Genesis 4:16-5:32

[0:00] Genesis chapter 4, we won't read the rest of chapter 4. We'll be starting in verse 16. We won't read all 4 and 5 like we usually do. We'll just pray and then get into it and go through it. Exciting text, genealogies.

[0:14] Actually, it is quite exciting. I mean, I was getting excited over it. So, let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word again. We've just been praying and worshiping, Lord, and bringing our hearts to a place where they can be open to you, Lord. And Lord, we know that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain.

[0:30] So, Lord, we want you to build our hearts, Lord, to build this church, to build our homes, and to build this fellowship, Lord. And Lord, we pray that through your word we'd be edified. We thank you. We love you.

[0:42] We thank you so much, Lord, for coming and crushing the head of the serpent, Lord, for giving us another way and forgiving our sins. And in Jesus' name, amen. All right. So, today, we're going to see two lines, two walks, and two destinations.

[1:00] If you remember last time, we talked a little about how our focus determines our worship, like Cain and Abel, that their focus, Abel's focused on the things that help to facilitate his worship of the Lord and his relationship with the Lord, Cain focusing on that which was cursed, the ground.

[1:19] And then that determined their worship. Today, we're going to see that our focus determines our walk. So, our focus determines our worship. It also determines our walk. We're going to see these two different lines, two lines, two walks, and two destinations.

[1:34] The two lines of Seth and Cain, the two walks. We're going to see two different Enoch's, very different walks. And that leads to two destinations. So, Proverbs 4, verse 18 says, But the path of the just is as the shining light that shines more and more under the perfect day.

[1:55] The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble. That's what we're going to see. The way of the wicked, it just gets darker and darker and darker until they don't even know what they're tripping over. It's just all dark. Where the way of the just shines more and more to that perfect day.

[2:09] And we're going to see that displayed before us. So, if we pick up in Genesis chapter 4, verse 16. Cain then, by his own choice, went out from the presence of the Lord, and he dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden, or wandering, that word means.

[2:27] And he went to where he was comfortable. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch, and he built it a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

[2:39] So, Cain goes out with his wife. You know, where did Cain get his wife? Obviously, from one of Adam's daughters, or could have been a niece at this point in time. But it says he went out and didn't get a wife, like he already had her.

[2:52] And we talked about how Cain and Abel were probably 30s, 40s, you know. So, as we go through the genealogies of Seth, we're going to see the average age of bearing one of these patriarchs is 108.

[3:05] That's the average age that the patriarchs come on the scene. Obviously, they're having a lot of other children at the same time. It's just that these people, the Bible points out, are very specific that the line of the Messiah, the promise to Eve, is going to come through.

[3:22] And so, how old were Cain and Abel? When were they having kids? I mean, they weren't those teenagers that we think of. But Cain knew his wife, and she bare a son, and his name Enoch. Enoch means to initiate or to dedicate.

[3:34] And maybe by a long extrapolation, to instruct. But initiate and to dedicate. And so, Cain goes out, and he built a city. This is the first instance of building a city. Why did he build a city?

[3:45] You know, we had talked about where did Adam and Eve live? Were they just out in the country, just laying there, you know. I mean, was the weather so nice they didn't need houses or whatever? But he builds a city.

[3:56] And you think, well, why would he build a city? Well, if you remember, if we look back at verse 13, Cain's complaint to the Lord, 13 of chapter 4, is, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you've driven me out this day from the earth, from the face of the earth, and from your face shall I be hid.

[4:13] And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that when anyone finds me, he shall slay me. And that fugitive and vagabond is one that is wandering, one that is unstable, and one that is kind of like nervous.

[4:28] So this is his complaint, and he's like, anyone who finds me is going to kill me. He doesn't believe the Lord already. So when the Lord says, hey, I'm going to protect you, you know, if anyone kills Cain, I will take vengeance on him sevenfold.

[4:41] So Cain goes out, and he creates a city, because Cain needs security. Cain is afraid. He's like, well, I'm going to make sure I am safe. I'm going to build this city. And then he names it after Enoch.

[4:52] So Cain's passing on this mentality to his offspring that everybody's out to get us. God's out to get us. We need to be protected. We need a city. A man-centered living.

[5:04] It's not God-focused. It's man-centered. Why did they build a city? In pride and fear. I mean, name your city after your son. It's because it's pride. It's man-centered living. We also look for a city, don't we?

[5:18] And ours is not man-centered. It's not based in pride. It's not something that's going to be of this world. Speaking of Abraham, Hebrews 11.10 says, For he looked for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God.

[5:31] Where Enoch built a city, the foundations were in this mindset that Cain's passing on. In fear and in pride, he's building the city. We have one that we look for whose builder and maker is God.

[5:43] And we have the promise in Revelation 21.27, And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination or makes a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

[5:58] And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. Cain said, You've driven me from your face.

[6:09] And then the scripture tells us Cain on his own went out from the presence of the Lord. Cain left the face. And in scripture, face is always associated with the person. It's never just like an abstract thing like somebody's face.

[6:21] It is the person. And so when we will see his face, we'll be in his presence. And there's no more curse. The curse is gone. The curse that Cain and his offspring are living under. All right, moving on.

[6:34] And Enoch, unto him was born Irad. And Irad begat Mahujala. And Mahujala begat Methusel. And Methusel begat Lamech. A lot of begats.

[6:47] Irad means fugitive. So you see this mindset continuing in Cain's generation. He's a fugitive. Enoch names it. We are fugitives. Irad begat Mahujala.

[6:58] That means smitten of God. And then Methusel. Kind of sounds a lot like Methuselah, doesn't it? El, meaning God, means he who is of God.

[7:12] And I don't know. That's stuck right in the middle of Cain's line. And it's like God still has a witness in the midst of these people, that he who is of God. Or it could be a mockery.

[7:23] And then Lamech, which means powerful. And you can see here in Cain's line, this mix primarily of this man-centered and world-focused, this earth-focused living.

[7:37] Cain, whereas we go through this, there's no dates, like no time stamp on any of this. With Seth's line, we're going to have how old they are, then they begat more kids, and then how old they live. And it's interesting because it's like God doesn't even recognize the wicked.

[7:54] He counts time by the righteous. You know, we think of the clock that we talk about. Israel, that clock of prophecy. You know, well, what about the Chinese dynasty, Lord? What about all...

[8:04] Well, only as people relate to Israel does God acknowledge them in the scripture. And so here with Cain's line, you know, we have the record going to essentially the flood.

[8:15] These are his generation, and then it's cut off. But it doesn't give us the time stamp. And so then here we have Lamech. Good old Lamech. We're like, what, five generations removed now from Cain.

[8:27] And Lamech, meaning powerful, he comes on the scene. And it says in verse 19, And he took unto him two wives. The name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other, Zillah. Ada means ornament, or outward beauty.

[8:41] Shade is the meaning of Zillah. It doesn't mean she's shady. It's kind of like, probably like her hair, or just darkly complected. And so here's this focus on the outward. That's what Lamech's about.

[8:51] He's only focused on that. And he takes two wives. Bigamy. First instance here, bigamy. And so throwing off, again, more of God's order.

[9:02] And that's what sin does. The longer we stay in sin, the more it begins to work upon us, until here he's now throwing off God's order of marriage. And Ada, she bare Jabal.

[9:19] 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 handled the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also had Tubalcain, an instructor of every artifice, and brass, and iron.

[9:33] And the sister of Tubalcain was Neama. Now, we're going to talk about those kids in a minute, but I want to continue on and continue looking at Lamech. So we saw who he was in verse 19.

[9:45] He's got these two wives, tells us his kids. Then it says this in verse 23. And Lamech said unto his wives, Ada and Zillah, Hear my voice, you wives of Lamech.

[9:56] Hearken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. So he kind of comes in, and he's boasting to his wives here about this murder that he's had committed.

[10:11] You know, today, I don't know if you've seen the, you know, transhumanist thing you've heard of, or the Industrial Revolution 4.0, right? This idea that, oh, we're going to live forever.

[10:24] And maybe you have seen this. That guy thinks he's going to be the last generation either to die or he's going to live forever.

[10:50] What would that look like? You know, there's people today that that's what they are aiming at. Like, wow, what if there was some technology or drug that we could, and it would add 300 years to his life, right?

[11:05] Think of a Klaus Schwab or Jared Kushner or anybody you want to, any powerful leader. You add 300 years to their lives. Imagine Hitler alive 300 years. Wow, they'd feel like they're living forever.

[11:17] They'd feel like gods. These guys are living 900 years. 900 years. No death. No natural death. Imagine then telling one of these guys, hey, the sin caused death.

[11:33] Curse brought, the curse brought death. You will die. I'm 457 years old. I'm as strong as I was at 300. I'm not going to die. They're like, they think they're gods. We're going to eventually see what that's going to lead to in chapter 6.

[11:47] Where they begin then to delve into the spiritual realm and think that as gods, they will join themselves with the spiritual world. And so, Cain kills Abel. But was there any death since Abel?

[12:00] Probably not. And I think that's why this is recorded. Because this is pretty big news. People haven't died of natural causes. We're only four or five generations down here. And then Lamech goes out and he murders this guy.

[12:14] And he's all like, I didn't get smitten. The fire of God didn't fall. Woohoo! I must be so powerful. I must be like a god. And Lamech then comes and boasts to his wife and says, I've killed a man that wounded me.

[12:34] And that word there is the same for like bruising. To bruise the head of the serpent. Or to bruise the heel. The serpent will bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. The same word. He's like, hey, someone bruised me.

[12:45] And then I crushed him. I killed him. And then you see here his twisted view of God's word and of God's grace. It was God's grace to Cain that he didn't kill him.

[12:57] And then here he says, If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech, seventy and sevenfold. Was Cain still alive now? I don't know. I think Cain probably died early because he was such a worrier.

[13:09] Probably ate away at him. But anyway, the story of Cain is progressing through his generation. His generations and his lineage. And here he says, hey, I'll be avenged seventy and sevenfold.

[13:20] No, he won't. He's trying again to be like God. He's doing the same thing that happened in the garden. It's still there. Where scripture, the word of God is twisted. And so that's this man.

[13:32] And so he, unfortunately, like Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes 8.11. Solomon in not too good of a place in his life in Ecclesiastes. Still speaking truth, but from a kind of jaded perspective says, Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of man is fully set in them to do evil.

[13:54] And so that's Lamech. He's like, God hasn't killed us. We're not dead. I killed a man and I'm not dead. Maybe we really are like gods. And so this man-centered, this world-centered focus.

[14:07] Interesting, too, that the first death in scripture, sin unrepented of, leads to a second death, doesn't it? And that's what we have here, this picture of a second death.

[14:19] Revelation 21, back in Revelation there. Verse 7 says, He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God. He shall be my son.

[14:30] But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and liars, Cain's line, shall have their part in the lake which shall burn with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

[14:43] So there's a second death. That sin unchecked, sin unrepented of, leads to a second death. For us, death is never supposed to be an end point.

[14:56] You know, Jesus comes in and he redeems death. Death is now just an entrance into life. But for those who continue in the path of sin, those who are already dead, there's a second death.

[15:07] And here, scripture gives us this picture of a second death. All right, so that's Lamech. He has these boys, these three boys. He had other children, most likely, but these are the notable ones.

[15:18] So let's go back up and look at the boys. In verse 20, Ada, who is ornament, she bore Jabal. That name means stream or flow or to produce, to bring forth.

[15:33] He was the father of such that dwell in tents and of such as have cattle. Well, Cain built a city. Who cares if now they're deciding to dwell in tents?

[15:44] What is this about? The idea is wandering. He was the first one of Cain's line to be like, okay, we're going to go back out into the world. We're not afraid anymore of man, that they're going to kill us because of Cain's curse.

[15:56] We're not afraid God's going to get us. Why do you think that? Probably because dad comes home and he's like, guys, I just beat God's word. It meant nothing. I'm still alive.

[16:07] Vengeance is going to be taken on me sevenfold. And so here now you see Jabal spreading his wings a little. And it says he's the father of those as have cattle. And the idea there is livestock, herds.

[16:19] Who was the first one we saw having herds? Abel. Abel kept them. What would be the point? Because they're still under this mindset of eating that which is produced from the ground.

[16:34] Because Adam was told by the Lord, you shall eat what's produced to the ground. So it's for worship. So what's this guy doing with it? Well, either man is now eating meat, which is fine.

[16:45] But at this point, they're either eating meat or he's using it in some form for trade. But so what was once for worship is now being used for gain. And so sin is twisting this and taking that.

[16:55] You think of that picture of Jesus going into the temple and driving out the money changers because that which was once for worship is now being used for gain. And you think of today in our society, in the Western church, not just in the West, it's in the East too.

[17:11] A very prosperity focus that what was once for worship can so easily be used and turned into gain. And again, why?

[17:22] Because like we said, that focus, that our focus determines our worship and determines our walk. And so that's what Jabal was.

[17:33] He was the father of those that began to roam, that began to trade, and kind of like this idea of merchandising. And his brother's name was Jubal, and he was the father of such as handled the harp and organ.

[17:44] So Jubal, the year of Jubilee. That means joyful, a joyful sound, music. He's producing this music. Amos tells us, and I thought this was pretty good.

[17:55] It tells us that David made instruments. But the lead up to this, Amos is kind of bringing a woe upon the people. And it describes pretty accurately what's happening in Cain's lineage and in the world at this time.

[18:09] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations. Here's these men, chief of the nations. To whom the house of Israel came. You that put far away the evil day and caused the seed of violence to come near.

[18:24] I mean, these guys are living forever. They're putting far away. That's not going to happen to me bringing near the seed of violence. That lie upon the beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches.

[18:35] And eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall. That chant to the sound of the veal and invent to themselves instruments of music like David.

[18:45] So here's the guy, the first guy here, Jubal, to make music. And he's using it not to worship the Lord. But you see how the Lord, who was the inventor of music, right?

[18:57] He comes back and he redeems that through David, who makes these instruments himself. But that's what these men are doing. They're using the gifts and ingenuity God gave them for their own gain.

[19:10] And to focus on building up this world. And then our last boy here, this was Zilla, Shade. She's a little bit shady. Her son, Tubal-Cain, means to be brought of Cain or the world of Cain or like Cain.

[19:28] And he's an instructor in every artifice in brass and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Neyama. This is the only woman listed other than a wife in the lineage. Neyama means loveliness.

[19:40] And so here again, I think it's just showing us that this focus is still all about the flesh. And so Tubal-Cain, it says he's the instructor of every artifice in brass and iron.

[19:51] It's like, oh, that's cool. You know, metallurgy. Well, the wording there is actually instructors to sharpen or wet. Like to wet the edge of your sword, to sharpen. So he's making instruments for war is what he's doing.

[20:06] And so man, man has created devices for making rich, making mighty, making merry. And that's the picture God's giving us. Why? To keep their heart firmly focused in this present world.

[20:20] Because they are of the seed of the serpent. Again, it's not some creepy thing, the seed of the serpent. It's just those who have gone the way of the curse. And so their heart is firmly fixed.

[20:31] And I was thinking about this because it's like, well, this is some pretty, pretty like forward advancing stuff that's happening to these people. I mean, this is progress. And isn't progress good?

[20:42] No. Progress is not always a positive thing. Right? This cell phone I have, I can do a lot of things with it.

[20:54] Would the world be better off without cell phones? Probably. Probably. You know, if I leave at home and I'm out driving, it's almost like, I might die.

[21:06] I mean, if I did, who am I going to call? Wait. You know? If the kids don't have theirs and I can't track them, it's like, oh my word, this says it hasn't updated. The tracking hasn't updated in three hours. It's probably because I've been kidnapped and someone broke the phone.

[21:18] I know. Ah! Right? I think when we were, you know, teenagers or whatever, I remember going to like amusement parks or the mall. And you'd be like, okay, two hours we meet back here.

[21:29] Right? All right. And then you'd get back there and you'd wait forever. Because it never failed. You had that one, I had sisters, and that one sister. And it's like, half hour later, it's like, where were you?

[21:40] Well, you couldn't go anywhere. You had to stay there until that person came. And then we got the little walkie-talkies. Remember, we would take those to the amusement park. And you'd get everybody on the same channel. Who's this?

[21:51] Is this you? So sure, I love, I like that I can, you know, I can plan out my whole message and run everything. It's a blessing. You know, I think of when we started here in this location and the scripture where the Lord says to Moses, what's in your hand?

[22:05] He's got a staff. And I've always thought, look at my Bible. You know, I'm not really big on commentaries. Kind of approach the word and just take what the Lord gives me.

[22:16] And I mean, yeah, I've listened and read things over the years since I was a kid. Right? But it's now kind of in there. And there's so much in the word that comments so well on the scripture. That's why we've got 50 cross-references every week and it takes so long to get through a message.

[22:31] Trying to pare it down. But then I was thinking, like, you know, as with these screens and then using the slides, the Lord is like, what you got in your hand? I'm like, I never thought it would be an iPad. I never was wanting to be one of those iPad preachers.

[22:45] But it works. You know, so I like progress. I like technology. It's great. But when the world takes it and the world makes it, it continues to produce the way of Cain.

[22:58] So we're living in a world that's like that. Yes, there's been Christians and believers, men of God and women of God who have had advances in science and technology and thankful for them. Thankful for that.

[23:09] But primarily when we look at the world and the progress of the world, it is man focused. It is humanism. And that's what we see with these boys here.

[23:22] Moving on. So we've looked at Lamech and his line and it kind of ends there. That's the last we hear of Cain, Lamech's boys. And most likely, the flood took care of that and wiped them out.

[23:34] And so Lamech here, we're going to see some of these names reappear in Seth's line. It's almost a little creepy because like Enoch has Irad. That kind of sounds like Jared, who's Enoch's father.

[23:45] And then there's Methuselah, like Methuselah, who has Lamech. And so there's this kind of copying. You always see the enemy counterfeiting, right? He always tries to make something look a little like...

[23:56] He doesn't have anything original. It's all got to look like something the Lord's doing. Nothing original. You kind of picture him like there, this pen and paper. Boys, that's a good one. Let's go do that one too. Let's copy that.

[24:07] But Lamech means powerful. But what is he using his power for? It only brought about death. It only produced more destruction and more death. And so we end Cain's line.

[24:19] And then we go into Adam's line. Verse 25 says, And Adam knew his wife again, Eve. And she bare a son and called his name Seth. For God said...

[24:29] For God, she said, has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. It's very specific there. She's had other children, many other children.

[24:40] This is... Adam is at this point with Seth. He's 130 years having Seth. So this is long after Cain and Abel. He's having other children because Cain has a wife. So he's had other kids.

[24:51] But it's very specific. And she says seed. And it's almost this realization that just like Esau gave up his birthright, so did Cain. And it would have been Abel's. Because Abel was the one that was focused on the things of the Lord.

[25:03] And then he was murdered. And so God provides another who the seed will come through. And that's then going to begin this progression through the line. We're going to look at these patriarchs. The antediluvian.

[25:13] Just means before the flood. Not the flood. These patriarchs as we go through them. And of Adam's line. They're very specific in their genealogies.

[25:24] Obviously, there's thousands of other people being born. But these are the ones that at that time, it seems like they knew God was doing something through them. Seth means... It's told us right there.

[25:34] He said he's appointed. It means appointed. Or almost like compensation. That word for Seth, it's like set. It can mean fixed, set, put, and butt.

[25:45] It can mean put your butt down and sit down. And that's what Seth, that he's been appointed, that God appointed another seed. And to Seth, and to him also, there was born a son, and he called his name Enos.

[26:01] Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. And Enos means temporal. It also could be pronounced Enosh. It means temporal, mortal. And at this time, men began to call on the name of the Lord.

[26:13] And the wording there is either that men began to call other men by the name of the Lord, or men began to call themselves by the name of the Lord. It's almost like at the time of Enosh, that this world that was going out of control, God stepped in with Seth and his son, and then men began to gather together and worship the Lord together.

[26:34] One of the things that I was going through this, and even thinking all the way through Abraham, we are so used to Christianity, Judaism. We're used to God. We're used to the influence of, you know, Jesus in this world, in the Bible.

[26:51] Until Abraham, there's nothing. There's nothing until Israel becomes a nation. Until God brings Israel out of Egypt. You have families. You have Jacob and Isaac.

[27:02] You have Abraham, a single family. You go back. You have Noah and his kids. You go back before the flood. You have these guys. The idea is that the whole world has gone the way of Cain, and you have a couple people.

[27:15] You know, Lamech is going to have Noah. Noah then is going to live 500 years before he has Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 500 years. You think Noah waited that long to get married?

[27:26] You know, I want to live a little. No, there's other kids. Where were they? Where are all the people? We're going to look at the end at the way these men overlapped, all of these patriarchs.

[27:38] Where are all the other kids that they had? Where's all Adam's other children, Methuselah's other children? Only Noah and his three sons go on the ark? That's it? It's very rare, God's presence.

[27:50] We're very used to it in the world. What a blessing it is to live at the time of the church. So as we go into these names, I hate to burst everybody's bubble.

[28:02] I don't know if you've seen this before, that supposedly in Genesis 5, you can look at the names and the meanings, and that the gospel is hidden there. Man appointed mortal sorrow.

[28:14] The blessed God shall come down. Teaching his death shall bring the despairing rest or comfort. It's like, wow. I tried. I tried. And it doesn't work.

[28:26] It's great. It sounds great. But there's too many names. You have to take them and twist them so hard. Like, kind of like, you all heard of Rush Limbaugh? Right? That mean he was a fast man? No.

[28:37] His name was Rush. Right? Well, it's kind of like Lamech. It's just, say, well, it sounds like lament. So it will make it, you know, mean despair. Well, it actually means the root words there in Hebrew are powerful.

[28:49] It doesn't really work. There's other ones like that as well. Methuselah does not mean his death shall bring. That's really hard to make that happen. It's like, well, why am I picking on the guy who came up with this? I'm not.

[29:00] But look what happened to Eve when she said, well, no, God said we can't eat of the fruit or touch it. And look how Satan hooked her. As soon as she said, oh, you couldn't touch it? Well, go ahead and touch it. And she didn't die.

[29:11] Look how Lamech twists the word here and goes, I've killed a man. I'm not dead. I'm going to be avenged 77-fold. So it's very important. Even though it might hook somebody and like, oh, wow, that's really cool and get them interested in Scripture, it's also just going to undercut us unless we have actual, you know, proof to back up what we're saying about the word.

[29:30] Because someone's going to come in and go, that wasn't true. How do I know anything you say is true because of that? So I just wanted to get that elephant out of the room if anyone was like thinking like we'd get to the end and I'd point out like, look, the gospel's in here.

[29:42] I wanted it to be. I even saw, read someone where they took all of Cain's lineage and took all the meanings of the name and like you can twist them to mean like the same kind of thing like that. Wow, the serpent's in Cain's line and yet there's a, well, I think it's just, you know, as we go through it, we're going to see the difference in between Seth's line and Cain's line.

[30:02] But I don't think it's a hidden message is my point. So we pick up in chapter five. This is the book of the generations of Adam. And the day that God created man and the likeness of God made he him.

[30:13] Male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam and the day when they were created. Adam lived 130 years and begat a son in his own likeness and after his image and called his name Seth.

[30:28] Where's the account of sin? Why is it, you know, God says in the day God created man and the likeness of God made he him. Male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam.

[30:39] Where's the account of sin? Should have said they fell. It's God's grace because the line we're going to look through Seth, the sin is gone. Because the cross works backward through it, right?

[30:50] God doesn't count our sin anymore. It's not there. God just sees that covered and washed. And so we just have this account of man's creation, male and female, like nothing ever happened because of God's grace here.

[31:02] And then God again, emphasizing over and over. He received their name. He created them male and female. That the blessing is found only in God's order. When you step outside God's order, just like Lamech did, there's not a blessing there.

[31:16] And the blessing of marriage is in God's order. And Adam lived 130 years and begat a son in his own likeness and after his image and called his name Seth.

[31:28] We're going to look at some scripture in Corinthians a little bit as we go. Where he says in his own likeness and after his image. We have to be in the likeness of Adam as well. If we want to be redeemed, we have to be in the likeness of the first Adam.

[31:41] You have to be a sinner if you want to come to your Savior. In 1 Corinthians 15, 44, it tells us there is a natural body. There is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul.

[31:53] The last man, Adam, was made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy, after his own likeness, after his image. The second man is Lord from heaven. And so Adam's having Seth in his own image.

[32:05] There's no other image you can have him in. Seth and every subsequent child will be in the image of Adam. As is the earth, such are they that are of the earth.

[32:18] That makes sense. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are of the heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthly, we will bear the image of the heavenly. Again, it's by birth.

[32:30] So as Seth is born to Adam, he bears the image. We must be born again to bear the image of our new Adam. After he begotten Seth, there were 800 years. And he begat sons and daughters.

[32:42] And all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. He died to this life. But he died. And that's the theme kind of through chapter 5. They all die.

[32:52] They all die. Just like God said, they will surely, he will surely die. So Adam finally dies. Can you imagine what this did to the world at the time? Adam died.

[33:03] Like, you'd think it would be in the headlines. But the world we live in, we know that the media doesn't put stuff in the headlines except propaganda now. But Adam had died. He died at, what does it say?

[33:16] 930 years. 930 years ago was 1093 A.D. Do you know what's happening in 1093 A.D.? If Adam died today and he lived 930 years. Well, in 1095, Pope Urban II called upon Western Europe to take up the cross and reclaim the Holy Land and officially commence the First Crusade.

[33:36] If you were born in 1095, that would be what would be on your nursery wall. And you'd be part of the First Crusade. If Adam was born then, he would have lived through the Crusades.

[33:47] The Byzantine Empire was on the rise right now. He would have lived through the rise of Europe. He would have lived through the Middle Ages. He would have lived through King Arthur. He would have lived through Robert the Bruce.

[33:58] He would have been here for the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the World Wars. And he would have been here through all of the rise in technology. Right? You meet Adam in 1923.

[34:11] He would seem like a god. He didn't die. It's insane to think how long he lived. And it's so stupidly petty to think of these men who today think, oh, we're going to figure out a way that we're going to live forever.

[34:24] Really? Really? It's so foolish. It's kind of like we talked about, the difference between what Adam knew in the garden and then when Cain brings the fruit to the ground.

[34:35] And it's like, there's just no comparison. It's so, there's just no comparison. So Adam has died and rocks the world. It was just how, you know, how many natural deaths were there at this point.

[34:48] But at the day of death, what does longevity matter? Right? What does it matter if Adam lives since the first crusade to now? He still died. He still died. And he's still going to be in eternity in one place or the other.

[35:04] All right. Let's move through these names now. And Seth lived 105 years and begat Enos, or Enosh. And that means man or mortal, like we said.

[35:17] And all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died. And so they're all going to live 900 years. Their natural death that they will die will be over 900 years.

[35:29] They couldn't have celebrated birthdays. They would have gone broke. And they also couldn't have lived. And this is the thing when I look at this. I talk to the Lord about this a lot. They could not have been in the same career. I'm sorry, you know, 30 years and then you retire or whatever.

[35:43] Well, you get to retire at 850. 850 years. There's no way they did it. You know, what we do today is just insane to people. The idea of how we work ourselves is just ridiculous.

[35:57] We take all the joy out of it. And it's only a curse anymore. Anyway, that's just my own side thing. So, and then he, after, in all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died.

[36:11] And Enosh lived 90 years and begat Canaan. That's probably better translated Canaan, which means possession or acquire. Like when Eve had Canaan and said, I've acquired a man. And he begat Canaan.

[36:23] And after he begat Canaan, he lived 815 years and begat sons and daughters. And see this is about every single patriarch. They begat other sons and daughters. When Adam died, the world could have been anywhere from 500 million to 2 billion.

[36:36] It varies greatly depending on how long they were giving birth, how many kids they were having. So when Adam dies, you've got either half a billion up to 2 billion people that are populating this planet.

[36:48] As we look at these names, you know, as we go through them, you can see, you can see as Enos, you know, which means to possess. You can see when Seth has him to acquire, like, oh, of this child that he had, he says, oh, this is the one.

[37:05] This is the one the seed is coming through. The promise is coming through. Acquired. The same hope Eve had. And then Canaan, which means praise of God.

[37:15] Or I'm sorry, Canaan, which means the possession or acquire. He had Mahalaleel, which means praise of God. So here again, you see this, this, the godliness continuing through here.

[37:26] And Canaan lived after he begat Mahalaleel 840 years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Canaan were 910 years. And he did what? He died. Mahalaleel lived 60 and five years and begat Jared or Jared, which means descent or servant.

[37:43] Look, it works. All right. My name always reminds me. He must increase. I must decrease. And he begat Mahalaleel.

[37:56] Oh, I'm sorry. I keep mixing these up and reversing them. And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared 830 years. And he begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Mahalaleel were 895 years.

[38:09] And he died. Oops, sorry. Here's one who didn't make it to 900. Man, he must have died early. Can you imagine the talk back then? Can you believe it? He died. And Jared lived 162 years and he begat Enoch.

[38:21] Always bothered me when I was a kid that my name was the second oldest guy. God, Methuselah was the oldest. And Enoch, again, means to initiate or dedicate. And you can just see the progression going down through here.

[38:34] That Seth, that kind of like to set, to be given. The possession to acquire. The praise of God. The servant descending, initiating and dedicating.

[38:47] Enoch, the other Enoch, initiated and dedicated the city to himself, essentially. To self. And here we're going to see this Enoch who initiates and dedicates his life to the Lord.

[38:59] Initiating his relationship and walk with the Lord and dedicating it to the Lord. And Jared lived after he begat Enoch 800 years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were 962 years.

[39:11] And he died. And Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. And he died.

[39:22] Nope. And all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God and he was not. For God took him. Methuselah means man of the spear.

[39:34] Or could mean, spear could mean or of issuing forth. So there is a little bit of the idea that this is a man, you know, the man of the issuing forth. The flood will issue forth at his death.

[39:46] But there's not, the meaning of death is not in his name. I like that, though, because the man of the spear, I think of Jesus, you know, the man of the spear, that he took the spear and issued forth from his side, the church.

[39:58] And Methuselah here, when he dies, there will be an issuing forth that will bring deliverance to this world. But Enoch walked with God and he was not. You know, we have this picture of the rapture, of course, before the flood, that God takes this man.

[40:14] But there's something interesting here, too, as well as the rapture. Adam died 57 years before Enoch was translated. Adam lived to see all of the patriarchs except Noah and, yeah, except Noah.

[40:34] He was not alive for Noah. But Enoch was translated after Adam's death, which is such a cool picture. The second Adam dies. And what happens shortly after? Taking a rapture, right?

[40:46] Well, it doesn't seem short to us. It seems like thousands of years. But to the Lord, that's the next event. And here's that picture. The first Adam dies. Shortly afterwards, a man is translated to heaven. Think of the hope that gave them.

[40:57] Adam died. Just like God said. 57 years later, a man makes it back to heaven. That's pretty cool. For those that were seeking the Lord at this time. Jude tells us about Enoch.

[41:10] That Enoch was a prophet. But in Jude 1. There's only one in Jude 14 and 15. And Enoch, also the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all them 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.

[41:36] And so here he's prophesying that the Lord's return, that he's coming back. And what does it say he's coming to do? To execute judgment upon all, which is true, and to convince all that are ungodly among them.

[41:48] He's coming. It's grace. You've probably heard of the book of Enoch. Yeah. It's not a book of Enoch. All these extra books that aren't in the Bible, just start reading any of them.

[41:59] The text and the way it's worded is so poor. It cannot stand up to Scripture. What is a chaff in comparison to the wheat? Right? When you read the Word, I mean, God just jumps off the page and the inspiration.

[42:12] You read these extra books, the Apocrypha, and it's like, who was writing this? Enoch, the book of Enoch, specifically, again and again, will contradict Scripture.

[42:22] And so for me, that's like, it's out. But where it says here that he will come to execute judgment on all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds, in the book of Enoch, it translates, it says, to execute judgment on all and to destroy all the ungodly.

[42:40] It completely changes the whole meaning of that prophecy, where God is going to come, and he's going to bring grace to convince the ungodly. The book of Enoch, Enoch 1.9, if you want to know, says he's coming to destroy the ungodly.

[42:54] And it totally changes it from a God of grace to judgment. Titus tells us, Titus 1.14, he says, not to give heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth.

[43:06] And that's what this was. It was just, it's a conglomeration of Jewish fables put together and being called the book of Enoch. Enoch, it's very popular today because there's a bunch of stuff in it about the Nephilim. So, and people trying to attribute things happening today to this guy.

[43:21] Enoch was a prophet. He didn't write a book. It just said there was a prophecy. Jude knew of this. And then he, on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes it. At this time, the book of Enoch, the fable of the Enoch could have been going around.

[43:34] It's actually possible. This is what Paul's speaking about when he says not to give heed to Jewish fables. And we, too, are waiting for our return, right? The return of our Lord.

[43:44] For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we go through death or whether we're raptured, death is not our appointed end. And so we see with Enoch that our walk determines our direction.

[43:58] Just like our focus determines our worship, our focus also determines our walk, and our walk determines our direction. That's pretty basic. I mean, whatever direction you're walking in is the direction you're going.

[44:11] It's just how it is. And so your walk determines your direction. And you can see Enoch's walk here. And all the days of Enoch were 360 and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

[44:22] The ultimate end of walking with God is not in this life. It's not in this life. It's in the one to come. Colossians 3, verse 1. If you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.

[44:32] And so the ultimate end of walking with Christ, or walking with God, is not in this life. We don't find it here. And Methuselah lived 187 years and begat Lamech.

[44:45] Powerful! So the other one was powerful in pride. This one is powerful. And it is a powerful prophecy God gives him. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech 782 years and begat sons and daughters.

[44:59] And all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. And Lamech lived 182 years and begat a son. And he called his name Noah, meaning rest or comfort.

[45:15] And he prophesied, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord God has cursed. You know, we had looked at Corinthians before in chapter 15.

[45:30] If you continue on, it speaks of corruption. It speaks of the ground, in a sense, the cursed ground. So Lamech here, he doesn't talk about them being cursed.

[45:42] Remember, this is a line of Seth. The curse is removed. So here you have people that are not cursed, because we're in Christ, living in a world where they have to work. That's cursed.

[45:53] And so he's saying that this one will comfort us concerning the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord cursed. 1 Corinthians 15, 54 through 58. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

[46:12] So the corruptible must put on incorruption. Because the ground is cursed. You can't have the corruptible inheriting the incorruptible. So death is not for us an end.

[46:23] It's the entrance into incorruption, in which God will translate us into life, or the rapture. Either one, he's going to translate us. Metamorphosize. Death then is swallowed up in victory.

[46:36] The corruption is ended. Oh, death, where's your sting? Oh, grave, where's your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[46:48] And so here, he prophesies that there's one coming to give rest, and he gives rest by removing from the corruption and translating into new life.

[46:59] And that's Jesus, obviously. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah 595 years and begat sons and daughters.

[47:10] And all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. Lamech died at age 777. His life was cut short before the flood.

[47:23] He didn't go on the ark, but he also didn't die in the flood. And it was God's mercy. This is one of my favorite verses I find really interesting in what it's saying. Isaiah 57, 1 and 2.

[47:34] The righteous perish, and no man lays it to heart. And merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

[47:49] And I've talked with people that they're struggling with a loved one who's passed away or whatever. And it's like, if they know the Lord, it's like, maybe the Lord's taken them in his mercy. So they won't see the evil to come.

[48:00] And that's what Isaiah tells us. And so that's Lamech, that he was taken away in God's mercy. And Noah was 500 years old. And Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

[48:11] We will get into Noah next week, obviously a lot more. But 500 years. Noah had to have other kids. There had to be more. Lamech had other sons and daughters. Methuselah did. Where are they?

[48:22] It reminds me of Lot. When Lot goes to his daughters and son-in-laws in Sodom, and they mock him. And so he ends up, it's just him and his wife and his two daughters who have to be dragged out of the city.

[48:35] And you see how hard it is in the world. It's so wicked. We'll look next week again at how wicked it is that the thought and imagination of their hearts was evil all the time. Okay, so what's so big about the genealogies?

[48:48] I like this. I found this and I thought it was really cool. It could be read this way. Adam lived 130 years and begat Seth. When Adam was 235, Seth begat Enos.

[48:59] When Adam was 325, Enos begat Canaan. When Adam was 395, Canaan begat Mahaleliel. When Adam was 460, Mahaleliel begat Jared.

[49:09] When Adam was 622, Jared begat Enoch. When Adam was 687, Enoch begat Methuselah. When Adam was 874, Methuselah begat Lamech.

[49:20] When Lamech was 56, Adam died. And all the days of Adam were 930 years. Pretty wild. Pretty crazy about all of these, the lives of these men.

[49:34] Just wanted to read real quick in closing here. So there's 19 generations living at one point for 56 years. That's what's happening.

[49:44] And here is, kind of you can see the way they overlapped. And so Adam was alive for everybody except Noah, down at the bottom there.

[49:56] And then, of the 10 patriarchs, Methuselah lived the longest, we know that. He died the same year as the flood. Methuselah was also the first patriarch to see a son died.

[50:08] Lamech died when Methuselah was still alive. All the other patriarchs died before their sons. Methuselah's son Lamech died five years before the flood. He did not die because of the flood, like we saw.

[50:20] Lamech was the shortest lived. Lamech was also the only patriarch to be recorded to give a prophecy. All 10 patriarchs saw the deprivation of mankind in their life.

[50:31] And then Methuselah, right? Methuselah. That's my halaliel. Methuselah. If you look, he saw every single guy die.

[50:43] He was there for all of their deaths. That must have been rough. He was there when Adam died, and when all of them died. And he was the only one to be there for all their deaths, and to live them all, and then to see his son die.

[50:55] This is what he's a picture of. He's a picture of that side of the cross. That side of judgment, deliverance, death. Death reigns. Death reigns from Adam.

[51:08] He saw everybody die except Enoch and Noah. That must have been wild when Enoch was translated. Picture them all getting together like he's gone. The Lord took him. Enoch was taken to heaven at year 987.

[51:20] Seth was still alive when Enoch was taken up to heaven. He was 857 years old. This means that everyone from Seth to Lamech was around when Enoch was taken to heaven. This also means that only Adam had died when this happened.

[51:33] Meaning that everyone only saw one death. The next big thing was Enoch's translation, like we said. Noah was born 14 years after Enoch's translation. Noah did not know Adam, and he did not know Enoch.

[51:49] He wasn't there for that. I think, Lord, 50-some years, why didn't you leave Adam alive to overlap Noah? Why didn't he get to be there for Enoch? I think it's because God wanted him to walk by faith.

[52:01] That when he came to him and said, hey, we're going to build this ark, and it's going to be pretty wild, you know. He was removed, he was a step removed from those guys. That God wanted him to walk in a way that meant that he didn't have that.

[52:14] Now we have Seth. Seth was alive still. And Noah's going to overlap, obviously, long into Shem. And then when we get to Shem, Shem will overlap into Abraham. It's crazy because of the ages. But why is it important, the genealogies?

[52:28] What's the big deal? Luke 3, 22. And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, Jesus. And a voice came from heaven which said, you're my beloved son, and you I'm well pleased.

[52:42] And Jesus himself began to be about 30 years of age, being as it was supposed, the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, da-da-da-da-da, going through all these generations, which was the son of Enosh, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

[52:57] So all these generations are very important. So what can we learn from this? One, you're never too old for a season of fruitfulness. If these guys were having kids, Noah had a child at 500.

[53:08] The three guys that are going to carry on the human race, he had a 500. Never too old. And we're not to be diverted and distracted by the daily. These men that focused on their lives in this world.

[53:19] But we're to be prepared and to pursue the promise. We are pursuing a promise. None of these men we just read about produced anything that the world would look as meaningful. But they had lives that were meaningful to the Lord.

[53:32] And it's Mother's Day. Moms, God may not use you to save the world, but he will use you to save a soul. All right. There's not any women in the line of the patriarchs. We don't see them.

[53:43] They're not the ones that are going out and building the ark now. Noah's wife will be there for sure. He may not call you to save the world, but every single one of these men had a mother. They had godly women in their lives that were passing on.

[53:56] Enoch, you picture him talking with his mom, right? So you have the privilege of saving souls. How many kids did Eve have? Every single one would have heard the same story.

[54:08] You know, you can imagine if you're one of her kids, you're 340, you come over, and she's got child number 76, or I don't know how many she would have had at that point. Now, kids, when we were in the garden, you're like, Mom, you're telling that same story?

[54:24] It's so important. Think of the reach that one woman had before the flood to humanity, the amount of kids, right? And then you think of one of these patriarchs, how many people could they reach?

[54:36] How many people would listen to them? But as a mom, you get to speak into every soul that comes in to your home. And I was thinking as we close, what does it mean for us?

[54:49] Well, like Abraham, like the patriarchs of old, and like all of the patriarchs that have come down through history, that have chosen the way of the Lord, that we desire a better country that's a heavenly one, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

[55:09] And God's prepared a city for us. It's not made with hands. It's not something we're going to find here. It's not on this side. Even if we could live 900 years, we're going to die. We need to die. We need to be free of the corruption that we may be translated into life.

[55:22] And there is then a better country where God's not ashamed to be called their God. God wasn't ashamed of Enoch. The world might have looked at him and said, you're such a fool. What about the music? What about the cattle?

[55:34] What about the merchandise? You know, do you got the latest and greatest? Have you heard the news about? No, I haven't because I spend most of my time in the Bible. And I still don't feel like it's enough.

[55:46] Lord Jesus, we thank you. Thank you, Lord, that we are of the line of Seth. We are of the line of the promise. And Lord, let us keep our eyes fixed upon the promise, the promise to come, a city whose builder and maker is God.

[55:59] No curse, no corruption, Lord. No more having to work in a cursed world. No more having to serve you in the presence of the curse, Lord. But at the same time, Lord, we'll never again be able to say no to sin.

[56:13] We'll never again be able to deny the flesh as we can here, Lord. So Lord, let us be worthy of you like Enoch was, like these men were, like Noah will be. Let us be worthy of you and how we live our lives.

[56:26] That the world may say, you are not worthy of us. We'll say, good. I'm looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. We love you, Jesus. And we just thank you for your faithfulness in loving us.

[56:38] Amen.