How Did We Get In This Mess In Our Lives – Part 5
GENESIS 5 – AS MANKIND WAS “WALKING MORE AND MORE TOWARDS WICKEDNESS” AND THE COMING JUDGMENT FROM GOD – SOME MEN SOUGHT TO RESTORE THEIR “WALK WITH THE LORD” – THAT ADAM AND EVE HAD, BEFORE THEY HAD LOST THAT, IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
GENESIS 4:25 – “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: for God, said she, have appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew”.
GENESIS 4:26 – “And to Seth, to him also was born a son; and he called his name Enos: THEN BEGAN MEN TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD”.
In Genesis chapter 4, we see that the descendants of Adam followed two distinct lines of worship through Cain and Abel. “Abel” offered the appropriate blood sacrifice of sheep, and God accepted his sacrifice, and “Cain” eventually came to offer the fruits of the ground, the product of his own laborers, which God rejected.
The remainder of the chapter traces the Godless line of Cain, down to the SEVENTH GENERATION, and then closes with the account of the birth of Seth, that’s the important successor of Abel and the one from whom the chosen race and the “Messiah” would come.
* GENESIS 5:1 – “THIS IS THE BOOK OF GENERATIONS OF ADAM. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him;”
* No less than 10 TIMES, do we find in Genesis, this phrase, “These are the generations of…” (GENESIS 2:4; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9; 37:2) but here in GENESIS 5:1, there is an IMPORTANT ADDITION: “This is the BOOK of the generations of Adam”. Nowhere else, in the “Book of Genesis”, nor indeed, in the Old Testament, does this form of expression RECUR. But we do find it ONCE more, when we open up the New Testament Bible, and here it meets us, in the very first verse, of THE New Testament Bible, in MATTHEW 1:1:
MATTHEW 1:1 – “The BOOK of the GENERATION of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”.
Why then, should there be these two different forms of expression, and only these two in GENESIS 5:1 and MATTHEW 1:1, only be the EXCEPTIONS, to the USUAL FORM OR PHRASE?
* The problem lies in the fact that WE THINK we have a clear understanding of the word “GENERATIONS”, in the translation from the Hebrew to the English word, but we do not. For a clear understanding of this word “GENERATIONS”, we need to look at it as the Bible defines the word, and we only need to look where this word first occurs in the Bible, which is in GENESIS 2:4:
GENESIS 2:4 – “These are the GENERATIONS OF THE HEAVENS AND OF THE EARTH WHEN THEY WERE CREATED, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens”,
When there are multiple definitions for a word, we always have to look at the context in which the word is being used. The English word “Generations”, in the Bible, can refer to “The descendants of the preceding generations” but also could mean “THE COURSE OF HISTORY (OF SOMETHING)!
* In the FIRST BOOK – “THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM” – are enrolled the names of the FALLEN DESCENDANTS OF THE FIRST MAN. In the SECOND BOOK – “THE BOOK OF THE GENERATION OF JESUS CHRIST” – are inscribed the names of all who have been REDEEMED BY THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD.
One is the “BOOK OF DEATH”; and the other is the “LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE”!.
From Genesis 5:1, from that point onward, we have the HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT of Adam’s descendants. So too, from MATTHEW 1:1, we have the HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT of Jesus Christ and His brethren – those who are “Descendants of the faith”, that was established by Christ Jesus!
ROMANS 5:12 – Wherefore, as by ONE MAN SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD, AND DEATH BY SIN; AND SO DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN, FOR THAT ALL HAVE SINNED”:
ROMANS 5:13 – “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not IMPUTED (ACCOUNTED TO) when there is no law”.
ROMANS 5:14 – “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not SINNED AFTER THE SIMILITUDE OF ADAM’S TRANSGRESSION, who is the figure of Him that was to come (Christ Jesus)”.
ROMANS 5:15 – “But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the OFFENSE OF ONE MANY BE DEAD, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by ONE MAN, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many”.
ROMANS 5:16 – “And that as it was by ONE (Adam) that sinned, so is the gift to us for the judgment was by ONE TO CONDEMNATION, but the free gift is of many offenses under justification.
ROMANS 5:17 – “For by ONE MAN’S OFFENSE DEATH REIGNED BY ONE, much more they which received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life BY ONE, Jesus Christ)”.
ROMANS 5:18 – “Therefore as by the OFFENSE OF ONE JUDGMENT CAME UPON ALL MEN TO CONDEMNATION; even so by the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ONE THE FREE GIFT CAME UPON ALL MEN UNTO JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE”.
ROMANS 5:19 – “For as by ONE MAN’S DISOBEDIENCE MANY WERE MADE SINNERS, so by the OBEDIENCE OF ONE MANY SHALL BE MADE RIGHTEOUS”.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:22 – “For as an ADAM ALL DIE, even so IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE”.
* In chapter Genesis 5, it opens with the death of righteous Abel, in the previous chapter, and all the descendants of Cain are now doomed for destruction by the flood. It is from Seth that there shall come Noah, whose children, come out of the Ark, and replenish the earth.
* 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”:
* Since Adam was created in “God’s image”, and since Seth was born in “Adam’s image”, he too is made in the “Image of God”. But there is another truth implied here. ROMANS 5:12 – 18 reminds us that SIN CAME INTO THE WORLD THROUGH ADAM, AND THAT WHEN ADAM SINNED, WE ALL SINNED IN HIM. WHEN HE FELL, WE ARE ALL “FALLEN” BECAUSE HE WAS THE FOUNDATIONAL HEAD OF THE HUMAN RACE. SO NOW, ADAM BECAME A “SINNER BY CHOICE AND BY NATURE,” AND THAT NATURE (WITH ITS CORRESPONDING DESIRES) IS NOW PASSED ALONG, TO HIS DESCENDANTS”.
* Genesis chapter 5 tells us that the whole human race now shares in Adam’s fallen nature. We’re all made in God’s image, and we are all born with a nature that leads us to rebel against God!
* By the way, notice that Cain isn’t mentioned at all, even though he is also Adam’s son. GENESIS CHAPTER 4 tells us what happened to him. He went out from “THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD” and founded a “Vibrant godless society” that remains with us to this very day. But as far as God is concerned, Cain’s line is IRRELEVANT. GENESIS CHAPTER 5, traces “The line of faith,” which is the only “Line” that matters to the Lord. All that “Secular godless power, wealth and achievement”, is so much, “JUST DUST IN THE WIND”, SO FAR AS ETERNITY IS CONCERNED!
GENESIS 5:21 – “And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah”:
GENESIS 5:22 – “And ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and beget sons and daughters”:
GENESIS 5: 23 – “And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years”:
GENESIS 5:24 – “And ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD: AND HE WAS NOT, FOR GOD TOOK HIM”.
*ENOCH IS A PREFIGURATION OF THE “RAPTURE”, OF “THE BODY OF CHRIST”, BEFORE GOD POURS OUT HIS WRATH, IN “THE LAST DAYS” OF HIS JUDGMENT AGAIN ON THE EARTH AND ITS DWELLERS.
In Genesis chapter 5, it traces the line of “Seth’s Seed”, and “Death” is written large across their record. EIGHT TIMES WE READ IN THIS CHAPTER – “AND HE DIED” – WITH THE NOTABLE EXCEPTION OF ENOCH, THE SEVENTH FROM SETH, DIED NOT! HE WAS “TRANSLATED”, “TAKEN UP”, “SNATCHED UP”, “RAPTURED” – WHICH OF THESE WORDS OR PHRASES, YOU WANT TO CALL IT BUT “HE DIED NOT”!
* THERE ARE TEN PATRIARCHS MENTIONED IN GENESIS CHAPTER 5 – EIGHT OF THEM, THEIR RECORD ENDS IN “AND HE DIED” – EXCEPT “ENOCH”, WHO WAS “RAPTURED UP” AND “NOAH” WHO WAS SAVED, FROM THE JUDGMENT AND DEATH, UPON THE EARTH IN THE “ARK” – WHICH IS SYMBOLIC OF THE “SALVATION” THROUGH CHRIST JESUS – AND THEN “HE DIED” LATTER (GENESIS 9: 29).
Enoch is a striking character. He is one of but two men, of whom it is said in Scripture, that he “WALKED WITH GOD”. He is, but one, of the two men who lived on this earth and went to Heaven without passing through the portals of death, and he is the only one, except our blessed Lord, of whom it was written: “He pleased God”. He is one of the very few who lived before the flood, of whom we know anything at all. The days when Enoch lived on the earth were FLAGRANTLY WICKED, as the Epistle of Jude, plainly states:
JUDE 14 – “And Enoch also, the SEVENTH FROM ADAM, prophesied of these, saying, behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints”,
JUDE 15 – “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”.
* ENOCH, IN HIS GENERATION, WAS FEARLESS IN HIS DENUNCIATION OF THE UNGODLY – AS HE “CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD” AND AS HE “WALKED WITH THE LORD.”
(1). THE FIRST THING IMPLIED IN ENOCH’S “WALK WITH THE LORD” IS RECONCILIATION. A pertinent question is asked in AMOS 3:3: “HOW CAN TWO WALK TOGETHER EXCEPT THEY BE AGREED”? When two walk together, it presupposes AGREEMENT, ALLEGIANCE, AND HARMONY. From the nature of the case, it is implied that one of the two had been at “Enmity” with the other, and there would have been a RECONCILIATION. So that when we say of any man, that he “Walks with God”, it implies that he has been reconciled to God. God has not conformed to him, but he was conformed to God.
(2). TO “WALK WITH GOD” IMPLIES A CORRESPONDENCE OF NATURE. Light has no communion with darkness. And no sinner can walk with God, for he has nothing in common with Him, and more, his mind is at “Enmity”, against God. IT IS SIN, WHICH SEPARATES US FROM GOD. THE DAY THAT ADAM SINNED – HE FLED FROM THE PRESENCE OF HIS MAKER AND HID AMOUNG THE TREES OF THE GARDEN. So when we say that a person “Walks with God”, then we suppose the judicial putting away of sin and the impartation of the divine nature to the one who “Walks with God”.
(3). TO “WALK WITH GOD” IMPLIES MORAL FITNESS. God does not walk out of the way of “Holiness”. Before God would walk through Israel’s camp, everything that was “Defiled” had to be put away. Before Christ Jesus commences His “Millennial Reign”, all things and people that offend God must be gathered OUT of His kingdom. The triune nature of God keeps no company with the unclean.
1 JOHN 1:7 – “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin”.
1 JOHN 1:6 – “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
* WHEN WE “WALK WITH GOD” – IT MEANS THAT WE CEASE TAKING “OUR OWN WAY”, AND THAT WE ABANDON “THE WORLD’S WAY” AND THAT WE FOLLOW “THE DIVINE WAY OF GOD”!
(4). TO “WALK WITH GOD” IMPLIES A SURRENDERED WILL. God does not force his company upon anyone. “How can two walk together except they be agreed”? The supreme example and illustration is the Lord Jesus Christ. None enjoyed such perfect and intimate communication with the Heavenly Father as He did. And what was the secret of it all? “I delight to do thy will, O’ God”, supplies the explanation. If then we would “Walk with the Lord”, there must be a willingness and a readiness, on our part, to “Take my yoke upon you” because He does not force it on anybody!
(5). TO “WALK WITH GOD” IMPLIES A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION. “How can two walk together except they be agreed”? The word “walk” suggests a steady progress. Enoch did not take a turn or two with God and then leave His company, but he “Walked with God” for hundreds of years. What a splendid walk! A walk of 300 years! It was not a run, a leap, or a spurt, but a steady walk.
