Hebrew Word Study – Ark – Tevah תבה Taw Beth Hei
Genesis 6:14: “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”
Isaiah 54:9: “For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.”
It is curious that Isaiah refers to the flood as the waters of Noah. Why was it not called the waters of God’s judgment? Why did God instruct Noah to build an ark, there could have been any number of ways to escape the flood. God could have carried Noah away to a high mountain or created a special uninhabited place on earth that the flood would not touch and carry him and his family there. Why make him spend 120 years building an ark in front of all the people. Surely a 120-year-old conspiracy theory that the world was going to be destroyed by a flood sent from God would surely take some traction after that length of time. I mean we even have people who still believe the earth is flat.
It is fairly obvious that God wanted to give ample warning of a flood, Noah was called to be an evangelist who ended up with not even one convert after 120 years of preaching. I mean, among the population there had to be someone, even the crackiest of crackpots that would have taken his message seriously. But Noah had no converts.
If there was a revival if people did cry out to God in repentance would God have repealed his decree of destruction? God decreed that Israel would be destroyed after worshipping the golden calf. But God repealed that decree. Destruction was decreed upon Nineveh but God repealed that decree as well.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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The Midrash is pretty harsh on Noah. For the obviously did a poor job of evangelism. People would approach him and as; “Why are you doing this?” Noah would answer that God was bringing a flood. Yet, when the flood came there was not one single baal tehsuvah – repentant. How do you account for that? I mean what was to stop someone from grabbing a hammer and saw and building their own ark? There is no record that anyone did.
The Midrash points out that Abraham pleads with God for mercy over the coming destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses cried out to God to spare the nation of Israel after the golden calf incident. There is no indication that Noah prayed for the people. Jewish commentators go so far as to say that Noah really had little compassion for the people around him. Ok, maybe the old boy was truly lacking in public relations but how can you account for the fact that in all that time he failed to win over one person. The sages teach that this is why Isaiah called it Noah’s flood. Noah could have prevented this destruction had he been willing to stand in the gap for his people like Moses. One man saved a whole nation. One man could have saved the world, but Noah failed in his mission to win people back to God, to provide an opening for the Spirit of God to soften the hearts of the people.
In order to win over the people, one’s motives must be pure. Look at the word for ark, it is teivah which means a chest, coffin, or a basket. It is a loan word from Middle Egyptian which represented a box that had words written on it. Jewish teachers explain that another definition of the word teivah is words. The ark represented the Word of God. It was a picture of God’s Words, Words from His heart about coming destruction if people do not repent.
Noah’s involvement was limited to his sense of what he ought to do for the people, as opposed to a true concern for their well-being. He understood the necessity to act for the sake of another, this is what made him a righteous man. But he failed to evangelize from his heart. There is an old Jewish saying: “Words that come from the heart, enter the heart.” Noah’s evangelism came from a sense of duty and obligation. He won no one to God. Deep down a person will always sense whether you truly have his interest at heart or you’re filling a need of your own by seeking to convert them. If you share the Gospel from just a desire to do the right thing but without really caring about that person, your efforts will have a scant response.
I grew up in the Baptist church where I was encouraged to evangelize, witness, and be a soul winner. I had little to no results. I only did this evangelism stuff so I could impress others in my little Christian community with my zeal. I did it to fulfill an obligation to God and to maybe make my reservations in heaven a little more secure. I mean I knew salvation was not by works, I was taught that really well by the preachers, but I had this idea that the preachers could be wrong about this faith only thing in getting to heaven, so just to be on the safe side, I backed it up with a lot of good works, just in case. But I never succeeded in winning any souls. I was like old Noah, I was fulfilling my duty, and if the raptured occurred I would be going up alone with no one going up by my side that I led to the Lord.
We learn two things about evangelism from this story about Noah. One is that you must have true love and compassion for the people you are trying to win to the Lord. The second is that if you do not have that compassion, then stop trying to evangel and start spending that time in prayer. Prayer is what will attach your heart and soul to God and when your heart and soul are attached to God, God’s heart will attach to yours, you will feel God’s compassion and desire for the lost. When someone knows that you truly care about them and not getting another notch on your Scofield Bible, they will start to tune into the Spirit of God within you.
It all starts with more than just living righteously, it also involves living prayerfully.
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Chaim, I always enjoy your lessons. They always challenge me to think and reconsider. I do agree there are those whose heart is not in sharing His word. But I don’t necessarily think no converts always means a lack of heart for it. Jeremiah, who shed tears over the people, he too preached for decades, but won no converts. The problem wasn’t that Jeremiah’s heart wasn’t in it, but rather the evil obstinance of the people, they refused God’s word. When I think of Noah, I think it was the same and I marvel at how gracious God was to care to save a remnant, just like He later did at Sodom. Maybe the “flood waters of Noah” are more about underscoring God’s election of showing His Grace to a most undeserving world. The Ark was big, Jesus is bigger, but for all the preaching of thousands of years of preachers, there are people still refuse Him. Thank you again for your lessons!
Interesting comments. May I suggest that the flood (death by drowning) was a demonstration of God’s mercy? Drowning by nature is a slow death, and many of the inhabitants of the earth who did not heed Noah’s warnings while building the ark would have the opportunity to repent as the flood waters surrounded them. Like the thief on the cross, could many have seen their error, repented, and be saved in the process of their physical death? (Read 1 Pet 3: 18-20 in the Peshitta/Aramaic translated by George Lamsa). I submit this for your consideration. Blessings.
I’m simply in awe of the compassionate way that God teaches us through the stories in the Bible. You dig deep for this treasure and find it every time. Your gift is giving it to us in love, joyful humor, self-introspection which results in conviction.
I have never heard this type of criticism about Noah before, and can’t see anything in the text of Genesis that supports it. Genesis 6:5 says of the men of the earth “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. In Genesis 6:12 “all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth Genesis”. Of Noah God said “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9, as recorded by Moses under inspiration of God). In reality, Scripture is silent about Noah’s evangelism. We can assume that he tried his very best and ran into nothing but skepticism and evil thoughts. We can assume he didn’t care about his fellow men and just did the job assigned by God. Either way, these are only assumptions and the thoughts of Sunday Schools. But if my neighbor started building a wood box of the size written in Genesis and told me to “repent, for the end is near”, I’m pretty sure I’d just blow him off. Jesus mentioned Noah in Matthew 24:38-39 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; ” I take from this that in spite of whatever Noah said or didn’t say the people who died didn’t understand and didn’t respond. No blame is put on Noah for his lack of trying or caring. In Hebrews 11:7 we read “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” And finally in 2 Peter 2:5 God “did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;” Three times in the above passages Noah is referred to as “righteous”. At no time is there any mention of his failure as an evangelist.
You assume that at least SOME people would have repented if Noah had put some feeling into his preaching. From a human standpoint that sounds like a reasonable assumption. But then how do we account for ALL of the Ninevites, even the king, repenting after what I think we can reasonably safely assume was a pretty heartless job of preaching by Jonah. Jonah 4:1-3 “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”
I generally very much enjoy your lessons. And although I disagree heartily with your analysis of Noah’s evangelistic endeavors I have to admit that your knowledge and understanding of Hebrew is far above my own, which is only tangential in my Bible studies.
The knowledge and understanding of the Jewish sages and teachers from over 3,000 years is far above my own and that is really where I got the information about Noah.
The point I and the sages are trying to make is that there is no record that Noah prayed for the people as Moses and Abraham did. Noah just gave the message and fulfilled his obligation but he did not plead with God on behalf of the people.
The message I wanted to give is that evangelism is more than just preaching a message. It is also caring and loving the people you are preaching to. Do you stand on a street corner preaching because you feel God will show you favor and give you a slot in heaven or are you so broken over the sin and suffering of this world that you just have to stand on the street corner and preach. My analysis of Noah can be questioned and is speculation like so many Christian commentators. Practically all you prophetic teachers are speculating. I can give a dozen arguments from Scripture itself to prove that there will be no rapture or seven year tribulation. But that speculation has brought many people to salvation in Jesus Christ (myself included) so I will not condemn the teaching or declare it wrong. I just question it.
Thank you for your reply. In rereading my original comment I come across as accusatory, and for that I apologize. It’s neither my place nor was it my intent to be rude. Your point is well made. Whether or not we are actively spreading Jesus’ message or praying through a list of “prayer requests” from our Sunday School, if we don’t do it “heartily, as to the Lord” and with love, we are just saying empty words. Thank you for the many lessons you provide out of your time and learning, and for reading the comments of those of us who are your students. I plan on using your original article and the comments from those who have posted as a discussion for my Men’s Connect group next week. Whether or not anyone agrees with the Jewish sages we must still take their point to our own hearts.
Now that idea is very thought-provoking. Hah! That word came up for me!
There are all kinds of reasons why we don’t even hear of Noah trying to convince anyone to repent. One is that God said that everyone was evil; and Noah believed God!
If we look at Jonah showing Jesus as 3 days in the dark, but not dead, and Nineveh getting a reprieve before being wiped off the face of the earth; we got a reprieve as well. Jesus could have just let mankind go.
But if the end is like the days of Noah; God could hide his people in His ark, and destroy the rest.
Interesting.
Dear Teacher, please allow me to play Counsel for the defense: there are many, many things not mentioned in the Bible – that we would have thought worth mentioning. I would like to put to the opposing Counsel the Gen (or Be’erisheeth) 6:8,9 states: But Noach found grace in the sight of ADONAI. In his generation, Noach was a man righteous and wholehearted; Noach walked with God. (Complete Jewish Bible). A man like this would not have had little compassion for the people. It is not mentioned what his thoughts and prayers and struggles and conversations were. I find that Jewish sages often supply their own filling of a “gap” that they feel needs “explaining away” and this often looks like mysticism and Anderson’s Fairy Tales to me. Let’s cut Father Noah some slack – we DO know that GOD saw him and therefore his heart and motivations in a favourable light. Thank you for teaching us more about Life Application of The WORD. BLESSINGS
Now that is a very interesting comment Chaim. As you very regularly do, hit the nail on the head and drive it deep! :-)
Makes one wonder Noah was so focused on building the ark, because that is what god instructed him to do, that he really didn’t proactively evangelize.
Even though he didn’t God still bought the whole episode to fruition. This also could well be a lesson for us today!!!!
This is a sobering teaching I’ve never heard.
This is I can relate to as an older saint! May I have be found faithful soul winner in evangelism Lord. I know prayer but I desire to know evangelism more’ hospitalization, neighborhood and community! My comment and my prayer Lord 🙏
This is by the Spirit. Thank you.
Hello,
can you please explain why jewish teachers explain rte word theva as WORD ??
Bests
Dieter
Very challenging, thank you!