THE NOAH EXPERIMENT

It is no coincidence that a man in an early account from the book of Genesis is named Noah. This name means “rest”. The word rest does not simply mean laying on the couch and relaxing, but finding the proper location where a person will receive G-d’s satisfying and eternal blessing. It was during Noah’s life that G-d brought the flood and destruction upon the world, and only Noah and his family escaped. G-d intended to repopulate the world with Noah, who was the most godly of all people. Despite the fact that he was the best of humanity, the world soon became corrupt again. Of course, none of this surprised G-d. The purpose of this experiment was to reveal to the reader that even when selecting the best humanity has to offer, in the end the world was still in a dire state. In other words, humanity cannot solve the problem of evil on its own and create a Garden of Eden-like experience. The conclusion that the “Noah Experiment” reveals is that humanity must return to the Garden of G-d, if true happiness and contentment is going to be experienced. The question is how? The mystery of the Garden of G-d is found in an ancient Hebrew word, covenant.

COVENANT OR CONFUSION

It has been said that G-d gave to humanity a great power. What is this power? G-d gave to humanity the power to choose. With this power, comes great responsibility. If one utilizes the privilege of choice in an inappropriate manner, the consequences are catastrophic. In fact, it was the misuse of this power that caused Adam and Chava (Eve) to be cast out of the Garden. This same misuse of power also brought about the destruction of the world in the days of Noah. Noah and his family failed to produce a people that would wisely choose to submit to G-d, placing humanity in a state of utter confusion and hopelessness. Let’s examine this confusion. After the flood, all humanity spoke the same language. This fact, according to scholars, represented great potential. The problem with humanity was that they wanted to use this potential to exalt themselves, rather than G-d. It is very significant that humanity was unified and committed to building a great tower which would reach into the heavens. Once again, this is interpreted by the sages to imply that humanity wanted to reach a divine status. As a result, G-d brought confusion among humanity, so that they were unable to work together and achieve their goals. 

This confusion came through two means: first, communication through a common language was altered and people could not relate to one another. Secondly, the people were scattered over the face of the earth. In regard to people pursuing their own will, the Prophet Isaiah revealed the ways and thoughts of humanity are not the ways and thoughts of G-d. In other words, people need to stop trying to obtain their dreams and instead seek G-d’s direction and His will for their lives. Where does such a journey begin? The answer is in a covenantal relationship with G-d. It is no coincidence in the same chapter of Genesis, in which G-d brought confusion upon humanity, that a special man is introduced—Abram, who would later become Abraham. 

The question which must be asked is why the change in his name? According to Jewish tradition, a new name signifies a new reality for a person. Hence Abram, which means “exalted father”, would now become Abraham, “the father of many
peoples”. Abraham’s new reality involved not just his physical descendants, but additional peoples as well. Who would these peoples be? The answer is ultimately, the ones who will return to the Garden of G-d. Abraham was not so much seeking G-d as G-d was revealed to him. The first thing that Abraham was told was to leave everything behind and go to the Land that G-d would
show him. G-d called this Land Moriyah. The word Moriyah is derived from three Hebrew words; teacher, my and L-rd—The L-rd is my teacher. What was G-d going to teach Abraham? The answer is faith. Faith was required for Abraham to find Moriyah and fulfill G-d’s purpose which He revealed to him. The concept of faith is familiar to people, but few individuals understand faith properly. When you hear the word faith, what enters into your mind? The response of most people is belief. Such a response is only half the correct answer. Belief in what? Faith is not believing in what makes sense to you; rather real faith is believing in the Truth of G-d. It is only after Abraham proclaimed faith in G-d, that the concept of covenant is discussed.

A covenant is usually understood as a type of agreement. Once again, this is only a small part of what a Biblical covenant implies.  First, there are outcomes from the covenant beingmaintained. It can be said that these outcomes reflect the motivation and the purposes for the covenant being established. Within the Bible, these outcomes are typically referred to as promises or blessings. Abraham left his family, culture, and country because these promises/blessings moved him to do so. Abraham’s response could also be described as an exercise in faith. The second aspect of a Biblical covenant is that it brings about a specific change in the one who enters into it with G-d. The Hebrew word covenant is ברית brit, and it’s a noun. All Hebrew nouns are formed from Hebrew verbs. The verb from which covenant originates is “to make pure”. So, one can see how a Biblical covenant has a purifying affect on a person or makes this one acceptable to G-d.

Covenantal purity leads to holiness and holiness is the main characteristic of the Garden of G-d. The Prophet Isaiah reveals that  one of the primary purposes of G-d is to fill the world with His holiness. Isaiah prophesied Holy, Holy, Holy is the L-rd of armies, fill all the earth (with) His glory. This sentence teaches that G-d will turn all the earth into His Garden. Although this will be wonderful, the Bible reveals that there will be great opposition to this.


SONS OF LIGHT, SONS OF DARKNESS

For over 2,000 years, there has been a type of literature that deals with the end times. All such literature has a few common elements. The primary element is that the world as we know it will end with a great war. This war will be between two groups of people, the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. There are also supernatural aspects related to this war. In essence, this war is a battle between good and evil. The leader of the Sons of Darkness is Satan and he wants to keep the Garden of G-d from being re-established in this world. This war will come about in stages, and the first stage is known as “the birth pains”.