Torah parenting – Noah
Noah found favor in YHVH’s sight. He was “a model child” for our purposes. How did YHVH deal with the good kid?
(Gen 6:8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
(Gen 6:12) And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
(Gen 6:13) And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
(Gen 6:14) Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
(Gen 6:15) And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
(Gen 6:16) A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
(Gen 6:17) And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
(Gen 6:18) But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
(Gen 6:19) And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
(Gen 6:20) Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
(Gen 6:21) And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
(Gen 6:22) Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
First, I would like to point out that there was a very serious situation going on. YHVH was about to destroy the whole planet. But, since Noah was trustworthy and faithful, YHVH chose to share the details with him. Sometimes our children are in a position of maturity and trustworthiness where we can share burdens with them, and they can be of great help. They can pray with us and see prayers answered. They can help with extra work that must be done. And since they have been told why we are struggling, they are happy to pull their weight and be a help to the family. What a blessing this is! Don’t underestimate your children in a time of need. They want to feel that they are part of the team. They don’t need every single detail or financial statement. They just need enough to know that everyone has to pull together and pray together and trust YHVH.
As I read through the instructions for building the ark, a scene began to play out in my mind. We ask our child to clean the bathroom. When we check it twenty minutes later, we are shocked to see that it looks worse than when they started. This could be rebellion, but it could also be ignorance. Did we ever take the time to show them how to clean the bathroom? Did we help them practice until they could do it to our specs? YHVH gave Noah the details he needed to do the job right. He didn’t simply say, “Build an ark.” That would be the equivalent of us saying to our children, “Build a barn.” We need to take the time to give them training. We need to show them what we expect. We need to walk them through it until they have mastered it.
In summary:
1. Encourage your children to mature and be team players by letting them in on family struggles. Lessons in faith, hard work, and empathy are in store for them.
2. Take the time to train your child in household jobs. They need to know exactly what is expected of them. Hold their hand until they can do it themselves.
