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A very good morning once again, welcome to Gospel Light. A big welcome to those who are on site, it's great to see your faces. Some of you, I've not seen for some time, I'm glad you join us today. It's really nice, heartwarming just to see all of you.

And for those online, we want to thank God for these means, by which we can connect still. And we pray that the Holy Spirit who is working in your hearts will bring you to life and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are coming to Genesis, chapter 5. We have looked at 4 chapters, we are coming to this 5th chapter, a chapter that again, is like a blind spot, a very neglected portion in the Bible. But I hope that this would be a meaningful study for one and all this morning.

Last Sunday, after worship service here at Punggol church, I was tasked to buy lunch for my family. It was still early, and I had some time to travel to buy food and so my wife wanted fish soup. And so I thought to myself, “Hey! There's this fish soup store somewhere in Hougang. I've heard about, which is supposedly very good, but I've never tried.” So, I said, “Alright, let's go buy fish soup for the family.”

When I got there, I was shocked to see a long queue, at least 30 people. And I took a picture, I showed my wife, WhatsApp her. She said, “Wah! So long. If it's too long, never mind, don't queue.” But I thought to myself, “I've traveled all the way here, I do not know where else I can get fish soup that is decent.” And so I said, “Never mind. I'll wait on.” I thought that maybe for 30 people, it's a long one but perhaps fish soup quite easy lah, it might go very fast.

After five minutes, the queue hardly moved. I think people there ‘kiasu’ [selfish attitude that arises from fear of missing out in Hokkien dialect], since they queue, they might as well by 10 packets kind of thing. So hardly moved, 10 minutes went by, it's still not my turn. 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 25 minutes … “Wah! Your pastor very ‘eng’ [lots of time to spare in Hokkien dialect] ah, queue for fish soup so long!” Thirty minutes, 35 minutes, 40 minutes. 45 minutes, I've still not gotten my orders in. It was a long wait. I think in Singapore you want good food, you got to wait.

I'm sure all of you are familiar with waiting, maybe waiting for food, waiting for the delivery of goods you bought online, waiting for your results, waiting for your friend. All of us are familiar with waiting. And Genesis 5 is a story about waiting.

You see, God had promised Adam and Eve that He would send a Savior who would absolutely crush the serpent's head. He would send a Savior who would save His people from their sins. So when Adam and Eve had the first child, they called the child, Cain, which means - acquired, gotten, received from God.

They thought that Cain will be the Savior, but of course, it was a false alarm. It was a false hope because Cain turned out to be a murderer, a hypocrite. He doesn't love God. He doesn't believe in God. Now it couldn't be Abel as well because Abel just got killed. So when they had a son, Seth, they called the son, Seth, because the word, Seth means - appointed one. They thought that this will be the offspring who will defeat the serpent.

But of course, it turned out, as we know later on, Seth is not the one. But Seth … Seth is the one through whom ultimately the Savior will be born. So it's not Cain, it's not Abel, it's not Seth, and then they are waiting, son after son, descendant after descendant, offspring after offspring for the arrival of God's promise.

So Genesis 5 is that story that tells us of how the people were all waiting for the arrival of the Savior. And for 1500 years, he never came. Genesis 5, amazingly records for us a long history of some 1500 years in less than 1500 words in 32 verses. But it's all about waiting, waiting for the Messiah, waiting, waiting for the Savior.

But whilst they waited, and whilst the world looks at this story, it is not time that is wasted. Because whilst man is waiting for the Savior, God is also teaching men, showing men, proving to men important spiritual lessons. So Genesis 5, long history, waiting for the Messiah. But during this period of at least 1500 years, God will teach men some things. What lessons can we learn in Genesis 5 whilst we are waiting for the Messiah?

[1] Punishment for the Rebellion
Number one, I plunge right in, God is reminding all humanity that there is a punishment for the rebellion. God is reminding all humanity, that there will be a punishment for man's sin against God.

You see, Genesis 5 is the graveyard chapter of the Bible. Just now when you heard Adrian read Genesis, 5, you would be struck probably with the numbers, the age and so on. You say, “Wah! How I wish I could live so long.” But another thing that would have struck you is the way the phrase, “And he died and he died and he died”, come so regularly. Isn't it? It's a graveyard chapter of the bible where we read how this dies (referring to the clicker).

This chapter is a vivid description of how death is the reminder of man's sin. Like I said, it's a funeral chapter of the Bible. We read in verse 5, verse 8, “And he died and he died and he died.” It's like a funeral bell, the drum beat of death over and over and over again.

So remember, God was the One who said to Adam and Eve, “In the day that you shall eat of the forbidden fruit, you shall surely die.” Then Satan came along and said, “No! You will not surely die.” Satan was trying to ungod God. Remember? He's trying to say, “God is not so holy. God is not so just, God is not so knowledgeable. It's okay to eat the fruit.”

But God had already said, “In the day you eat it, you shall surely die.” And Genesis 5 tells us, “They surely die.” God will judge sin. God will bring death just as He said. He's holy. He's just. He's faithful to His Word, “You will die.” And it turned out, everybody died. No one escapes the ravages of sin.

A story is told of this merchant in London. His name is Henry Goodyear. He was invited by his niece to church one day, and the pastor was preaching from Genesis, chapter 5. Now the sermon was according to the niece, super boring. The niece was a believer, but she was very embarrassed that he, she had invited her uncle to a church service that is preaching on Genesis 5. She thought it would be so absolutely boring for him. She felt bad.

But unknowingly, she didn't realize that when the uncle was walking home, every step he took was like a reminder of what the pastor had just read, “And he died, and he died, and he died, and he died.” And he was just having this thought in his mind that he's living, he's alive today, but one day he will die and where will he spend eternity?

He was so troubled about these words, “And he died and he died …” that he could not sleep, he could not work. And the next day he opened his Bible, he searched the Scriptures, and he repented and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I suppose that's the effect that we should have. When we look at Genesis 5, we say, “Whoa! God's Word is coming true. Man has sinned against God, and there is a due punishment for his sin.” And I think God is allowing all that to play out, that humanity might be reminded of our sin, and that we might repent and believe in the promised Savior.

So that's why the Bible says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind and the living will lay it to heart.” [Ecc 7:2] There is wisdom in considering death a reality and inescapable reality in this world, in our life, so that we might sober up and believe and know that there is a God, who would hold us accountable for all our sin. So that today, perhaps you might learn to repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So whilst the world waited for the Messiah, the Savior, God is reminding the world that there is a punishment for the rebellion. Death is the reminder of man's sin. Any generation, any period, they would know God is going to deal with sin.

[2] Purity of the Redeemed
But the 2nd thing I think God is doing in these years, that is recorded for us in Genesis 5, is that there is the purity of the redeemed. What do you mean by that? Well, in a day when everyone sins and dies, there is a man who walked with God and didn't die. So God is saying, “There is the wages of sin, it's death.” But then God is also saying that, “There are people who are redeemed, who are mine, who are saved. They will live a pure life. They will live a distinctive life and they will not die.”

So in a day when everyone sins and dies, God raises a man who walked with Him and didn't die. Very interesting! The man of course, you know is Enoch. “Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God.” [Gen 5:21-22]

So Enoch was a man who is different from the rest. Now, I don't think this is saying that, “He's the only one who walked with God, or the only one who loved God, or the only one who believed in God.” But he was chosen as one example to be recorded in Genesis, “Enoch walked with God …” because, by far, by … by most accounts, the rest of the world did not walk with God.

That's the assumption here, He walked with God. He's a special guy because the rest of the world did not walk with God. In fact, the rest of the world was extremely sinful. It was a very sinful world we lived in because the glimpse we have in Jude 14-15 is interesting, that Enoch would say that, “The Lord comes with 10 thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly, of all their deeds of ungodliness, they've … that they have committed in such an ungodly way.”

I mean, the number of times the word, ‘ungodly’ happens here is just stunning, in such a short span. But that's the world Enoch was in, that's the world then. Sin had propagated to a severe degree, so much so, the next chapter in Genesis 6:5, we read this description, “That the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

So it was a very sinful, wicked world. And it is in the midst of such a world that Enoch walked with God. Remarkable! Remarkable that he could live in such a terrible environment, and still maintain consistent intimacy with God, and please God with his life.

That describes those who know God. That is the description of those who really have a relationship with God. They are not just people who claimed that they know God, but there is a life product that marks them out. Enoch exemplified that.

Now mind you, Enoch was not a man who had always walked with God, because the Bible here tells us, “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah …” [Gen 5:21-22] So he obviously was someone who did not walk with God, but then something happened in his life, and he now walked with God. And that turning point seems to be when Methuselah was born. “… And Methuselah was born when he was about 65 years old.”

Now, we do not know exactly what happened, we can only venture to guess that something clicked in his mind. I would suggest to you Enoch had always heard of his parents talked about the promise of the Savior. By the way, he's the 7th from Adam. So he's a great, great, great, great, great grandson of Adam.

And just in case you think Adam had a really long gone, actually they were all alive, because in those days, they live very long. And you really have a 满家[mǎn jiā, a family in Chinese], you have a 团圆 [tuán yuan]，big reunion probably once a year, everyone gets together. I'm not sure， but Enoch would have known Adam and Eve and so on and so forth. They wouldn't have stayed very far away, I think. Can't travel far, don't have cars or aeroplanes.

And he must have learned about the fall, about the promise of the Savior, about Abel and Cain and what happened and about Seth. And … and how that promise is still believed upon by this family. But he never really believed it, he never really took it to heart until he was 65. And then when he believed it, his life changed. He now begins to walk with God. A way to describe how he pleases God.

And we are told here that because, “He walked with God, he was not, for God took him.” [Gen 5:23-24] You say, “What does this mean? What do mean Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him?” Well, it is not difficult when you turn to Hebrews, chapter 11 and verse 5, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.”

Now must be very interesting in those days, right? Where is Enoch? You could imagine, social media can't find him, they make phone calls can't find Enoch, he just suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth. Can't even see his body. But that's what happened to Enoch, he did not die, but uniquely God brought him to be with him straightaway. God had taken him.

And that was a way to tell the world that, “He had pleased God.” [Heb 11:5] So God was making a statement using Enoch. God was making a point using Enoch. “In a world where everyone sins and dies, there is a man who walked with Me, and I will not let him die.” That's the message! That's the point God is making during those times. You've got to see it that way.

And it is because Enoch was a man who had faith in God. He was a man who believed God. He was a man who obviously believed in the promise of the Messiah. And because of faith, his life was changed, he walked in godliness. And God marked him out by not allowing him to see death. So in a day when everyone sins and dies, there is a man who walked with God, and didn't die.

So what do we see here so far? During these 1500 years of waiting, God is teaching the world, He's revealing, proving; showing the world wonderful realities. Number one, that there is a punishment for the rebellion. That death is a reminder of man's sin. God wants that to be drilled into the world, during those days. And even in our days, for sure.

Number two, that the purity of the redeemed, is a message that says, “In a day when everyone sins and dies, there is a man who walked with God, and didn't die.”

[3] The Preaching for Repentance
But finally, I think in those days, God is also giving the world, the preaching necessary for repentance. And again, this is from the man Enoch himself. Enoch lived a godly life, but he did not just live a godly life, his whole life and his preaching was a message to the world.

Again, we see that God is still calling sinful man to turn back to Him. And we see that in Jude 14-15, we were looking at this verse earlier, the Bible says that, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy one execute judgment on all the ungodly things this world is doing, and all the ungodly people this world is made of.”’

So Enoch is a preacher, a preacher of things that are not nice to listen to. Isn't it? You won't like to listen to Enoch, because he's a no-nonsense kind of a preacher. He doesn't soft pedal things. He doesn't speak things to … to tickle your ears or to give you enjoyment. He gives you a message that you really need to learn and to hear. You need to repent, you need to turn because God is going to send a judgment soon.

Now, what's interesting is that not only do I see that Enoch preached with his lips, it could be that God was using Enoch and his son to preach a message of judgment and repentance. Now this is interesting, not explicit, but I think it's quite convincing that Enoch, maybe from direction from God, would name his son in a very special way. “He called his son Methuselah.” [Gen 5:21-22]

Now, that's a very interesting name because his name means - either when he is dead, it shall be sent, or that his name means his death shall bring. That's the meaning of the Hebrew name. When he's dead, it shall be sent. Or if you like it shorter, "His death shall bring.”

You say, “Bring what? What … what will his death bring?” Well, my suggestion to you is that his name is a … is a judgment, is a kind of a warning to the world, his death shall bring the judgment. “So how do you get that?” Well, let's look at this.

Methuselah lived for 969 years. Right? By the way, he's an old … this is for Bible trivia fans. The person who lived the longest on earth is Methuselah, 969 years. No one live longer than him. He did. But 969 is the figure that I want you to keep in your head because after Enoch, there would be “Lamech, 187 years old.” [Gen 5:25] He got Lamech and then Lamech would, “Beget Noah at 182 years.” [Gen 5:28-29]

Can you add that two together? 187 plus 182 equals to? 369. So Noah was born when Methuselah was 369 years old. “And the flood came when Noah was 600 years old.” [Gen 7:11] So the flood came when Methuselah was, ‘Wahlel’ [to express surprise/shock in Hokkien dialect] 600 plus 369 … very easy. No! The flood came when Methuselah was 969 years, which is the day he …? Or at least the year, he died.

So it may be that the flood was what was prophesied in the name, Methuselah. When he dies, the judgment will be brought, it will be sent. Now of course, they were not told exactly what kind of judgment. But we know on hindsight, that the judgment that flooded the whole world and destroyed the whole except for the Noahs, the family of Noah was the flood.

Now, can you imagine growing up as Methuselah. Every time you have a fever, everybody gets nervous. You know, every time you ‘achoo’, Wah! people say, “Is it the end of the world? Is judgment coming?” Well, this … this boy is going to be quite somebody. But Methuselah lived 969 years, longest living person.

Why? Maybe God has a message that says, “I'm going to give you a long … long time. So that as many of you would have maximum chance to repent and to come back to Me.” It … it probably speaks of the mercy of God that the oldest man here who has ever lived on planet Earth, would be the sign that God would bring in the judgment if they should not repent.

So it's very interesting that Enoch preached, and perhaps even preached through his son, and his name. Maybe that's all what God revealed. I'm putting these pieces together and saying, “Maybe Enoch never really heeded the words from his parents. But at a particular point, God revealed that there will be a judgment for this world and he repented, he believed, and maybe that's why he called his son Methuselah, because he's looking forward to the coming judgment, revealed by God.”

Now all that you've got to just piece it together, it's not explicit, but it might be very well the case. So, I want to remind you today that we are still waiting, in a sense for the complete victory to be claimed by the Messiah. Now, Jesus had already gone to the cross. Jesus, some 2000 years had sacrificed Himself, laid down His life, shed His blood, to cleanse us from our sins, but we still live in a world of sin. The victory is not claimed, the payment has been made, but the victory has not been claimed, but it will come.

We are however, like the people in the days of Genesis 5, we are also waiting for the ultimate victory to arrive. But in the meanwhile, don't you know that God is still sending the message of death all around us. People are dying. We have COVID. We have all kinds of cancers. We have all kinds of diseases. And whenever we think about diseases and death, we should be reminded about the curse, and we should be reminded about sin.

But God is raising people like Enoch in this world. People who believe Him. People who will walk in a way that is different from the ways of the world. People who would please God by faith, so that we all might be a testimony to this wicked and watching world. That we all may tell the world that there is something different in those who believe in God. And their eternal state will be different from your eternal state.

And God is calling men and women in this world to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ through His church like Enoch, who should be preachers, who should be telling people the message of judgment and the Good News of Jesus Christ.

We are waiting. And maybe you're saying, “Why wait so long?” Well, one of the reasons why Jesus has not yet come is because. “The Lord is not slow …”, please don't think of Him as … as if he is very ‘man soh soh’ [very slow in Hokkien dialect] or very ‘tu’ [procrastinate in Hokkien dialect]. “…He's not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but He is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” [2 Peter 3:9] He's giving it like a Methuselah kind of a length, as long as it can for you to repent, and to come back to Him.

So if you're here today and you do not know Jesus, my encouragement to you is be like a Henry Goodyear. Every step of your life, every time you read about COVID, every time you see someone die, every time you're reminded about this grim consequence, think about the judgment that is to come, think about the Savior that God has promised. And I pray today that you will be humbled, to admit your sin, and to admit your need for Jesus Christ.

And I want to pray for our church, I want to pray that we would endeavor to live lives like Noah (sic: Enoch). Nothing very much else spoken about Noah (sic Enoch), we do not know how many houses he has, how many cars he possesses, how much money he has in his bank. We do not know these things, but we know one thing - he walked with God.

And if there's one thing that is important for you, it would be this - that you walked with God. You walk in a way that is different from the world. Your life, your lifestyle is different from that of the world. There is a holiness to you. There is a godliness to you. There is faith. There's love. There is hope that people can see. And I think that's what God wants. And let us learn to be like Enochs, that will be boldly telling people about sin and judgment and most of all, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

God is waiting. We are waiting. There will come a time when Jesus will return. And we are hoping and praying that many more would repent and believe before that time. So what a picture Genesis 5! The lessons there are still applicable to our day and age today.

By the way, I managed to buy that fish soup, after about an hour. I made sure I get all the kinds I wanted to try because may not queue there anymore. And when I brought it home, my family saw the fish soup, they were amazed. “Wah! How come you queue so long?” My youngest son was actually upset because he wanted chicken rice. That's his favorite, and I got him fish soup. But I say, “Try first lah! Don't complain lah!”

And we all had a taste of the soup. And it was the best fish soup we have ever had in our lives, unanimous decision. And I ask them, “Is it worth the wait?” They say, “Yes.” Of course lah, because I'm the one who wait, they are at home. But it was well worth the wait. I can tell you, that when Jesus returns, we would all say, “It was well worth the wait”, if we could walk like Enoch, and preach like Enoch, and lead many more to Jesus Christ. That's our mission! That's your mission! I pray you do it well, in your lifetime.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. Nothing very much is spoken in the lives of the people who lived thousands of years ago here in Genesis 5. But what is written is extremely helpful and instructive for us. It's a day where the bell of death tolls from generation to generation. It's a day where Enoch, a man who walked with God stood out like a sore thumb as it were. Everybody knew about him, because he walked with God and he was not … he did not die.

It was a day where people would hear the uncompromising preaching of a man, who knew that judgment is coming. That is what we need in our day today. We are so distracted and drowned out by the entertainments and the cares and affairs of this world. Isn't it? But if you are just to see things from an eternal perspective, then what matters today for the church is that in a world of sin, we must walk in godliness. In a world of rebellion, we must preach for repentance.

Dear Gospel Light, it's been a difficult year but our mission remains the same. And all these circumstances, however difficult they are, will not matter when we are fulfilling the mission God has given to us. And one day when Jesus returns, we will be glad that we could have been faithful to Him in living out and giving out the Gospel.

I therefore pray this morning that we would all continue to drink in the Gospel, to be reminded of God's love for us. God's love for us in His Son, that we might then live out that Gospel. Out of that gratitude, we may live godly lives and that we might give out the Gospel. Dear church, will this be what you pray for, because this is ultimately what matters for all eternity?

And dear friends, you may not know Jesus as yet, but I pray today that the phrase, “And he died and he died and he died and he died”, will continue to ring in your heart, would stir within you. That you have no peace and no rest, until today, you will turn from sin and believe in Jesus Christ. This is the message of the Bible - man blew it, man sinned, man rebelled against God. But God is so gracious and merciful, that when we cannot do anything to earn our way back to God, He chose to promise and ultimately to give His Son to die and to save you from your sin. Today is still a day you can turn. Please do not harden your heart. Come to Jesus.

Father, thank You for this morning that we can hear Your Word. A very obscure passage, but actually a rich passage. Bless Your people, that we might respond in faith. I pray again for the building up of this church, that we will not be superficial, mediocre Christians, but we will be a people like Enoch who aspire to walk with You, to consistently please You as we trust You and obey You by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

I want to pray that as a church, we would be effectively bringing the Good News, we will be preaching the message of the Gospel to more and more people around us. And I want to pray again for souls to be saved even this day. Bless Your people. We ask all this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

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