Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Who doesn't love the beauty of a giant rainbow hanging in the sky, especially after a week of nothing but rain? The rain has stopped, the sun is out, the birds are singing once again, and a beautiful rainbow fills the sky to remind us how God is smiling down on us. But is that what's really going on here? Or is there something far more dangerous associated associated with that beautiful bow tie in the sky? Let's take a look at this topic together in this week's Five Minute Torah.
[00:00:37] Now for a brief overview of this week's Torah reading. This week we are studying the Torah portion of Noah genesis six nine through 1132. And here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number one, the Mabul. The waters of the flood. Just six chapters into the Torah, and humanity has sunk into the lowest of lows. So much so that God wants to wipe the slate clean and start over with a single family. So he chooses Noah and his family for that task. He let Noah know of his plan to destroy the world through a flood and told him to make Ateva an ark to preserve the lives of him and his family members, as well as the animal kingdom. Once they're inside the ark, God closes the door and the rain beats down for 40 days, destroying all other life outside of the ark. Number two Noahide Laws given to all mankind. After Noah and his family exit the ark, god makes a covenant with him. He then adds additional terminology that has been traditionally interpreted as the seven categories of Noahide laws that are incumbent upon all humanity. These categories include do not worship idols, do not curse God, do not murder, do not commit sexual immorality, do not steal, do not eat the limb of a living animal and establish courts of law to enforce justice in the world. Although these are not the only laws of the Torah that can be observed by nonJews, they're definitely the starting point and the foundation for a moral and ethical society. And number three babel, the Tower of Defiance. Well, toward the end of our Torah portion, we read about the account of the Tower of Babel. As we know at that time, the people of the world all spoke a common language and used this through their advantage. In an attempt to build a ziggurat into the heavens in defiance of their creator, god thwarted their plans by dividing the common language into many different languages and scattering them across the earth. And although the story seems to end on a bitter note of the people being divided, the Torah ends by foreshadowing a time when God would raise up a people that would be his own and walk in his ways through the birth of a man named Avram. This week's Torah commentary is called the Rainbow Covenant and comes from my book, five Minute Torah, volume Two, when Noah and his family came out of the ark, god told him to be fruitful and multiply, repopulating the earth. He also entrusted him with certain moral obligations regarding the treatment of both man and beast. Last, he made a covenant with humanity to never again destroy the Earth by water and created the rainbow as a testimony to this covenant. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all generations. I've set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds of the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between Me and you and every creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. Genesis 912 through 15 now, whenever we see a rainbow in the sky, we are to recite a blessing. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who remembers the covenant, who is faithful to his covenant and who stands by his word. Whenever we see the sign of the covenant, we are reminded of God's promise to never destroy the world through water. And because of this, many people are excited when they see a rainbow. They view it as a sign of God's favor and blessing. However, we should examine the concept of the rainbow a little bit more fully to understand its meaning. First, who is the rainbow assigned for? Is it assigned for us or for God? Genesis 19, verses 14 and 15 says when I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant. God says, I will remember my covenant. In other words, God created the rainbow to be a kind of buffer between Himself and humanity, to not release his entire anger upon the Earth in the same manner as in the days of Noah. Our sages understood this and said that the appearance of the rainbow is a sign of a wicked generation. The rainbow is a reminder that although the generation deserves destruction, he will maintain his agreement and withhold the waters of destruction from upon us. According to one source, two generations did not ever see the sign of the rainbow because of their righteousness. They were the generation of Hezekiah, the King of Judah, and either the generation of the men of the Great Assembly or the generation of Rabbi Shimon Bariochai. This is from Genesis Rabba 35 two. What about our generation? Well, the rainbow has been seen in abundance in our generation. What does that say about our generation? We are living in a generation where right has become wrong and wrong has become right. We are living in a generation where morality is governed by the consensus of a morally bankrupt culture, rather than the boundaries established by the word of God. How then should we respond? Today, when we see a rainbow, our hearts should be filled with remorse and repentance. As the Talmud tells us, one who sees the rainbow in the clouds should fall on his face, as it says, as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face. From Ezekiel, chapter one, verse 28. This is a reminder of the Good News that Yeshua taught us. He was continually preaching repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. His good news was that through repentance, the Kingdom could become a reality in our lifetime. What does this mean? What does it mean to repent? Well, the formula for true repentance is found in a very familiar passage if my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Two Chronicles 714 whether or not we see a rainbow, let us continually take up the task of true repentance in hopes that not only will our God continue to be merciful to this generation, but also that his kingdom would be established in our lifetime. Well, before I close this out, I would like to mention something first, please continue to pray and support Israel in any way you are able. She needs all the help she can get related to this. God willing, I intend on publishing a video in the near future dispelling the anti Semitic rhetoric that many people are perpetuating about Israel, Jews, the Talmud, and even addressing misunderstandings of key passages within the New Testament that are often used to justify anti Semitism. If you're interested in seeing something like this, leave me a comment to let me know that you're interested in content like the one I'm proposing. Thanks in advance. That's all for now. I'll see you soon with another messianic insight into the eternal Torah of God. Blessings from Tat Torah.
