Genesis 7 – Obeying God
Our discussion begins by focusing on the importance of doing all that The Lord Commands. Noah’s family survived the flood because they were obedient. The inhabitants of the world died because they were disobedient and incredibly corrupt. They violated The Seven Laws given to Adam and Eve. Our Rabbis teach that stealing was the primary law that brought about the destruction of the world then. Kidnapping is stealing! The fallen angels and their descendent’s stole. They stole married women, mothers, daughters, grandmothers. It did not matter to them. They had their way with men, women, and animals. They practiced homosexuality, bestiality, and human trafficking. They were totally deprived of anything good. Rape and sodomy were standard practices. Our world became so full of evil. The Holy Scriptures Inform us that every thought of humankind was always filled with sin, as discussed in Genesis six.
Yet, there was one family that remained as pure as they could while living in a cesspool of sin. That family was Noah, his wife Naomi, their three sons and daughters-in-law. They tried to do all that The Lord Commanded. Yet, they were also contaminated by the filth of the world and its inhabitants. They were descendent’s of Seth, who was the reincarnation of Abel.
Methuselah lived 969 years. Genesis 5.27 informs us that he died seven days before the flood.
Genesis 7
‘And the Lord said to Noah, Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation… For in another seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.’
And it came to pass, ‘after seven days,’ that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. What was the nature of these seven days? — Rav said: These were the days of mourning for Methuselah, teaching that the lamenting for the righteous postpones retribution. Sanhedrin 108b
The name מְתוּשֶׁלַח Methuselah informs us of the coming destruction. Methuselah’s Name consists of two words. Jewish sages point to the first two Letters of מְתוּשֶׁלַח Methuselah. מת Mat or Met means death. The second word inמְתוּשֶׁלַח Methuselah’s name שלח Sheh Lah Ach, means to send, to launch destruction. The Words Met and Sheh Lah are connected with the letter ו Vav which means ‘and.’ Together Met – Voo – Sheh Lah Ach means ‘After this child dies, destruction will be launched.’
The inhabitants of the world back then were too willing to tolerate sinful behaviors. They drifted more and more away from The Seven Laws until the world as a whole became corrupt. Morality, ethics, and right living were cast aside. The new social norm then brought about an entire breakdown of society. Intervention by The Lord God was necessary. By the 480th year of Noah’s life, only Mesushelach remained of the old traditional generation. Sefer HaYashar (Hoboken, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1993) p16. Our world is incrediable corrupt. In America our election is tainted. we are seeing values of the previous generations diluted beyond recognition. Red flags are flying everywhere!!
Note the Word צוה ‘Commanded’ is written three times.
Genesis 7.5
And Noah did according to all that the Lord Commanded him.
Genesis 7.9
They went into the ark two by two, male and female, with Noah as God had Commanded Noah.
Genesis 7.16
And those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had Commanded him; and the Lord Closed him in.
‘The Lord himself spent these seven days morning…’ Rabbi Moshe Weissman, The Midrash Says (Brooklyn, New York: Benei Yakov Publications 1980), p. 91
As noted above, The Torah records that Noach, his wife, his sons, his son’s wives, the clean and unclean animals, the birds and creeping things all Obeyed the Command of The Lord God. Why is it necessary for Ha Torah to Inform us of the Word צוה ‘Commanded’ / Command three times?
When we repeat an action or word three times, it becomes a vow that must be nullified if we want to break it. Ha Torah is Informing us that God Vowed that those who have the breath of life that is not on the Tava are going to perish. Notice that ALL HOPE ends in verse 16 when The Torah Records God Commanded. It is then that The Lord shuts those chosen to survive into the Holy Tava. It is then that they are sealed inside the Holy Tava. Those outside the ark could not come in. It was over for them. They were going to die.
Those in the ark were going to live. They were committed to obeying what The Lord God Commanded. It was their choice to follow, prepare, enter, and separate from those outside the Holy Tava as noted in the three Commands.
Where in Ha Torah does it say that the Tava is Holy? The very action of the Tava is Holy. The Tava separated those inside from those outside. Those inside the Tava obey our Creator’s Commands. They obeyed ALL the Commands of HaShem God. Wow!
Their obedience saved them.
All the Commands of our Creator. May we be careful to guard Torah Observances. May we stand up for morality, ethics, lovingkindness, goodness, and righteousness living in our world.
Blessings and peace,
Dr. Akiva Gamliel
