is this giant structure was not designed to glide through the waters, but to float on them. “This accentuates the fact that Noah’s deliverance was NOT dependent on navigating skills. The ark was a free floating vessel and as such HE WAS SAVED ENTIRELY BY HASHEM’S WILL!” Noah was completely incapable of steering the ark on the waters! Once more we see man is completely incapable of saving himself! He can only be saved by the will and desire of HaShem and HaShem alone! Point is, striving to walk in the Torah of HaShem does NOT save anyone. First we believe i.e. faith THEN we put that faith into action and learn and apply His Torah to our lives BECAUSE we are saved as His people!

What we see here is the ark which HaShem directs Noah to build in the midst of a brutally wicked and corrupt world, is a picture we can learn and apply to our lives in the brutally wicked and corrupt we live in today! The ark is a picture of the Torah of HaShem! Notice Noah didn’t build it all in one day but it took 120 years i.e. a lifetime to do so! So too is our Torah study where we learn, apply His Torah to our lives and then we fall followed by HaShem picking us up, dusting off the dirt and He sets us on the path to keep going. Remember, Torah isn’t for obtaining salvation, Torah is BECAUSE we are saved and we desire to learn how to live as His people in this world!

The ark is the same concept as the structures Israel stayed in on the night of the Exodus from Egypt. Noah remained in the ark as HaShem’s judgment fell and he and his family were protected. The same is true for those who remained in their structures with the blood of the lamb applied to their door lintels while outside HaShem’s judgment was falling and destroying Egypt! The same can be said of His Torah today! Remember He says we are to hold fast and guard His Torah for it is our life in Proverbs 4:13! Torah is our ark! Therefore, it is no wonder those who hate HaShem and His Torah are enraged in fury against Him and His people more so than I have witnessed as of late! He warns us in the end those who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep His Torah are the ones the adversary is specifically enraged with and targets for destruction via Revelation 12:17!

With all this said thus far, consider what Yeshua says when He continues in His description of the end in Matthew 24:38-39: “For as they (The generation of the flood) were in the days before the Flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, UNTIL THE DAY THAT NOAH ENTERED THE ARK, and they did not know until the Flood came and took them away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Adam be.”

We see, this generation was living life as normal, celebrating, engaging in every form of wickedness and abominations they could conceive of to include homosexuality and homosexual marriage, thinking they were getting away with it, not realizing the impending judgment which was about to fall on them by the Hand of HaShem! Further, remember HaShem gave them 120 years and Noah building the ark as a constant reminder and as a tool to hopefully spur them to repent, but their practice of chamas was so pervasive and so destructive, none of them repented and they all were destroyed!

Additionally, we see the example Yeshua is giving in that when HaShem commanded Noah to enter the ark, it was then the judgment began to fall and the people of that generation suddenly realized the warnings of impending judgment were all true and now it was too late to repent. No matter how hard they pounded or how loudly they screamed to be let into the ark, HaShem did not hear their cries and they were obliterated forever.

Are we today fast approaching the point of no return? I am not an authority on the subject but from the indicators I see around me in society and how people are reacting to HaShem and His Torah, I would surmise that yes, we are very, very near to the point of no return. Its time we all get very serious and strive to build our ark i.e. learn and walk in His Torah BECAUSE we are saved and in the covenant! Its a lifelong effort and no one does it perfectly! May He act so very, very soon and may His Great Name be honored and esteemed!

Shabbat Shalom!

SOURCE MATERIALS

• The Scriptures by the Institute for Scripture Research
• The Milstein Edition Chumash by Artscroll
• Tehillim (Psalms) by Artscroll
• Bereshis (Genesis) Artscroll Tanach Series
• Midrash Rabbah Noach Kleinman Edition
• Tractate Bava Metzia Yerushalmi Talmud
• Tractate Sanhedrin Talmud Bavli