Transcript
Walking the Old Paths, Episode 19 transcript
Summary
In this episode of Walking the Old Paths, we continue the study of Genesis chapter 4 on the first civilization through the family of Cain. This civilization consisted of hardworking and industrious people, but they were also worldly and created a world focused on their own glory and honor. In Genesis chapter 5, we read about the ten antediluvian Patriarchs through which the promised “Seed” would eventually come, and JP points out many interesting people and facts from this genealogical chapter with a special focus on Enoch that you won’t want to miss!
Genesis 5 Outline
I. The Antediluvian Patriarchs (5:1-32)
1. Adam (5:1-5)
2. Seth (5:6-8)
3. Enos (5:9-11)
4. Cainan (5:12-14)
5. Mahalaleel (5:15-17)
6. Jared (5:18-20)
7. Enoch (5:21-24)
8. Methuselah (5:25-27)
9. Lamech (5:28-31)
10. Noah (5:32)
Contact JP at: jpmanson@walkingtheoldpaths.com
Transcription
Do you have the Spirit of Christ in you? And the Bible says that His Spirit will testify with our spirit that we are the sons of God. And I just want to encourage everybody that listens to this podcast. Do you know for sure that you are saved?
Welcome to the Walking the Old Paths podcast. I’m JP, your host on this journey through the Bible. Each week we embark on a systematic study of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
Welcome back to another episode of Walking the Old Paths. Now, last week we were talking about Cain and Abel, two men with two different offerings that had two different results. And we learned a lot from that episode about how we come to God and how we are to come God’s way.
But we come here to the middle of the chapter now at verse 17, and we’ll pick back up there this week. We’re going to talk about the first, uh, civilization, the Canaanite civilization. And this family of Cain is quite a remarkable family. But as we’ll see it, how we use our talents and gifts from God really determine the direction that we’re going to take in our lives. We can use it for his glory, or we can use it for our own.
Uh, but we pick up here in 17, verse 17, “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”
So the first question that people typically will have is, who is Cain’s wife? Who did he marry? Well, it probably was his sister. It was one of Adam’s daughters. And that seems weird to us today. Uh, but that would have been the only option back then. And it wasn’t until Moses time that, God forbid, this type of close marriage. And you can look at that in Leviticus chapter 18.
But Adam, it said in Genesis five four that he had begotten Seth were 800 years; and he begat sons and daughters. So they had lots of children.
And verse 18 we read in, “And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.”
Now names in Hebrew all have meanings. And we’ve kind of talked about some of these. You know, Cain meant acquired of the Lord. Uh, we see that Enoch means dedicated. Uh, Irad meant fleet. Mehujael is smitten by God. And Methusael means who is of God. And then Lamech means powerful. Uh.
Now, some have commented that there possibly was still a godly influence upon some of Cain’s children, because two of them, Mehujael and Methuselah, they both end in that -el and if you remember from Elohim, that is a reference to God: El. And but you know how Mehujael means smitten by God. I’m not really sure how to take that.
But nevertheless, there probably still was some sort of influence of God. It’s just that we see that the Canaanite family is most likely going to reject it, and they do reject it towards the end of Cain’s descendants here.
In verse 19 we read “And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.”
So we see here the first recorded instance in the Bible of a polygamous marriage. Now this is in direct rebellion to God’s institution of marriage that he set up at the beginning with Adam and Eve. As we read back in Genesis 2:24. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
We actually see this as when in Lamech, as open rebellion against God’s design. You know that institution of marriage that he created. And his wives names, uh, though I don’t have a written down here, they they’re kind of interesting as well. The one means beauty, and the other one means, like shade. Um, so Lamech wives would have been women of beauty and probably of seduction.
Um, and again, you know, we’ve we’ve talked quite a bit about this and the importance of marrying a godly spouse, uh, finding a good, godly wife or for you ladies looking for a good, godly man. And that really can affect your future, um, progeny, uh, in the spouse that you choose.
And Lamech here he made, uh, a choice for two wives, and we’ll see it. You know, it creates problems. Obviously, the Canaanite family, uh, all perished in the flood. So that that line, uh, of his descendants ends there. Um, but it’s quite a remarkable family.
And we see: “And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.” [Genesis 4:20-22]
So you see some interesting things from this, this Canaanite civilization. First we see back in 17, uh, that Cain built a city and named it after Enoch. So we have city dwellers there. But then we also have from one of his sons the nomadic lifestyle. Uh, he was a, uh, herdsman here. Uh, Jabal, he was father of such as dwell in tents and such as have cattle.
And then we also have in verse 21. Uh, “his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” So we have the invention here of musical instruments. And then we have the invention of metallurgy in verse 22. That “Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron.”
So this pre, uh, this antediluvian society here was actually quite advanced. Uh, we have cities, we have those that, um, deal with cattle and their tent dwellers, the nomadic lifestyle that’s so prevalent now in the Middle East. Um, and then we had, you know, the invention of, like I said, uh, musical instruments and the metallurgy.
So people back then were making life easier. And if you remember, they were under hardship because of the curse upon the ground. So, you know, there and there’s nothing wrong with, um, invention. And God has given us wisdom and understanding in these things, but it’s how we use that. Right? And.
What was the motivation for it? Was it to ease their burdens that God had put upon them? And naturally, we we probably would do that if we could. Right. Who’s going to if his body is suffering, who’s not going to try to make it more comfortable?
But when they the the Canaanite civilization did this, it was a definite turning away from God. And we see that culminated here with Lamech in his polygamous marriage.
Uh, verse 23. “And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.”
We see here that the sense is that Lamech had killed a man in self-defense, and now he’s reassuring his wives that they will be protected by this. Lamech was apparently quite the poet. It was actually said of this, this verse here. Uh, verse 23 and 24, that it is the most perfect Hebrew poetry and actually is probably the oldest piece of poetry in the world.
Uh, Adam Clark and his commentary gave the interpretation of this. And he said, “And Lamech said unto his wives,
Adah and Tsillah, hear ye my voice;
Wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech;
For I have slain a man for wounding me,
And a young man for having bruised me.
If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold,
Also Lamech seventy and seven.”
So we have, you know not only this advanced civilization, we, but we have the arts too: poetry, um, back in those days.
But moving on here, we’re just going to quick take a look here. The birth of Seth now in verse 25. “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” Genesis 4:25-26
Now Seth, his name as well has meaning and means to be put, substituted or compensation. And we know that Cain had killed Abel. So when Seth was born, that is how Eve had viewed Seth as being compensation from the Lord.
And with Cain now removed from being heir of the family and Abel being dead. God gave Adam and Eve this the substitute, this compensation here. Seth, who would be now the heir to Adam, and through him with the promised Redeemer, come through. Who, who is spoken about in Genesis 3:15.
And then we read here that then began, uh, men to call upon the name of the Lord. Um. Once again, we see a distinction between those who love the Lord and those who are of the wicked one. Remember, he who at the son hath life, and he that hath not the son hath not life. All throughout the Scripture we see these, um, these comparisons here, one on the those are the family of God and those who are the family of the wicked one.
The Canaanite family was an industrious, worldly family, and they created a world of men seeking their own glory and honor. Now we contrast this to the life and to to line of Seth, who we begin, uh, began to see the wickedness all around them in this age of men being led by their conscience. And and they began to call upon the name of the Lord. It is kind of interesting, uh, that it says, then began, men to call upon the name of the Lord, because, um, I don’t it’s it seems that people were calling upon Him still. But unless it’s kind of referring to that Canaanite ish family. But one commentator did make the suggestion that that actually is referenced to that people were calling on their own gods as like the Lord. Uh, which kind of reverses the meaning there of that. And I’m not about to try to re translate the scripture by any means, but it is interesting because as we get into Genesis chapter six, we do see that the wickedness of man upon the earth was very great. Um, so much so that only eight people were saved out of that, um, prior to the flood coming upon the earth.
But nevertheless, um, there, there probably definitely was this, um, contrast between those that were godly and those, uh, that were after the world, those of the devil.
But we’re going to enter in here into chapter five now. And, you know, I kind of originally thought, you know, this is going to be an easy chapter. We’ll be able to zip through this. But there’s actually so many interesting things here. Now this chapter, when it’s outlined here, we we look at the there’s ten antediluvian patriarchs that are listed in this chapter. And there’s just some very interesting things. Uh, this the first verse of chapter five marks one of the major divisions of the book of Genesis by the opening words, this is the book of the generations of Adam.
This chapter lists the ten antediluvian patriarchs, as I said, from Adam to Noah. Uh, no more do we read about the genealogy of Adam’s firstborn son, Cain. Cain, as I said, was rejected by God. And Seth now is chosen to be the next patriarch whom the promised seed of the woman would come. Um, mentioned to these ten antediluvian patriarchs is also made in Luke chapter 3:36 through 38, where the genealogy of Christ is traced back to Adam. And hence why we have these genealogies in the Bible is that they were there to show us the line that Christ would come through. It’s all about Christ. When we read the Old Testament, we need to look for Christ in it. You know what is the purpose? What is God’s plan and what has he shown us to reveal that thing? You know, when we look at God’s Word, it just becomes alive to us.
And there’s some interesting things here that we’re just going to look at kind of have fun with today to consider from this chapter. And we’ve had some pretty tough, hard hitting lessons here, the last four of em. Uh, so it’ll be nice to just, uh, be able to just find some beautiful, interesting things that we see here. But I think that we got some application that we can find from it as well.
But first, let me just mention here, by adding up the ages of the patriarchs at the time that they fathered the next in the genealogical line, we can account for a total of 1656 years from the creation to the flood. We also see that Adam lived to see the ninth generation and died when Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years old. So he lived a long time. I mean, that is kind of the interesting thing about this chapter is the the Bible gives the ages of them, uh, when they, um, fathered the next in line. And that gives us a lot of information to work off of.
We also see that the first mention of the word book, uh, found in the Old Testament, is in this chapter and is associated with the first man, Adam. Now, similarly, the first mention of the word book in the New Testament is in Matthew 1:1. Let me read that to you. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” So we see here that the first mention of the word book in the New Testament is associated with the last Adam, Jesus Christ.
Now you’ll ask me, why do you call him, Jesus, the last Adam? Well, I’m glad you asked. First Corinthians 15:45 says, “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” And in 1 Corinthians 15:47 it says, “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”
So that first man, Adam, he’s of the earth, he was created by God. He was made a living soul. But we see that the last Adam, Jesus Christ, he was made a quickening spirit. That means he was made a one who would give life. And he is the man from heaven, the Lord from heaven.
Next, we also see here, um, that in 2 Peter 2:5, we see a reference here to Noah as the eighth person. Um, let me read that to you here. Um, “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” Noah, you’ll notice in this chapter here is the 10th generation. But yet he is called the eighth person. Um, why is that? Now, what we can consider here that two of the patriarchs, patriarchs Enoch and Lamech, were outlived by their fathers, and there were only seven men in the genealogical line before Noah, who had the responsibility of the patriarchs to preserve and pass down God’s Word to the world. So if we take that into consideration. Noah would be called the eighth person.
Uh, it could also mean that he was just the the last one to enter into the Ark prior to the flood. That might be why he was called the eighth person there. But I think that as the patriarchs, they had the job and the duty of passing down the knowledge of God to the next generations. And and as we see that Enoch and Lamech both were outlived by their fathers. Now, Enoch. We’ll notice that when we get to him. But he he did not die. God took him. It says, and we’ll we’ll look at that closer. But. And then also Methuselah outlived Lamech by five years. And we’ll look at that as well.
Genesis five one and two. “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”
Now Adam is the one patriarch without an earthly father. The Bible makes it very clear that the first man, Adam, was created by God and made in the likeness of God. We’ll also note in verse three that it says, Adam “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image.” Now that word likeness here, it comes from a word meaning resemblance or a model or shape. Now, as I like to do, as kind of interesting study is look these words up in there in the ancient Hebrew, uh, pictographs. You know, they all have root words.
And the ancient Hebrew word here means blood or likeness. No Benner said of this. “A son from the blood of his father resembles his father.” Now, that is important. And I think when we look at these, um, antediluvian patriarchs, we trace them back to Adam and Eve. We come back to two people. Why is that important? Now, in acts 17:24 through 26, we read “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Now notice this. “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”
Bible says here God made all nations out of one blood to to dwell on the face of the earth. Man is made in the image and likeness of God, and every single human who has ever lived, no matter what race or what nation they were born into, can all be traced back to that first man, Adam. This is by God’s design, as we are told. And when we consider that the problem of looking down upon man based on outward appearances or of national origin soon disappear when we remember that we are all of one blood.
I had the privilege this summer of going to the Paris Olympics and as on a missionary trip, and we were witnessing there, we were handing out gospel tracks, and I saw people from all over the world, all races and nationalities, languages. It was just amazing. It was incredible. And I got to give the gospel to all of these different peoples from everywhere. And you know what? It doesn’t matter what nation they come from, what color of their skin is, what language they may speak. You know, they’re all made in the likeness of God, and they all come have a common ancestor, Adam and Eve. It changes your perspective when you look at people like that, that they are really family.
We’re a lost family. We’re a hopelessly lost family without Christ. But you know what? God has made a way for us all to be made, to be reconciled unto him and to be made sons of God once again. And it just changes our perspective when we look at people that way. You know, don’t judge people by outward appearances. Don’t judge people by where they come from. Look at them as people that God wants to save, who God died for, who shed his blood for. Because we are all of one blood and God shed his perfect blood for us, that we could be saved. That is an amazing thought.
We also see that in verse two, “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.” In addition to making it clear that God is the source and power of the creation of man. Special mention is made that God made them male and female. And in a day of confusion that we live in, which really is nothing more than open rebellion against God and His creative work, God makes it perfectly clear that there are only two sexes, male and female.
How sad that we have to actually point those things out. But I guess it is the age, the day of wickedness that we live in. And so we must preach it right. We must take a stand for truth. We must stand for the Word of God.
Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.” Thus far, this phrase, in his own likeness, after his image, has only been used to describe Adam when he was originally created in the image of God. But now we see that after the birth of Seth. Well, this is the this phrase is used here and nowhere else in Scripture in this regard to an earthly father.
Now, the way I see this, there’s two ways that we can look at this one, that Seth was like his father, Adam, though imperfect yet loving God, and one to whom he would pass along the knowledge of God that is, to be carried on to the next generation.
That’s one way. Or it could be in the likeness of sinful flesh. Adam was only created sinless and after the image of God in that respect. But after the fall of man, um, he is no longer in a right relationship with God. Man is now born in sin, and by nature we are children of wrath who need to be redeemed. So we could look at it that way as well.
Verse four: “And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters.” Uh, nine times this phrase “he begat sons and daughters” is used for the first nine antediluvian patriarchs. Um, with their long lifespans in this pre-flood world, it would not take very long to populate the world. And I would love somebody who is really good, uh, mathematician, statistician, to be able to send me some sort of information about what kind of population growth that could occur or look like, uh, based upon the age that these people live and the rate of reproduction that we have. Um, that I’m sure that’s I’m sure it’s quite mind boggling, actually, in that 1600 years, how many people could populate this earth in that time frame?
It is not certain that each of the patriarchs that are listed were the firstborn children. Is another interesting thing to note here. For example, you know Seth, he was the third son of Adam. It just merely states when they were born, uh, therefore, they might have had either other sons or daughters that were born before the next patriarch. We’re not exactly told that.
Each patriarch listed follows the next person in the genealogical line of that promised seed. Again, there’s purpose for it. Uh, who is listed there?
And then in Genesis 5:5 “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” And we kind of discussed that in a previous episode of this, uh, antediluvian world and the longevity, uh, that people had back then. And Adam lived to be, um, 930 years old before he died.
And some interesting things. Adam lived until, uh, the ninth generation. Uh, he saw Lamech, who was 56 years old at the time when Adam died. Uh, but finally, you know, no matter how long they lived, right? In the year 930, the curse of sin finally took Adam’s physical life.
You know, he died spiritually that day he ate of the fruit, but he didn’t die physically right away. But it was to come. It was inevitable. And as all of us in Adam, we shall die. We shall suffer death. Um. The curse of the of sin is upon us.
You know, it was a hard and difficult life of toil on the cursed ground of this antediluvian world. Uh, but now, Adam, and though he though he is dead physically, he is alive, and he has to wait in the place that he will learn, what is called Abraham’s bosom at the time, for the promised seed to come and lead captivity captive as we read in the Scripture. Adam was one day to be joined to, uh, his Savior, who he trusted, who he believed in, and whom he passed down the knowledge of God to the next generations.
Uh, we’re going to jump ahead here, uh, to verse 22. “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
Now all out of all the patriarchs listed here in this chapter, Enoch is the one who stands out and catches our attention with this phrase. “And Enoch walked with God.” In fact, twice we read about it here in these verses that Enoch walked with God. And then we read at the end that he was not, for God took him.
Um, the word walked has the sense of forward motion. Enoch knew God and had a relationship with him. Now, it wouldn’t have been the same as what Adam experienced when he walked with God in the garden. And for at that time, Adam, you know, he was in that state of innocence, and he was able to walk with God.
But nevertheless, we see that Enoch enjoyed a close personal relationship with God and everybody who reads this chapter that’s the one thing that immediately probably pops out and stands out as being different here is Enoch and his walk with God.
And I think here is where we can draw a little application for us today. Enoch walked with God, and this was in the antediluvian world that was filled with wickedness. Now we today we live in the age of grace. That’s a special age, a special dispensation where the Holy Spirit is given to us upon salvation, where we are, as the Bible says, we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. You know, it’s one of the tests of if you are saved or not is do you have the Spirit of Christ in you? And the Bible says that His Spirit will testify with our spirit that we are the sons of God. And I just want to encourage everybody that listens to this podcast. Do you know for sure that you are saved? God has given you different tests in the scripture to know that. And one of those is that His Spirit will testify with your spirit.
You know, when my boy, my oldest, was younger, he would ask me, daddy, am I saved? And it was it’s not my job to tell him that he is saved. I know we have come many of us in our Baptist churches, we like to lead people in a prayer. Repeat after me. And then we tell them, yay! You’re, you’re saved. You said this prayer. That’s not our job. And people, you have to stop doing that, okay? You are giving people a false assurance or sense of salvation, and then they go away off to college. They they turn away from the faith. And I’ve come up to many of them and I’ve asked this question, are you saved? And they said, yeah, I said a prayer once when I was little, but they’re not living for the Lord. Their life does not match up to what a Christian life should be. A changed life. But yet they’re looking back at a time that somebody led them in a prayer and then told him that they were saved. They might even wrote it down in their Bible. Little Johnny, he got saved on August 13th of 1999. You know, and then that’s what they look back to.
But are you walking with the Lord? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Has that belief led to change in your life?
And I know this is hard for young people, young people who get saved because they’re raised up in a Christian home where they’ve been. They’ve had a godly mother and father that have taught them, disciplined them, corrected them, and led them in right ways. And they’ve been brought up in church. And they they did get saved at some point, but they may not know it when that particular point is.
And, you know, that’s one thing that I’ve heard preachers say is that, you know, can you point to a certain time or a certain place that you were saved? Not everybody can do that. If they were not raised in a Baptist church where that was, uh, pushed so hard upon them to know that they’re not going to really recognize that if they were saved at a young age, it’s not a Bible test.
You can’t show me in the Bible where it says that. It’s always, do you believe? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And when you get saved, it’s a changed life.
Are you living for the Lord? Are you walking with the Lord? Do you love him? Do you read his word? Are you in it to follow him? And Jesus said, as we’ve talked about, why do you call me Lord, Lord? Yet do not the things that I say. You know, if you love the Lord, if you’re walking with him, you’re going to want to do what you’re going to want to obey him. And I get it.
Sometimes we like wandering sheep go astray, but we always come back. Why? Because God the Father will not allow that little lost sheep to be lost. If God gave Jesus a hundred sheep, guess what? He is going to have 100 sheep. And when that little one walks away and strays off, Jesus is going to leave that 99 and go after that one. Come back, little dumb sheep, come back. You know we need that. And sometimes we need a good, uh, beating, you know, a good taking to the woodshed to get us back on track with the Lord. But he does that because he loves us, whom the Lord loveth, yes, he chasteneth.
But Enoch, walked with God. And that’s what we can gather from this, as are we walking with God. How is your prayer life? Are you talking to him? Are you reading your Bible so you can hear from him? Those are things that we as Christians in this age are to do because, why, we have the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us and teach us, but he’s not going to force us. That’s your decision to do.
All right, let’s move on. Um. Now, it wasn’t until Methuselah was born that Enoch started walking with God. We see that Enoch walk with God after he begat Methuselah. And sometimes having a child puts life into perspective for a man and cause him, causes him to draw closer to God, particularly when we care for the child’s eternal state. Many people have started attending church when a little one comes along. They realize that the foolishness of youth needs to stop, and the church is a good place for a child to be brought up in.
Uh, I think the God leads people. He he works in people’s lives when they see that little teeny life. And they are such a precious soul and they don’t want that little child, there’s something in them that tells them, you know, this one, we want him to be brought up right. We want him to follow that which is right. And then they start seeking the Lord because of it. And obviously not everyone. But there are people like that that have sought the Lord after a child was born.
But we see that with, uh, with Enoch here is that after Methuselah was born, that’s when he started walking with God. Now, also in contrast to the other eight patriarchs, excluding Noah at the end here, um, we we see that he does not say that he died. All the other patriarchs said that they died. But the Bible says of Enoch, and he was not, for God took him. Enoch is one of two men in the Old Testament who have not experienced physical death, and the other being Elijah.
Now you’ll say to me, um, JP, you just told me that, uh, all of us, uh, are going to die like Adam because of the curse of sin. Well, that is that is true. With the exception of a couple with one thing that I think we see in the New Testament, which I’ll get to here in just a moment, but, uh, it does not say that where God took Enoch. It just says that he took him. But we can kind of assume that he was taken to where the God’s presence was.
And there are two interesting references that I want to mention to you about Enoch in the New Testament, which has shed additional light upon this incredible man. In Hebrews 11:5 it says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Well, there’s something else that we take note of, too, is that Enoch walked with God and that was pleasing to God.
Now Enoch was translated before the flood took place. Now because of this, he is considered a type of the church that will be translated or raptured before the tribulation that will come upon the earth at the end of the dispensation of grace. And that is what I mentioned here. That not all of us will taste of death. There is a special event coming. Uh, that I believe the Bible teaches. And we see that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 through 17. It says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” You know our lost loved ones, um, not our lost loved ones, our loved ones who have died in the Lord. Right? We’re not to be ignorant that they are, that they have died physically. And we’re not to sorrow as the world’s sorrows that will never see their loved ones again.
It goes on to say, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Now is that is what we call as the rapture of the church. But I should say that we also should note here that this is not quite a a perfect parallel between the translation of Enoch and the rapture of the church, because with the rapture of the church, it’s associated with resurrection and glorification. And this would not have been possible prior to Christ because he had not been resurrected and glorified. Therefore, I think we should not force that interpretation upon Enoch, okay, as a type. But, um, is there similarities there? Yes, of course there is.
But the other interesting reference here to Enoch that I want you to take note of in the New Testament is found in Jude in verse 14 and 15. It says “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
This reference here in Jude sheds additional light on Enoch. First of all, he’s called the seventh from Adam. Now this identifies him as the antediluvian patriarch who walked with God. Next we note that he is a prophet here of in this antediluvian world.
It’s funny that, um, we’re doing this lesson because on Wednesday nights with my teens, I have a, uh, Bible. Uh, we do have a Wednesday night Bible study with them. But prior to that, we do some Bible trivia. And one of the cards this last Wednesday was, you know, name the Old Testament prophet. And it gave four names and one being Elijah and the other another being Enoch, and then two names that aren’t even found in the Bible.
And I immediately said to them, I disagree with this card. There are actually two prophets here in the Old Testament that are listed, and I made them name which ones? Obviously they knew Elijah. Uh, but Enoch was not as well known, and a lot of people do not consider him to be a prophet. Yet we see that he prophesied.
What did he prophesy about? That’s the other interesting thing. Well, his message was of the second coming. Behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all. Um, so that is quite interesting. And even this antediluvian world here that Enoch knew about the second coming of the Lord.
Now, he prophesied during a time of great wickedness, and he uses the term ungodly four different times in those verses: ungodly among them, the ungodly deeds, the ungodly committed, an ungodly sinners.
Also interesting is that Enoch prophesied about midway between Adam and Abraham, while Elijah, the other Old Testament prophet who did not experience death, prophesied about midway between Abraham and Christ. Both of these prophets prophesied during times of deep spiritual apostasy, and both were taken to God, not experiencing death.
My question is, could these be the two witnesses that are prophesied, prophesied about in Revelation 11? In revelation 11 three through seven we read, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” Pay attention to those names: Two olive trees and two candlesticks.
“And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”
These two witnesses, as I mentioned here, uh, or as Revelation 11 mentions are also referred to as the two olive trees or two olive branches and the two anointed ones in the Old Testament in Zechariah 4:11 through 14 “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Could Enoch and Elijah well, Elijah for sure is probably one of those. We see that in other places. But could Enoch be that other one that stands before the Lord of the whole earth? This does seem to fit, for these are the two only two men that have not experienced death. But yet they will be killed by the beast at the future time that this prophecy occurs. And then we’ll see also that after three days they’ll be resurrected and translated.
So these two Old Testament people that have not died, Enoch and Elijah, f they are the two witnesses in Revelation 11:11 and 12, it says, “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”
Um, they’re going to prophecy before the earth on those days for a certain time. But at the end of which the beast is going to make war against them and overcome them and kill them. And people are going to rejoice over this because of the plagues that they sent upon them. And but at the end of three days, God is going to raise them up and translate them into heaven. They ascended up to heaven in a cloud so they will experience physical death these two people.
And I and I think that anybody who has experienced death already will not be one of those two witnesses. And the Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Friend, the lost one, uh, that’s listening here today. You have one life here. And at its death comes judgment afterwards for you. There’s no reincarnation. There’s no coming back to do it over again. And there is no way that you will go to a place where you can pay for sins before you can go to heaven. There’s no such thing as purgatory in the Bible. No, after it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment. You don’t want that, friends. Why don’t you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today?
You’ve been studying with us. You’ve been listening here. Um. And is God working on your heart? Has he shown you your sin and your need for him as your Savior and Lord? Avoid that judgment that is coming upon the whole earth and accept Christ as your Savior. Oh, he he wants you to join him. Be a in a right relationship with him. He wants to bless you and use you in this life.
I’m not going to promise you no easy life. The Bible doesn’t promise that at all. Promises us tribulation. Promises problems, persecutions. But such blessing that comes with being a follower of Christ. I would never do it any other way.
But also, I want to just mention here to on this prophecy of Enoch and Jude that this quotation is not taken from the Old Testament, but seems to have been taken from one of the apocryphal books that were supposed to have been written by Enoch. Now, though, the books themselves are not included in Scripture as being inspired by God. This passage that Jude wrote was under given under inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and can be trusted as 100% accurate and true. It can be considered the Word of God. God was speaking through Jude, showing us this great prophet of the antediluvian world, Enoch.
We’re going to move on quickly here before we get to before we have to wrap this up. But Methuselah, down here in verse 27 “And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.”
So some interesting facts here about Methuselah. Methuselah is the oldest man recorded in the Scripture, at 969 years of age. Methuselah would have known Adam for 243 years. And between the lives of those two men, Adam and Methuselah, it spanned the entire antediluvian age. Methuselah, as mentioned earlier, outlived his son Lamech by five years, and he died in the year, Methuselah died in the year 1656, the same year that the flood came.
Now, when we look at his name, this is, this I find is fascinating as well. It comes from two different Hebrew root words. And again, I’m going to take it to that ancient Hebrew pictograph of it. Uh, the first one is a picture of water representing chaos and a picture of two cross sticks representing a mark or sign. Combined, these mean chaos mark is the length of time that something exists and ends. And the second root word is defined as a missile of attack or a projectile like a spear. Now, when you take those two Hebrew words that make the form Methuselah, they combine to mean “when he dies judgment”.
Isn’t that interesting? Because in the year that Methuselah died is the same year that judgment fell upon the earth and God destroyed the wicked by a flood. We’re coming up in that next, next chapter. Another interesting, uh, pivotal moment here for mankind. Uh, and a lot of change occurs after that.
Um, Lamech, now in verse 28 and 29, “And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.”
Now, like his grandfather Enoch, Lamech was a prophet, or at least prophesying of his son Noah. Both Lamech and Enoch are the only two antediluvian patriarchs that scripture records any prophecies about. Um, both Lamech and Enoch were the only two antediluvian patriarchs to be outlived by their fathers. Um, Enoch, except that he was translated instead of experiencing physical death. Uh, Lamech and Enoch are the only two whose names are also found in the line of Cain. Now, I’m not sure if there’s any significance there, but it would not be surprising if there was. Or it’s just perhaps that they were common names.
And Lamach’s prophecy concerning Noah speaks of the difficult, hard toil that these antediluvians had to endure as a result of the curse upon the ground. You know, and we think, uh, it is hard to grow stuff now, it must have much, much worse in those days.
Um, and then we read about Noah in verse 32, “And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Now. Noah’s name means rest, and it comes from a Hebrew word meaning resting place. Um. Interestingly, that ancient Hebrew pictograph that wrote word is a picture of a seed representing continuance in a picture of a wall that separates the inside from the outside. Now combined, they mean continue outside. Now, Benner said of this pictograph, the shepherd would guide his flock to a place of water. Here is water for drinking, as well as green grass for pasturing. Once the flock arrives, they’re free to rest after the long journey, a guided journey to a place of rest. Now Noah took his family and each of the creatures of earth through a long journey of the flood to a place of rest. Isn’t it interesting, people, when we look at those Hebrew word names and look at their meanings behind them.
Now, in contrast to the other patriarchs, we are not told here how old Noah was when Shem, who was the next patriarch to be followed for the promised seed, was born. Now, in contrast, we are given three sons names here. And these three sons would eventually go with Noah on the ark through the flood, which is probably the reason why they all three of their names are given. And though we are not told, it probably can be assumed that, like the other patriarchs, there were other sons and daughters born unto Noah.
But whatever the case may be here, uh, Noah would have known many relatives who would perish in the flood that was coming upon this exceedingly wicked earth, and that would be a tough thing to watch. You know, as you are preaching to people and they don’t respond, they’re not repenting of their ways and turning to the Lord, only to have to leave them behind and for them to perish in the flood. Uh, it could not have been easy by any means. But, you know, Noah, we’re going to find he was a preacher of righteousness. He loved the Lord. And praise God for it.
Um, now look quickly here. Let’s just look at his son’s name’s Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Shem. Shem’s name means name. Um, the root word of Shem’s name is quite interesting as well. Um, and a deep study of that root word would be beneficial to fully understanding his name. Uh, but just from the brief look that I had of it, it gives a sense of a definite and conspicuous position. Uh, and as a memorial of individuality, uh, and sense from Shem comes the Hebrew people and ultimately the Messiah. That definition would fit.
From Genesis 11:10. We can calculate that Noah was 502 years old when Shem was born, and Shem would have been 98 years old when that flood came upon the earth.
And then next let’s look at Ham. His name means hot. Uh, his name comes from a root word, root word also meaning hot. Um, and then from Genesis 9:24, we know that Ham was the younger son. And it says in Genesis 9:24, “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.”
And then last we have Japheth, which means expansion or opened. And based upon the fact that we know Ham is the youngest, and the year that Shem was born in the year, uh, Noah was in verse 32 and Noah was 500 years old, and we begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Uh, we can deduce from those facts that Japheth was the oldest, being, uh, oldest being born when Noah was 501 years old.
Um, interesting to note that Japheth has not mentioned first first here, but rather the middle child, Shem is mentioned first. And this is probably due to the fact that through Shem’s line, the Messiah would come.
So we’re going to end here today and chapter five next week, uh, we’re going to be tackling kind of a controversial subject. I don’t really think it should be one. Um, but it is. And as we look at Genesis six and the sons of God. So you can read ahead on that and, um, dwell on that a little bit this coming week. Uh, before we get to it and see what the Spirit of God has to say to you. But I’ll try to be fair and honest in that exposition, and also just giving the differing viewpoints of who the sons of God are.
Um, but friends just walk with the Lord this week. We need to develop that habit of walking daily with God in the reading of His word. Um, develop a good Bible study habit time. These these Bible studies, you know, this is meant to to build up people, that it’s meant to be a help to the church. Right. And the people that they would be strengthened in their walk with the Lord. But we can’t look at it as being a replacement of your personal time with God. So important that is, that we spend time alone with God reading through His Word. Read through it. Genesis to, Genesis to Revelation and continually going through it.
You know, draw close to God and and see what he has to say to you when he brings something to your attention. Obey it. When you obey God’s Word. He will start to open up other things too. You know, he said that if he cannot be faithful and little, you will not be faithful in much. And God is seeking those that love him and are walking with him, that he may show himself strong on their behalf in this world.
And I want that for you, the listeners here of walking the old paths to be strengthened and to be walking closely with God. And if you’re not saved, please consider your eternity. Consider the sin in your life and that someone is going to have to pay for it. It’s either going to be you or it can be on Jesus Christ who paid for it 2000 years ago. And on that cross and through his shed blood, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. You can place your faith, hope, and trust in him and have eternal salvation and become a child of God. And he wants to take he wants to sanctify you. Make you like him on this earth. Oh, what a privilege that is to be made like him, to walk with him.
Well, brethren, now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means the Lord be with you all.