In Genesis, men such as Enos, Canaan, Mahalaleel lived 900-plus years and knew each other! You go all the way to Noah before you find somebody who didn't know Adam.
"The Flood was in 1656 and the way you get that is you add up the dates of the lives of people from Adam to Noah," explains Jordan. "They add up to 1056 and Noah was 600 years old at the time of the Flood. Now, that's taking the genealogies in Genesis seriously. Scholars like to say there are gaps in it but in these genealogies it's real clear there are not any 'skips' or 'missing' people.
"If you take the genealogies seriously that's how you get the date for Adam of about 4000 B.C. In fact, you can actually get right down to the real specific date of 4004 B.C. There's actually not a lot of leeway and give in it.
"It's fascinating to see when and how these guys lived and how their lives overlapped. Sometimes you don't realize there's such an awareness these people had. You know, if Adam was still alive in the earth while you were living, would you maybe like to have visited him and asked, 'What Happened?!'
"Would Adam look at his wife and answer, 'It's the woman. She ate us out of house and home.' No, by then he would have owned up to what he did because they were obviously Believers. Chapter 4:25 shows they obviously understood what the promise of God was and were going on it.
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"There are two books of generations in the Bible and it's important to compare them. Matthew 1 gives you the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. He's the last Adam. So, in Genesis you have the book of the generations of Adam in the day God created man. The book in Matthew is in connection with the redemption of man, because in between the creation of man and Jesus something tragic happened and that was the Fall of Man.
"The most accurate way of determining what numbers are associated with is just by taking the Book of Genesis. Study each chapter and you'll find the association with the number of that chapter. In Chapter 5 the first thing you see is death so the No. 5 in the Bible is associated with death and it's that way all through the Bible.
"Most people will tell you the No. 5 is associated with grace, but, you see, there's also grace in Chapter 5 of Genesis. Numbers generally don't have only one meaning; there's at least a couple of meanings associated with them.
"Verse 29: [29] And 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.
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"In the Bible, oftentimes names are given because they have meanings. The name Noah means 'rest'; it means 'to be comforted.' It's the idea of getting relief and consolation and you see what it's about in that one verse.
"They're looking to Noah to be the source of relief from the curse on Creation. Remember, God made the promise in Genesis 3 and it was a gift of grace. They didn't deserve it. God just determined, 'You've obviously failed; I'll do it for you,' and He gave them His word.
"Noah's daddy names his son by that name because he's going to be the one who conveys God's promise to the world.
"Chapter 4:25-26 says, [25] And 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.
[26] And 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.
"The name Seth means 'to appoint.' His momma took the idea of appoint and made a name out of it and gave the name to the boy because he was the replacement that God appointed to be the carrier of the seed line.
"The name Methuselah, when you say it, means 'his death shall bring,' and that's sort of a metaphorical meaning. If you trace the Hebrew words back, it means 'the man of the arrow.' That's a metaphor. If you shoot an arrow and it hits the target, what happens? The issue is when it hits, 'Boom!'
"That's the idea of Methuselah; when he comes to his end, big things are going to happen. They're going to blow up and that's exactly what happens. He died and the Flood came.
"Genesis 5:21 says, [21] And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
[22] And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
[23] And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
[24] And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
"Nobody else says that 'after he begat.' Enoch has Methuselah and that changed his life, because it was after the boy was born that his daddy began to walk with the Lord. So his birth changed some things just like the promise of his death changed some things.
"Now, Enoch is an interesting guy. You know the verse Amos 3:7 that says God would do nothing that He wouldn't show to His prophets?
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"Sometime you think about these dudes back there, that they just didn't have any knowledge or revelation. Because it isn't written down at the time doesn't mean God wasn't communicating with them. There's the law of subsequent narrative in the Bible. That is, sometime later in the history of the Scripture you'll read something about what happened back over there that they didn't tell you about back over there.
"The greatest example I can think of is in II Timothy 3 where Paul talks about how Jannes and Jambres 'withstood Moses to the face.' That's those two birds back there in Exodus that threw the snakes down, but you don't read their names until you get to II Timothy. Now, the Jews all knew who they were; it's in their history, but it just wasn't in Scripture 'til you get over there.
"Jude 14-15 says, [14] And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
[15] To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
"Noah was a preacher of righteousness so he preached. Enoch is a prophet and look what he prophesied! You get the idea there's some ungodly dudes out there? Enoch is prophesying about that coming judgment, and he does that after he has a kid that he names, 'When he dies, BOOM!, the target's going to hit the wall.'
"So the birth of Methuselah demonstrated that God's going to provide long-suffering. Genesis 5 has more to it than just death. There's some grace in it, some patience.
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Matthew 23: 34-36 is one of these passages that when you compare accounts, it's fascinating what you learn. It reads, [34] Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
[35] That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
[36] Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
"That is a parallel passage to Luke 11: [49] Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
[50] That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
[51] From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
"Who said that? Jesus Christ. Who does Luke say Jesus Christ is? 'The wisdom of God.' Both passages are talking about the same person. In your Bible, the wisdom of God is personified in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom of God.
"He says, 'From Abel to Zacharias I'm going to require the blood of all the prophets.' That means Jesus Christ is saying Abel was a prophet. Just like He says in Matthew 23:35.
"Cain killed Abel and Jesus said it was the Pharisees who killed him. Cain was a Pharisee and Abel was a prophet. You see, it wasn't just two brothers fighting; there's a spiritual battle with conflicting religious systems going on back there.
"My point is they had people giving and getting revelation from God, giving God's truth out, all over back there, and when Enoch prophesies that's nothing strange and unusual for that time.
"Enoch, by the way, is the guy who disappeared. He walked with God and he was not. God literally delivered him from the wrath to come and, by the way, his name means 'a teacher.' Enoch is the teacher the judgment's coming. So I'm just trying to show you that in the midst of the death, God works his grace."
(new article tomorrow)
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