5 1-6 8 How Much Worse Can The World Get
liberty bible church 11/26/06 P.M.
By Tom Zobrist
“how much worse can the world get?”
Genesis 5:1-6:8
introduction
Illus. of e-mail from Bruce Nichols. In some parts of the world, evil is running unabated. The world just seems to be getting crazier and crazier. Where is it going to stop? How long until the Lord returns? How much worse can it possibly get? Well, only the Lord knows for sure, but we can get a hint from the Scriptures.
OPEN to passage.
Prop. In this passage, how bad the world can get before the global judgment of God.
Open in PRAYER.
PREVIEW the passage. Last time we saw the sin of man begin to spread as we witnessed the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. The sin nature was evident in every succeeding generation. Cf. 4:16-24 But God was also at work. Cf. 4:25-26 So, the pattern of the sin nature was set. We see what happens to begin to send the world into a downward spiral. It is an unavoidable result of the fall.
i. evil infests everyone vs. 5:1-32
Illus. of the story of the 92 year old woman and the mother with her son. Even those least expected are infected with sin. Chapter 5 gives us a genealogy from Adam to Noah. It links the first to sin with the one who would deliver the world from total annihilation. Even though man is advancing and prospering, there is still the problem of the curse of sin. People are still dying. Last time we looked at the genealogy of Cain. It listed 7 generations, with three sons listed at the end. (Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain.) Interestingly enough, only one man spoke in that list, his name was Lamech and he taunted the curse. Cf. 4:23-24 In the genealogy from Adam to Noah, there are 10 generations with three sons listed at the end. Only one man speaks and his name is also Lamech. (A different Lamech as Chapter 4) He cries under the curse of sin. Cf. 5:29 Let’s start with…
a. Adam sets the tone
V 1-2 1. Everything starts out great. Man is create in the image of God and is blessed. However…
V 3-5 2. After he passed on the sin nature to his children, Adam died. He lived long, but death still resulted. By the way, the Biblical record of longevity is supported by a secular record, the Sumerian king list from Mesopotamia. Both the environment and God wanting to fill the earth probably made this happen.
b. and the beat goes on
V 6-8 1. Seth lived and died.
V 9-11 2. Enosh lived and died.
V 12-14 3. Cainan lived and died.
V 15-17 4. Mahalalel lived and died.
V 18-20 5. Jared lived and died.
V 21-24 6. The one exception. Enoch “walked with God.” This indicates that he was obedient to God and had fellowship with God. He was granted divine favor by not having to die. This is the type of walk Israel was to have with God and so are we today in the church. Hopefully, we will be blessed being taking in the rapture.
V 25-27 7. Methuselah lived and died. He was the grandfather of Noah. Interestingly enough, it appears he may have died in the flood. He was 182 when Lamech was born and 369 when Noah was born. 600 years later the flood came.
V 28-31 8. Lamech lived and died. He was the father of Noah. Lamech had hope that this boy would bring comfort to those struggling under the curse. Noah literally means rest, but in Hebrew it sounds like comfort.
In this chapter of death, Enoch escaped it and now Lamech hoped that his son could bring some comfort to those struggling with sin. Little did he know what God would do.
Trans. EVIL INFESTS EVERYONE. Even though the world looked bad then as it does now…
ii. evil influence escalates vs. 6:1-4
Illus. of the OJ book and show that was pulled this last week. Why would people think such crazy things?
A. Man still had a sin nature, but sin escalates
V 1 1. This was the continuation of the normal course of events that we saw in chapter 5. Men were living and dying, a result of the fall. In the next verse, we see as escalation of the evil.
V 2 2. Some believe this refers to the sons of Seth, the godly line, marrying the daughters of Cain; believers marrying unbelievers. But, the evil goes deeper than that. Others view this as angels cohabiting with women. This contradicts what Jesus told us about angels in Matthew 22:30. They don’t marry. Who are the sons of God?
3. The best interpretation would be fallen angels or demons possessing the bodies of powerful rulers and warriors on the earth. We know from other passages that sometimes great kings had demonic powers ruling behind them. Cf. Dan. 10:13; Ezek. 28:11-19 In some pagan literature, kings are described as divine or half divine. These leaders were revered by pagans. Some myths even say that they were offspring of the gods themselves. So, to some pagans, gods had their origin resulting from human and pagan physical relations. So, a powerful human or giant human would suggest divine origin to a pagan.
V 4 4. What we are seeing is a description as to how evil the world had become. Nephilim refers to fallen or mighty ones. Most cults in this region believed in fertility rites which included sympathetic magic, where one could be affected through an object that represents them. (Voodoo dolls) But this verse is showing that these were not divine, but simply men; men who were controlled by demons. They married multiple women to satisfy their own lusts. Many believe this was the origin of harems. They may have been powerful, but they died nonetheless. They were not gods. In all this sin…
b. the curse escalates
V 3 1. Although God allows sin, He does not allow it to go unabated. Man’s years are now limited. 120 years until destruction comes.
2. Man thought immorality could lead to immortality, but it just is not so. This is still true in the church age. Cf. 1 Cor. 6:9
Trans. EVIL INFESTS EVERYONE and if this weren’t bad enough, this EVIL INFLUENCE ESCALATES, as does God’s judgment. But how bad can it get? There are nothing but…
iii. evil intentions everyday vs. 5-8
Illus. of Kramer article. His real heart was revealed here, now he is scrambling to save his career. His career is not what he should be worried about. He wants everyone to believe he is not a bad person, nor a bigot. That gets us to our next question in relation to the evil of man…
a. Is there good in everyone?
V 5 1. God made man for a specific purpose, but that purpose had been corrupted by mankind. This doesn’t mean that every person was this way, but the culture by and large, of the world was this way. Every plan that man came up with was evil…continually. Literally is “all the day.”
2. Remember what Jesus said about this time? Cf. Matt. 24:38 Illus. of today we are doing the same, the world is oblivious as to the consequences of their sin.
b. with judgment comes grace
V 6 1. Now, even God was suffering the painful results of sin. He had been separated from the capstone of His creation by sin. That He was sorry does not mean that He changed His mind, but simply He was sorrowful. He felt sorry.
V 7 2. God’s grace is seen here because He did not destroy the world immediately. It would be 100 years plus. They would have opportunities to repent. Cf. 2 Pet. 2:4-5 Were these the angels of our Genesis passage?
V 8 3. Noah too received grace. He was spared along with his family.
4. Israel was chosen as Noah was and was delivered from the giants when they entered the land. God judged the Anakites, Nephilim, for their idolatry and fornication. We see that is Num. and Joshua. The same thing will happen at the Second Coming of Jesus. God will judge evil. Cf. Matt. 24:36-39 This is the end of the Tribulation.
conclusion
To answer our original questions… Where is it going to stop? How long until the Lord returns? How much worse can it possibly get? Let’s just say it will get worse… and worse… and worse. Should we focus on the evil or what?
1. What does Jesus say? Cf. Matt. 24:44-51 We are to be caring for His people, the church. As He told Peter, feed my sheep.
2. Included in this is the truth of the Gospel being shared with those that need to hear. Evangelism. GOSPEL
3. This is disciple-making. That is to what we are to focus on. Not politics or stopping the sin of the world. We are to preach the truth of the Gospel. We can’t stop the “Nephilim” from sin. They will be judged. We can preach the Gospel and some may respond.
Illus. of Pope dialoguing with the Anglican bishop. One world religion is the end.
There is too much politics in the religion of the world. Jesus was not a politician, He does no dialoguing or negotiating. He is the King. Receive Him and win. Reject Him and be destroyed.
We have that message and the world needs to hear. That’s our purpose. To build the saints to do the work of reaching the world with the Gospel…now. This world will not go on forever. It will get worse, but it will also end. We have a glorious eternity. That is our focus and goal.
pray
liberty bible church 11/26/06 P.M.
By Tom Zobrist
“how much worse can the world get?”
Genesis 5:1-6:8
introduction
The world just seems to be getting crazier and crazier. Where is it going to stop? How long until the Lord returns? How much worse can it possibly get?
i. vs. 5:1-32
a. Adam sets the tone
b. and the beat goes on
ii. vs. 6:1-4
a. Man still had a sin nature, but ____________________________ escalates
Cf. Matthew 22:30; Dan. 10:13; Ezek. 28:11-19
b. the ___________________________ escalates
Cf. 1 Cor. 6:9
iii. vs. 5-8
a. Is there good in everyone?
Cf. Matt. 24:38
b. with judgment comes ______________________________
Cf. 2 Pet. 2:4-5; Matt. 24:36-39
conclusion
Should we focus on the evil or what?
1. What does Jesus say? Cf. Matt. 24:44-51
2.
3.