Read the full transcript of Bible teacher Zac Poonen’s Verse By Verse Study on Genesis Chapter 4:16 to Chapter 5:32.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
ZAC POONEN: We saw in our last study that in Cain and Abel, we see the beginning of two streams which end up in the book of Revelation as Babylon and Jerusalem. Both are religious streams. Cain was not an atheist. Cain did not approach a false god. He approached the true God, but he approached the true God in a wrong way.
Abel came with blood. In his sacrifice, he came with faith in his heart, and he came with righteousness in his life. And that’s the thing that made the difference. There was blood in his sacrifice, faith in his heart, and righteousness in his life. I think above everything else, he had what the Bible says are the acceptable sacrifices of God, a broken and a contrite spirit.
We can say that essentially the difference between Jerusalem and Babylon is this: Jerusalem comprises of those who have a broken and a contrite spirit. That is the sacrifice that God accepts. We need to compare this verse in Psalm 51 with the sacrifices that these two brothers brought. It says in Psalm 51:17:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
If the Word of God says that God had respect unto Abel and to his sacrifice, it must mean that Abel had a broken spirit. Behind that sacrifice was a broken spirit. That’s what made it acceptable. Whereas behind the offering of Cain was an arrogant spirit, one who was self-confident and capable, and God rejected it.
The Heart Behind the Offering
It’s the same today.
If a man gives one lakh to a Christian work, so much is made of that. “Oh, one lakh!” It may be Cain giving that one lakh. That doesn’t seem to disturb a lot of Christians. It does disturb God.
Or someone gives something for the Lord’s work, his full time, he gives up his job or something. That’s not the thing. The point is what’s behind that sacrifice. Is it a broken spirit? Otherwise, we can never build a church.
And it is those who do not have a broken spirit who end up persecuting those who do have a broken spirit, calling them heretics, etc. It’s a very interesting word we see in Revelation chapter 18 concerning Babylon verse 24. Revelation 18 is all about Babylon. And in the last verse of this chapter on Babylon, Revelation 18:24, it says:
And in Babylon was found the blood of prophets and of saints. And listen to this, and of all who have been slain on the earth.
Who was the first? Abel. The blood of Abel was found in Babylon. So we have New Testament confirmation of the fact that the religion Cain started was the religion of Babylon.
Revelation 18:24 proves that beyond doubt. And that’s why it’s very important for us to study Cain because then we have an understanding of Babylon today.
Cain as a Picture of the Jews
Now we move on to Genesis chapter 4. We saw that Cain was also a picture of the Jews who crucified Christ. Abel was a picture of Christ and Cain was a picture of the Jews.
We can say that the Jews had a Babylonian religion and Jesus had the religion of Jerusalem from above. One persecuted the other. It’s the same thing happening today. When we proclaim the truth of Jerusalem and the true church, there are always the Babylonians who are there to persecute. But we read here that God had mercy on Cain like He’s had mercy on the Jews, and He spared him.
He spared the Jews. But it says here finally verse 16, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. This is hell. Hell means no presence of the Lord. There’s a phrase in English called “a God-forsaken place.”
The only truly God-forsaken place is hell. That’s really a God-forsaken place. What is the fire of hell? The fire of hell is the fact that God is not there. Mercy is not there.
God’s mercy is removed. And that is what makes hell, hell. So we see here, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, which means wandering east of Eden, which means there was some manifestation of the Lord’s presence, probably at the gate of Eden. When he went out from the presence of the Lord, means he went away from there. Maybe that was the place where he offered these sacrifices, at the gate of Eden.
The Rise of Babylon
And then Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Now this is not the Enoch who walked with God. This is quite a contrast to that Enoch who comes later on in chapter 5. This is another man who was the son of Cain, the first son of Cain. It’s very interesting to see what Cain did.
He built a city. And there we have, as we go through this chapter, you’ll see the rise of five things that begin with Cain’s descendants. And the first thing that begins is the beginning of city life. God made man to live in a garden. God made man to live by the sweat of his ground, but Cain was the first person who built a city.
And we know that there is a lot of evil that has come through city life. But Cain was the one who began that. And he called the name of the city Enoch after the name of his son. This desire to perpetuate one’s name began with Cain. He wanted to glorify the name of his son.
This city will be called Enoch, so that for generations people will remember my son. We see it today also, “so-and-so memorial building.” You know where it began? With Cain’s son. “So-and-so memorial church.” You see Babylon is there right from there naming something after a person.
“This room was donated by so-and-so.” It’s there. Cain began that type of stuff. “This fan was donated by so-and-so.” I’ve seen it. It’s amazing. “This chair was donated by so-and-so” in some church building. It started with Cain who put a name to that city to perpetuate one’s name. It’s a terrific lust. Grandfathers who are very eager that their grandchildren should be named after them.
Cain started this business. This name must be perpetuated. Why can’t we just live and die and be forgotten? Why this great lust? The spirit of Babylon has permeated all over. It began with Cain.
Abel’s Legacy vs. Cain’s Legacy
And yet, what about Abel? No city was named after him. You know what the Word of God says about Abel? Turn to Hebrews chapter 11 and you’ll see a contrast. There you see the difference between Abel and Cain.
The difference between Jerusalem and Babylon. Hebrews 11:4:
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts. And through faith, listen to this, though no city was built after his name, though he is dead, four thousand years later and now six thousand years later, he is still speaking.
He’s still speaking more than that other son of Cain’s called Enoch. That city which Cain built for his son is destroyed long ago. In fact, most people don’t even know about it. But Abel, his life still speaks. What do we see in the contrast in these two things? Abel speaks by his life.
Whereas Cain wanted his son’s name to be exalted. And that is the difference. Do you want people to know your name? Your name should be well known. Or are you more concerned that your life should bless others?
This is the difference between Jerusalem and Babylon. And we need to see it, never mind if nobody knows our name. Never mind if people forget all about our name. But if our life can make an impression on them that even after we are dead and gone, even if no grandchild of mine is ever named after my name, I’m not interested in that. But that the influence of my life should carry on to generations.
That’s much more important than having a silly name carried on. That’s something we need to be gripped by. It’s not a small thing because we all love our own name. There’s a book written by a world famous man in America called Dale Carnegie, who wrote a book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” It’s written for businessmen, how to promote your business and how to be a good speaker and all.
One of the things he says in that book is, the sweetest word in the English language to any human being is his own name. He studied human character and he said that. And so when you speak to a man, he says, frequently use his name and he’ll really be happy with you. He studied human character. We love our own name.
And when people speak about our name, it means something to us. Unless we have cleansed ourselves from this spirit of Cain and of Babylon, that it means nothing. That we are only interested in our life. Think of that, my brothers and sisters, the rise of city life and promoting one’s own name. There’s a verse in Proverbs 10:7 which says:
The memory of the righteous is blessed.
That is Abel. This contrast actually in Proverbs 10:7 is between Abel and Cain’s son. The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot. It’s not a name. It’s a memory of a righteous, God-fearing, humble, kind, pure, upright man.
We don’t know what his name was, but the influence of his life really blessed me. Covet that my brothers and sisters that we leave that impression when we leave the earth like Abel, instead of having some room donated by us or some fan donated by us, which informs everybody about our name. That will rot.
The Progression of Sin in Cain’s Line
So that’s the first thing we see here. The next thing we see in Genesis 4 is in verse 18. Now Enoch was born Irad and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech in Genesis 4:19. And Lamech took to himself two wives, the name of the one was Adah and the name of the other Zillah.
Once you begin to move away from God, you begin to perpetuate your own name, and you begin to move into immorality. Two wives, one is not enough. Coveting another woman after being married to one. Maybe society does not permit people to have two wives now. People are scared to do that. There were no rules those days. But the spirit can still be there in a man today.
Though he’s married to one, he’s not happy with that one. And sometimes he wishes he had married somebody else. What spirit does he have? He has the spirit of Lamech who wants another wife. But he won’t take one because society does not permit it.
If he were living in Lamech’s day, he would have had two wives. Lots of people living today, even so-called believers, if they were living in Lamech’s day, they’d have had two wives because they’re not happy with the one they have. My dear brothers, if you’re not happy with the wife you have, you got the spirit of Lamech. You’re wishing you’re married to somebody else. And the chances are, if you were living there, you would have married another one.
That is Babylon. Unfaithfulness in married life is the essence of Babylon. And there’s a lot of this marital unfaithfulness in the thought life of lots of so-called believers. God’s not fooled just because what some of them talk about the new and living way.
The spirit of Lamech. You see what began to rise when Cain went out from the presence of the Lord? God’s grace left him. And then all the spirit of Babylon developed so quickly. Marital unfaithfulness, the development of city life, and the man naming the city after his own son.
The Rise of Music and Culture
And then, verse 20, Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and the pipe. There we see the rise of musical instruments.
Very interesting to note that musical instruments were not invented by the descendants of Abel or Seth after him. They were invented by the descendants of Cain after he went out from the presence of the Lord. I’m not saying therefore musical instruments are sinful. Just like I’m not saying that living in a city is sinful. Even though the first city was built by Cain, we’re all living in a city now.
But we must remember that. City life began with Cain. There are dangers. We need to beware of them. Musical instruments began with Cain’s children.
Never forget that. Then you got to keep that in mind when even when we have music in the church or so-called Christian music. The spirit of the world can easily come in just because the words are Christian. So much of so-called Christian music today is absolutely godless. I can’t imagine Jesus Christ sitting and listening to any of that rubbish.
It’s called Christian because they put the name of Jesus in it. I’m sure Jubal would have been glad to put such names also in it if it made his music more popular. It’s the spirit, not the words. We’ve often said in the church, when you listen to a man preach, don’t listen to the words. Listen to the spirit of the man.
# The Spirit of Discernment
Gauge the spirit of the man. Remember this my brothers and sisters, wherever you listen to people speaking, if you just listen to the words, you’ll miss the truth. I’ve heard believers, even so-called “new and living way” believers as they call themselves, say, “So and so is alright. He’s teaching the right thing.” This shows nil discernment.
They can’t discern his spirit. They can’t discern the way he begs for money. They can’t discern the way he violates scriptural principles. “But he says so many nice things. He’s so kind. He’s so good.” When will they have discernment? Listen to the spirit of a man. The same thing applies to music—it is not the words, it’s the spirit behind it. It can never be justified by words alone, just like preaching cannot be justified by words alone, but by the spirit.
And there we have to judge ourselves to be able to get discernment. When a man or woman doesn’t have discernment, you can be pretty sure they are not judging themselves in their private life. That’s why God doesn’t give them discernment. They remain undiscerning, only listening to words—undiscerning about music, undiscerning about so-called Christian preachers.
The Rise of Worldliness in Cain’s Line
So there’s the rise of musical instruments, string instruments, breath instruments, lyre and pipe. Verse 22 says, “As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain.” Here’s one of the grandchildren being named after the grandfather, Cain. Surely Cain would have been quite delighted that this man named his son Tubal-cain. He was a big shot, Cain. Think of that—godless, rejected by God, and yet they honored him. Man had drifted away, that whole generation of people.
Tubal-cain was the forger of all implements of bronze and iron—the rise of industry. That’s another thing that began with Cain’s children: industry. Implements of bronze and iron were mostly for fighting with one another. The beginning of all these instruments of war began with Cain’s children. Cain was obviously admired, which is why they named his son Tubal-cain. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Lamech said to his wives—here’s another thing. We’ve seen the rise of city life, the rise of bigamy and marital unfaithfulness, the rise of musical instruments, the rise of industry, and now one more thing: the rise of false grace.
The Rise of False Grace
False grace began here. Watch it. Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice. You wives of Lamech, give heed to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me and a boy for striking me. But do you think God will judge me for that? No. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, like God said in verse 15, then I, Lamech, will be avenged seventy-sevenfold. God will protect me, even though I have killed somebody.”
What is that? The beginning of false grace. Quoting what? Quoting God’s word. Because you read in verse 15, it was God who said to Cain, “If anybody kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And here is Lamech, who’s got hold of one word of God, and he says, “God has said vengeance will be taken sevenfold, much more on me, seventy-sevenfold.”
This is the beginning of misquoting God’s word, the perversion of God’s word to justify and protect oneself even though one is a murderer. Think of that. That’s Babylon. “God will protect you, brother, even though you have sinned so much.”
And we see here why this man murdered. It’s quite amazing: “I killed a man for wounding me and a boy for striking me.” Can you imagine? This grown-up man killed a boy just because the boy hit him. Can you imagine how, when people go away from the presence of the Lord, they and their children and grandchildren just become more and more evil?
The First Sins After Leaving God’s Presence
What are the sins we see in this chapter? Notice the sins that come forth first after Cain has gone away from the presence of the Lord: marital unfaithfulness (sexual sin), and the second is anger—anger making a man violent. Keep that in mind. These were the two sins that came forth in the descendants of Cain: sexual sin and violent anger.
That’s why we speak about total victory in these two areas. A man who doesn’t seek victory, complete victory in the sexual area and complete victory over his outbursts of temper can sit here for twenty-five years and still be a pillar in Babylon in the final day. Sure, without a doubt. Doesn’t matter where he sits. We need to see the development of Babylon here.
The Godly Line Through Seth
And Adam had relations with his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” And to Seth, to him also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. And then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
This is a contrast to all these other children. On the other side, another generation of people were calling on the name of God. They were not naming cities after their sons; they were calling on the name of God. It was a God-fearing seed.
God Choosing the Younger
It’s interesting to see a principle that comes very often in scripture of God choosing the younger son. We see that in the case of Cain and Abel, in the case of Ishmael and Isaac, in the case of Esau and Jacob, and in the case of the ten older children of Jacob and Joseph, the younger. In the case of Aaron and Moses, Moses was younger than Aaron. In the case of David, who was younger than his seven brothers. The first will be last, and the last will be first.
We can’t understand that in the day in which we live because in our generation, there’s not so much difference between the older son and the younger son. Nowadays, all our children sort of call each other by their first names. But in older generations, the older son was like a real big shot. He was fierce, like the big brother, the boss in the family who ruled everybody, and all the other brothers were like small little pawns running around to do his errands.
But God bypasses all this. These big shots who think they are the head of the family, the big brother—God chooses the one who is despised and being pushed around by everyone. And if you’re one of those who are being pushed around by others, you can take hope from these examples that God picks up the weak and the despised and the rejected, not the ones who are big and push their way around.
The point is not where you were born in the family. It’s not your fault if you were born first, second, or third. The point is an attitude. God despises all those who have a big brother attitude towards others, whether it’s in a family or in a church or anywhere. He bypasses them completely. And I think Cain was like that, probably fostered by his parents. Foolish. But there was another seed, a younger seed; they began to call on the name of the Lord.
# The Generations of Adam
Now we come to chapter 5, verse 4: “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” It’s a very interesting contrast. In Matthew 1:1, we read, “This is the book of the generations of Jesus Christ.” We can say that the Bible has got two books: the book of the generations of Adam (what Adam produced) and the book of the generations of Jesus Christ (what Jesus Christ produced)—the old creation and the new creation.
In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. Now see this: “He created them male and female, and He blessed them.” And to both of them, He gave one name. It’s very interesting. The Word of God says, “He named them Adam.” And that is why a woman takes the name of her husband when she gets married. Because God named both of them Adam, even though her name was Eve.
It meant that she had to leave her old connections to her father and mother. That’s the meaning of cutting off that name of the father in order to take on the name of the husband. Some people do it, but they don’t do it in spirit. When you take on the name of your husband, you mean you have to cut off the name of your father. That’s how it was. That’s how God intended it, so that you can be totally united to your husband.
Children in Our Likeness
And when Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness. You saw the contrast there? Verse 1 says God made Adam in His likeness, and Adam produced a son, verse 3, in his own likeness—quite different from the way he was made by God. This teaches us right from the beginning of scripture that we produce children with the same nature as ourselves.
When you see stubbornness in your child, you’re looking into a mirror. When you see disobedience in your child, you’re looking into a mirror. Think of that, parents. When you see something in your child, remember this verse: you have produced a son in your own likeness. You have done a wonderful job of producing a stubborn, disobedient creature just like yourself. So don’t blame that one. You’ve got to discipline him, of course. But never forget that he got all that from you. That’ll teach us to be a little more merciful to our children and to judge ourselves a little more.
And Adam named him Seth. Now here it says he was a hundred and thirty years old, and as far as we know, Seth was born immediately after Abel was killed or soon after. That’s how we know that Cain and Abel must have been around a hundred and thirty years old when Cain killed Abel. Both had crossed a hundred years. They were not small boys. Cain was over a hundred and Abel was over a hundred when one killed the other.
Since generally speaking in the Old Testament, the daughters are not mentioned, it doesn’t mean that Adam didn’t have any daughters. By the time Seth was born, the population of the earth must have been around fifty thousand people at least. That’s why Cain says, “If somebody sees me, he may kill me.” So Seth was not just the third human being born into the world. He was born after Adam and Eve had lived a hundred and thirty years and had children, and the children got married, and their grandchildren got married. They probably spread all over that part of the earth.
The Genealogy and Lifespans
Then the days of Adam, after he became the father of Seth, were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. And Seth lived a hundred and five years and became the father of Enosh. And Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
And Enosh lived ninety years and became the father of Kenan. Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years and had other sons and daughters. He lived up to nine hundred and five years, and he died. And so on it speaks about Kenan’s son Mahalalel in verse 12. He had all his sons and daughters, and then he died in verse 14. Then Mahalalel’s son Jared in verse 15. And then verse 17, Mahalalel died. And Jared in verse 18.
Here we come to the one we want to think about. Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years and became the father of Enoch. This was the sixth generation after Adam. Enoch is called the seventh from Adam. And you can total it up here: Adam was first, Seth was second. You’ve come down the line. Enoch was number seven, the seventh generation, counting Adam as the first. Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and then he died.
The Thousand-Year Limit
Now, I want you to notice one thing here. Have you noticed that none of these people crossed one thousand years? Very interesting. Adam lived to nine hundred and thirty years (verse 5). Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years (verse 8). Enosh lived nine hundred and five years (verse 11). Kenan lived nine hundred and ten years (verse 14). Mahalalel lived eight hundred and ninety-five years (verse 17). And Jared lived nine hundred and sixty-two years (verse 20).
That’s something very interesting. All of them nearly reached a thousand years, then they died. God told Adam in Genesis 2:17, “In the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die.” That means in the same day that you eat, you will die. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” So within a thousand years, you’re going to die. You won’t live beyond a thousand.
And we see that never in the human race has anyone lived beyond one day in God’s life. In the day that Adam ate, he died spiritually immediately, and he died physically within a thousand years. And all his descendants—God is very faithful and exact to His word. What He says will come true exactly in generation after generation after generation. That’s something interesting that we need to take note of.
Enoch and Methuselah
Then we come to Enoch. It says here Enoch lived sixty-five years and became the father of Methuselah. And Methuselah means “at his death, it will come.” What will come? The judgment will come. At his death, it will come.
# Enoch’s Walk with God
Then, verse 22, “Then.” Then means from the birth of his son. After the birth of his son, Enoch walked with God. He didn’t walk with God for the first sixty-five years. But something happened when his son was being born, when his son was born.
Some crisis came into his life when his son was born. That can happen sometimes. People who don’t think about God suddenly find their wife going in for their first delivery and the doctor says she might die, and suddenly they begin to think about God. People who were never interested in God till then suddenly face a crisis. But usually, what happens is after the child is born, they forget all about it and go back to their old way of life, but not Enoch.
Not Enoch. That’s the difference. He had a crisis that changed the whole direction of his life from that time. He meant business. He said, “Oh God, You’ve given me a revelation at the birth of this son, and I’ll be true to You.”
And he kept that vow for three hundred years. What an example! We have so-called crises in our life here and there, and we forget about them so quickly. Not Enoch. He took it seriously.
And after that, he walked with God for three hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. And there’s a number of things that we can learn here. It means that at the birth of this son, God gave Enoch some revelation that He was going to judge this world and when this little child whom he had dies, at that time the world would be judged. And if you calculate it, you know that Methuselah lived for nine hundred and sixty-nine years. He was the longest person to live.
The Prophetic Name of Methuselah
The ages are all written here. You can calculate it. In the year when Methuselah died, Noah was six hundred years old. Noah was, by the way, Methuselah’s grandson. And that year, the flood came.
The year Methuselah died, the flood came. That was in his name. Methuselah, when he dies, the judgment will come. Now the thing is, we know that he lived up to 969. But when Enoch took that little baby, he didn’t realize he was going to live up to nine hundred and sixty-nine years of age.
When you hold a baby in your hand, you don’t know how long he’s going to live. Every time Enoch looked at that baby, he would have realized, when this baby dies, this world’s going to be judged. When this—and he saw that maybe that boy growing up and getting hurt one day, got fever, and again Enoch realized: When this baby dies, that’s the end of the world. You can imagine how this man lived.
Because he believed God’s word. He believed that revelation that God gave at the birth of his son that when your son dies, it will come and he believed it. He believed that the judgment would come and therefore, Enoch lost all interests in this world. And he said, “Lord, I want to live for You then. I want to live my life on this earth in a worthwhile way.”
Walking with God Outside of Eden
And he walked with God. You know, when Enoch was alive, Adam was just about six hundred years old. Adam was still alive. Adam died only when Enoch was about three hundred and eight. If you know the ages are here, you can calculate it.
So Enoch must have met Adam. And Adam must have told him how it was in Eden. How glorious it was there and how he got thrown out. And Enoch must have long said, “Lord, I can’t go back to Eden. But is it possible here on this earth outside of Eden to walk with You like Adam walked with You inside Eden?”
“Is it possible?” And God saw the longing of that man’s heart. And He said it’s possible even though you’re not in Eden and you walked with God. We see there of a man in the midst of all these other ungodly people, groping after God and getting a revelation. Why do I say the others were ungodly?
Turn to the book of Jude in the New Testament. Jude and verse 14. “And about these also,” whom is he talking about? Verse 11, “woe to them, they’ve gone the way of Cain,” away from the presence of the Lord building Babylon. “They rushed into the error of Balaam,” who was also a religious fellow who went after money.
“And they perished in the rebellion of Korah,” who was another religious fellow who went after position in the church. All three religious people, various aspects of Babylon. And about such people, it says in verse 14, “Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied saying, the Lord came.” He prophesied about the second coming of Christ. Think what a revelation God gave him.
Enoch: The First Preacher of Judgment
Not only about the flood, but about the second coming of Christ. “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment on all to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds, which they have done in an ungodly way, of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Enoch was a prophet of judgment in his generation. That’s why I say the others were evil around him. Think, Adam did not have what Enoch had.
He could have had it. He lived for three hundred years. And during those three hundred years, at least two hundred and forty of those years, Enoch was walking with God and Adam was watching. But it couldn’t be said about Adam, but it was said about Enoch. And there was Enoch, one lone man standing against a generation of ungodly people saying that God’s going to come in judgment.
Enoch is the first preacher mentioned in the word of God. And what did he preach? He preached judgment against sin. The first preacher in the world didn’t preach comforting messages. He preached judgment against sinners for their ungodly words, for their ungodly actions, for their ungodly attitude towards God.
Read that in Jude 14 and see. And he spoke about the second coming of Christ. The judgment would come. The Lord would come with ten thousand of His saints and judge the world. That’s good for us to remember.
That when we walk with God, we stand against all the ungodliness of people around us. Now I can imagine Enoch was not popular. He didn’t have time to sit around with all his ungodly relatives, and crack dirty jokes and all the filthy things they were in. I think Enoch must have been a very lonely man. Very lonely man because he couldn’t have fellowship with his own relatives.
Standing Alone for God
And they were all his cousins in those days. He was only the seventh generation from Adam. Everybody on earth was a cousin of his. And he couldn’t have fellowship with Adam. He walked with God in loneliness.
And he preached. He didn’t just keep quiet. He didn’t live like a hermit in a mountain. He preached to the people around him about God coming to judge them for their ungodliness. He was preparing the way for Noah, his great grandson, who would later on take the baton from him and carry on that relay race.
God’s always had a witness. When Abel died, there was Enoch. And when Enoch died, there would be a Noah. When Noah died, there’d be an Abraham and so on. So there’s been a witness for God.
And I can imagine that the presence of Methuselah, as I said, played a great part. And it says here in Genesis 5:22, something else about Enoch, that he was a family man. It says he had other sons and daughters. You can walk with God and have sons and daughters. There’s a false teaching, which is called the doctrine of the devil by Paul in 1 Timothy 4, which says, if you want to be holy, you must not get married.
Walking with God as a Family Man
And some people even have the idea that if you want to be holy, you must have maybe just one or two children because then you can spend more time reading the Bible and praying. It’s a lot of garbage, all these human ideas. Enoch had many sons and daughters and he walked with God. There’s the first example of a man who had a large family and he walked with God. It didn’t disturb his walking with God.
Walking with God is not by going around Bible teaching and going house visiting and sitting with long hours of the Bible. It’s a question of an attitude of heart. Enoch didn’t have a Bible. He had a family and he walked with God with them. He was a father to his sons and daughters. He didn’t just leave his family and run off to some mountain to walk with God.
He lived with his wife. And he had sons and daughters and he walked with God. And that’s why we emphasize so much in the church, the importance of family life if you want to walk with God. Enoch had it all in proper balance. He preached the truth. He loved his children. He loved his wife. He loved his family. And he walked with God. What an example.
What an example. Contrast that with Lamech. Contrast that with the other Enoch. The other fellow, Cain’s son, who had a city named after him. The two Enochs of Genesis.
It’s a good contrast to see Babylon and Jerusalem all over again. Same name, but what a difference. One fellow’s got a city named after him. This man walked with God. We read here in Hebrews 11.
And when those of us who are family people, married people, that’s a great encouragement to us that many sons and daughters need not hinder you from walking with God. And the other thing is, we know those who are really seeking to walk with God, parents, haven’t you discovered? It is our children who bring us to a sense of spiritual needs. Any God fearing father or mother will testify to that. Our children bring us to a spiritual need.
Pleasing God by Faith
And then it turns us to God. And I can imagine, it must have been the same with Enoch. His children brought him to spiritual need and he turned to God, and he walked with God. It’s a good thing that they bring us to see our own spiritual need. Hebrews 11:5, “by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death.”
“And he was not found because God took him up for he obtained the witness before his being taken up that he was pleasing to God. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He’s a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Enoch was the first man to demonstrate that you could walk with God even outside Eden. That’s a tremendous example for us.
Think of that. He had no example in front of him. We have many, but he walked with God. And it says he walked by faith, not by sight, by faith. Way back there, five thousand years ago.
He walked by faith, and he had this testimony during those three hundred years. Three words. He pleased God. That’s all. I’m sure he displeased most of the human beings around him.
And most of the human beings must have thought he was a bit eccentric or a heretic or a hard man always preaching about judgment and sin and sinners—but he pleased God. That’s the point. What an example for us to follow in the day in which we’re living. He pleased God. “Without faith, it was impossible to please Him.” We read back in Genesis 5 and verse 23.
Enoch’s Rapture
“So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five. And Enoch walked with God”—that’s repeated a second time. Verse 22 once, verse 24 a second time. It’s almost as though the Holy Spirit is repeating it. Did you hear it when I said it the first time?
The Holy Spirit is saying, you didn’t hear it? I’ll tell you again. He walked with God. And Hebrews 11:5, we saw, he pleased God and he was not. “He was not” means he just disappeared.
He just disappeared. Like you can tell the Sunday school children, one day Enoch and God walked together on a long walk and God said to him, “I think you better come home with Me.” And he just went with Him. Because he wanted God’s presence so much. He was so heavenly minded that God said, “I think you deserve to be up here with Me.”
“You have no interest on the things of the earth.” My brothers and sisters, he did not know head or tail about the new covenant, or about the new and living way, or about the old man and the flesh and the deeds of the body and all that. But he walked with God by faith, and he was so heavenly minded that he was raptured. What are we waiting for today? Also a rapture.
We are also waiting like Enoch to be taken up when Jesus comes. But is He going to take everyone? Enoch is a picture of the bride that’s going to be raptured. We turn to Luke chapter 17 and we see something there about the rapture. Luke chapter 17 verse 31 to 36.
“On that day, let not the one who is on the housetop, who’s good there in the house, go down to take them away.” In other words, in the day when Jesus comes, speaking about verse 30, the day that the son of man is revealed. On the day the son of man comes, if you’re on the roof of your house, make sure that your heart is not attached to something down inside the house. That’s the point. Now we need to understand this.
Supposing you’re on the roof of this building or the roof of your house, let’s say, and Jesus comes. I don’t think any of us would want to go downstairs. We’d be ready to go, of course. All of us would be ready to go. Nobody would want to go downstairs.
# Cain’s Descendants and the Godly Line of Seth
This world is a rotten place in any case. The point is not that. The point is that wherever you are, is there in your heart a string or perhaps a rope or a chain that ties you down to something on this earth that you’ve abandoned? Maybe some material things, some job, something that you have got which is valuable to you. Some gold, something.
Your heart is tied to where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Even though your body is on the roof of the house, your heart is downstairs. That’s the point. Because he says if you’re like that, remember Lot’s wife, verse thirty-two. Lot’s wife’s body was outside Sodom, but her heart was in Sodom.
That’s the point. Our heart need not be where our body is. Our body can sit inside the church and our heart may be out in Babylon. If you seek to save your life, you lose it.
You keep his life in this world. I tell you on that night, verse thirty-four, this is the rapture. Two will be in one bed. It doesn’t mean two men, it means two human beings, husband and wife obviously. One will be taken because he was heavenly minded like Enoch, and the other like Mrs. Enoch will be left behind.
Exactly like that. One day, her husband is gone. He walked with God. He walked with God.
Enoch’s Example of Walking with God
That’s something we need to think of. People may have thought he was cranky and crazy and had a screw loose or whatever they may say, but God had a different opinion and He just took him. Who was the other person taken up? Elijah. He was taken up also in a rapture.
One thing we can see similar about Enoch and Elijah: they both preached judgment against sin. And the world thought they were crazy. People opposed them. The prophets of Baal and the prophets of Babylon opposed them. But they walked with God, and God took them. Follow Enoch and follow Elijah, then we’ll be taken up like they were taken up. Now that’s something for us to think about.
We can turn now to Genesis chapter 5 again. Verse 25 is interesting because as I said, Enoch spoke about the second coming of Christ. That’s what we also speak about in the rapture. And he was raptured. It’s a very beautiful picture of the church.
Three hundred years of walking with God in the midst of a family life. Wonderful example right at the beginning of scripture – not a man who built a city after his name or donated a pan or a chair, but one who walked with God.
Methuselah and God’s Patience
And Methuselah, verse 25, lived one hundred and eighty-seven years and became the father of Lamech. Verse 26, then Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after he became the father of Lamech. And he had other sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years.
This was the man, we can say he carried death in his name. What is his name? When he dies, the judgment will come. He had death in his name, Methuselah. And he was the man among all the children of Adam who lived the longest. What does that teach us? God’s long suffering.
Shall I let Methuselah die when he’s a hundred? No. Give the world a little more time. Two hundred? No. Little more time. Three hundred? Four hundred? Five hundred? Six hundred? Nine hundred and sixty-two? He’s crossed his grandfather’s age now? No. Let him live a little longer.
The fact that Methuselah lived longest is an indication of God’s long suffering. With a world that would not listen to Enoch’s preaching of judgment, that would not believe what Enoch believed. That even though God placed a witness right in the midst of their ungodly generation who walked with God and prophesied judgment, they wouldn’t listen. Yet God’s long suffering made Methuselah live.
They saw this fantastic thing happening of Enoch disappearing. They couldn’t find his body. I think they must have said some wild animal must have eaten him or they’ve always got some rational explanation for these things. They were not interested in hearing God. But God’s long suffering carried on.
Let me read a verse to you in the First Epistle of Peter, chapter 3 verse 20. It says about those who were disobedient:
When the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah.
Remember of Methuselah’s nine hundred and sixty-nine years? Six hundred of those years Noah was alive. And the last hundred and twenty years of Methuselah’s life, Noah was preaching. There’s going to be a flood. There’s going to be a flood. It’ll come. It’ll come.
And it says here, the patience of God kept waiting. And the living proof of that patience was Methuselah. When he dies, the judgment will come. God allows him to live the longest of all human beings. That’s the significance of Methuselah being the longest who ever lived.
From Creation to the Flood
Now Methuselah also had met Adam. Adam died when Methuselah was two hundred and forty-three years old. So you see, Methuselah also heard all about Adam. In fact, from creation to the flood, it stretches out between just two human beings, Adam and Methuselah. That’s all. Between those two human beings, you reach the flood.
Now we come to verse 28. Methuselah had a son called Lamech. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years and became the father of a son. He called his name Noah. That was Enoch’s great-grandson and Methuselah’s grandson. And said, “This one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
How did Lamech know that the Lord had cursed the ground? Because Adam had told that to Methuselah. And Methuselah told that to Lamech that when I was in Eden, God said the ground is cursed. It’s exact quotation of what God said. These people knew. Adam told them everything. They all knew what happened in creation. They all knew about God.
Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years. And he died just five years before the flood. After he became the father of Noah and he had other sons and daughters. And he was seven hundred and seventy-seven when he died. And Noah was five hundred years old. Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. We read about Noah in the next chapter.
The Hope of Rapture
What do we see in this chapter? One significant thing. And he died. And he died. And he died. And he died. And he died. And then suddenly, one man, he didn’t die. He went up without dying. Wonderful chapter.
I don’t think there’s another chapter in the Bible which is full of this phrase, “and he died” and “he died” and “he died” and “he died” and “he died.” In the middle of that, one chapter goes up without dying. That is the church. In the midst of a world surrounded by death, our hope is to be taken up if we walk with God like Enoch.
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