Enoch - Walking with God (Genesis 5:21-24)

5: 21,22,23 And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. – Even though he had children and a wife he walked with God!

Enoch walked with God for three hundred years.

Noah walked with God. (Gen. 6:9)

Abraham walked with God. (Gen. 17:1)

Jacob – God was Jacob’s shepherd (Gen. 48:15). Therefore, God walked with Jacob!

Isaac – Walked before the Lord (Gen. 48:15)

Who did Enoch walk with? God of the universe? I think Jesus, who specializes in man.

5: 24 And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him.

Enoch walked with God because:

·      He was His friend and like His company.

            ·      He was going in the same direction as God

·      He had no desire for anything but what lay in God’s path.”

He was one of those who “called on the name of the Lord”.

-Not legalism (before the Law)

-but obedience.

-but faith.

-focus on the Name of the Lord.

There is a fascinating article that you might want to look up –

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra

Volume: BSAC 148:591 (Jul 1991)

Article: Enoch, a Man Who Walked with God

Author: Timothy J. Cole

BSac 148:591 (Jul 91) p. 288ff

The Common Denominator of those who Live. (Genesis 5:6-20)

5: 6-8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
5: 9-11 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
5:12-14 And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
 5:15-17 And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years; and he died.
5:18-20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years; and he died.

The New Testament comment on this common denominator is instructive.
             - “It is appointed for man to die once.” (Hebrews 9:27)

The Notables of the Days of Adam - Genesis 5

“This chapter serves at least three ends in the scheme of Genesis. First, it bears witness to man’s value to God, by naming individuals and stages in this early human phase: each is known and remembered. Secondly, it shows how the line of Seth the ‘appointed’ (4:25) led on to Noah the deliverer. Thirdly, it both demonstrates the reign of death, by its insistent refrain (5b, 8b, etc.), and conspicuously breaks the rhythm to tell of Enoch, the standing pledge of death’s defeat.” -Kidner
                                                                       Adam
                                       5:1-5 From Adam’s creation to his death.
        5: 1 A notable day. Probably a reference to an event that made the day notable rather than a period of time.
5:2 He called “their name” Adam. Source of the meaning of marriage in a woman taking the man’s name as hers. Note: “made” “blessed” “called”.  What God makes He blesses and names: Mr. and Mrs. Adam.  It takes the two sexes together to express what God means by ‘human’ (see 1 Cor. 11:11).
                                                                       Seth
        5: 3 The name “Seth” is probably significant. “Seth” means appointed; a substitute, the third son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4:25; 5:3). His mother gave him this name, “for God,” said she, “hath appointed me [i.e., compensated me with] another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
                                                                      Girls
         The time after Adam’s creation is significant. One hundred and thirty years is a long time. It probably included the birth of many children. Had to be girls from Adam and Eve because the boys were recorded. This is a population increase. Why are the girls not recorded? God started with a man. The woman was significant because of the man. God did not start with a woman, a child bearer. “Man” (male) is significant because created by God. Woman is significant because a child bearer. “Man” (male) is necessary to woman’s child bearing. Woman is necessary to the continuation of God’s created creature, man. “I have gotten a man from the Lord” – Eve. Eve was not creator. Adam was not creator. God remains creator. God is necessary for man to continue his posterity. Every birth is more than biological – it is an event of God breathing life into “dust”.
                                                                 Boys
        5: 4 Adam had sons after Seth. No names. Adam had daughters after Creation. No names. Father Adam? – Genesis 2:24 he is alluded to as “father”.
                                                                 Adam Died
5: 5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died. 930 years - Moses had an Egyptian understanding of a year being 12 months of 30 days each. God defined the “year” in Genesis 1:14. Adam “died” – as promised.

What Adam's other sons Accomplished. (Genesis 4:25,26)

        And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.

        

Gen 4:26 “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord”

          Abram “called upon the name of the Lord” (12:8; 13:4; 21:33). Gen 26:25 Isaac “called upon the name of the Lord” (26:25). Elijah said “I will call on the name of the Lord” (1 Kings 18:24)

The Psalmist will “call upon the name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:17) Whoever, “calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered” (Joel 2:32) Peter said “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21) Paul said  “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13) Paul joined ”with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2).

         Would Adam be excluded from those who call on the name of the Lord. I don’t think so. In fact, by implication Adam is the one who taught Cain and Abel to sacrifice which seems to be an OT segment of “calling on the name of the Lord”. Consequently, we have some evidence for the salvation of Adam.

Lamech, the First, was like Cain. (Gen. 4:19-24)

  A biased account would have ascribed nothing good to Cain. The truth is more complex: God was to make much use of Cainite techniques for his people, from the semi-nomadic discipline itself (20) to the civilized arts and crafts. The phrase he was the father of all such acknowledges the debt and prepares us to accept for ourselves a similar indebtedness to secular enterprise The family of Lamech could handle its environment but not itself. The attempt to improve on God’s marriage ordinance (19; cf. 2:24) set a disastrous precedent, on which the rest of Genesis is comment enough; and the immediate conversion of metal-working to weapon-making is equally ominous. Cain’s family is a microcosm: its pattern of technical prowess and moral failure is that of humanity.  Polygamy – observed not condemned. “mercy”.

Lamech’s song reveals the swift progress of sin. Where Cain had succumbed to it (7) Lamech exults in it; where Cain had sought protection (14, 15) Lamech looks round for provocation: the savage disproportion of killing a mere lad for a mere wound is the whole point of his boast (cf. 24). On this note of bravado the family disappears from the story.  ^–Kidner

The First City - Built by Cain - named "Enoch"

      The first biblical reference to a city is in Genesis 4:17. The Hebrew verb indicates that Cain “was building” the city. Probably he did not complete it, nor did he permanently reside there; he had earlier been condemned to a vagabond’s existence (Gn 4:12).

The Genesis account, affirming that city life came early in human existence, is internally consistent. The first human offspring, Cain and Abel, were involved in food production (Gn 4:2). Cain was an agriculturist and Abel tended domesticated flocks. Genesis 4 shows both the prerequisite of food production and the resulting specialization.

A city is defined by a settled group of people living in permanent dwellings and bound together by political, economic, and often kinship ties. The Bible does not generally distinguish between city, town, and village. City was distinguished from other communities by a wall.

The emphasis upon walls (Lv 25:29–31) and fortifications (Jos 19:35), with repeated references to towers, gates, and sieges, indicates that cities provided the primary security for the surrounding towns and villages.

The existence of settled communities depended upon a controlled food supply. In contrast to the city dweller, the nomad lived in a portable tent, appropriate for a never-ceasing search for food.

As city dwellers became more adept in farming adjacent land, the harvests increased, leading to increased population and social stratification. When the entire population was no longer needed for food production, some individuals became specialists in a growing number of occupations: pottery making, metal working, stone masonry, and carpentry. Their products in addition to farm surpluses made the ancient city the center of trade and commerce.

It is apparent that cities have been with us from ancient times. In our time cities have been the source of what has been called the global economy. Remember that Paul made it a point to evangelize cities in his missionary journeys.