Musar zu Bereschit 9:10

“What is your craft?” (1:8). That is, “Recall how you performed your task in this world. How many lies and deceptions did you perpetrate in the practice of your profession and the pursuit of your livelihood? Make acknowledgment and do not be proud, for you can see that the day of your death is approaching. “And from where do you come?” (1:8). That is, “Cast aside your pride and arrogance and recall that you were formed from a putrid drop!” “Which is your land?” (1:8). That is, “Take note that you were created from the earth and that you will return to the earth.” “And of which people are you?” (1:8). That is, “Examine whether you have enough ancestral merit to protect you in your time of trouble.” These are the thoughts that the evil inclination awakens in a person’s heart as he lies upon his sickbed. (In light of this we can understand a passage in Midrash Rabbah, Bereishis 9:10. Commenting on the verse, “And indeed it was very good,” Bereishis 1:31, the Midrash first declares: “This refers to the evil inclination.” But afterwards the Midrash says: “This is the Angel of Death.” Perhaps what the Midrash is alluding to is that as death approaches even the evil inclination becomes good, arousing a person to repentance and confession.)