Noach “Noah”- B'reisheet (Genesis) 6:9- 11:32 - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

Noach “Noah”- B'reisheet (Genesis) 6:9- 11:32
3 Cheshvan 5769 - November 1, 2008

Believers are not given knowledge that will allow us to predict the exact day of Yeshua's return. Therefore, individuals who prophesy that Yeshua will return on a specific day are giving false prophecies. In fact, Yeshua was not even empowered with the ability to predict the specific day of His return. Mathew 24:36 states “of that day and of that hour no man can know, no, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Believers do not know the exact day of Yeshua's return. Not knowing requires us to live each day as if Yeshua will return today. Not being prepared led to the destruction of society during the time of Noah. Mathew 24:37-39 states “as the days of Noah-so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man; for as they were, in the days before the flood, eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, till the day Noah entered into the ark, and they did not know till the flood came and took all away; so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man.” The people living around Noah continued to eat, drink, and live life as if nothing had changed. Despite society's desire to ignore the signs, HaShem was warning people of the impending destruction. In fact, the time required for Noah to build the ark was ample time for the world to repent. Unfortunately, only 8 people acknowledged and acted on the warnings they received. 1 Kefa 18:20 states “who sometime disbelieved, when once the long-suffering of God did wait, in days of Noah-an ark being prepared-in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water” In a similar way, HaShem will give warning signs to the generation that exists before the return of Yeshua. Some of the most obvious of the warning signs that occur before the return of Yeshua are false Messiahs, natural disasters, and wars. Mathew 24:5-7 states, “many shall come in my name, saying, I am Messiah; and shall deceive many. You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you are not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in far away different places.” Yeshua forewarns us about these signs so that we will be continuously prepared for his return. Unfortunately, the people living during the time of Noah did not heed the signs that HaShem gave them. As a result, the judgment Noah's generation experienced was total destruction. To prepare ourselves and avoid perishing with the unrighteous, we must fully understand Yeshua's comparison between Noah's generation and the generation of His return.

B'reisheet 6:11-13 states, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” In Noah's generation the earth was on a downward spiral of corruption. Before the return of Yeshua the world will also be in a downward spiral of corruption. Even the holy place of the Lord will not be free from the corruption that exists. Mathew 24:14-15 states “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end occur. When you shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (who ever reads, let him understand:)” The corruption that exists even infiltrates the temple and specifically the Holy place. This will grieve HaShem as He was grieved in the days of Noah. B'reisheet 6:6 from The Complete Jewish Bible, as translated by David Stern states “Adonai regretted that he had made humankind on the earth: it grieved his heart” HaShem may even regret the creation of humanity. The corruption leads to only one choice. HaShem needs to purify the earth as He did during the days of Noah. B'reisheet 6:7 states “the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air”. We can see this type of purification occur before the return of Yeshua. Mathew 24:21-22 states “for there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be. And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen, shall those days be shortened.” Purification of the earth is necessary. Purification in the days of Noah as well as during the return of Yeshua protects HaShem's people from being overcome by this wickedness.

HaShem's mercy and protection for the few righteous, individuals who are living requires Him to eliminate the wickedness in order to deliver the righteous. HaShem will intervene during human events. We can see this in Mathew 24:22, which states “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” HaShem shortens the days of the tribulation for the righteous. The shortening of the tribulation occurs simultaneously with the return of Yeshua. Mathew 24:29 states “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” The shortening of the tribulation is similar to HaShem's intervention when Noah's family entered the ark. B'reisheet 7:13-16 states “the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.” As the ark was in Noah's time, the return of Yeshua will occur so that the righteous individuals remaining on earth are protected and delivered from the corruption of the world.

HaShem has not granted His people the right to discern the exact day of Yeshua's return. Since we do not know the exact day of Yeshua's return it is our responsibility to stay constantly prepared. One way to prepare is to observe and be aware of the warning signs HaShem is giving to us. These warning signs are the only evidence we have that the return of Yeshua is getting closer. Yeshua even compares the warning signs that the tribulation generation receives, with the warning signs the generation of Noah received. By studying Yeshua's comparison of the tribulation and Noah's generation we can understand that wickedness will continue to increase, and there will be very few righteous individuals left. Hopefully, this generation will be wiser then Noah's generation. Noah's generation allowed wickedness to sway them away from being prepared. Noah's generation had time to prepare before the flood; we have time to prepare before the tribulation. Therefore, all HaShem's people should heed Yeshua's warning. After all, we do not know the hour or the day when destruction comes.

Rabbi Yaakov benYosef - ABOUT Tora

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