What Does God Expect From Us? (lessons From Hebrew Scriptures)

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Noah is one of the most significant characters in the Bible; virtually everyone knows who he was. It’s interesting that Lamech, Noah’s father, recognized this son’s special calling and mission from the very beginning, and gave him a very significant name: And he named him Noah, saying, This one will provide us relief…[1]   Why did Lamech name his son Noah? What did he expect from him?

Noah’s name has a very prophetic meaning indeed. This root in Hebrew means ‘rest’,  and from Lamech’s prophetic words we understand that he saw in his son the one who would be the “rest-giver”— the one who would provide deliverance and comfort from the curse. When God cursed the land and banished Adam and Eve from the Garden, He also gave them the promise of a coming savior. Naming his son Noah, Lamech no doubt hoped that he would be this promised savior. Evidently, Lamech felt the burden of toil upon the earth that God had cursed, and he looked for “relief from our work and from the toil of our hands”[2] It is clear from Lamech’s words that even these first generations were extremely tired of this curse and waited for fulfillment of the promise. Lamech regarded his son as the one who should bring deliverance from the curse, as one who should provide comfort and rest to a sinful and miserable humanity.

THE SECRET OF FINDING GRACE

Indeed, when we enter Genesis 6, we are shocked by the description of the total evil and corruption of mankind. The earth is absolutely corrupt, but amid all this corruption, Noah clearly pleased God: Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Remarkably, we see here the first occurrence of the word “grace” in the Bible. What is the secret of finding grace in the eyes of the Lord?

The Hebrew phraseמָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יהוה  (matza chen be-eyney Adonai) literally means: “He found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”  This expression is still in use in Modern Hebrew today. We often use these biblical words—“Did he/she find grace in your eyes?”—when we ask a simple question: “Did you like him/her?” Let us ponder on this together: what does it take for us to like somebody? Maybe, this person did something that met our expectations.

Obviously, our ‘liking’ is a very poor shadow of “finding grace in God’s eyes”. Nevertheless, this phrase gives us insight into Noah’s character. “Found” is an active verb, not a passive one The Torah doesn’t say, “Noah was chosen by God” — the Hebrew wording makes it very clear that the first step was Noah’s. It seems that Noah found grace in God’s eyes because he “walked with God”, as Torah says, in meeting God’s expectations.

What can we learn from this story? I believe the lesson for us is this: God doesn’t want us to just hang around waiting for His intervention and the punishment of our sinful generation, even if we feel surrounded by sin and corruption. We find grace in the eyes of the Lord by the way we live. Noah “walked with God,” and by living so, he was meeting God’s expectations.

TO PITCH OR TO ATONE?

But what are God’s expectations? There is yet another amazing Hebrew insight in this story which really helps us to understand more about that. When God instructed Noah how to build the Ark, He commanded him to pitch it within and without with pitch.[3]  In translation, it sounds like a mere technical description. However, in Hebrew, a surprised reader would discover the rootכפר  (kafar: kaf-pei-reish) twice in this verse. You probably know that Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement, therefore you would know the meaning of this root, “to atone”. But why is it used here?

This is an exceptionally beautiful example of how deep and multifaceted the Hebrew language is—how profound His Word is. Biblical Hebrew is primarily a verbal language, and the verbs are derived from the roots. Roots are three-consonant groups that comprise the “essence” of a word’s meaning. Most of the verbs in Hebrew are formed from this three-consonant root by changing vowels and by adding different prefixes and suffixes, thus forming different stems. Depending on their stem (binyan), verbs from the same root can have very different meanings, as we see here in our text: The root “kaf-pei-reish”, depending on its stem, might mean either “to cover with pitch” (Qal), or “to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement for” (Piel).  Nevertheless, being derived from the very same root, they all have something in common—they all relate to the very same “essence”.

Thus, this simple practical command sounds almost like a theological statement in Hebrew. We know, of course, that the Flood and the Ark are great symbols of punishment of sinners and salvation of those who put their trust in God. However, without knowledge of Hebrew, we completely lose what is so obvious in the original text:  The story of Noah is the story of redemption and atonement, because the root of the word “to atone” is there from the very beginning of this story. Moreover, God is very clear that His pitch has to penetrate and to seal our lives from within and without.  These are His expectations, and this is the secret of “finding grace in God’s eyes”[4].

NOAH OR ABRAHAM?

And yet, having said all that, we can still wonder why Noah, who was saved through his faith and obedience, didn’t become the father of a chosen nation. It seems so logical, to start a new beginning from the only one who was saved. However, that doesn’t happen, and we have to wait for a few more chapters before God chooses Abraham. Why?

Jewish tradition is very clear about that: while Noah is indeed obedient and walks with God, he does not attempt to intervene or intercede for his contemporaries. He simply saves himself and his family from destruction, he is content to be safe and saved, without trying to save those around him. What a huge difference with Abraham in the famous scene in Genesis 18.  Abraham attempts to transform the situation and insists on involvement. He confronts God and challenges His decree. Even though he and his family are safe, he still chooses to argue with God and intercede for those who were about to be destroyed. According to Jewish tradition, this amazing quality of Abraham’s heart was one of the reasons that God chose him.

Why did I decide to write about this now? As my little country braces for an impending attack from Iran and Hezbollah and all the other Iranian proxies, I turn to you all, my dear readers: Remember Abraham and intercede for our nation! We are threatened to be attacked from five different directions.  No air defense can stand against this naturally, so please pray with us for His mercy, for His supernatural intervention and protection! Please also pray for the people: the stress and trauma of these horrible ten months are taking their toll, people are exhausted, hurting, very edgy, and very nervous. As for this current situation, when we all are expecting an attack from multiple sides, and not knowing what will come next – as you can imagine, it is even more challenging and tense. It’s like in a movie when “tense music plays” and one knows something is about to happen –so, please pray with us for Israel and her people!

[1] Gen. 5:29

[2] Gen. 5:29

[3] Gen. 6:14

[4] Excerpts from my books are included in this article  (and many other posts here), so if you like the  articles on this blog, you might enjoy also my books

As always,  I would be happy to provide more information (and also a teacher’s discount for new students) regarding our wonderful courses  (juliab@eteachergroup.com).