The Generations of Adam

[0:00] Well, the last time I was here, which was over a month ago, we finished up that lesson with! this comment, when Adam was 130 years old, Eve bore him a son named Seth. A lot of people say! Seth took Abel's place, who was murdered by his brother Cain. Seth represents the reestablishment of the godly line.

[0:38] And again, in that respect, Seth took the place of Abel. Seth was in the genealogical line of both Joseph and Mary. Mary being the mother of Jesus. You can look at those genealogies in Matthew and in Luke, and you'll find Seth. So that's where we shall start this evening. This section of Scripture is referred to as the book of the generations of Adam. And for good reason. We start by listening to the Holy Spirit-inspired words. In the very first sentence of chapter 5, this is the book of the generations of Adam. So you can tell I didn't make that up. That's right there. In this chapter, Moses sort of reviews or recites the length of time which intervenes between the creation of the world and the deluge. And I use that word deluge. That's in reference to the flood that occurred in Noah's day. Moses also touches briefly on some of the history of that period. And this is not an exhaustive look at that period by any stretch. We don't know in great detail the things that went on. I've always said, you know, you read your

[2:12] Bible and the letters and words in black ink. There's white spaces. There's a lot going on in the white spaces that we aren't told. Sometimes thousands of years or hundreds of years. So a lot goes on in what we don't know. What we do have in the record is exactly what the Spirit of God wanted us to have. So we can rely on that and rest in that.

[2:42] Here are the first five verses. This is the book of the generation of Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. Male and female, He created them.

[2:56] And He blessed them and named them man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth.

[3:09] Now he already had at least two children, maybe more. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years. And he had other sons and daughters.

[3:23] Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years. And he died. If you're ever in a trivial pursuit, there's a great question, what was the first name of Eve?

[3:35] Well, they called her man. They called Adam and Eve man. That was the very first name. And then she became Eve, the mother of all the living.

[3:48] Because of its importance, Moses repeats some of what he's already told us in the very beginning of the book of Genesis. And we've looked at that. He informs us that God created man in the likeness of God.

[4:02] We're told that God created both male and female. Moses then jumps to when Adam was 130 years old.

[4:14] Young by those standards, because he lived 930 years. And he and Eve had a son in his own likeness and after his image. And he named him Seth.

[4:25] When Moses tells us that God made them male and female, many of the theologians, such as John Calvin, believed this to be a reference to the sacred bonds of matrimony between one man and one woman.

[4:45] In our generation, that has been stomped on by the beautiful people. I have those two words in italics.

[5:00] Who are these beautiful people? There are numbers of them. Certainly, a vast majority of Hollywood types support the homosexual, lesbian, transgender generation. So do many politicians of both parties, but one party specifically by their platform are ardent supporters of the agenda.

[5:20] There is nothing more than turning one's nose up at God and telling him, you will not have rule over us. We're not going to do it your way. We are also told by Moses that Adam and Eve begat a son named Seth who was born in the likeness of his father.

[5:40] What was that likeness or what had it become? Well, for one thing, it was a fallen likeness because of the sin of Adam in the garden.

[5:53] Adam fell. Seth was born years after Adam fell. Mark this thought down because it's important. According to the flesh, Seth was born a sinner.

[6:09] Obviously, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. At some point, he was renewed by the grace of the Spirit of God. We're not given any details concerning that.

[6:23] We don't know when that occurred. We do know that many children and grandchildren and so on were born to Seth and his line.

[6:35] He lived hundreds of years. Something like six generations after the birth of Seth, descendants of Adam could still pay him a visit, sit down, talk to him, hear his voice.

[6:52] Can you imagine some great, great, great grandchild sitting on the ground at the feet of Adam and listening to him talk about walking with God in the cool of the evening?

[7:02] That's how it was back then. That's how it was. After Adam had lived 930 years, he died. Let me, I mean, we can't even imagine that.

[7:16] Let me try to put that into context. I was born in 1948. If I live 930 years, I will die in 2878.

[7:30] And it's going to take Mike Dershmat long to teach me how to plumb, be a plumber. So, I hope I live that long, Mike. 2878. And let us not pass over this statement because it's very, very important.

[7:49] And he died. And he died. That is going to be repeated many times in Scripture. Death was not some obscure announcement that God made against the human family.

[8:07] It is there for all to see because of the curse of Genesis chapter 3. Now, you remember that, that God told Adam, and the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die.

[8:24] Every human is exposed to this curse. The divine penalty of death has been going on now for thousands of years.

[8:35] I kind of like to say death can't be that bad because everybody does it. If it was that bad, surely we'd figure out how not to do it. But everybody does it, so it must not be that bad. Listen to what Scripture says.

[8:47] when Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

[9:04] Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died. When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.

[9:18] Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years and he died.

[9:31] When Kenan had lived 70 years, he followed Mahalala. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalala 840 years and had other sons and daughters.

[9:44] Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years and he died. When Mahalala had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalala lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters.

[10:01] Thus all the days of Mahalala were 895 years and he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch.

[10:18] Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years and he died.

[10:32] Now we're not going to discuss these individual descendants of Adam through Seth, but we do see the common denominator among the human race.

[10:44] And it is repeated throughout this portion of Scripture, and he died, and he died, and he died. Death is the great unifying factor among all humans in all cultures in all ages.

[11:05] All sin, therefore all die. It is a reminder that all flesh is under the curse of God that originated in the garden as the result of the disobedience disobedience of our original parents.

[11:23] I said many years ago, and I still believe, we have never truly plumbed the depths of the sin that Adam and Eve entered into in Eden. There were so many things that happened and continue to happen in the fall of mankind into sin.

[11:43] It's like the pebble into the pond and the ripples start and the ripples never die. They just keep going. There is certainly more than can be recounted here.

[11:53] Adam and Eve were ashamed of their nakedness and tried to hide from God. Where do you go to hide from God? Where is that place? They introduced a human system of works righteousness, a failed human religion, if you will, a failed human effort to make themselves acceptable once again to God.

[12:20] They've been walking with Him in the cool of the evening and now they're driven from Him. They don't want to be around Him. They're embarrassed. They're ashamed. When confronted by God, they tried to blame each other and then Satan for their new predicament.

[12:35] We've heard that before with Flip Wilson. The devil made me do it. That was Geraldine, wasn't it? They inherited a new sin nature which would be passed on to each succeeding generation.

[12:50] And they died spiritually the moment they ate the forbidden fruit and ultimately would die physically. And that too has been passed on and handed down to all humans in all generations.

[13:06] generations. So down through the generations we see the children of Adam dying. And then we come to the son of Jared.

[13:18] He was a boy named Enoch. In him we see a praise that had not occurred since Adam and Eve. It might have occurred in Adam or Abel if he had lived but instead he was murdered by his brother.

[13:35] This is the account of Enoch. When Enoch had lived 65 years he fathered Methuselah. Now that's a name we're familiar with, isn't it? So he has a son.

[13:49] First son. He's 65. He's young. And he has a son named Methuselah. And it says Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

[14:10] Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him.

[14:24] Well, we have a break here. A major break. This passage opens when Enoch is 65 years old. Not very old given the length of the lifespan in those days.

[14:41] At age 65 Enoch fathered a son which he named Methuselah. Nothing is said here concerning Mrs. Enoch but we can be certain she fulfilled her role in birthing the boy and Enoch I'm sure did his part.

[14:58] Then something amazing happened that represents a break in what had been transpiring for the various generations since Adam.

[15:11] It occurs after Enoch fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

[15:23] In my mind Enoch looked down at that little baby boy and something stirred within him and I've been there and I bet several of you have.

[15:41] It was then that Enoch begins to walk with God. He saw that baby and he started living a life committed to the true God.

[15:52] God this walk was so profound and real that it lasted a total of 365 years. That is a long time to worship and to serve and to walk with the Lord.

[16:11] as if to add emphasis Moses of course writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit records again twice in that passage Enoch walked with God.

[16:27] That's important isn't it? And then something very unique in the pattern of men mankind happened.

[16:38] the scriptures tell us that Enoch was walking with God and then one day he was not for God took him.

[16:52] Just a phenomenal passage of scripture. Can you imagine the conjecture that went on among his friends and neighbors?

[17:04] I mean let's face it Enoch disappeared. And there's got to be people gossiping. We didn't invent that. Can you hear them?

[17:15] A wild animal must have gotten him. I bet he drowned in the river. The fool was always walking and this time he lost his way back home.

[17:28] Mrs. Enoch probably thought just wait till I get my hands on him. Of course we know that none of that is true. So what happened to Enoch?

[17:40] Well there's only one conclusion we can draw. He got raptured out of here. He experienced the rapture. No different than the church will experience the true church except he was the only one that went that time.

[17:57] he had a personal miniature version of what the true church is looking for today. And I would have to say with mounting excitement and expectations.

[18:13] I find myself up at my farm often out in the pasture or on the back portion where we're looking east and saying perhaps today or Lord come vindicate your name.

[18:24] I say that frequently. But it's just what the church is looking for today. The departure from earth into the very presence of the Lord.

[18:37] Think about this event with Enoch and the time frame in which it occurred. Something very extraordinary occurred with Enoch. up until this point people were being removed from the world by death.

[18:56] And most people still are. Most still are. This was a promise made by God to Adam should he be disobedient. Genesis 2 17.

[19:07] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. And people said wait he didn't die. Hundreds of years.

[19:17] No no he died spiritually. Immediately separated from the Lord. Created a religion to try to work his way back. Couldn't do it. What did the Lord do?

[19:30] He went out and killed an innocent animal and covered Adam and Eve's sin by shedding innocent blood. Does that sin familiar? How are our sins covered?

[19:42] Innocent blood of Jesus. That was a type of Christ in Genesis. This animal we don't know what it was. People like to say it's a lamb we don't know. Probably was a lamb.

[19:53] I don't think it was a kangaroo but probably a lamb. What made Enoch's event so extraordinary is that Enoch was taken out of this world by an unusual mode and received by the Lord in a miraculous manner.

[20:12] Enoch was in the middle of life when this occurred. only 365 years old. Sounds old on our day but these guys were living 800 and 900 years. I had to say maybe this was his midlife crisis.

[20:28] He's in the middle. He's in the middle. He's in the middle. There was nothing that had come before this that could serve as an example to the people around him.

[20:40] they couldn't say well Enoch he got raptured just like him and him and him and her. This had never happened before. Not even to Abel whose body was still buried somewhere in that part of the world.

[20:58] Not to Adam and Eve who would die in their dust. Nothing like this had ever happened. But it would happen again. It would happen again with the prophet Elijah.

[21:15] Elijah is going to go through the same thing. Two men that didn't die. Enoch and Elijah. You know a lot of people speculate that those are the two witnesses of Revelation.

[21:28] Remember that story? There are going to be two witnesses rise up and they're going to be killed and after three days come back to life. And a lot of people think that Enoch and Elijah because it's appointed unto man to die once and then the judgment.

[21:41] And those two didn't die. So maybe they are. But the Bible is silent on there. I have a theory. If the Bible is silent we should be too. But nothing like this had ever happened.

[21:54] But then it happens later with the prophet Elijah. It will happen again with the snatching away. The rapture of the church.

[22:05] And people love to say well the word rapture is not in the Bible. Well it's not in the English Bible. It's in Greek and it's in the Latin Bible. But not in ours. Latin it's rapturo.

[22:16] It's pretty close to what we call it. The best theology concerning the translation of Enoch. The rapture if you will of Enoch.

[22:28] Was offered many years ago. people in a black Baptist church in the deep south a country church. The minister read this passage that we're reading tonight concerning Enoch.

[22:44] And he asked if any member in the congregation, if you've ever been to black Baptist church, they talk. They have a lot going on here. And the minister read that passage and said, anybody want to try to explain what happened?

[23:01] And he was not expecting any member to venture forth for an answer. He would give the answer. But there was a small little black boy about five years old on the front row center and he raised his hand.

[23:16] He could explain it. Well, what's the pastor going to do? Everybody can see he's raised his hand so he said, come on up. And he did. I think they had to put a stool and some books.

[23:28] So he could see over the pulpit. They had him stand up on a chair so he could look out over the pulpit and see the congregation. And once there he began to speak.

[23:43] Every day Enoch would wake up and run outside to meet Jesus. Now this is a little black boy's explanation. They would run in the woods, wade in the river, skip rocks on the water, and climb trees all day.

[24:06] One day they were having so much fun, but before they knew it, the sun started going down. And Jesus said to Enoch, it's going to be dark soon and you're a long way from your house.

[24:20] Instead of walking back to the dark woods alone, do you want to come home with me? Enoch said he did, so Jesus took him to his home in heaven.

[24:33] And then the little black boy said, so we have to be ready to go home with Jesus someday. Now when he finished in that congregation there wasn't a dry eye. The preacher got up behind the pulpit and he said, I can't improve on that.

[24:52] Let's have the hymn of invitation and be dismissed. Well, I can't improve on it either, so we're going to pray and be dismissed and pick it up there, but next week we're going to hear a name that I guarantee you almost all of you have heard before.

[25:10] We're going to talk about him for several weeks, a man by the name of Noah. We're coming to Noah next week, so be ready, and if you can't swim, bring a life preserver because we're going to have a flood.

[25:23] May have one this week. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the day and your grace and your mercy, the peace we have with Jesus and knowing him and expecting his return, Lord, at any time.

[25:38] Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus, was the cry in the revelator. And so, Lord, we thank you that you have not left us as orphans, and you're very mindful of us every moment of every day, and you are returning for us.

[25:56] And we look forward to that day. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. .