Noach connected to G-dliness in the way that it expresses itself within the world, but not in the manner in which G-d transcends the world.
His perception of G-dliness affected him to the extent that he wasn’t drawn after the rest of the wickedness of his generation in bringing destruction to the world. Yet, Noach was not able to transcend the confines of worldly limitations.
Avraham, on the other hand, perceived G-dliness in a fashion which transcended the world, and his way of serving G-d was therefore on a greater level.
Noach reached the highest level that a human being can reach without transcending the world. The other three generations of tzadikim attained a level of G-dliness that transforms the world itself.
When one reaches a depth that is deeper than the world, he is able to affect the material permanently, and transform the world to a different state.
It is for this reason that Torah affirms the existence of the world. Because Torah is inherently higher than the world, it is able to affect the world in a deeper way than the world would have been on its own.
Since the world was created for the sake of Torah, and not vice versa, the Torah affects the world in a way that not only does not negate it, but strengthens its existence.
Kingship as well, transforms the complete identity of the serf. The serf’s whole identity is that he is a servant of his king. So too, when ours and the world’s identity is that we are servants of the Almighty, our entire character is transformed.
This is aptly expressed in the following statement, which speaks of the time of Moshiach:
Text 10
For the land shall be full of the knowledge of G-d as water covers the sea.
Yeshayahu 11:9
The sea and the water are not two separate things; they are one and the same. In the same way, when Moshiach will come, our identity will be completely one with G-d’s, as if we had no personal life of our own. When this happens, we and the entire world will be transformed, to the extent that even animals will change their natural tendency of violence.
The lesson
The Zohar’s critical comment regarding Noach is not for the purpose of disparaging him, but is said in order to teach a lesson for our lives.
The Talmud explains, that the Torah does not say negative things, even regarding animals. Undoubtedly, the Torah does not speak unfavorably concerning the righteous.
Text 11
Torah did not speak disparagingly of an unclean animal, [would] it speak disparagingly of the righteous?
Talmud, Bava Basra 123a
Being critical of Noach is not to negate or discredit the way that he served G-d, but to allow us to learn from him.
We are to take a lesson, that although in his generation he reached the greatest level achievable, in our times, we must take example from the manner of service that Avraham, Moshe, and Dovid introduced to the world.
We must stand up to the world because we possess the truth and wish to follow it, not because we are fearful—we must bring actual change to the world and not merely prevent its destruction—and last but not least, we should transform the world until it reaches a point in which it becomes one with G-d.
We should serve G-d like Avraham, Moshe and Dovid. Noach was only able to serve G-d in a way that related to the world. We, however, are able to surpass that level and serve the Almighty in a way that transcends the world.