Family Tree (part 2)

Family Tree (part 2)

<< Genesis 5 >> King James Version 1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: 7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: 8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. 9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: 10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: 11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. 12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: 13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: 14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. 15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: 17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. 18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: 26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: 27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. 28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: 31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. 32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Sermon

A lot of people will just skip over long genealogies like we have in this chapter today, but what they don’t realise is that there is a lot to learn from these genealogies, as we will find out in our study today!

It really does make a difference who our parents are. You should be extremely thankful if you are brought up by spiritual parents.

Our genealogy in our last session was that of Cain’s and most of the names mentioned were of wicked people who knew not our Lord. But today we learn about the good guys, those who followed the Lord and had done so for many generations.

What I really love is when I hear about 4^th 5^th or 6^th generation Christians, they have been taught about the Bible from their youth and thus are very knowledgeable. I myself am a second generation Christian and am exceedingly grateful that The Lord has placed me in such a privileged position.

So let’s start!

1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

This is the family tree of Adam.

Adam was created in the image of God, and as we have previously discussed, because we are made in the image of God we should try and look after our bodies, or that would be like spoiling a painting of God.

2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Male and Female! God gave us the ability to reproduce, and so we have the following Family tree.

3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Seth was Adam and Eve’s 3^rd son after Cain and Abel (who Cain murdered).

Adam had his son Seth when he was 130 years old. And Seth was born 130 years after the creation.

4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

So Adam lived a total of 930 years, which is a very very long time! To give you a little idea of how long Adam lived: 930 years ago would be the year 1081, not long after the Batttle of Hastings in 1066 if you know anything about English history, and long before the Europeans discovered America!

So as you can imagine, Adam saw a lot of things happen during his lifetime.

But you may ask why we don’t live that long anymore? Well it seems that after the flood God reduced the age of everyone’s death.

But as a Christian there comes a time in your life where you begin to rather die than live, as you become aware that after death you will go to Heaven where you will be forever with Jesus. Then you wish that God will take your life away that you may spend eternity with Jesus. So you see we really shouldn’t envy Adam and his long life!

5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

This is the first recorded natural death. There are two other recorded deaths: The death of the animal from which God used the skins to cloth Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and then there was the unnatural murder of Abel.

So Adam must have wondered whether if he looked after himself well that maybe he could live forever. But that’s not possible; death is the curse that Adam inherited the day that he sinned in the Garden of Eden.

6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

Enos was the Grandson of Adam, and during his life, the population of the world would be getting near 1000 people. This must have been quite strange for Adam as he would likely often see someone who he didn’t know and yet they must have been one of his decendants.

7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

So he too lived a very long time, a total of 912 years.

8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

Seth too died! I think we are starting to see a bit of a trend here. As we go down through this chapter we will continually hear the words “and he died”. My hope is that it will cause you to realise that you too will die one day, and I really hope that you are ready!

9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

Now the populations starting to increase again... at this time the population of the world is about the size of a small city or a bit town.

10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

Enos was 905 when he died. I wonder what they decided to do with all that time they had? Do you reckon they twiddled their thumbs all day long? I reckon that they spent their time just like we do now, and felt guilty when they wasted time and felt that they got too old too fast as we do today.

My advice to you is that you don’t know how long you have to live, certainly not as long as these people did, so treasure every moment you have. Every second is precious!

11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

Enos might have thought that he could live forever, but even he had to die sometime. Death is certain, so there should be no reason to not be prepared for it!

12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

Now the population’s of the world is probably nearing about 500,000 people.

I kind of wonder, Cainan had a son at the age of 70, so he must have married not too long before that, so he must have been quite old, don’t you think?

13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

910 years old! You will only live a fraction of that time! Use your time wisely!

14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

He died too! Are you getting scared?

You should be, you only ever get one shot at life, make it count!

15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: 17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

The population of the world has gone up to about 15 million now, and everyone is dying, including Mahalaleel.

You know someone might say of me someday, Michael Buckingham lived 25 years and had a son: and after he had his son Michael lived another 40 years and had other sons and daughters: and all the days of Michael were 65 years: and.... HE DIED!

The same could be said of you!

Death is now upon the road!

Be ready!

18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

Now the population’s about 300 Million, the population of The United States; and you know what? Everyone eventually dies!

You could imagine, everyone by this time are starting to become afraid of death and are trying all kinds of experiments to see if they can discover the key to immortality. But obviously no-one found it or they would be alive this very day.

Death is the one event no-one can stop!

I will have to finish there, but in our next session we will read about someone who didn’t die, but he still had to pass from this world to the next, so don’t start thinking there’s hope that you could live forever!

It is important that you realise your doom, accept it, and prepare yourself to one day stand before the judgement seat of God!

I pray that it will be well for you on that day!

May the Lord add His blessing and pardon anything I have said amiss!

Amen

Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel

<< Genesis 4 >> King James Version

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1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.13And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

16And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. 19And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as havecattle. 21And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

23And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

24If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

25And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

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Sermon

So now we look at the life of Adam and Eve after they leave the Garden of Eden.

1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

The word knew here refers to sexual activity. Completely legal as Eve was his wife, so it was right and proper that he should have intercourse with her!

So Eve bares a son, and called his name Cain, which means a man from The Lord. It was a great mercy that the Lord gave Adam and Eve a son. Even though mankind is utterly depraved and sinful, yet The Lord allows our race to continue, and gives us children. But the human race will not continue forever, let that be noted!

2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Again Eve has another baby at a later date, and she calls his name Abel. It doesn’t seem certain of the origin of Abel’s name, but some have suggested “herdsman”.

So Abel takes of the job looking after sheep, and his brother Cain takes up the job as a gardener. Both jobs are right and proper for a man to occupy himself with!

3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

Presumably, Adam had encouraged both his sons to give offerings unto God, probably a peace offering asking for forgiveness for Adam and Eve’s sin in taking of the fruit, which sin is passed on through the generations. So Adam is trying here to teach his sons not to make the same mistakes he himself had made!

4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

In the same way, Abel brought his offering. And God accepted Abel’s offering.

5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Yet God did not accept the offering of Cain.

It is not stated in this book what the reason of Abel being given more preference than Cain was, but Hebrews 11 gives us an indication that the difference might have been simply that Abel offered his sacrifice in faith while Cain did not have faith but rather, did it as more of a ritual.

It’s kind of like prayers in a way. God will only respect your prayer if it is done in faith. I sometimes worry about how we pray just before the meal, when we say the so called ‘grace’. Do we just say the words of a well known prayer, or do we truly and faithfully thank God for His great mercy in allowing us to eat and to live yet another day? Prayer is no prayer without faith.

6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

Wroth means “angry”.

“Countenance Fallen” is probably a reference to mild depression, where people become so obsessed about something that has gone wrong, instead of focusing on the good points.

Cain was angry at God. And that is a very dangerous state to be in! An enemy of God will never be able to stand.

Perhaps it’s understandable, Cain is trying to do the right thing by giving an offering to the Lord, and yet God would not hear. God often does that to us, we pray sometimes and God doesn’t seem to listen, or He brings more adversity upon us.

Jeremiah said: 8Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. (Lamentations 3:8)

7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

This verse gives us an indication that Cain was very sinful. Sin lieth at the door, it’s evident that the first thing that you see when you see a sinner, typified here as a house, that the first thing you see is sin. You might try and white wash the whole house, yet if you open the door, there lies sin.

The Bible is full of parables. Parables help you see the text in a slightly different way, and can often be a way of explaining the meaning of a text in a simpler form.

8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Cain and Abel were talking alone in the field. Things began to get really heated as they began talking about God, and Abel started telling Cain that if he wanted God to accept him, he would need to have a little more faith. Then Cain gets really angry at his little brother who thinks he all so much better than he is, and in the heat of the moment Cain picks up a huge rock and hurls it at Abel, and Abel falls to the ground. Cain goes over feeling a bit remorseful and shakes his little brother to get him up, but Abel is dead as a doornail. Cain did not go out with the intention to kill his brother, it just happened. It’s like a lot of the sins we do, we don’t get up in the morning and think... “I’ll do this that and the other sin today”, no rather we think, we’ll do only good things and yet at the end of the day, we have done some terrible things.

Well that’s all for now, we will see the resolution to this great problem in our next session.

Lord bless His word!

Amen!