Genealogies are important to establish the validity of historical places and characters. We see some of the founding fathers of the earth’s population in today’s readings.
Genesis 5: Adam's Descendants to Noah
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.
5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh.
7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters.
8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.
10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters.
11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel.
13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared.
16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters.
17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.
18 When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch.
19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.
22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.
24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech.
26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters.
27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son
29 and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands."
30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters.
31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 6: Increasing Corruption on Earth
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years."
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.
Noah and the Flood
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13 And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them."
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Things to think about…
1. What do you think of the ages listed here in Genesis 5? This is one of the reasons some disregard these early chapters of Genesis because we don’t see people living to these ages today. We weren’t meant to die originally of course, but after Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil death started working out in their bodies. Genetic corruption began as a result of sin. This corruption works in us even into our day. Even though modern medicine has helped maintain health, our allotted time to between 70 to 80 years has not increased by much. Methuselah is the oldest recorded man living to 969 years. Imagine living this long and observing the effects of sin for almost 1000 years. He even outlived his son Lamech by 5 years, Gen 5:26, 31.
2. Enoch is only given 4 verses here in Genesis, Gen 5:21-24 butr has a lasting testimony in scripture. It seems he had a conversion experience after the birth of his first son Methuselah, vs 22. Then God took him, vs 24. It seems he was translated directly into the Lord’s presence. There are no reasons why, it simply says “he walked with God and was not for God took him.” Sometimes the Lord takes His people before what is considered a fair length of days. But ultimately the earth is not our home. When heaven is on offer and the Lord calls his people, while their presence is missed, they are rejoicing in the presence of the Lord. He was also a prophet and spoke about the last days before Christ returns. Jude quotes Enoch in his short book regarding carnal leaders in the church, “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Some say Enoch still has a role on the earth before the Lord returns.
3. Yes, giants were on the earth – just like there are some very tall people today. There were big people back at the beginning as part of the world’s first population. Goliath was over nine feet tall – he was not a demon/human half breed. Some have taught that fallen angels are the ones referred to in Gen 6:1-4 with respect to the phrase “sons of God”. This simply means man – as Adam is described as a son of God, these men (humans) chose women to be their wives. It does not mean that demons had sexual intercourse with women to produce giants. The folly of the teaching that comes from a misinterpretation of Gen 6:1,2 has caused much confusion in the body of Christ – not to mention among the Jews who also hold to this teaching as well. Adam was called a Son of God. Men are called sons of God. The term does not refer to the angels or demons in this context. It simply means men looked at women and married them because of their beauty. This is normal and natural. The only issue is that if we only look at the outward appearance and not at the heart before the Lord our partner becomes an object of worship, or worse – property to display or abuse. Christ’s character should be on display in all our relationships.
4. The wickedness God saw was because of sin in man and not a demon/man combo. Note that Noah found favour in God’s eyes. It was not that he was in any way immune from sin. Gen 6:9 says he was blameless in his generation and that Noah walked with God. Having said that he did have an issue with drinking too much on at least one occasion. Noah whilst not perfect, is described as blameless with respect to his standing before the men of his generation.
5. It says the earth was filled with violence, Gen 6:13. Was the violence worse than we see today? I suspect it might have been. The earth has many nations with issues, and we are not at the end of the age when we are told it will increase, but at the moment I cannot honestly say the earth is filled with violence. There are many instances of grace, creativity, beauty, peace and love in the world. May our Lord bless with more of His Spirit by convincing the world of its need for a Saviour. We know one day the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit will be taken away. Violence will once again fill the earth.
6. The dimensions of the ark and the calling of Noah to build it are listed in Gen 6:14-21. It says that Noah did all that God had commanded him. The size of the boat (ark) works out to be 300 cubits long (137.16 m, 450 ft), 50 wide (22.86 m, 75 ft), and 30 high (13.716 m, 45 ft). Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis has built a life size model in the Ark Encounter display in Kentucky, USA. God’s covenant was established with Noah, Gen 6:18. This covenant stated that He would not flood the earth again with water- not that He would not destroy the earth.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Cell groups are encouraged to do alpha at church on Wednesday night 6:30pm at church. Be encouraged and join us.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Morocco – almost 3000 already confirmed loss of life through the earthquake. Pray for our Lord’s grace and gospel over this tragedy.
2. Pray for our 2 elders and wives who are away. Pray they have a good time of rest.
3. Pray for alpha course session Wed 6:30pm at Church. Invite non-Christians.
4. Pray about your involvement in hospitality – help keeping the church running.
5. That those who are new to the church are encouraged and settle in well into the church.
6. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you saved.
7. Pray for Rosie and Kids@church, pray for continued growth of this ministry.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for Sunday’s ministry and message. Thankyou to Mathys and Ric
2. Good ministry after the service. Continue to pray for this blessing to increase.
3. Some encouraging signs of those wanting to consider who Jesus was. People asking about baptism.
4. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Alpha Course 7th session on Wed 24th Aug – 6:30pm – invite non Christians to this course.
2. Church community Day after church Sunday 8th Oct.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for September...
Q. 12. Does God know all things? A. Yes - nothing can be hidden from God.
