Genesis 6:9-11:32

Genesis 8:21, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination (conscience) of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

In our parsha Noach, we can glean from God lessons pertaining to the heart of man. It was in the days of Noach that the “thoughts of man’s heart” caused God to destroy man from the earth, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5)

God has a unique interest in man’s heart. Why? Because man was made in the image and in the likeness of God. God, Himself, is Holy. When He created Adam, He created him with a heart after God. Times had changed by the days of Noach and today is no different. Therefore, God designed a plan to restore man back to his original state of being. And the only way he could restore man back to fellowship with him is through the cleansing of man’s evil conscience.

What is the Conscience? The Conscience is defined as “co-perception, moral consciousness. It means, “to see completely, to understand, to become aware. To know, to be privy, to be informed.” The seat of the heart is the conscience of mankind.

In light of our definition, we understand that the conscience is the part of us that enables us to differentiate between right and wrong. It is the vehicle by which we obtain understanding and awareness. It is also directly linked to man’s ability to be moral in his dealings with mankind.

Morality has always been a problem with mankind. Why? Because man’s heart is evil. Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to this ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

When did man’s heart become evil? After Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. It was then that man’s heart had access to the knowledge of both good and evil. Good and evil was governed by a man’s conscience. If a man chose evil, his conscience and its’ ability to convict him for his wrong doing became duller and duller, subsequently if he chose good, his conscience became clearer and stronger in his dealings with both God and man. This is known as the Law of the Conscience.

The Law of Conscience states that: “Every time the voice of conscience is disobeyed, it becomes duller and more feeble, and the heart grows harder. Man cannot remain neutral in the presence of duty or command of God. He either obeys the Divine command, and it becomes a blessing or he defies God and such command and it then becomes unto him a curse. If man deliberately chooses evil, it proceeds to enslave him and it blinds and stupefies him. Making it nigh well impossible for him to repent (i.e. Pharaoh).” Roehm

One of the finest examples of this principle is found in Genesis 4:7. In this passage, God is questioning the anger of Cain, the firstborn of Chave (Eve), after his sacrifice was not accepted. God said to Cain, “If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door, and unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him.”

Because man’s tendency was and still is to choose sin and evil, man’s conscience was and continues to be defiled, making him unable to receive the light of God’s instruction. Therefore, God created a plan that not only would draw man back to His presence, but also cleanse man’s evil heart and conscience thus restoring him back into obedient fellowship with God.

We see a foreshadowing of God’s plan to give man a new conscience in the Tabernacle Plan.