A Hot Retirement in The Villages
What we missed in the flood...
Noach
Genesis 6:9-11:32 
 

 
The Torah portion Noach (Noah) is full of hidden treasures to be unearthed each year.  No, unintentional terrible pun.

The chaos of the flood recalls the first of the Creation:

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Ge 1:2) 

Many are familiar with the rabbinic view that it was the spirit of Messiah hovering over the Creation waters.  More interesting comments are from  Rashi: 

The breath of God was hovering upon the surface of the waters...

The Throne of Glory was standing in the air and hovering over the surface of the water by the breath of the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and by His statement, like a dove that hovers over the nest.

 Perhaps Rashi's insight comes from the intervention that brought comfort to the waters:

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass (avar) over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; (Ge 8:1-2)

Rashi is known for his effort to solve puzzles of the Biblical text.  In this case, the puzzle is that if it were a wind that passed over the earth, the tumult of the waters would increase, not decrease.  Wind brings and stirs the storm.  Rashi therefore posits that it was not a physical wind, but a spirit, His breath, that stilled the waters.  This does make more sense in applying the Hebrew word ruach, which can be interpreted as spirit, wind, or breath.  

To pass over (avar) means more than just passing over, it is the root of Hebrew, those who have passed over the Great River to the promised Land.  It also hints to those who in faith have passed over the Rivers of Eden to the resurrection.

Here's another textual mystery for Rashi and those of us who have been baffled by "gopher wood" ever since we watched the gopher chew off Lady's muzzle in Lady and the Tramp:

Make for yourself an ark of  gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. (Ge 6:14) 

The mystery of gopher wood is in its root, which suggests that gofer is associated with sulfur and brimstone:



Although the ark would float on the rising waters of destruction, ironically their salvation was fire and brimstone!  From this,  Rashi comments about the generation of the flood: "It was decreed upon them to be wiped out by sulfur" (Bereishit Rabbah 27:3 Sanhedrin 108b), and he says, "the waters of the flood were hot and sulfurous." (Sefer Zikaron)

Okay, the rabbis say some strange things, but how in the watery world of Noach could the flood waters have been hot and sulfurous?  As it turns, out a recent news article documents it!

Stunning Volcanic 'lost world' Discovered Deep in the Ocean 
By James Rogers | Fox 

Scientists have discovered a stunning volcanic 'lost world' off the coast of Tasmania. Experts made the find while mapping the seafloor 249 miles east of Tasmania.  A chain of 'seamounts', or undersea mountains, were spotted in deep water, offering the first glimpse of a spectacular "underwater world." Scientists say that the mountains rise up to 9,843 feet from the seafloor, but the highest peaks are still 6,562 feet beneath the waves. "Our multibeam mapping has revealed in vibrant detail, for the first time, a chain of volcanic seamounts rising up from an abyssal plain about[16,404 feet] deep." 


So Rashi wasn't crazy after all!  When the "fountains of the deep" broke up, it included volcanic undersea mountains that spewed out sulfur, or "fire and brimstone," to quote the Pentecostal preacher.  

The news article goes on to describe the volcanic undersea mountains as teeming with undersea life, especially migratory whales and fish who use the undersea volcanic mountains as navigation guides.  Jonah Two describes the descent to "Sheol," "the pit," or hell, as descending into the watery abyss, more evidence that both water and fire are instruments of destruction:

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, I called out of my distress to the LORD, and He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.
For You had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me. So I said, 'I have been expelled from Your sight.  Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple...
I descended to the roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars was around me forever,
But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God...
Salvation [Yeshuata] is from the LORD.

Are you ready?  Here comes the pitch!

The pitch that covered the gopher wood, that is:

  כ ֹּ פֶר  kofer ; from H3722; properly, a cover, i.e.    a village (as covered in);  bitumen  (as used for coating), and the henna plant (as used for dyeing); figuratively,  a redemption-price : bribe,  camphire , pitch,  ransom , satisfaction, sum of money,  village .

The coating on both sides of the "brimstone" wood was kofer, both a redemption and a "village."  Perhaps Yeshua can explain the connection among these flood words.  

Remember Rashi saying that the Throne of Glory hovered above the waters?  

So  Jesus, perceiving that they were intending  to come and take Him by force to make  Him king , withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came,  His  disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to  cross the  sea to Capernaum ( Kfar Nachum ). It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet  come  to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind ( ruach) was  blowing...
Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." So they were willing  to receive Him into the boat , and  immediately the boat was at the land  to which they were going. (John 6:15-24 )

Yeshua needs to avoid being made king by force because he first must suffer and descend to Sheol, and then resurrect to await the Father's timing.  Why did Yeshua decide to hover over the turbulent waters instead?  He was prophesying to his disciples that the people had the right idea but the wrong timing.

Capernaum, or  Kfar Nachum , means Village of Comfort or Quiet City; it is from the same root as  Noach ,  nach .  Like  Noach , the disciples willingly opened the  window (some translations say "light" instead of window)  of their hearts to receive the light of the Spirit of Messiah hovering  on the Throne over  the dark waters in the  evening on Day  One of Creation. 

When the disciples received the Creative Word, instantly the dry land appeared, just as Messiah in the Creation separated light from darkness and gathered the seas, making dry land appear. They instantly arrived in a Village of Rest when they received his  Ruach  in their ark.

Another incident is in the Shem Tov (Howard, 1995, pp. 70-71)  Hebrew version  of Matthew 14.   Yeshua  walks on the stormy water at night, which frightens the disciples into thinking he is a demon.   Yeshua  says, "Let faith be among you, for it is I; do not fear."   Yeshua  assures them that he is incarnate with the authority of the  Ruach to   control the turbulent water and wind.   Only faith could produce the result the disciples see, which was the  Ruach  moving  to produce  the substance and evidence of a supernatural feat in  the physical  body, a prophecy of resurrection like Noach's and Jonah's.

Peter, who knows that the Spirit of Messiah was what hovered over the face of the waters, asks for a sign that  Yeshua's  Ruach  also rests on him in his human  body, a resurrection only  Mashiach  can bring to humankind.   Peter asks that  Yeshua , the Word, command him to hover on the water with him.   Yeshua  does call Peter.  Peter  struggles with the tangibles, but the sign of resurrection is understood:

Yeshua  said to him: 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?'  When they went up  into the  boat, the wind ( ruach ) became quiet, and those in the boat worshipped him and  said : 'Truly you are the Son of Elohim .'

Yeshua  hovered on the surface of chaotic waters as in the days of  Noach , and the Hebrew text reads, " Veh-ka asher alo beh-anyah nach ha-ruach ." (Howard, p. 71)  In English, a translation  is "When  they (Peter and  Yeshua ) went up into the boat, the wind became quiet." 

The  word for "quiet" is the same word as  Noach , just  voweled  differently.  Their destination  was a supernatural "gofer" village of  Kfar Nachum , a village of rest and  peace.  As the Spirit of Messiah calmed the waters of the flood, bringing comfort to  Noach  in the ark of pitch, kofer, redemption, so  Yeshua  came to bring the disciples to their destination of quiet and rest ( noach ).

What happens, though, when the physical village of comfort does not live up to its prophecy of a Lower Garden experience at the resurrection of the dead?
Can one enter the Lower Garden and resurrection without repentance?

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His  miracles  were done,  because they did not repent . "Woe  to you,  Chorazin ! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the  miracles  had occurred in  Tyre  and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in  sackcloth  and ashes.  Nevertheless  I say to you, it will be more tolerable for  Tyre  and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. NeverthelessI say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you . " (Mt 11:20-24)

Sodom, too, was judged in fire and brimstone.

In Revelation  9:8,  the  supernatural bugs of King Abaddon who ascend from The Abyss of Sheol have teeth "like the teeth of lions."   To  be in  Sheol  (hell) is to lie among other souls who "breathe forth fire," the "world of iniquity" that James describes.  It is not the Holy Spirit fire falling from the world above so that  Yeshua's  testimony is given in the languages of the earth, but the fire of wicked tongues: 

My soul is among lions;
I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,
Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows
And their tongue a sharp sword. (Ps 57:4)

The Comfort Village of redemption has many chambers, like Noach's ark.  There is a place for those of faith to be comforted by Yeshua's redemption both inside and out, even in a time of judgment, brimstone, chaos, and tribulation.  Yeshua's warning? Repent and retire to The Villages of Comfort.  That pitch gives everyone an opportunity for a home run to resurrection in the Garden.  

In my Father's house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. (Jn 14:2)

Want to learn more about the King of Abaddon's brimstone-breathing supernatural bugs in Revelation?  Sign up for our live online Torah classes or the recordings by emailing us at [email protected].  

For a more thorough study on the Rivers of Eden, see Creation Gospel Workbook Five Volume 1: Bereishit available at www.amazon.com.  
 
THE RESURRECTION IN PLACES MOST PEOPLE NEVER LOOK!  
JOIN US IN ISRAEL FOR PASSOVER 2019: IN-DEPTH, TORAH-BASED PROPHECY OF THE RESURRECTION

Passover at Tamar Park 2018

Tour Dates:
April 14 - 25 2019

Price:
$2,495 (airfare not included)

Tour Includes:
  • Hotels
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner (except April 24)
  • National Park Passes
  • Masada Lift
  • Galilee Boat
  • Bus transfer to and from Ben Gurion Airport
  • All tips (except housekeeping)
  • All meals at Biblical Tamar Park
Not Included:
  • Lunches
  • Flight/Trip insurance
  • Airline Ticket
At Passover, our tour will focus on the Biblical teaching of resurrection. We will study the process of death, burial, post-mortem experience, and two resurrections from Genesis to Revelation. Specific sites along the journey will offer the opportunities to stand on the ground where biblical events and prophecy of the nations will take place. 

Are you coming?

To read the itinerary and register, go to 


LAMALAH CHILDREN'S CENTRE


The LaMalah Children's Centre received Fourth Quarter and Sukkot celebration funds, and the new Bosch solar water heater was installed with some roof reinforcement and a little unforeseen extra equipment.  You can see how much they enjoyed Sukkot!  More pictures are posted on our facebook page.  If you'd like to contribute toward monthly support of the Children's Centre (or two other children's homes, one in India and one in Peru) or become a monthly donor, please visit our website at www.thecreationgospel.com