Civilization Begins

Good morning. Happy Sunday.

It is good to see you on a holiday weekend here.

You know, Memorial Day, it is bittersweet. Certainly we enjoy the freedoms.

We're thankful for them, and yet we remember the cost that comes with such freedom.

I was just reminded again, though, Jesus said there is a day when war and death,

it is going to cease and it will be no more, and we look forward to that day.

We do. Today, we're gonna continue in the book of Genesis and how it started

series. This is part five.

And we come to the part where civilization begins to take off.

And I will say one of the advantages of studying the Bible chapter by chapter,

verse by verse, is that you are going to come to things that you most likely would not cover,

like you would stick with the popular topics, popular passages,

but we're doing it, Dennis is a little differently.

So that means today we come to the first two genealogies given in the Bible.

Like how exciting is that?

If you are a person who is really into family ancestry and family trees,

boy, oh boy, are you going to like today.

But for the rest of us, I'm assuming that there are only a few,

if any, who are these hardcore genealogy enthusiasts in the building.

So for the rest of us, we are going to endure a long list with lots of names

and lots of numbers. And we're going to do it with a good attitude.

It seems for most of us, maybe I'm just speaking for myself,

but I kind of feel like I might be speaking for the room here,

that to know our homeland heritage and where we come from, maybe finding out

that, ooh, someone in my family line is famous or infamous.

And then that's about the extent of our curiosity when it comes to genealogy.

And if we aren't really interested in our own genealogy, it sure seems we are

even less likely to be interested in someone else's genealogy.

Maybe that's why at best, we barely skim over genealogy verses and often just skip them altogether.

But not today. whoever said yep, not today, we are reading all 45 verses of genealogies.

And I would say this, yeah, thank you. First service was excited as well.

I will say this, if you are not already on a reading Bible plan that covers

the Bible in the whole year, like this would be a great time to get started right now.

Because after today, you could mark off two of the genealogies,

two of the genealogies done. I will say this.

Watch out for the genealogies in 1 and 2 Chronicles. Those are doozies, all right?

But have you ever considered the fact God's inspired, breathed out word has

something like 25 genealogies in it?

It's got to mean that they're important to God or he wouldn't put it in the Bible.

And let's not forget all scripture is profitable, which includes the genealogies.

He's got to have a reason for it. I think there are some. I put them on a slide to maybe help us here.

One reason I think genealogies, we have them, is because it helps prove and

validate the historical accuracy of the Bible.

Like the Bible is a history story. It's true.

It's not a made up story. It's not make believe the things that happened in

the Bible. They really happened.

It's history. So listing family names makes it helpful to understand the history

of mankind going all the way back to Adam and Eve.

Also, number two, genealogies, they confirm prophecy.

The ultimate prophecy and the ultimate reason for genealogies is to show that

Jesus came through a certain line of people.

And here's good news. It starts today in Genesis chapter five that we're going

to be looking at. The process begins.

Genealogies, they often highlight specific individuals or specific events.

And what is really interesting about this and I don't know if you know this

or not, is that often the highlighted person or the highlighted event,

it happens at the seventh generation or the 10th generation.

The seventh generation, the person there or the event there,

they kind of embody, they take the face of the whole genealogy as a whole and

say, this person is the representation of the entire genealogy. It's amazing.

And then at the 10th genealogy, it shows.

I don't know, God's sovereignty, his grace is there.

There's these long lasting consequences, both good consequences for obeying

and bad consequences for not obeying. So all of that is a reason for it.

And fourth, I think genealogy show God cares about people.

He's involved in their lives. He's hands on with them.

And when we start to see God doing these things, now we start to learn who God

is and his character. And it tells us things about God.

And that will be the emphasis for this morning, that as we look at these two

genealogies and a lot of names, yes, we're gonna look at some people and we're

gonna look at some things, but ultimately we are looking for God,

and what it says about God and how it impacts our lives in these genealogies.

So turn in your Bible or follow along on the screens,

and read from Genesis chapter four and verse 17, and we'll keep on reading until

we get to the end of Genesis chapter five and a little water before we start.

And when we are done, I hope you will be more excited about genealogies than

you have ever been before.

Genesis 4, 17. Cain was intimate with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch.

Then Cain became a builder of a city and he named the city of Enoch after his son.

Erad was born to Enoch. Erad fathered Mehuael.

Mehuael fathered Metushael and Metushael fathered Lamech. Stop.

Lamech is the seventh generation. I'm telling you that now because it's gonna matter later.

Verse 19, Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of a normatic herdsman. His brother was named

Jubal. He was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute.

Zillah bore Tubal-Cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools.

Tubal-Cain's sister was named Naima.

Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, wives of Lamech.

Pay attention to my words, for I killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech, it will be 77 times.

And that is the first genealogy. It's the genealogy of Cain, verse 25.

Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth.

For she said, God has given me another child in the place of Abel since Cain killed him.

A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time,

people began to call on the name of Yahweh.

These are the family records of the descendants of Adam. On the day that God

created man, he made him in the likeness of God.

He created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and called them man.

Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness,

according to his image, and named him Seth.

Adam lived 800 years after the birth of Seth, and he fathered other sons and

daughters, so Adam's life lasted 930 years, and then he died.

Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh. Seth lived 807 years after the

birth of Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Seth's life lasted 912 years, then he died.

Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived 815 years after the

birth of Kenan and he fathered other sons and daughters.

So Enosh's life lasted 905 years, then he died.

Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived 840 years after

the birth of Mahalalel and he fathered other sons and daughters.

So Kenan's life lasted 910 years and then he died.

Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared.

Mahalalel lived 830 years after the birth of Jared and he fathered other sons and daughters.

So Mahalalel's life lasted 895 years and then he died.

Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch.

Stop. That is the seventh generation. I am telling you that now because it's going to matter later.

Keep going. Verse 19, Jared lived 800 years after the birth of Enoch,

and he fathered other sons and daughters.

So Jared's life lasted 962 years, and then he died.

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah, and after the birth of Methuselah,

Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

So Enoch's life lasted 365 years.

Enoch walked with God, and then he was not there because God took him.

Methuselah lived 782 years after the birth of Lamech and he fathered other sons and daughters.

So Methuselah's life lasted a whopping, I added that part, 969 years and then he died.

Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son and he named him Noah saying,

this one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands caused by

the ground the Lord has cursed.

Lamech lived at 595 years after Noah's birth and he fathered other sons and daughters.

So Lamech's life lasted 777 years, then he died.

Noah was 500 years old and he fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth. You did it.

Not only one genealogy, but two. Like give yourself a pat on the back, a good job.

That is the line of Cain. That is the line of Seth.

We will not look at everything about these families.

Oh, for the time to be able to do that. There is a lot here.

But we are going to look at some things very specifically coming up.

But first, I wanna start with the two big speculations that come from each of these genealogies.

If you remember last week, I told you, in Genesis, there's a lot of speculation.

I think there are two major ones and I wanna just get those done,

move them out of the way right away. The first one is this, Genesis 4, 17.

Cain knew his wife. And that raises a very popular question.

Where did he get a wife from?

Well, he married his sister.

Like, he married his sister. My guess is that the gene pool there at the beginning

of creation, it was very clean. It was very pure. without the dangers and the

defects that we now have today.

And so the thought of like, oh, marrying my sister, oh, totally gross,

I could not imagine doing that.

Like that's a bad idea to do now. And we know coming up in the pages to come,

God's going to make a rule in the book of Deuteronomy.

And he says, illegal, not allowed to marry your sister anymore.

But at this time right now, it's safe. And it's the only option.

And sisters, I get it. You might be grossed out thinking you have to marry your

brother. That's equal. I totally understand that. Like, that's not a thing anymore.

The other population, the other

popular speculation comes from Genesis and really chapter five as a whole.

The list of people that are living nearly 1,000 years.

Like, how is that possible?

Well, people have differing ideas about it. I said that again.

We speculate a lot of different ways.

Some say that their years are different from our years.

Others speculate that these names, they really represent people over clans and

tribes, but they weren't actually a real person representing,

but instead they were representing like a lot of people over a lot of time.

Personally, I don't believe either of those should be true.

I believe, I think that each person listed is a real person in history and they

really live these long, long lives just as it says.

It seems before Noah's flood that the living conditions were extremely different.

Like, yes, sin was a thing, so death was guaranteed to happen.

But it seems that there was this protective water canopy covering the earth

and protecting them from dangerous radiations and the such.

I'm not a big scientist on all that, but that could be one of the reasons for

living these long lives.

And there are verses like Isaiah 65, 20, they hint at this.

It says, indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years.

Isaiah seems to indicate that people lived a lot longer back then.

And at a hundred years old, you are just getting started.

Like I'm just a little half of that. And I feel like I've started a long time ago.

I don't know.

Then after the flood, the canopy of water covering the earth, it no longer existed.

And we see right away that lifespans, they radically drop.

So that could be an idea of that. Or maybe God's punishment for sin just caused

people to die earlier. I'm not sure.

But by the time we get to David writing the Psalms, lifespans line up much more

with what we are familiar with today. look at Psalm 90 verse 10.

Psalms 90:10

Our lives last 70 years, or if we are strong, 80 years. Well,

that sounds more like what we know today.

Okay. So there's some speculation from these genealogies. There are also some

similarities, some things that are in common from these genealogies.

I want to quickly just kind of point out a few of them.

Both Cain and Seth, they have the same parents, Adam and Eve,

which means they both are living, they are both lines.

They are living under sin. They're living under the bondage and the curse,

the penalty of sin. That's true.

Both lines, both Cain and Seth, they are living at the same historical time.

Like Cain is older, but they are connected. Their families are living at the same time in history.

Both Cain and Seth, they have a son.

Cain's son is Enoch. Seth's son is Enosh.

Both Cain and Seth they have a couple of names that are the same in both family

lines in both family lines the names Lamech and Enoch are in each family,

Cain has Lamech and Enoch and Seth has Lamech and Enoch so Cain.

There's speculation for both genealogies. There's similarities in both genealogies.

And there are differences from both genealogies.

And perhaps you have spotted some of them.

And by far, the biggest difference to spot is that Cain's genealogy is foundationally

cursed, rejects God, and is separated from God.

But Seth's genealogy is foundationally blessed, seeks after God, and is accepted by God.

And this drastic difference between these two genealogies, they are found all

throughout these verses.

Look at Cain to start with. In Genesis 4, 17, Cain builds a city and he has

descendants, Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal are all right there with him,

developing civilization.

Advancing civilization.

Jabal, verse 20, he's the father of nomadic herdsmen.

It's kind of like he lived in a community of tents and he had this ability to

have these new and improved ideas of moving cattle, livestock around from place to place.

He is advancing agriculture.

Jubal, verse 21, he's the father of the lyre and the flute. He is advancing art and music.

Tubal, verse 22, he's the maker of all things, bronze and iron.

He's advancing technology and tools.

Loaves is coming on its way.

Craftsmanship, weapons. Oh, we are liking these things. All these things,

all these developments, they are making life easier and better.

Now, I do wanna say just one thing here. Sherry and I, we sometimes struggle

to call our names by their proper names.

With them all starting with the letter C, Cameron, Chelsea, Cherie,

Kaylin, Calvin, Carson, Chandler, Krista.

Like that's challenging us for us right here. But to go Jabel,

Jubal, Tubal, that sounds next level tricky to me.

But anyway, they are advancing the civilization. And get this,

things seem to be going well for Cain.

He's no longer in the farming business from earlier in chapter four. Now he's a builder.

Like what are we to make of this? Because I thought Cain was cursed to be a

wanderer because of killing his brother Abel.

Instead, this guy is building a city.

He builds the first ever city. It's the city of Enoch named after his son.

So we have Cain, this guy who was rejected, separated from God,

and he looks to be doing some incredible things here.

Cain's life is spent building a legacy of advancing civilization through ingenuity, through enterprise.

The quality of life is going up, up, up. Life is good. Prosperity is great. But there is a problem.

Cain and his city, they represent a civilization of self-centeredness.

When you look through these verses, there is no mention of God.

None. The city's not named after God. not dedicated to God.

There's nothing there. It's a city that prides itself on being self-determined,

self-sufficient, self-succeeding, self-reliant, self-advancing,

self-indulging, self-gratifying, self-honoring, all apart from God.

Cain was cursed to be a wanderer, and instead, Instead, he further rebels against God and builds a city.

And I got questions like, where is God? God, do you see what's going on here?

Here's the first thing to notice about God. And like usual, it's fantastic.

Despite their wickedness, despite their self-centeredness, despite the rejection

of God, God blesses them with common grace.

Common grace is extended to them. Common grace is extended to all of us.

By his common grace, he gives them children and children and more children.

His common grace, it's seen in their creative minds with their ingenuity,

their different styles, bringing more and more technological advancements into

the society. and they are doing this all while they hate God.

And so this is a very important thing for us to consider as Christians.

How is a Christian, how are people who love God supposed to live in a civilization, in a city,

in a culture like the city of Enoch that's predominantly anti-God,

but the anti-God people are doing some super helpful things. What do we do with that?

It's clear to see that from the very beginning of civilization,

good things come from people who don't know God.

And we, we benefit from it. So what do we do?

Here's what we do. We thank God for his common grace.

By the grace of God, he allows godly and ungodly people to impact civilization.

I checked some things out. thank God for Thomas Edison, who invented the light

bulb, and Benjamin Franklin, who invented electricity, despite neither of them

professing and proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Savior.

But that electricity thing, it led to air conditioning. And oh,

I thank God for that air conditioning.

Yeah. And by the way, air conditioning was invented by Willis Carrier,

and he did profess Jesus Christ as his Savior.

You can find a lot of stuff on the internet. But what's the point?

Here's the point. God extended common grace to everyone.

Be thankful he does.

Use the things that they make. Enjoy the things that they make. But here's the key.

Don't be consumed in thinking that those things matter most.

That would be a form of idolatry, like where we get off track in that.

So here we have Cain, he has a son and he builds a city, but it's a godless city.

What happens when Seth has a son?

Verses 25 and 26, the last verses of chapter four.

And it says, Adam was intimate with his wife again and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth.

For she said, God has given me another child in place of Abel since Cain killed

him. A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh.

And at that time, people began to call on the name of Yahweh.

Seth is the replacement for Abel.

And this is God's doing. Eve says, God has given me another child in the place of Abel.

Know this about God. God is faithful.

He keeps his promises. This is the second time he has kept this promise in providing

an offspring that is going to come and crush evil.

So if we play this out, we understand if there is no Seth, there is no coming Jesus.

And if there is no coming Jesus, then there is no hope for you, for me, for mankind.

God is faithful. God is good. God is sovereign. You need to know that about God.

And no, God can't be defeated. Like even when things are looking bad for him,

and of course I know I realize that's from our perspective that he knows this,

he's got everything covered.

But from outside right now, look at this thing in chapter four all the way through,

things look bleak for God. It looks like God is losing.

And then here at the end, God provides a new baby, a new start,

a glimmer of light and hope.

And Seth and his family, their descendants, they represent a group of people

who understand this about God.

And at that time, Seth had a son and the people began to call on the name of Yahweh.

This time civilization doesn't get a city civilization gets

worship people are gathering to

worship calling on his name perhaps this is the very start

of formal worship to Yahweh here on earth Seth's line is a worshiping family

that is what they are known for that is what they are remembered for see clearly

that Cain and Seth are different you have all the accomplishments of the line of Cain.

Agriculture, art, music, technology. They are known for that.

They're remembered for that.

And Seth's line is remembered for basically one thing. And it's one thing that matters. Worship.

To worship the Lord is a great civilization advancement.

Greater than all the other achievements. That is not to dismiss them,

not to say that they don't Of course they matter. We thank God for these things.

But by far our most important task as followers of Jesus, chosen by God,

is to preserve and advance the worship of God.

And whatever else you do in your life, I bet you are going to do some incredible things.

They are not discredited, they count, they matter, whatever accomplishments you do.

It's nothing is going to top building a civilization with God exalted and worshiped, nothing.

The two Lamechs are different. Cain's Lamech in chapter four, verse 19 says this.

Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

So he does the opposite of what God said to do back in Genesis chapter two,

when God said, take a wife, he takes two.

So now here we have the first known polygamist of the Bible.

All right. And maybe there's reasons. I don't know.

I do think we know. I think there's a disdain for God, but Udiah,

Udiah means ornament, perhaps suggesting that she is pretty.

Zillah means tinkling sound, perhaps suggesting that she has a pleasant voice.

So we got a little bit of like of a trophy wife situation going on here.

A pretty face and a pleasant voice.

Like those things are on the list for what guys look for when they get married.

I think that's totally true, right? I think that is right.

I mean, hey, Sherry, she is beautiful and pleasant. Like I am two for two.

And she loves Jesus, which seals the deal.

Yeah. Well, but Lamech's problem is it took him two wives to get this package deal.

And if you know anything about the Bible and what the Bible has to say about

guys that have two wives or multiple wives, it ain't good.

It never works out. Just check out Abraham, check out Jacob, David, Solomon.

All these guys had multiple wives. It does not go well.

The biggest issue with Lamech having these two wives it is an act of defiance against God,

and if you don't know this you need to know this about God God has rules and

guidelines and he expects people to follow them to obey them and Lamech is not

on top of that verses 23 and 24,

Lamech says to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, wives of Lamech,

pay attention to my words.

Jerry, you want me to talk to you like that? That just sounds weird.

But anyway, for I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech, it will be 77 times.

He is...

He is worse than his great, great, great, great, great grandpa, Cain.

Think of the trajectory of sin going on right now here. What did Adam and Eve

do when they sinned? They hid.

When Cain sinned, he lied.

And now here, Lamech, when he sins, he celebrates it. He brags about it.

And here we see two horrific evils in the life of Lamech.

Violent and disregard for the family. Two of the most important,

maybe the most fundamental building blocks of civilization here are under attack

because it is impossible to have a healthy, thriving civilization unless innocent

people are protected and marriage is honored.

And remember, Lamech is the seventh in the generational line,

which means he depicts, he represents, he is the face that describes and embodies the line of Cain.

And we reach the conclusion again that Cain's line, it is cursed,

it is defiant towards God, it is violent to others and lives separate from God.

And you compare that to Seth's Lamech and Enoch, who is the seventh in the generation line.

Look at Seth first, verses 28 and 29 of chapter five.

Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son and he named him Noah saying,

this one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands caused by

the ground the Lord has cursed.

Seth's Lamech is a godly man. He acknowledges that the curse is on the ground

and that it's brought on by the Lord.

And he is tired of living under the curse.

He is looking forward to the day when the curse is removed.

He is looking forward to when God is going to send the promised Savior and takes the curse away.

We see a big difference in the two Lamechs here.

One is separated from God. The other one is seeking after God.

The other one is looking for relief from God.

And that leads us to Seth's Enoch, chapter five, verses 23, 24.

So Enoch's life lasted 365 years and Enoch walked with God.

Well, what does walking imply here? walking

implies that Enoch and God they

were friends like who do we walk with we walk with friends they spent time together

they enjoyed each other they had an open relationship with one another they

just like being together and then we see this really unusual thing happening

all up and down here in Genesis chapter 5 where all the verses end with or most of the verses end with,

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

and he died, and he died. Look at this.

Adam lived 930 years, and he died. I think there's a slide for this.

Seth lived all of his years, and he died.

Enos lived all of his years, and he died. Kenan lived all of his years, and he died. All of them.

Mahalalel lived all these years, and he died. Jared lived all of his years,

and he died. And then you come to verse 23.

So Enos' life lasted 365 years, and just when you expected to say he died, he doesn't die.

Verse 24, Enoch walked with God, and then he was not there because God took him. What?

What is happening here? God took him? Like, now you see me, now you don't?

Yes, poof, he's gone, gone, gone. Where'd he go? Gone.

That's a big trend breaker. He died, he died, he died. He's gone.

Hebrews 11.5 tells us how it happened. Why it happened?

By faith. Oh, by faith, Enoch was taken away so he did not experience death. And he was not found.

He was not to be found because God took him away.

For prior to his removal, he was approved since he had pleased God.

Last week, it was Abel who was approved because of his faith.

This week, it is Enoch who is approved because of his faith.

And I don't know if you know this or not, but in the Bible, there are two people

mentioned as having not physically died.

Enoch is one and Elijah is the other. Elijah got this wild ride on a chariot,

like on fire going up to heaven.

And the point is this, Like the likelihood of us not having physical death is not likely.

But though physical death is likely as seen up and down in Genesis chapter five,

and we see it all around us,

there is hope for people who walk with God and death is not the final chapter of their lives.

Like you need to know this about God.

When God has a relationship with a person, like the kind of relationship that

he has here with Enoch, walking together, doing life together,

it is an eternal life relationship.

And God guarantees that.

John 10, 27 and 28. My sheep hear my voice.

I know them and they follow me.

They walk with me. and I give them eternal life and they will never perish ever.

So before us today, we have two kinds of civilizations.

One civilization is self-indulging, self-gratifying. It's defiant to God.

Its legacy is of earthly accomplishments and prosperity.

But it's a godless civilization. It's cursed and separated from God.

But it's not the only civilization. There's another civilization.

And it has a legacy of one who's walking with God, looking for relief from God,

calling upon his name and worshiping God.

It's a godly civilization and it lives by faith. It is chosen and accepted.

It turns out genealogies aren't that bad after all.

They give us hope that though death is a consequence of sin,

for those who are walking with God, death doesn't get the last word.

So you just end with a question. How friendly are you with God? Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for genealogies.

So much more there when we,

we see your goodness here. Father, I praise you for your common grace.

So good to us, it rains on the just and the unjust.

Praise you that you are faithful, that you keep your promises and keep keeping your promises,

that you're sovereign and good and you have a plan.

God, I pray that you would draw our hearts,

that represent Seth's line.

That we would know you and walk with you. That we would look to you to find our relief.

Certainly, we thank you for technology and advancements. guard us from thinking

that those things are what matter most.

Father, make Ocala a city that calls upon the name of Yahweh.

And let us, your people, be a part of building a kingdom like that.

Where worship is a foundational point,

a driving point for us, our motivation for doing things and not doing things.

We thank you for Jesus.

And the gift of eternal life,

and for being able to be your friend,

and a friendship that will last forever.

It's in his name we pray, amen.

Psalm 5, verse 12, for you Lord bless the righteous one you surround him with

Psalms 5:12

favor like a shield that's good news.