Weekly D'rash Noach

There are several themes that bind the Torah together like a thread through the text. Holiness and covenant relationship are two such themes. However, one theme that we do not always think about is the theme of blessing. From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, we read about the desire of God to bless His people. I like to define blessing as an “infusion of life” that can mean a variety of things in different situations.

This week’s portion begins with Noah and ends with the genealogy of Shem. It includes the stories of the Flood and the Tower of Babel. This does not sound like blessing! But, a closer look shows us that God continued to give humanity the opportunity for new life and wellbeing even in the midst of the disastrous effects of sin. The reaction of humanity is anything but blessing. But, we see that God continually looked for ways to bless humanity despite their rejection of His offer.

Toward the beginning of our portion for this week, we read that the earth was corrupt and filled with violence. God did not want to give up on humanity even though He had to judge the earth. He saves Noah and his family in order to preserve humanity. This is the story of the Ark and the Flood. Unfortunately, immediately after the Flood, sin enters once again as we see in the actions of Ham, one of the sons of Noah. This is a sign for us that the actions of sinful humanity continue to make it difficult to receive the blessing of God.

Following the story of Noah, we read the genealogies of all three of Noah’s sons. A careful reading of Genesis shows that the whole book is a long genealogy with important stories of covenant relationship interspersed. These genealogies are a further demonstration of the desire of God to bless humanity by continuing to fulfill His promise of making people fruitful. He, in fact, gives birth to new generations of people despite constant disobedience.

In the middle of the genealogy of Shem, we read about the next blatant disobedient act. The Tower of Babel is another example of humanity trying to be independent of God. The judgment is not death, but rather the scattering of people around the world which leads to the development of people groups, cultures, and languages. While we may call this a judgment, it was also a way that God gave an undeserved blessing to the world. Varieties of cultures, peoples and languages are an infusion of life that will remain forever!

The end of the portion is the genealogy that leads to Abraham! We will see in future Torah portions that God continually saves the day when His people continue to disobey. As we read in Psalm 37:23–26, “The steps of a person are established by the LORD, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread. All day long He is gracious and lends, and His descendants are a blessing.

Yeshua is the ultimate blessing to humanity. In the Messiah, we have an infusion of life that will last forever. The story of blessing that begins in Genesis continues all the way to the day when the curse over the earth is lifted and the blessing of God returns to this world as in the days of the Garden of Eden. Today whenever someone embraces Yeshua, they are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). We may not see all the physical manifestations of blessings in our world today, but we can experience the presence of God with a living hope for the future. As we read in Jude 1, we are beloved, called, and kept for Yeshua Messiah. May we be the channel of the blessing of God to the world around us!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Howard