3

     We know that Adam was told not to eat from the tree of knowledge in the garden.  He was told what his punishment would be if he ate from that tree.  What about Cain, seemingly he was not told to not murder?  Yet, he was punished.  How could a just Creator punish Cain if he was not told, don't murder.  Unless maybe he was told.  Don't murder is one of the six commandments that Rambam said were given to Adam.  There fore we see that Adam had to have passed down those commandments in the form of oral tradition to his children.  This is clear evidence to the existence of the oral Torah.  How did they know to offer a sacrifice to the Creator?  No where does it say in the text that Cain and Abel were commanded to bring a sacrifice?  How did they know what to bring?  How did they know if the Creator would be pleased?  Clearly, there was a transmission of directions to Cain and Abel.
    Like wise with the generation of the flood.  What were they punished for?  What sin did they commit? Our sages say that the generation of the flood were guilty of sexual immorality.  This also was mentioned in the six commandments given to Adam.  In Genesis 6:2 we are told that the sons of the Judges, the aristocrats would abuse the common folk.  How?  When the commoners would go to get married, if the aristocrats would see a bride they liked they would go and take them.  This was too much.  This heinous crime caused the flood.  In chpt4:26 is when idol worship began.  It started with men being called by the name of the infinite One.  This is when men started to become objects of worship and icons.  Then we are told in 6:11 that the whole earth was filled with robbery.  The robbery of worship that belonged to the Creator and wives of men.  So we see that all three of these sins are sins that Adam was warned about and passed down to his descendants as laws for all of man kind to follow.  When there was a deviation there came the result which was punishment.
     This brings us to Noach and the Noachide covenant.  In the next post we will delve into the seven commandments that were reiterated to Noach.  We will show how all seven are hinted to in one verse of the Torah.