Noach | נח | "Noah "

The second reading in the book of Genesis is named after Noah. In Hebrew, the name Noah is spelled Noach(נח). The word Noach is related to the Hebrew word for “rest.” says that his parents named him Noah (Noach נח) because they hoped their son would give them rest (nacham, נחם) from their toil.

As is true with any time I am reading the scriptures, I learned something new. This portion concentrates on the story of Noah. We are going to jump to the end today and read chapter 11:1-9. This is about the tower of Babel. Babel of course was built by the clans of Noah’s sons. It is commonly thought the tower of Babel was around 91 meters tall or 300 ft. To give one an idea of that height it is a little short of the Statue of Liberty and as tall as a football fields length not counting the in-zones. The tower of Babel is also not unique for the time period. The type of structure it was is called a Ziggurat, Ziggurat were built by the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Elamites, Eblaites and Babylonians.

Genesis 11

11 And all the earth had one language and one speech.

2 And it came to be, as they set out from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shin‘ar, and they dwelt there.

3 And they said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over all the face of the earth.”

5 Then יהוה came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

6 And יהוה said, “Look, they are one people and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do! And now, they are not going to be withheld from doing whatever they plan to do.

7 “Come, let Us go there and confuse their language, so that they do not understand one another’s speech.”

8 And יהוה scattered them from there, over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

9 That is why its name was called Baḇel, because there יהוה confused the language of all the earth, and from there יהוה scattered them over the face of all the earth.

We all understand the SIN that was committed by the people was not the building of the tower itself, but was the attempt to reach heaven without Adonai and to become mighty themselves. In other words it was idolatry again, with themselves as the idols. To phrase it another way the Tower that was the problem was not the one built of stone and bricks as much as it was the Tower of themselves built with their own lofty arrogance. As I read this I noticed something interesting. Adonai did not take away the Tower, indeed he did not even act against it directly. He took away their most precious tool in constructing the Tower. He took away their ability to communicate. Verse 7 read’s

“Come, let Us go there and confuse their language, so that they do not understand one another’s speech.”

It is commonly understand by some that this was the creation of different languages of the nations of the earth. Others understand it to mean that it was not the language that was confused so much as the ability to comprehend each other and to express meaning to each other. Perhaps their patience was gone or they misunderstood what the other person meant. Regardless communication became very hard.

We often times think of having ownership of certain things or to put another way “basic human rights”. This would include a right to express ourselves or freedom of speech. Yet The Father made that ineffective in this moment when humanity SINNED.

Without that tool of communication this great work of humanity became a burden and it was abandoned. It was not taken away, indeed it stood a long time afterward empty and half finished. Eventually Alexander the Great would dismantle the tower in 331 BCE. His intention was to move it and restart construction. He died before it would begin, preventing it from completion.

We can all understand that communication is a tool. It can be a tool for good and life or a tool for evil and destruction. With words we build each other up and break each other down. We also understand that everything belongs to YWYH. really drives the point home.

The Scriptures Chapter 24

The earth belongs to יהוה,

And all that fills it—

The world and those who dwell in it.

We understand these words and often times we consider the plants and animals are his so we are conservative in our use of them. We often times even consider the land and the waters even the air we breath so we try to be proper stewards of these. We may even realize that the every person is his and so we try to treat everyone with respect and goodness. What we sometimes forget, cause we are admittedly weak and imperfect, is every thought we have, every word we speak, every deed we do is also his. If this is so then this means that every time we speak or act in an ill manner or every time we plan for evil for another it is like we are building our own tower of Babel. We are seeking to make a name for ourselves rather than to submit and promote his name.

The desire of the builders was to exalt themselves and to be beyond the reach of Adonai that they may no longer be accountable to him. Is that what we do when we use the tools he has given us for our own selfish gain over another? When some one upsets us and we speak harshly are we not trying to exalt ourselves by breaking them down? Is the intention not to Tower over them while we put them in their place. A place we have judged they deserve to be. This is not what our Heavenly Father would have us do with his people. He would have us forgive them, build them up, humble ourselves, and be at peace with them. Those are things that we cannot do alone and it requires his help. In those instances we are not building ourselves to be the Tower of Babel but instead the Temple of God.

This pattern exists many times in the scriptures. In we see the example with the Arc of the Covenant used as a tool to exalt Israel rather than YWYH. It was to be the throne of God yet they called for it to be brought out not as a plea to God for help but as an instruction or order to take action. What did the Father do? He took it away from them. The Philistines captured it. It was eventually returned and even so it was beyond them to use it appropriately for a long time.

What about their heritage? How many times has this been taken for granted and this tool is used inappropriately by us? The entire attitude of I am a child of YWYH so he “must” save me. We see this answered in . He tells the people you are not my people. Again the people wanted to use their heritage, which belongs to God, to make themselves a Tower rather than a Temple.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 1

4 And the LORD said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

How about the new testament did God ever have this approach then? Indeed with the most important gift the Messiah. The book of John is very clear God sent his only Son Yeshua to come be the Messiah to us. Yet when it was realized he was here to teach us how to be Temples to Adonai and not Towers over the Romans, he was taken from us. We understand we had to have atonement that his death was part of that process. Yet his teachings are here and open to any that will humble themselves to them. To those that do not it is impossible to understand them.

In Hebrew it is a little clearer to understand what is going on. This is talking about an actual even and at the same time is using that even to chastise Israel.

4 And יהוה said to him, “Call his name Yizre‘ěl, for in a little while I shall revenge the bloodshed of Yizre‘ěl on the house of Yěhu, and put an end to the reign of the house of Yisra’ěl.

4 And יהוה said to him, “Call his name Yizre‘ěl, for in a little while I shall revenge the bloodshed of Yizre‘ěl on the house of Yěhu, and put an end to the reign of the house of Yisra’ěl.

4 And יהוה said to him, “Call his name Yizre‘ěl, for in a little while I shall revenge the bloodshed of Yizre‘ěl on the house of Yěhu, and put an end to the reign of the house of Yisra’ěl.

In this prophecy it can be hard to understand what is being said. The word

There are many many examples of the tools and blessings the Father has given us. It is our great duty and pleasure to use them for his glory, his kingdom, his people, for his good and not for evil, not to our satisfaction, and not for our Towers.

Institute for Scripture Research, The Scriptures (South Africa: Institute for Scripture Research (Pty) Ltd, 2000), .

So as we go to our communities be they at work our home, we must remember to pray that our efforts and the use of the blessings YA has given us are for the building of his Temple and not our Tower.