Happy New Year ~ Tivet 5 ~ Genesis (B'reshiyth "Beginnings") Chapter 6

Tivet is the Biblical Month, B'reshiyth is Hebrew, or original, name for this book, or scroll.

BUT NOAH ...

So here we are in the Book of Beginnings on what we call the New Year's Day or in another word a new beginning. I know I for one like to take advantage of this time for new resolutions and new goals.

When however does God say the "New Year" is? That would be in the month of Nisan in the month of Passover. On our calendars that is in the spring in March or April, this year you can look for God's New Year to take place at sunset on March 25th, 1 Nisan 5769. But like I've said before, that "is for free" ... another great time of renewal is with the "New Moon" each month ... we just had a New Moon approximately 5 days ago and another should come in about 25 days ... predicted to be on January 26th. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and [for] years ... Genesis 1:14.

Today's lesson though is not on the New Year ... let's start in Genesis 6.

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart ... BUT NOACH ... But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD ... Genesis 6:6, 8.

I love when God puts "but" in a sentence and causes us to stop ... when God looked down and saw nothing good He stopped and looked and said, BUT NOAH ... how many times can we look back over our lives and see nothing good and then we can say, but God ... but God did this or that and now this ... I have a lot of "but God's" in my story so far ...

[But ... ] Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9

Man

- Grieving the LORD - atsab - to cause pain, it cut into Him, the one slain before the foundations of the earth (Rev 13:8)! To afflict, to be grieved ...

- Corrupt - shachath - decayed, spoiled, rotten, ruined, destroyed, acting wickedly ... in 6:13 & 17 God declares to shachath all flesh ... therefore the shachath were shachathed in a manner of speaking. Those causing destruction and ruin were in essence destroyed and ruined.

- Violent - chamac - injust (as opposed to Noach's justness), to do wrong, to treat with violence.

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Isaiah 53:4

The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. Psalms 11:5, 7

But Noah ...

Noach

- Grace to the LORD - chan - favor, acceptance

- Just - tsaddiyq - righteous, lawful (following God's law), walking the straight & narrow path.

- Perfect - tamiym - complete, whole, sound, healthful, wholesome, having integrity, without blemish as the sacrifices were to be and we are to be a living sacrifice, we are to be tamiym. I have heard lots of messages on Romans 12:1-2 about living sacrifices and crawling off the altar and things of that nature, but in this word tamiym I see a different picture ... the sacrifice was to be without blemish, we know of course there is Only One truly without blemish, our Lamb of God, but at the same time Noach was said to be tamiym, without blemish ... may we, by His Grace, be found tamiym!

For Noach there was an ark, a floating chest, a tebah, which is only used one other time in Scripture to refer to the tebah, ark (basket), that Moses was placed in as a baby and set on the waters to save his life.

How was it made? With pitch, kaphar, covering, atonement, reconcilliation ... if you are at all familiar with this word it is the word used in the Atonement Seat - the Mercy Seat ... it is what God does for our sins ... to cover over them, to atone for them ... It is only through His Atonement that we are saved, by grace (Noah was said to have found grace in His eye), through faith (what it took for Noah to build that ark) ...

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. Genesis 6:22

As we will look in the upcoming chapters, Noah built the ark and went in for 1 full year of his life (7:11, 8:13) ... perhaps we among this corrupt and violent people of 2009 can take refuge in our LORD during this upcoming year ... come under his covering and atonement for whatever this new year holds ... to rest in His Provision and to seek to follow His law and be found tamiym ...

Happy New Year!