Followers of the Lord

How many of y'all know your "family tree?" I was supposed to do a project on it when I was in tenth grade. My parents purchased a program that would help me research my family tree and trace it back. I remember inputting some information in it, but I do not remember much of what came back. In fact, I don't think I ever turned that project in, not that I think of it...

How many of you have done research into your family tree? Did you find anything interesting?

Today we are going to look at something like a family tree, but there is an important difference. Let's do a quick recap over what we have covered so far first.

As we have studied Genesis 1-4 we have seen that what once began as a community in the garden was broken by the act of no longer listening to God's voice, but listening and trusting the serpents voice. As a consequence to this sin, mankind is exiled from this garden. There is now a separation between heaven and earth, and this event is what we commonly refer to as "The Fall."

Immediately after, we see Cain, Adam and Eve's first born, become jealous and prideful against his brother Abel. God confronts Cain and attempts ro counsel him out of his murderrous intent. Instead of confessing and repenting, Cain follows his wicked heart and murders his brother. God still shows grace and mercy to Cain, willing to redeem him if he would just repent, but we see that as Cain lives out his punishment of exile and wanderings, that his heart has also left the presence of the Lord. What a rough start to the story of humanity! What started out as a story that began with perfect peace has now been thrown into chaos. The event of The Fall and its consequences are what author Cornelius Plantiga calls "the vandalism of peace."

We have seen that Adam and Eve both listened to the wrong voice of the serpent and fell. Cain sinned and was exiled, suffering a loss of what he held most dear, because he also listened to the wrong voice: the voice of his anger and resentment.

Let's look at the last bit of Genesis 4 as we prepare to enter into a very familiar story next week: the story of Noah.

We will start where we ended last week in Genesis 4:16-18 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

This is the genealogy, or lineage, of Cain. This word, lineage, is similar to family tree, but it is different. It follows only one line. That line may brance a bit, but those branches are not followed to completion, because the focus of a genealogy or lineage is a direct line that goes from one person at the beginning to a person or partcular group at the end. The perifery branches are not too much of a concern in lineages and are therefore often ignored. As you study and read through the Bible, you will see many genealogies, many lineage accounts. Today we will look at two very important lineages that lead up to the flood, and see why the other branches are really not taken into account in the Bible.

Let's take a look at what we know of the lineage of Cain.

The first thing to note is that Cain leaves the presence of the Lord. Not because there is somewhere that he finds where God is not present, because God is omnipresent, but this is a spiritual leaving. He leaves his family, and he abandons a relationship with a God who has done nothing but show him mercy and grace even when he was being punished.

Can you imagine as a parent thinking, "Where did I go wrong?" I can't help but think that this is probably what was going on in Adam and Eve's minds as Cain left them.

But he leaves. And once he is gone, living a life of a wanderer, he and his wife have a son. This son's name is Enoch. Now, this is not the Enoch you are probably thinking, this is a different Enoch. Cain builds a city and names it after his son, Enoch. Which means dedicated. We don't see anything else about Cain anymore here, but we understand by New Testament writings that he is living for himself and against God, being described by the Apsotle John as belonging to "the evil one" in reference to Satan.

Enoch and his wife then have a child they name Irad. Irad has a son named Mehujael, who has a son he names Methusael. I want you to think about the children and grandchildren of Cain and how they are being raised.

Cain is bitter with God. He believes God to be unfair and unjust and cruel. Guess what he is not teaching his kids? He is not teaching them about God's love and mercy and holiness.

Cain has lived for himself all of his life. He leaves his family and he abandons God to go live for himself. Guess what his children pick up on? Living for themselves. And generation after generation this is what they do.

Methusael, Cain's great-great-grandchild has a son that he names Lamech. Let's read a little about Lamech.

Genesis 4:19-24 19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah,

Hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt.

24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

Lamech kills a man, a young man, for wounding him. This word, slain, is meant to denote murder or slaughter. Lamech turns out to be just like his great-great-great-granddaddy, a murderer. But unlike Cain, Lamech is wounded, posssibly fatally.

Remember, God told Cain that whoever killed Cain, God himself would avenge Cain 7-fold. The person that killed Cain would suffer seven times the death of Cain (possibly denoting that God would kill 7 people in that persons family).

Lamech now gathers his wives around him and says, if Cain was to be avenged 7-fold, I deserve to be avenged 77 times, and he boasts that though it was a young man that hurt him, he returned that wound with murder. Lamech has fallen into deeper pride than Cain ever did, it seems. Where Cain's avenging was proclaimed by God to be "sevenfold" should Cain be killed, Lamech declares his own avenging and increases his significance over his g-g-g-grandfather's eleven times. And like Cain, is unrepentant, but goes beyond that into the territory of boasting about his murder.

And that is it for the named lineage of Cain. The line goes from Cain to Lamech, and there is no accident. Note how generations of godless and prideful parents influence their kids to be more and more prideful. This will come into play later, so dont forget it.

But now we come back to Adam and Eve once again.

Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

We see a new son born to Adam here, Seth. Note what the Bible says about his birth: Eve names her new baby Seth, which means Compensation. This baby serves to fill the void left by Abel's murder. And as such, how do you think they raised Seth? To have faith and to follow God, much like Abel. And we see this as we progress through the lineage of Seth.

Seth grows and to him and his wife is born a baby that they name Enos. And look at what happens in Eons's day: v.24 then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Men began to call on God's name. They began to turn to Him. Knowing that they were unrighteous and sinful, they began to call upon the only one who could give them mercy and grace. Who began to call upon the Lord? Enos and his descendants, not Cain's, they had left that area. They, as we saw in Lamech's life, were focused on self. But Seth has passed down to Enos an understanding that God deserves to be worshipped. The age of Enos was known for people turning and worshipping God. Not only that, but as I studied this verse out, that phrase, men began to call upon the name of the Lord" also carries the meaning that men began to call themselves by the name of the Lord. So basically, you have people that are so devoted to worshipping God, they are calling themselves "God worshippers" or "Followers of the Lord." Their identity was not, descendant of Enos or Seth or even Adam, but their identity was that they were followers of God.

Jumping into chapter five, we see Adam's lineage through Seth. This is where you will see that though branches are mentioned, they are not taken into account. Seth's line is followed, and you will see the reason at the end of this message.

Genesis 5:1-28 As we read this lineage, I am going to record the lineage here on this whiteboard.

(After reading and writing) Note the long lifespans here. Wow! Methuselah lived for a total of 969 years! He lived for ten years after his son Lamech died!

As we look down this line, we see Enoch. This is NOT the son that Cain had, this is quite literally hundred of years after that particular Enoch. This Enoch does not belong to a lineage that is wicked, but to a lineage of faithful God-followers. He is broght up and instructed in the faith that his g-g-g-g-grandfather Seth had. In fact, Seth was just barely over the hill at 537 years old when Enoch was born.

But let's look at Enoch. Enoch stands out among the other Followerrs of the Lord in that Enoch walked with God in a way that was different from others. Enoch had such a close relationship with God that God blessed him by giving him something that no one else in this line had ever experienced. Enoch provides the only break in this chapter from the incessant "and he died." For Enoch was taken by God himself.

Can you imagine being Seth? Having already died at this point, I can imagine Seth in paradise thinking, "Well, given that everyone is living so long, it's going to be a while before I see any of my g-g-g-grandkids." Then all of a sudden, Enoch walks in with God!

And Seth's like, "What happened, Enoch? Did someone murder you? Didn't I tell you not to hang out with my brother's family? Was there an accident? What happened? You're so young! Only 365 years old... a baby..."

And Enoch goes, "No man! I was talking with God, and it was getting late. So He said, 'Why dont' we finish this conversation at my place?' And here I am!"

So Seth's descendants began to be followers and worshippers of God, but Enoch walked with God. Then we get to Methuselah, the longest living human on record. 969 years! We saw that he also had a son and named him Lamech. This Lamech is not to be confused with Cain's g-g-g-grandkid, this is a Lamech who follows the Lord like his parents and their parents did.

So far, as we go through this lineage, everything seems like it is doing fine. But I want you to notice what is happenning with the rest of the family tree. Jump to Chapter 6 (we will be back in chapter 5 in a bit).

Genesis 6:1-7

"when men began to multiply upon the face of the earth..." This is all this time that Cain's kids are having kids, Seth's kids are having kids, and the rest of Adam's kids are having kids. At this time, there is a group of people who are calling upon the name of the Lord and being called by the name of the Lord. This group belongs to Seth's lineage. We see them here as the "sons of God." They were followers of God. But something happens to these followers of God. They begin to be interested in women that come from families that do not follow God, "daughters of man."

V.3 - The Holy Spirit was very active in this tie, doing the same thing that it does now, convincing the woldl of sin and their need for a savior. God said, I am not going to fight with them any more.

There were giants in these days. There are many theories about these Giants and their offspring.

1. That these are the offspring of Demons and Humans. They became giants and wicked and that is why God brought a flood to the earth to kill them all off. The problem that presents itself here is two-fold. A) Whatt would prevent deamons from doing the same tthing after the flood? B) The Bible does seem to indicate that ag=ngels and thereby deamons (as they are fallen angels) are not sexual beings that procreate.

2. The second theory is that men that had given themselves over to wickedness so much that they had become possessed by demons were now producing wicked offspring with women.

3. And this is the theory that I personally subscribe to: The son's of God were those followers of God through Seth's line that had then lost focus on God and became entagled with women of Cain's line, a lineage that was abviously wicked and prideful and rebellious. I believe that the line we see in Chapter 5 ended up being the only faithful ones to the Lord. Everyone else's thoughts were evil continually (6:5). Notice the description of the men in verse 4: There were also giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, MEN OF RENOWN. That phrase, men of renown, is a phrase we will see once again after the flood. it means that they were men that were interested in making a name for themselves. 6:11 tells us that the earth was full of not just moral corruption, but violence as well. People killing each other and boasting about it, similar to what Lamech ended up as, is something that would fit perfectly in this description.

The way that the world is described at this period in time is something unique. I don't believe I see it anywhere else in Scripture, that the WHOLEWORLD, ALL OF MANKIND, had ONLY evil thoughts. They lived for pleasure, they live to agrandise themselves. Their thoughts were constantly consumed with evil.

And in the middlee of this time, there is one, traceable line that is being faithful to the Lord. We get to Lamech, son of Methuselah, in 5:28-29. He has a son and names him Noah. He names him Noah for a very specific reason. Noah means "rest." Lamech gives his son this name because he believed that somehow through Noah, God would bring rest into that world of pure wickedness. Noah was raised alongside other brothers and sisters, but none of them got on the ark. Noah was the only one faithful from Lamech's kids.

Lamech dies ten years before the completion of the ark, but remember, Methuselah, Noah's granfather is still alive. As Noah is finishing the ark, something happens. Methuselah dies. If you look at the passag and you look at the years that transpire, you see that Methuselah dies the same year that the flood happens. Now, the only living family that worships God, Noah, his wife and kids, and their wives, get into the ark.And what happens next?

You'll have to come next week and find out!!

I want to point something out about Noah that we do not see herre in Genesis. Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

When you read that, it sounds that Noah was condemning all of the rest of humanity to a watery grave, but the New Testament calls him a preacher of righteousness.

But let's look at Genesis 6:8-9 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah WALKED with God. Just like his great grandfather, Noah walked with God. He sought after God and maintained an intimate fellowship with him. He became what Lamech hoped, the person that God would use to bring rest into the world.

Imagine how hard it would have been for Seth, Enos, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah to remain faithful with all the wickedness that surrounded them? Even their brothers and sisters, it seems, at the very least Noah's, were consumed by it.

The key that we see in them is that their identity lay not in who was their father or what was going on around them, their identity was that of Followers Of The Lord.

Where does your identity lie? Would it have been enough for Noah to identify as a God Follower on Sundays and Wednesdays?

Is it enough for us?

Invitation: What is your identity as you leave this place? Are you known by others for how you call on the name of the Lord? Are you known by others as a Jesus follower? More importantly, despite what others call you, are you a Jesus follower Sunday through Saturday? Are you passing that to your kids?

During Life Group, we are going to really dig into the application of this concept and one other. Though we do not see the word discipleship here in these verses, or anywhere until you get into the New Testament, discipleship is exactly what you see going on here from father to son. We will take a look at this concept a little more in the adult life group in a few minutes.

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LIFE GROUP

Would Noah have continued to be faithful of he were only to identify as follower of the Lord some days?

What would the effect have been on Noah and his family been had Noah ceased to be faithful?

We often think, "If I were to hear God's voice and walk with Him, it would be a whole lot easier to be faithful to God." But how did this work out for Cain? Did Noah have it any easier than Cain?

Consider the progression of Seth's line (up to Noah) and the progression of Cain's line (up to Lamech).

How did the two end? Noah was faithful to the Lord; Lamech was proud of his wickedness.

In your opinion, what do you think led to those results?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 probably well describes what Seth through Lamech did with their sons. They taught them about God and how to have a relationship with them. But it was more than just lectures.

After reading these verses, how can we as parents teach our children to love God?

How can we put into action Deut. 6:7? Diligently means to put every effort into something.

It needs to be a priority to bring God into our conversations with our children.

What are different ways we can go about doing this?