GENESIS CHAPTERS 4 TO 7
Notice in chapter 4 that Cain is mentioned 16 times and Abel 7 times.
Cain is the Hebrew word for acquired, Abel for breath or the word vanity as used in Ecclesiastes.
Cain's name reminds us that life comes from God while Abel tells us life is brief.
Cain was a farmer and Abel a shepherd.
Verse 1 to 2a - The Brother
Verse 2b - The Worker
Verses 3 - 7 - The Worshipper
Verses 8 to 10 - The Murderer
Verses 11 to 15 - The Wanderer
Verses 16 to 24 - The Builder
The way of Cain is way of self will and unbelieve - Jude 11
Cain's civilisation was characterized by booming construction and by corruption of moral values that would end in provoking judgment of God. It was also very cultured and characterized by crime.
Notice God spoke to Cain personally and tried to lead him back to the way of faith but Cain resisted.
There are no dates of Cain's descendants lifespan recorded.
Seth's name means granted and signified a new beginning.
Genesis 4 verse 25 to Genesis 6 verse 8 covers 1500 years of human history and is overshadowed by sin and sorrow. 15 different people are recorded and 4 stand out - Seth, Enosh, Enoch and Noah.
ABEL - THE FIRST MARTYR FOR TRUTH
Abel and Cain were commanded to bring a sacrifice to God which became a test of obedience. Abel was confirmed in his faith and passed the test by offering the sacrifice prescribed by God and acceptable to him. Cain however evidenced a deficiency of faith and a lack of respect for God and his command by making an offering that differed from God's instructions. In the end jealousy consumed Cain and he murdered Abel. Abel's faith and obedience cost him his life. Cain could not accept or understand his failure or his brother's success and approval in God's eyes.
Sometimes we fail to obey God's commands because they don't make sense to us. And sometimes we are less than willing to obey them for fear of unpleasant or harmful consequences. Don't fail the test of faith in God as Cain did. Be fully obedient to God. Your obedience will affirm your trust in him and strengthen your faith as you rely upon him. Believe that with God's gracious help you can endure any outcome or persecution from others.
ENOCH – Walking with God
Genesis the very first book of the bible says this "And Enoch lived sixty and five years and begat Methuselah and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years and begat sons and daughters, and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years; and Enoch walked with god; and he was not; for God took him." Genesis 5 verses 21 - 24
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11 verses 5 and 6
"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them for all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Jude verses 14 and 15
If anything Enoch set before us the example of how to have communion with God. He displayed in his life the relation of the believer to the Most High and showed how near the living God condescends to be to his own children. This is or should be our desire continually - to have communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.
There are 3 things to think about in Enoch's character:
What is meant by Enoch's walking with God?
What circumstances were connected with Enoch's walking with God?
What was the close of Enoch's life?
Firstly Enoch's walk with God was a testimony that Enoch was well pleasing to God - note the words "before this translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." The Lord will not walk with a man in whom he has no pleasure - "Can two walk together unless they be agreed? Walking together implies friendship, intimacy, love and these cannot exist between God and the soul unless the man is acceptable unto the Lord. He had to be forgiven and justified even as we are for no man can be pleasing to God until sin is pardoned and righteousness is given. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." If we have faith we may enter into fellowship with the Lord. Your walk must continue as it begun. Enoch was always pleasing to God but it was because he always believed and lived in the power of his faith.
Secondly he realised the divine presence. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him." It was a realised faith - the truth had entered his heart and what he believed was true to him, practically true in his daily life. He walked with God which is the practical and experimental part of true godliness. In his daily life he realised that God was with him and he regarded him as a living friend in whom he confided and by whom he was loved.
He had a very familiar intercourse with the Most High - in walking friends become communicative - one tells his troubles and the other strives to console him under it and then imparts to him his own secret in return.
His intercourse with God was continuous - he walked with God for hundreds of years - day to day fellowship with God is implied.
His life was progressive - a man who walks with God will necessarily grow in grace and in the knowledge of God and in the likeness of God.
His life must have been a holy life. His life must have been a happy one. What an honourable thing it is to walk with God.
What circumstances were connected with Enoch's walking with God?
The details of his life are very few - he was a public man ("seventh from Adam"). He was undoubtedly a man distinguished in his time and full of public cares yet he did not lose his close talking with God but he held on in through a life of centuries. He was a family man - "Enoch walked with God and begat sons and daughters." He walked with God for more than 300 years. He lived in a very evil age. Note the words of Jude. He lived at a time when few loved God and when those who professed to do so were being drawn aside by other things. Church and state were proposing an alliance, fashion and pleasure ruled the hour and compromise was the order of the day. He lived towards the close of those times when long lives had produced great sinners and great sinners had hurt God.
He bore witness for God - "Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied." He was a man who stood firm amidst a torrent of blasphemy and rebuke carrying on the great controversy for the truth of God against the wicked lives and tongues of the scoffers of his age. It is clear that people spoke against Enoch, they rejected his testimony, they grieved his spirit and he mourned that in this they were speaking against God - "of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." He saw their ungodly lives and bore witness against them. His great subject was the Second Advent of Christ.
What was the close of Enoch's walk? He finished his work early. God called him home - probably at the noon of his life. Gone from this earth but with God. He was missed - "he was not found". Somebody looked for him. A good man is missed and so will they be who walk with God. Enoch's departure was his testimony. There is evidence of God and of another walk in his departure from this world. The body is capable of immortality and of living in a heavenly condition. There is a reward for the righteous - God sees and is pleased with his people who walk with him. He can give heavenly rewards but also rewards now - by delivering them from the pangs of death. Enoch was a witness to his generation.
Men and Women of the Old Testament by C H Spurgeon
Enoch's name means dedicated, a man dedicated to the things of God.
Enoch's world was one of surrounding gloom - Genesis 6 verse 5
God was absent, sin was destroying the world, conservative estimate of people living at the time of the Flood was 750 million people yet only 8 made it onto the ark.
In Enoch's world there was a simple godliness pursued - Genesis 5 verse 22.
At 65 a baby changed his world. His life took a new direction. Enoch walked with God from then on. He had no bible, no preacher, no resources but prayer and the Spirit of God.
There was a sudden glory - Hebrews 11 verse 5. He pleased God so much that one day he was taken from this world into heaven. He went without dying.
GENESIS CHAPTER 6
Noah believed what God told him. He left what was going to happen up to God as he faithfully went about doing whatever God told him for however long it took, no matter the cost. Noah like his grandfather Enoch found favour in God's eyes - that is faith!
God used Noah to prophesy and predict the coming of a great flood the world has never seen anything like what the people of that time were hearing about. Mankind had never experienced rain. Yet Noah believed God's warning and intention and spent 120 years proclaiming the message of approaching doom and building an ark. Can you imagine the ridicule and abuse Noah must have experienced during those years of building the first ever boat in the middle of dry land and preaching about coming judgement? God was grieved that they married godless Cainites choosing wives as they pleased without considering God's will.
Notice the source of the ark - it was God's idea not man's. Before Adam and Eve and sin created the world.
The special revelation - God revealed it to Noah. Man cannot see his need of God without revelation.
The substance of the ark - gopher wood. God's humanity. Jesus' sinless nature cut down in the prime of life.
The sealing of the ark - protected by pitch making water tight. A reminder of atonement covered by blood.
The size of the ark - 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high, 8 decks, 1 door and 18 inches high. 2 decks divided into compartments. Designed for flotation not navigation.
Notice the reason for the ark. The refuge of the ark and the resources given b God to Noah.
The structure of the ark - one door, window and 3 tiers (body, soul and spirit or Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
The sustenance of the ark - enough food to feed everyone. Jesus is the bread of life, we will never thirst again.
The shutting of the ark - verse 16. Our lives are hidden in Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The summons to enter the ark - "come" not "go". God calls sinners to come to him.
A secure man who waited on God - Noah walked with God and worked for God and let God arrange the schedule.
The schedule of the ark - 370 days later the ark came to rest. The 17th day of 7th month according to Jewish civil year. Exodus 12 verse 2. Jesus rose again 3 days after the Passover. He himself cried "it is finished".
The safety of the ark - all 8 people disembarked from the ark along with all the animals - all who are in Christ will also arrive safely in heaven - "no man shall pluck them out of my hand."
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Look at sin in its depravity. Every person born into the world is born with a sinful nature. Jeremiah 1 verse 5. Romans 3 verse 23. In Genesis 3 man`s disobedience and the entrance of sin goes to the very depths of God`s creation and we can see the consequences of it. In Genesis chapter 4 Cain brought the works of his own hands before God which was not acceptable. Many do that, they bring their good works, the best they can do and present it before the God of heaven. The only thing God accepts for your sin and my sin is the death of the Lord Jesus on Calvary. Genesis 6 verse 5 "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
Look at the dangers of sin. Genesis 11 verses 1 and 2 - the land of Shinar later became Babylon. Verse 4 "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." They wanted to build a tower to reach God in heaven. "And the Lord said, behold the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they began to do and now nothing will be restrained from them, whch they have imagined to do." (verse 6) 2 Timothy 3 verses 1 - 5. The entrance of sin in Genesis 3 affected every part of the human individual.
There is a deliverance from sin. There is only one place for your sin today - at the foot of the old rugged cross. There is no difference from the sin in the unsaved man to the sin in the saved man.
Genesis 6 verses 14 - 22
The reason for the ark. By reason of man`s rebellion and rejection of God`s world the world stood guilty and condemned of God, there was a need for a way of escape. God would make a deluge of flood that would mean every creature and human would be destroyed. God had to provide a way of escape. God looked down from heaven, he saw and knew everything that was going on. From Genesis chapter 1 when God declared everything was good to now in chapter 6 everything has gone astray. He saw the thoughts and minds of men were only evil continually. The only way of escape for this world was the instruction God gave to Noah in verse 14. The means of salvation to the world.
The refuge of the ark. God said to Noah "make thee an ark". One ark was sufficient to save a lost world. Only one place for safety and refuge - inside the ark. Noah is described as a just man who found grace in the eyes of God. He was saved through faith. Paul tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He preached as he built. It took 120 years to build that ark. The people laughed at him, they never gave it one consideration.
The resources God gave Noah. Notice the dimensions he had to follow. The pitch had 2 fold purpose. So that the water wouldn`t seep in and soak the inside. For the animals it was preventative for the smell and stench. The word "pitch" is where we get our word atonement from, means to cleanse or to purge. There was only one door into the ark. Jesus said "I am the door, by me if any man shall enter in he shall be saved." The window was at the top not in the side so no-one had to look at the water but rather had to look upwards. We should look upwards to Jesus. Everyone was safe in the ark, just as we are in Christ Jesus.
The rejoicing when Noah and his family stepped out from the ark. They offered up a burnt sacrifice as a way of praising God for keeping them through that time of judgement. Are we rejoicing in our salvation? The ark was able to save and Jesus is able to save today.
The Typology
of the Ark by A W Pink
Genesis 7
The ark which was built by Noah according
to divine directions, in which he and his house, together with representatives
from the lower creation, found shelter from the storm of God's wrath, is one of
the clearest and most comprehensive types of the believer's salvation in Christ
which is to be found in all the Scriptures.
1. The first thing to be noted in
connection with the ark is that it was a Divine provision. This is very clear
from the words of Genesis 6:13, 14"And God said unto Noah, the end of all
flesh is come before Me. . . make you an ark." Before the flood came and
before the ark was made, a means of escape for His own people existed in the
mind of God. The ark was not provided by Him after the waters had begun to
descend. Noah was commanded to construct it before a drop had fallen. So, too,
the Saviourship of Christ was no afterthought of God when sin had come in and
blighted His creation; from all eternity He had purposed to redeem a people
unto Himself, and in consequence, Christ, in the counsels of the Godhead, was
"a lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). The ark
was God's provision for Noah as Christ is God's provision for sinners.
2. Observe now that God revealed to Noah
His own designs and ordered him to build a place of refuge into which he could
flee from the impending storm of judgment. The ark was no invention of Noah's;
had not God revealed His thoughts to him, he would have perished along with his
fellow creatures. In like manner, God has to reveal by His Spirit His thoughts
of mercy and grace toward us; otherwise, in our blindness and ignorance we
should be eternally lost. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).
3. In the next place, we note that Noah was
commanded to make an ark of gopher-wood (Gen. 6:14). The material out of which
the ark was built teaches an important lesson. The ark was made, not of steel
like our modern "dreadnoughts,'' but out of wood. The typical truth which
this fact is designed to teach us lies not on the surface, yet is one that is
brought before us again and again both in the Word and in Nature; the truth,
that life comes out of death, that life can be secured only by sacrifice.
Before the ark could be made, trees must be cut down. That which secured the
life of Noah and his house was obtained by the death of the trees. We have a
hint here, too, of our Lord's humanity. The trees from which the wood of the
ark was taken were a thing of the earth, reminding us of Isaiah's description
of Christ "a root out of a dry ground" (Isa. 53:2). So Christ, who
was the eternal Son of God must become the Son of man, part of that which,
originally, was made out of the dust of the earth and as such be cut down, or,
in the language of prophecy, be "cut off" (Daniel 9:26), before a
refuge could be provided for us.
4. The ark was a refuge from Divine
judgment. There are three arks mentioned in Scripture and each of them was a
shelter and place of safety. The ark of Noah secured those within it from the
outpoured wrath of God. The ark of bulrushes (Ex. 2:3) protected the young
child Moses from the murderous designs of Pharaoh, who was a type of Satan. The
ark of the covenant sheltered the two tables of stone on which were inscribed
the holy law of God. Each ark speaks of Christ, and putting the three together,
we learn that the believer is sheltered from God's wrath, Satan's assaults and
the condemnation of the law, the only three things in all the universe which
can threaten or harm us. The ark of Noah was a place of safety. It was provided
by God when death threatened all. It was
the only place of deliverance from the wrath to come, and as such it speaks of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior of lost sinners "Neither is there
salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
5. Into this ark man was invited to come.
He was invited by God Himself, "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come you and
all thy house into the ark" (Gen. 7:1). This is the first time the word
"come" is found in the Scriptures, and it recurs over five hundred
times in the remainder of the Bible. Is it not highly significant that we meet
with it here as its first occurrence! Observe that the Lord does not say
"Go into the ark," but "Come." "Go" would have
been a command, "Come" was a gracious invitation; "Go" would
have implied that the Lord was bidding Noah depart from Him, "Come"
intimated that in the ark the Lord would be present with him. Is it not the
same thought as we have in the Gospel "Come unto Me and I will give you
rest!" Observe further that the invitation was a personal one "Come
thou"; God always addresses Himself to the heart and conscience of the
individual. Yet, the invitation went further "Come you and all thy house
into the ark," and again we find a parallel in the Gospel of grace in our
day: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and thy
house" (Acts 16:31).
6. The ark was a place of absolute
security. This truth is seen from several particulars. First, the ark itself
was pitched "within and without with pitch" (Gen. 6:14), hence it
would be thoroughly watertight, and as such, a perfect shelter. No matter how
hard it rained or how high the waters rose, all inside the ark were secure. The
ark was in this respect also, a type of our salvation in Christ. Speaking to
the saints, the apostle said, "Your life is hid (like Noah in the ark)
with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). In the next place, we read concerning Noah
after he had entered the ark, "And the Lord shut him in" (Gen. 7:16).
What a blessed word is this! Noah did not have to take care of himself; having
entered the ark, God was then responsible for his preservation. So it is with
those who have fled to Christ for refuge, they are "kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1
Pet. 1:5). Finally, the security of all in the ark is seen in the issuing of
them forth one year later on to the destruction-swept earth "And Noah went
forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him: every beast,
every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creeps upon the earth,
after their kinds, went forth out of the ark" (Gen. 8:18, 19). All who had
entered that ark had been preserved, none had perished by the flood, and none
had died a natural death, so perfect is the type. How this reminds us of our
Lord's words, "Of them which you gave Me have I lost none" (John 18:9).
7. Next we would note what has often been
pointed out by others, that the ark had only one door to it. There was not one
entrance for Noah and his family, another for the animals, and yet another for
the birds. One door was all it had. The same was true later of the tabernacle;
it, too, had but a single entrance. The spiritual application is apparent.
There is only one way of escape from eternal death. There is only one way of
deliverance from the wrath to come. There is only one Savior from the Lake of
Fire, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ "I am the way, the truth, and the
life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). The language
of our type is directly employed by Christ in John 10:9, where we hear Him say,
"I am the door." It is also worthy of attention to note that Noah was
ordered by God to set the door "in the side" of the ark (Gen. 6:16).
Surely this pointed forward to the piercing of our Lord's "side"
(John 19:34) which was the intimation that the way to the heart of God is now
open to guilty and ruined sinners.
8. The ark had three stories in it,
"with lower, second, and third stories shall you make it" (Gen.
6:16). Why are we told this? What difference does it make to God's saints
living four thousand years afterwards how many stories the ark had, whether it
had one or a dozen? Every devout student of the Word has learned that
everything in the Holy Scriptures has some significance and spiritual value.
Necessarily so, for every word of God is pure. When the Holy Spirit
"moved" Moses to write the book of Genesis, He knew that a book was
being written which should be read by the Lord's people thousands of years
later, therefore, what He caused to be written must have in every instance,
something more than a merely local application. "Whatsoever was written aforetime
was written for our learning." What then are we to "learn" from
the fact that in the ark there were three stories, no less and no more? We have
already seen that the ark itself unmistakably foreshadowed the Lord Jesus.
Passing through the waters of judgment, being itself submerged by them;
grounding on the seventeenth day of the month as we shall see, the day of our
Lord's Resurrection; and affording a shelter to all who were within it, the ark
was a very clear type of Christ. Therefore the inside of the ark must speak to
us of what we have in Christ. Is it not clear then that the ark divided into
three stories more than hints at our threefold salvation in Christ? The
salvation which we have in Christ is a threefold one, and that in a double
sense. It is a salvation which embraces each part of our threefold
constitution, making provision for the redemption of our spirit, and soul, and
body (1 Thess. 5:23); and further, our salvation is a three tense salvation we
have been saved from the penalty of sin, are being saved from the power of sin,
we shall yet be saved from the presence of sin.
9. Next, we observe that the ark was
furnished with a window and this was placed "above" - "A window
shall you make to the ark and in a cubit shall you finish it above" (Gen.
6:16). The spiritual application is patent. Noah and his companions were not to
be looking down on the scene of destruction beneath and around them, but up
toward the living God. The same lesson was taught to Jehovah's people in the
Wilderness. The pillar of cloud to guide them by day and the pillar of fire to
protect them by night was provided not only for their guidance, but was
furnished for their instruction as well. Israel must look up to the great
Jehovah and not be occupied with the difficulties and dangers of the
wilderness. So, we, called upon to walk by faith, are to journey with our eyes
turned heavenward. Our affection must be set upon" things above, not on
things on the earth" (Col. 3:2).
10. The ark was furnished with
"rooms" or "nests"- "Make you an ark of gopher wood;
rooms (margin "nests") shall you make in the ark" (Gen. 6:14).
In every other passage in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word
"gen" occurs, it is translated "nest." We hesitate to press
the spiritual signification here; yet, we have seen that the ark is such a
striking and comprehensive type of our salvation in Christ we must believe that
this detail in the picture has some meaning, whether we are able to discern it
or no. The thought which is suggested to us is, that in Christ we have
something more than a refuge, we have a resting place; we are like birds in
their nests, the objects of Another's loving care. Oh, is it that the
"nests" in the ark look forward to the "many mansions" in
the Father's House? which our Lord has gone to prepare for us. It is rather
curious that there is some uncertainty about the precise meaning of the Greek
word here translated "mansions.'' Weymouth renders it, "In My
Father's house are many resting places!"
11. In connection with the ark the great
truth of Atonement is typically presented. This comes out in several
particulars: "Make you an ark of gopher wood; rooms shall you make in the
ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch" (Genesis 6:14). The
Hebrew word here is not the common one for "pitch" which is
"zetteth," but is "kapher," which is translated seventy
times in the Old Testament "to make atonement." The simple meaning of
"kapher" is "to cover" and nowhere else is it rendered
"pitch." Atonement was made by the blood which provided a covering
for sin. God is holy, and as such He is "of purer eyes than to behold
evil, and can not look on iniquity" (Habakkuk 1:13), hence sin must be
covered, covered by blood. It is therefore remarkable that this word
"kapher" should be employed (for the first time in Scripture) in
connection with the ark, as though to teach us that a shelter from God's wrath
can be found only beneath the atoning blood! Again we notice that the storm
fell upon the ark which provided shelter for Noah and those that were with him.
So, too, the clouds of Divine judgment burst upon our adorable Redeemer as He
suffered in our stead: "All Your waves and your billows are gone over
Me" (Psalm 42:7) was His cry; and may not His words here be language
pointing back to the very type we are now considering?
12. As others have pointed out, the typical
teaching of the ark reaches beyond the truth of atonement to resurrection
itself. We quote here from the writings of the late Mr. William Lincoln:
"There seems no reason to doubt that the day the ark rested on the
mountain of Ararat is identical with the day on which the Lord rose from the
dead. It rested "on the seventeenth day of the seventh month." But by
the commandment of the Lord, given at the time of the institution of the feast
of the Passover, the seventh month was changed into the first month. Then three
days after the Passover, which was on the fourteenth day of the month, the
Lord, having passed quite through the waters of judgment, stood in resurrection
in the midst of His disciples, saying, "Peace be unto you." They, as
well as Himself, had reached the haven of everlasting rest." But not only
does our type prefigure our Lord's resurrection from the dead, it also suggests
the truth of His ascension, for we read "And the ark rested in the seventh
month, on the seventeenth day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat"
(Genesis 8:4). The final resting place of the ark was upon the mountain top,
speaking of the place "on high" where our Savior is now seated at the
right hand of God.
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