Friday, September 23, 2005
Genesis 5
Genesis 5
“1656 years from Adam to Noah”
In Genesis 1 and 2 Humanity is created and is obedient. Nothing goes wrong until Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve disobey God. There rebellion is bad enough, but we see an escalation of the next generation as one brother kills another brother. Then in the same chapter we see a man by the name of Lamech, who is also the first polygamist, kill men and brag about it. Rebellion continues to escalate as it always does as we draw further and further away from God.
Vs. 1
Moses, the author of Genesis, writes about our original state as he starts the genealogy of Adam.
Vs. 3-32
These verses are leading reading the white pages of the phone book! Names of men, who have sons, and then die. Live, have sons, and die… live, have sons, and then die. That is the main progression from one verse to another. To quote another pastor, “Each man gets on the stationary bicycle of life and peddles until he dies. Then, when he is done, he falls off only to be succeeded by his son who does the same.” (Mark Driscoll)
People tend to believe that we are becoming better, or more moral, or even closer to God as we live. The Bible doesn’t tell us this. In just a few short chapters of Genesis we see each generation become more corrupt than the one before it. It gets so bad that God will decide to destroy the Earth in the following chapter.
Genesis 6:5-8
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.”
So, in 1656 years Humanity goes from Created in the Image of God, to one sin of disobedience, to murder, to “every inclination of man’s heart is only evil all the time”. We slide off to a place so vile that God’s own heart is grieved that he made Humanity at all.
One notable thing stands out in Genesis 5.
Vs. 21-24 “Enoch walked with God”
Of all the generations of men who were born, one man stands out among the crowd, Enoch. Enoch walked with God. The Bible tells us that one man, significantly, in 1656 years walked with God.
Jude 14 tells us that Enoch was a prophet. He warned those who were disobedient and rebellious to turn to the God who created them. The author of Hebrews calls Enoch a man of faith.
Walk with God!
In almost two millennia one man stood out among the rest as one who walked with God. He did so by faith, and by being one who told others about the God who created them. May we be the ones that stand out in this generation.
Hebrews 11:5-6
“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
“1656 years from Adam to Noah”
In Genesis 1 and 2 Humanity is created and is obedient. Nothing goes wrong until Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve disobey God. There rebellion is bad enough, but we see an escalation of the next generation as one brother kills another brother. Then in the same chapter we see a man by the name of Lamech, who is also the first polygamist, kill men and brag about it. Rebellion continues to escalate as it always does as we draw further and further away from God.
Vs. 1
Moses, the author of Genesis, writes about our original state as he starts the genealogy of Adam.
Vs. 3-32
These verses are leading reading the white pages of the phone book! Names of men, who have sons, and then die. Live, have sons, and die… live, have sons, and then die. That is the main progression from one verse to another. To quote another pastor, “Each man gets on the stationary bicycle of life and peddles until he dies. Then, when he is done, he falls off only to be succeeded by his son who does the same.” (Mark Driscoll)
People tend to believe that we are becoming better, or more moral, or even closer to God as we live. The Bible doesn’t tell us this. In just a few short chapters of Genesis we see each generation become more corrupt than the one before it. It gets so bad that God will decide to destroy the Earth in the following chapter.
Genesis 6:5-8
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.”
So, in 1656 years Humanity goes from Created in the Image of God, to one sin of disobedience, to murder, to “every inclination of man’s heart is only evil all the time”. We slide off to a place so vile that God’s own heart is grieved that he made Humanity at all.
One notable thing stands out in Genesis 5.
Vs. 21-24 “Enoch walked with God”
Of all the generations of men who were born, one man stands out among the crowd, Enoch. Enoch walked with God. The Bible tells us that one man, significantly, in 1656 years walked with God.
Jude 14 tells us that Enoch was a prophet. He warned those who were disobedient and rebellious to turn to the God who created them. The author of Hebrews calls Enoch a man of faith.
Walk with God!
In almost two millennia one man stood out among the rest as one who walked with God. He did so by faith, and by being one who told others about the God who created them. May we be the ones that stand out in this generation.
Hebrews 11:5-6
“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
