Lesson 23
Series: THE PROGRESSION OF SIN
Lesson 23: Genesis 5:1-24 A TESTIMONY THAT PLEASES GOD
Genesis 5:1-24 (KJV) “1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 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: 4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: 7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: 8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. 9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: 10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: 11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. 12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: 13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: 14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. 15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: 17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. 18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
INTRODUCTION:
As we continue our journey through the book of Genesis in this series I am calling “Sin’s Progression” we are are going to take a side road and visit some interesting sites most of us like to skip over because these verse seem so mundane. I want us to look at Genesis 5:5-24. By means of introduction I want us to look at some random verses I have selected for this study.
Verse 5 "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.”
Verse 8 “And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.”
Verse 11 “And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.”
Verse 14 “And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.”
Verse 17 “And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.”
Verse 20 “And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died."
The refrain is, "And he died" "And he died" "And he died" "And he died" "And he died." It sounds like we are reading an obituary column. But then there is a name that suddenly stands out like a rose in a desert of death in verses 21-24.
Verse 21 "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
Verse 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Verse 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
Verse 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Now don’t you think that's very strange? Of all these other people it says, "And he died" but here is a man of whom it says, "And he was not; for God took him." Well what on earth happened to this man? How did he get out of this world? How did he go to heaven? We have to look at Hebrews 11:5 to find that answer. The Bible 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." That is, God took Enoch physically and bodily to heaven without dying.
There was once a man complaining about the worlds condition to Mark Twain, and he said he was afraid the world was coming to an end. Mark Twain said, "Don't worry about it, you’re never going to get out of it alive anyway."
However, Enoch got out of the world alive, and Elijah got out of the world alive, and I have a feeling that some of us are going to get out of this world alive. The Bible calls this THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.
For a few moments we are going to look at ENOCH'S TESTIMONY. Therefore, here is this man Enoch, who went to heaven in a wonderful way, and someone has called him THE FIRST ASTRONAUT. Enoch went to heaven as the result of a departure, not as the result of a death. Enoch went to heaven as the result of a translation, not as the result of a tomb. Enoch went to heaven as the result of a rapture, not as the result of a replacement for the dead.
I feel it will help us tremendously to SIMPLIFY ENOCH AND HIS TIME. I want you to think about the situation in which Enoch lived because I believe Enoch is a type and a prophecy of the church.
Then I feel it will spiritually to SIGNIFY ENOCH AND HIS TESTIMONY. Because over there in Hebrews 11:4-5 it says that he had the testimony that "He pleased God." Hebrews 11 also talks about how "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him..."
INTRODUCTION – SIMPLIFIED
ENOCH AND HIS TIME.
Some may not realize it but Enoch was a contemporary of Adam. Adam was still living and was 622 years old and he was just in the prime of life when Enoch was born because Adam lived to be 930 years old.
How in this world did those people live to be hundreds and hundreds of year old? Well, they lived back before sin had taken its toll on this world. This was back before pollution and the environmental things that are in the world today had taken place. Today, you and I are reaping the consequences of centuries of sin and our early deaths is what it has done to man.
So Adam was in the prime of life at only 622 years young when Enoch was born. Seth who was the founder of the godly line, was 492 years old when Enoch was born and I'm sure Enoch learned a lot from Seth. Jared, who was Enoch's father, was just a kid at 162 and must have gotten married real young to be only 162 when Enoch was born. But remember, Enoch was a contemporary of Adam for 308 years.
I just feel like Enoch must have known many of the Spiritual leaders of that day. There must have been a lot of Spiritual preaching and teaching going on in that day, a lot of salt spread among the people and yet that did not keep that prehistoric world from corruption and there was a falling away and a great apostasy that came just before Enoch went to heaven and sins progression continued. I want you to keep that in mind as I try to intemperate Enoch's day very carefully.
ENOCH'S DAY WAS A DAY OF SOCIAL PERMISSIVENESS.
To see what Enoch's day was like we have think back to chapter 4:19. Because there the Bible introduces to us a man named Lamech who was a contemporary of Enoch. There were many people who were alive during that time but God's Holy Spirit only chose certain people because these people in some ways typify what was going on in that time. They were the leading opinion makers of that day. The Bible says in Gen 4:19 "And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah." In our day there is much discussion about the “Sexual Revolution. Now God's plan was one man for one woman till death do them part, but here you see the beginning of a sexual revolution. Here was a man who cared not what God's plan was there in the Garden of Eden, "And Lamech took unto him two wives..." Now skip on down to verses 23-24, "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." Here was a man whose life was marked by vice and violence. I believe the Holy Spirit recorded this man and his life because it was a picture of what was going on in that particular day. ENOCH'S DAY WAS A DAY OF SOCIAL PERMISSIVENESS. The restraints were being removed from society and every man was beginning to do that which was right in his own eyes. Immorality was rampant and sex was blatant, and there were multi-marriages.
ENOCH'S DAY WAS A DAY OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESSIVENESS.
"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch:” [Now this was another Enoch - this was the Devil's Enoch] “and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch." Now men are starting to move to the city, and now great and large cities are beginning to be built. Notice verse 22 and see what the men are doing in the city: "And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron:"
They just had an industrial revolution and they are now starting to mine the earth. They are now starting to get the smelting furnaces going. They are now starting to put things together.
SO WE CAN SEE A DAY OF SOCIAL PERMISSIVENESS BUT WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE ANOTHER DAY.
Man has been driven from the Garden of Eden and now he puts his ingenuity and his mind together and he is going to try to create a synthetic and artificial paradise. Man that started in the Garden of Eden has now moved into the city of sin. He is now using his own ideas, wit and wisdom that God gave him to serve God in ways that are not submitted to God.
ENOCH'S DAY WAS A DAY OF SPIRITUAL PRESUMPTUOUSNESS.
We see the faith that was delivered to Adam. We see the faith for which Able died. Now we see a rise of arrogance. Now in “SIN’S PROGRESSION” we see a rise of humanism. Now we see a rise of ungodliness taking place in this particular time. After a while it got so bad that the thoughts of men's hearts were only evil continually and God had to send a flood and destroy them all. We can get some idea of how it was after Gen 4:16 where it says "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD." Cain was not walking with the Lord, Cain didn't care about God any more, he decided he was going to live his life like he wanted. So this was what THE DAY IN WHICH ENOCH LIVED was like. It seems as though this man Lamech is lifting his fist in the face of God as if to say, "God it makes no difference what you want me to do, I'm going to do what I want to do."
NOW REMEMBER, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT ENOCH AND HIS TIME.
I believe Enoch is an illustration of Christian's today because I believe this is an Old Testament prophecy and type of the Church. Let's think for a moment about you and me and our time. What kind of time are we living in?
WE ARE LIVING IN DAYS OF SOCIAL PERMISSIVENESS.
It has been reported that organized crime is bigger than the United States Government. Our streets and neighborhoods have become a terror where people are afraid to go out of their houses and businesses at night. It used to be your money or your life were in danger, now it is your money and your life is in danger. It has been reported that pornography is over a 4 billion dollar per year business. Think of all the sexual permissiveness going on all around us. That which once was only heard of in faraway places is taking place in our own back streets and yards across America. Think of all the abortions, the killing of innocent little babies and the selling of baby parts with some of them taken from babies even though they are still alive. Think of all the sexually transmitted diseases. Think of all the abused or abandoned children and spouses. Think of the sex trafficking that is rampant across the world and especially in the United States that once was never heard of. Think about all of the homosexuals who are supposedly coming out of their closets parading their vulgar sodomy that which God says is unbecoming to man and insisting that our government legalize same sex marriage, the adoption of innocent children, and many of the other atrocities one can imagine everywhere. Think about the sex changes and all of that sick stuff. (I know that is not politically correct to say, but it is Biblical Fact! READ YOUR BIBLE FOR PROOF! That is not from me that is from God my Heavenly Father!) Think about all the drugs and the attempt today to legalize some of them today. Think about all those who have thrown the institution of marriage out of the window because of some kind of bad experiences or liberal thinking and determined their way is better than the way God intended legal marriage to be BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN. I believe you would have to admit that we are living in days of SOCIAL PERMISSIVENESS.
WE ARE LIVING IN DAYS OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESSIVENESS.
It's amazing how much we know today and yet it's also amazing how stupid we are sometimes. Back in Enoch's day they were discovering things and making things and they became inventors of things, but the civilization was going down, down, down, while man's mind was so fertile. Now in our day they are telling us we can have babies in test tubes. We can take the genes, the chromosomes and the DNA and we can do some genetic engineering and we can create our own race of men. There are some who even say that one day, perhaps we will be able to make a clone of a man to pattern all others human beings after so that we can have a perfect society.
WE ARE LIVING IN DAYS OF SPIRITUAL PRESUMPTUOUSNESS.
The leading religion in the world today is HUMANISM, that makes man the sum and the substance, the center and the circumference of everything. Humanism is a way of living which just leaves God out. We find that on every hand all around us, but that is another study.
WE'RE THINKING ABOUT ENOCH AND HIS TIME and I want you to keep in mind that even though he was a contemporary of Adam, and even though he knew much spiritual truth, and even though there was much spiritual truth being propagated he was in a world that because of “SIN’S PROGRESSION” was being corrupted and destructed and was going down, down, down, and moving swiftly to the end of an age.
EXPLANATION: SIGNIFIED
ENOCH AND HIS TESTIMONY.
Gen 5:22-24 "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."
Heb 11:5 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."
Here was a man who was walking with God. There was a time when Enoch didn't walk with God because there was a time when he was like everybody else, but he had a sudden dramatic conversion. It happened about the time of the birth of his baby boy. The Bible says "Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years" Now for 65 years he was like everybody else and then he had a conversion experience and decided he was going to walk with God.
The 1st thing that caused Enoch to walk with God was:
THE WARNING FROM GOD THAT PROMPTED FEAR IN ENOCH.
Let me give you a little riddle: Who was the oldest man who ever lived who died before his father did? (If you can’t figure it out, I will tell you in a few moments – keep reading.)
Would you ever name a baby Methuselah? That sounds like a weird name doesn't it, and yet Enoch had this little baby that he named Methuselah. But according to my study and research, Methuselah is the compounding of several words that in the Hebrew language that means "It shall be sent when he is dead" or "When he is gone it will come." So this baby's name was "It shall be sent when he is dead."
Let me tell you what this was all about. I am very certain that God was speaking here about the flood that was to come because when Methuselah died the flood came precisely at that moment. Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." The Bible says Enoch was a prophet of God so evidently when Methuselah was born, God sent a message to Enoch and said when this child of yours is gone judgment is going to come to this earth. I BELIEVE THERE WAS THE WARNING FROM GOD THAT PROMPTED FEAR IN ENOCH'S HEART. I believe God said, "Enoch, you know this earth is getting so wicked, so vile, and so corrupt that it cannot go on." The Bible teaches that the flood came the day that Methuselah died. Now you can understand why he lived so long. Verse 27 says, "And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died."
If I was a betting man I would bet you that every time Methuselah got a sniffle, every time he stumped his toe, every time he cried over something, there was someone there to watch him day and night! Methuselah was one you would want to make sure was looked after very well! Well why did Methuselah live so long? The reason Methuselah lived so long was because of the love and the long-suffering of God. God knew that when He brought judgment it was going to be terrible for this earth. So God called his preacher of righteousness, Noah, to preach the wrath of God in the foreground with the ring of hammers in the background as that Ark was being prepared. With tears running down his cheeks Noah was begging people to repent and get right with God. All of that time the long-suffering of God was waiting for 969 years for the people to repent but they didn't listen.
Some people say, "Preachers are all the same. They are always talking about the second coming of Jesus. They are always saying that Jesus is going to come.” Some people say, “I see those signs up on barns and on trees and posts along the roads that say ‘Jesus Is Coming Soon!’” “Sunday School teachers and strong Christian leaders are always talking about ‘Jesus is Coming Soon.’” “Why hasn't he come yet? I can only point you to what brother Simon Peter had to say in his letter in 2 Pet 3:9-10 where he said, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." JUST AS THE FLOOD DID COME 969 YEARS AFTER THE PATIENCE OF GOD WAITED AND THE GRACE OF GOD PLEADED, JESUS IS GOING TO COME AGAIN!
History is like a broken record, it just keeps on repeating itself. I believe we are seeing the days of Enoch repeated in our days. Here was God's love and here was God's mercy, but God has two attributes which are His justice and His grace. The raging waters of God's wrath are furiously pounding against the dam of God's mercy! One of these days, the dam of God mercy will give way to the waters of God's wrath and this generation will be judged like that generation and we just don't know when it is all going to happen, but it will happen! THE FIRST TIME GOD JUDGED THIS WORLD WITH WATER. THE NEXT TIME GOD WILL JUDGE THIS WORLD WITH FIRE!
Who was the oldest man who ever lived who died before his father did? [METHUSELAH was the oldest man who ever lived and his father was Enoch] Enoch went to heaven without ever dying.
The 2nd thing that caused Enoch to walk with God was:
THE WORD FROM GOD THAT PRODUCED FAITH IN ENOCH.
You see, fear is not enough, you've got to have faith and it was the Word of God that produced that faith. I know that Enoch was a man of faith because he is listed over there in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. The Bible says, "By faith Enoch walked with God." No one has ever had faith apart from the Word of God because "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Faith is simply believing what God has said.
Now, if God hasn't said something to you then there is no way you can believe it. Now Enoch heard the Word of God and believed it. I don't know which of his contemporaries taught the Word of God to Enoch, but I would like to believe it was the man who knew God the best who would have been Adam. As you know Adam was the first man who ever lived, and Enoch, knowing that judgment was coming and knowing that there must be more to life must have often gone to Adam to ask him some questions.
I believe Enoch must have gone to Adam one day and asked him "Adam, what was it like in the Garden of Eden?" Adam must have said, "Son, it was glorious. The fruit was abundant. The rivers were crystal clear. The flowers were filled with fragrance. The breezes were cool. The animals were gentle. But Enoch, let me tell you son, the most wonderful thing about the Garden of Eden was that God would come every day and my God and I would walk through the fields together. He would take me by the hand and we would go to a sun lit mountain and I could see His splendor. We would stand there and watch the sun set in the West. I would love Him and He would love me. Enoch just to walk with God was paradise."
I believe there must have been a desire in Enoch's heart saying, "That's what I want more than anything else. I want to walk with God more than I want life, more than I want breath. I want to please God. For if I please God it doesn't matter whom I displease. I just want to go hand in hand with my God. I just want to walk with God" I just believe Enoch heard the Word of God through Adam or through Seth, or somebody else because the Bible says, "By faith Enoch walked with God."
Oh, I hope and pray that the Holy Spirit would use me as His instrument to take this Word of God that I am sharing and put faith in your heart and a desire in your heart to say, "Henceforth and forever more I want to walk with God."
The 3rd thing that caused Enoch to walk with God was:
THE WALK WITH GOD THAT PROVIDED FELLOWSHIP WITH ENOCH.
Listen to Hebrews 11:5 again "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." Enoch pleased God, but God said that about someone else also. God said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
That tells me that when you are pleasing God you are Christ-like. If you want to know what it is to be like Jesus, just live in such a way that you please God and you will know what it is to be like Jesus. Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God. There are always those who might say, "Yes, sure, back in those days he could do that. But what about here today, I've got real problems to face." We all have problems, I've have them, you have them Adam had them. Enoch had a family of sons and daughters, and I don’t know of anyone who has sons and daughters without having problems no matter how much you love them. Enoch didn't walk around in a monastery somewhere isolated from the world. Enoch walked with God in an age very much like ours. When Enoch walked with God he didn't just take a little step, but he walked with God for 300 years. Enoch pleased God in an age of apostasy, in an age of a sexual and scientific revolution, in an age of humanism, in an age of filth and violence in an age that was so bad that God had to destroy the world with a flood. Don't come telling me that it can't be done. Enoch lived at home, and Enoch lived in a sinful age. If whatever you have that you think is spiritual won't work at home, and if whatever you have that you think is spiritual won't work in a sinful age, then whatever you have that you think is spiritual is not the real thing. Listen, it wasn't easy for Enoch to walk with God, but he had the testimony that he "Pleased God." Maybe you need to go back to the cross of Jesus and lean on Him.
“What a fellowship, what a joy divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms;”
“What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, Leaning on the everlasting arms.”
“Oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, Leaning on the everlasting arms;”
“Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day, Leaning on the everlasting arms.”
Do you have that testimony?
DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?
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