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Ethical Monotheism: How do we know that Noah was a better [and greater] believer than Abraham
(peace and blessings be upon them both)?
How do we know that Noah was a far greater believer than Abraham? We know it because Abraham served
(or obeyed) God only during the last 100 years of his life (starting at age 75); but, as for Noah, he served his
Creator during his whole life (930 years).
We know Noah was greater than Abraham because God gave Abraham only the land of Israel, whereas He
gave the entire world Noah; We know it because God only allowed Abraham to start a new family (the
children of Israel); whereas God allowed Noah to start a new human race.
We know it because Noah's redemptive role was given to him at birth ("And he [Lamech] called his name
Noah, saying, THIS SAME SHALL COMFORT US [THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE] concerning our work
and toil of our hands..."- Genesis 5:29), whereas Abraham's redemptive role wasn't given to him until he was
a 75 years old man ("... and in thee shall ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH be blessed"- Genesis 12:3).
We know it because Noah didn't just verbally warned his evil generation concerning the impending
destruction; he went the extra mile, and spent 120 years building the ark, so that everybody could see that he
was for real, as he was willing to "put his money, where his mouth was".
We know that Noah was greater than Abraham because, by saving his own family, as well as the animals,
Noah was able to preserve the world. On the other hand, not only wasn't Abraham able to save Sodom and
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Gomorrah; he wasn't even able to his nephew's family [as they ended up so morally corrupted, that never
again did they join Abraham's camp].
We know that Noah was greater than Abraham because God himself attests to the fact that Noah was
blameless. As it is written: "These [are] the generations of Noah: NOAH WAS A JUST MAN [AND]
PERFECT IN HIS GENERATIONS, [and] Noah walked with God"- Genesis 6:9. But as for Abraham, he
still lacked perfection [as he would ask Sarah to lie to the Egyptians], so God had to actually ask him to be
blameless: "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am
Almighty God; walk before Me and BE BLAMELESS..."- Genesis 17:1
Finally, we know that Noah was a greater believer than Abraham because, unlike Abraham, Noah is
described as being "just and perfect in his generations". But, since the word "generations" imply at least two
different generations, it stands to reason that Scripture hints at the idea that Noah's behavior would have
made him a just person not only during his current generation, but even during any other generation.
In other words, if while being the only righteous person in an utterly depraved generation, Noah remmained
faithful, how much more by far would he had been able to remain faithful in the midts of any other not so
depraved generation? And the former is aslo confirmed by Hebrew scripture, when it goes on to list Noah
[instead of Abraham] as one of the three most righteous believers ever to walk upon the facee of the Earth; as
is written: "Son of man, when the land [of Israel] sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I
stretch out mine hand upon it... THOUGH these three men, NOAH, Daniel, and Job, WERE IN IT, they
should deliver but their own souls BY THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS, saith the Lord God"- Ezekiel 14:13.
But, why was Noah more successful than Abraham? Simply because while Abraham placed his trust on
"saving words" [words of intercession], Noah placed his trust on "saving actions". In other words, Abraham
represents the kind of believer who says: "The decree of Destruction is in God's hand's, so let me pray to
Him, and see if I can convince Him to change His mind".
On the other hand, Noah represents the kind of believer who knows that [in the eyes of the Lord] "actions
speak louder than words". He represents the man who knows that, well intended words [words of prayer,
words of learning, etc] are of little avail if they aren't followed by concrete actions. And this is why, when
prophet Moses is praying for Israel's deliverance, God tells him to start doing something concrete [to move
forward], as it is written: "And the Lord said unto Moses, “Why criest thou unto Me? SPEAK UNTO THE
CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THAT THEY GO FORWARD"- Exodus 14:15.
Likewise, when David prays that Jerusalem be spared from God's judgment, God answers by asking him to
do something concrete: to build an altar. As it is written: "And David spoke unto the Lord when he saw the
angel who smote the people, and said, “Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what
have they done? Let Thine hand, I PRAY THEE, BE AGAINST ME AND AGAINST MY FATHER’S
HOUSE. And Gad came that day to David and said unto him [in the name of the Lord], “GO UP, REAR AN
ALTAR UNTO THE LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite”- 2 Samuel 24:17-18.
The former also explains why prophet Daniel advised king Nebuchadnezzar to save himself from God's
judgment not by saying good words, but by doing good actions. As it is written: “Therefore, O king, let my
counsel be acceptable unto thee; and BREAK OFF THY SINS BY RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THINE
INIQUITIES BY SHOWING MERCY TO THE POOR”- Daniel 4:27.
In short, it is good and well to be Abraham's spiritual children [learning Torah, practicing it's rites, and
praying to the God of Israel]; but we will be even better off if, in addition to children of Abraham, we also
become Noah's spiritual children. How? Moving forward, building our own altar to the Lord, doing
righteousness, and showing mercy to the poor.
And maybe this is the reason why the Jewish Talmud quotes Rava saying the following: “The purpose of
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learning [words of Torah] is repentance and good deeds”- Berakhot 17a.
And, as for he who learns words of Torah without the intention to back them up with good deeds, the Talmud
says in the name of Rav Huna: “He who occupies himself only with studying Torah, acts as if he has no God
[in other words, as an atheist]”- Avoda Zarah 17b.
And the ancient Jewish tradition (Pirke Avot 1:17) summarizes the whole lesson by saying the following: “IT
IS NOT THE STUDY [OF WORDS OF TORAH] THAT IS ESSENTIAL, BUT RATHER THE ACTION”
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