Noah Found Favor

In this week’s Torah Portion, Beresheet בְּרֵאשִׁית, we begin again. We return to the first words of Scripture: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) A lot is covered by this first portion. In only a few chapters, the narrative takes us from the perfect beginning of a flawless creation, to the fall of mankind in chapter 3, and eventually to the corruption of all flesh in chapter 6. That is quite a journey.

We begin with God looking at everything He created and declaring it “very good.” (Genesis 1:31) There is order. There is life. There is abundance. Humanity is created in the image of God. Adam and Eve live in a garden planted by God Himself. There is no shame. No violence. No murder. No disease. No death. Everything is as it should be.

Then everything begins to change.

In Genesis 3, humanity makes a choice. Adam and Eve are given freedom, and with that freedom comes the possibility of disobedience. They eat from the tree God commanded them not to eat from, and suddenly something enters the human experience that was never part of that beautiful opening picture. Humanity begins to experience shame, fear, separation, and eventually death.

Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. Humanity hides from God. The relationship between mankind and the Creator has been damaged. Then, only one chapter later, Cain murders his brother Abel. Think about how quickly the story changes.

Genesis 1: “And God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)

Genesis 4: A brother kills his brother.

And by Genesis 6, the corruption has spread so far that Scripture gives us one of the saddest descriptions of humanity anywhere in the Bible:

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5)

We went from “very good” to “every inclination... was only evil.” From creation to corruption. From life to death. From walking with God to a world filled with violence. And God sees all of it. Scripture says that His heart was deeply troubled.

It would be easy to end the study there. In fact, we intentionally chose to end this week's reading at Genesis 6:8, because immediately after describing how corrupt humanity had become, Scripture gives us one small sentence that completely changes the direction of the story:

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8)

I love that verse. Everything around Noah was falling apart. Violence was everywhere. Humanity had become corrupt. Evil was prevalent. God's judgment was coming. But Noah found favor in God's eyes. There was still a way. That is the message I want us to focus on this week.

No matter how much we stray, no matter how badly we fail, and no matter how dark things become around us, there is always a way when God is involved. There is grace.

The Hebrew word translated as “favor” in Genesis 6:8 is chen חֵן. It can mean favor or grace. Noah found chen in the eyes of Adonai. Grace. And notice where grace appears in the story. It doesn't appear because everything is going well. It appears when everything has gone wrong. Grace appears in the middle of corruption. Grace appears when judgment is justified. Grace appears when humanity does not deserve it. That is what makes grace, grace.

Sometimes we think we need to fix ourselves before approaching God. We think we have wandered too far. Failed too many times. Made too many mistakes.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe after I get my life together.

Maybe after I stop doing this.

Maybe after I become a better person.

But grace doesn't begin with our perfection.

It begins with God's character. As long as we approach Him with a willing and humble heart, there is a way back. That doesn't mean God ignores sin. Genesis makes that very clear. God had every right to judge mankind. His wrath was justified.

Evil had become prevalent and had infected life on the earth. Violence filled the world. Human beings had taken the freedom God gave them and used it to corrupt the creation He had declared good. Judgment came. But judgment was not the end of the story. Grace was already present before the first drop of rain fell.

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

That changes the way I look at the Flood. We usually picture the Flood as an image of destruction. And certainly, destruction occurred. But I don't believe destruction is the ultimate message of the Flood. The Flood is also an illustration of hope. It is an illustration of preservation. It is an illustration of grace. It is an illustration of a new beginning. God could have ended the human story. Instead, He preserved it.

He chose to show grace and favor to Noah and his family. And by showing grace to Noah, God showed grace to the entire human race.

Including me.

Including you.

Think about that. If Noah had not been preserved, none of us would be here. The grace extended to one man and his family became grace experienced by generations they would never meet.

That teaches me something important about grace. Sometimes God's grace toward you is not only about you. The decisions you make today can affect your children. Your grandchildren. People you haven't met yet. Perhaps generations you will never live long enough to see. Noah could not possibly have known every person whose life would eventually exist because God preserved his family. He simply trusted God. And generations benefited from that trust.

We sometimes underestimate how much influence one faithful person can have in a corrupt world. We look around and think:

What difference can I possibly make?

The world is too far gone. The culture is too corrupt. People don't care about God anymore. Everything seems to be getting worse. Maybe. But Noah lived in a world so corrupt that Scripture says every inclination of the human heart was continually evil. And yet one man found favor in God's eyes. You do not need everyone around you to be righteous in order for you to choose righteousness. You do not need the culture to change before you change. You do not need the world to follow God before you follow Him. Noah reminds us that faithfulness is still possible when surrounded by unfaithfulness. And grace is still available when surrounded by judgment. This is something I have learned to appreciate more and more in my own life. I can look backward and see mistakes. Bad decisions. Times I knew better and still chose poorly. Times God gave me another opportunity when I didn't deserve one. And another. And another. If I am still here, I am experiencing grace. If I can repent today, I am experiencing grace. If I can make a different decision tomorrow, I am experiencing grace. If God is still calling me back to Him, I am experiencing grace.

We find favor in His eyes every day—not because we have earned it, but because He is merciful. That should never become an excuse to continue doing wrong. Quite the opposite. Grace should make us want to live differently. When someone gives you another opportunity after you deserved to lose it, gratitude should change how you respond to that opportunity. Grace is not God saying sin doesn't matter. The Flood proves that sin matters. Grace is God providing a way forward despite our sin. And as a Christian, I see that same pattern reaching its greatest expression in Yeshua. Humanity sinned. Judgment was justified.But God provided a way.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

There is that word again. Grace. The Bible begins with a perfect creation, but it does not take long before humanity destroys that perfection. Thankfully, the story does not end there.

Genesis 6:8 stands like a light in the middle of a very dark chapter: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

There is still hope. There is still a future. There is still a way forward. There is still grace. God is not done with humanity and that includes you. He will restore paradise on earth when Yeshua returns and you can choose to be part of that kingdom. His grace is still available for those who chose it. Perhaps that is something you need to remember this week.

Maybe you are looking at your own life and focusing only on everything that has gone wrong. Maybe you are discouraged by the world around you. Maybe you are carrying regret over something you did years ago. Maybe you believe you have wandered too far from God. Remember Noah. When everything seemed lost, God was already preparing a new beginning. The Flood was not the end of humanity. It became the passage into a new beginning.

And sometimes what looks like the end of something in our lives can become the beginning of something new when we place it in God's hands. So this week, let us ponder God's grace. Not cheap grace that pretends our actions don't matter. Real grace. Grace that meets us when we have failed. Grace that calls us to repentance. Grace that gives us another opportunity. Grace that preserves. Grace that restores. Grace that gives us a future when our past tells us we shouldn't have one.

We began Beresheet with:

“In the beginning...”

And perhaps that is the perfect message with which to begin the Torah cycle again. Our God is a God of beginnings. And new beginnings. No matter what happened yesterday, if God has given you today, there is still an opportunity to choose differently. There is still an opportunity to return. There is still an opportunity to serve. There is still an opportunity to become the person God created you to be. There is still grace. It is by His grace that we are not consumed. And when everything around us seems dark, may we remember those simple words that changed the direction of the entire story:

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

I keep repeating this verse because that is the focus this week. May we approach Him with the same willing and humble heart, grateful for every new beginning He gives us. We have a new day, a new week, a new beginning to start living right and be blessed in His name. Shavuah Tov Ve'Shalom!