GEN-19   LWP-07

000213AM

No time for God, what a dangerous condition. This morning we begin a study of the World that Perished in the Genesis Flood. The entire world had come to the dangerously deadly state of having no time for God. God has told us that one of the final stages of terminal cancer of the soul is when humans have no place for their Creator in their hearts, minds, or lives.

Why did The World that Perished in the Genesis Flood become a world that had no time for God? Paul explains this condition in Romans 1, “because they were not willing to retain God in their minds, God gave them up.” The World that Perished in the Genesis Flood suffered the fate that all who have no time for God will experience.

If you open with me to Genesis 4:24 on, we can make some observations. Please stand with me as I read Genesis 4:24 through chapter 5.

Evaluated from a merely a human point of view, Cain’s descendants are an admirable lot. Chapter 4 tells us about:

  • Jabal (“wanderer”) founded the science of agriculture (v. 20);
  • Jubal founded “culture”—music; and
  • Tubal-Cain founded the metal industries.

From a worldly perspective which bases its perceptions on outward appearances, Cain”s “city” was a great success, but God made it clear that He had rejected the whole thing. In v. 25, God gave Adam and Eve another seed—Seth—which means “the appointed, the substitute” (taking Abel’s place).

God did not try to reform the Descendents of Cain that had no time for God. He rejected them and ultimately destroyed them in the flood. As the Descendents of Cain were gradually wandering away from the true worship of God, the Descendents of Seth were returning to Him (v. 26) and establishing again their worship of the Lord. The ultimate descendent of Seth is the hero of faith in Genesis 6-8 Noah, whom we shall study at length.

Isn’t our world today so much like those descendents of Cain? Both seem to have time for everything but, have no time for God. We make advances in agriculture, industry, arts, great cities, and religious unity, but our world lives in sin and darkened souls without faith in the blood of Christ. Also, like Cain’s civilization of old, it will be destroyed. We still have boasting murderers like Lamech, and we still have people (like Lamech) who violate the sacred vows of marriage. “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37, NJKV). Men still reject divine revelation and depend on their own human resources. The true Christian does not belong to this “world system” that is passing away (1 John 2:15-17), and should not get involved with it (Rom. 12:1–2; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).

In the last few weeks we have seen Cain murdering Abel and then turning his back on God. And from him a new civilization develops. City life emerges (4:16–17), polygamy occurs (4:19), the arts develop (4:21), metallurgy advances man’s cause (4:22), but violence is also evident (4:23). It appears that in the development of civilization, man has tried to ignore and overcome the effects of the curse of living apart from God.

Then we saw this morning, Genesis 5 traces the descent of the Sethite line as distinct from the Descendents of Cain that had no time for God. The Sethites represent the godly line, while the Cainites represent the ungodly line. The contrast is seen: the fifth descendant from Cain was Lamech, the first polygamist; the fifth descendant from Seth was Enoch, the first to walk with God. Moreover, it was the Sethite line that began to worship God (Gen. 4:26).[1]

Now what do we see about World that Perished in the Genesis Flood? Listen to St. Augustine’s diary, as he once wrote a fantastic observation he had made about God in his personal study diary once, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and we are restless until we rest in Thee.” Now look at the World that Perished in the Genesis Flood as it was described in Genesis 4:16-24.

There are four evils described in these verses which mark the restlessness of Cain’s children, then and now.

  • Restlessness Genesis 4:14. Doesn’t that remind us of when God said in Isaiah 57:20-21 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. 21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
  • Emptiness  Genesis 4:17 like the holes in the pockets of Haggis, only it is their souls that are empty.
  • Sensualness  Genesis 4:18-22  like Peter and Jude say that the lost run greedily after pleasure, as they sought music, commerce, and sex, instead of God.
  • Arrogance  Genesis 4:23-24 like Satan as he boasted to God in his heart his, “I Wills”, so this world boasted of violent, cold blooded murder for one who only wounded him.

As I was trying to summarize this World that Perished in the Genesis Flood, I thought of one man who truly embodies no time for God. Methuselah lived longer than any other human being of whom we have record – 969 years. Scripture records that Methuselah was the father of Lamech and the grandfather of Noah. Since Adam died almost 300 years after Methuselah’s birth, it seems safe to assume that Methuselah would have known Adam. Methuselah died the year of the flood. We are going to assume that he did not die in the flood. His name is thought to mean, “After him, it shall come.”

But more than any other man, Methuselah had time but did not seem to take time for God.

Genesis 5:18-24 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. 21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Hebrews 11:4-7 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

THE WISDOM OF METHUSELAH

The setting for the following monologue will be at the side of the nearly completed ark.  All has been finished but the final applications of pitch. The smell of hot tar hangs in the air.  Boxes of provisions are being assembled to be placed on the ark when the pitch has been applied.

Methuselah will be talking to Noah throughout the monologue. You are invited to use your imagination to fill in the setting. Since all of Methuselah’s immediate family died in the flood, he will be presented as a man of his age who was not a positive influence for God. His life is intended to stand in contrast to that of Able, Enoch and Noah. As you listen, evaluate your life values. If someone were telling your story, what could they say about your relationship to God and your influence on others?

Now here is Methuselah.

Monologue[2]

Zilba, Zilba, you see that the camels are well cared for and these miserable men kept under control. We’ll be returning shortly and you won’t be paid unless you get me safely home. Don’t linger too long at the wine or I will personally see that you lead no more caravans.

Ah, does this world have nothing but drunken wretches to do a man’s bidding.

Noah, my dearly beloved grandson, how good it is to see you. I regret that I am in my usual state of ill temper. That man Zilba could hardly sit on his camel and he was the best of the lot. But they were all I could hire to escort me.  What a sad condition men are in today.

You look in extreme good health! And the ark well nigh finished. What a magnificent work of craftsmanship. You are indeed to be honored. Although I must admit that my nostrils are not attuned to the smell of all that tar. How do you tolerate it?

And this your one hundred and twentieth year at this project. I admit I thought you foolish were when you started. I still have no earthly idea where you will get enough water for it to float. Do you realize that I have lived nearly a thousand years and in all that time I have not seen enough water to float a boat one tenth that size.

Oh, yes, Noah. I believe that what you say is true. My father, Enoch, spoke of God’s coming and His judgment on sinful men. I never doubted that it would come.

Soon, you say? Well, let it be. At least you’ll be done with the abuse people have been dumping on you all these years. I couldn’t have stood the laughter. You are indeed a patient man. And never a flood on this earth since it began.

Father Enoch always said the coming of the judgment was connected in some strange way with the length of my life. Noah, I have come to see you for the last time. I am about to die.

Now don’t be shocked or try to tell me that it isn’t so. I have lived longer than any and I know when the pains of death are coming. One more camel ride home and I’m done with it. I am growing weaker day by day.

I have come to bid you farewell, to gaze once more on this magnificent barge, and to bring you this.

What is it? I’ll tell you soon.

Noah, I have watched you through these years. I have told you often of Enoch, my beloved father. I have seen how much like him you have become. You are a man of faith. A man who walks with God.  You are a righteous man.

I have wanted to be such a man. But I never seem to have time!

I always thought that I would have time to fellowship with God when I had accumulated enough possessions to meet my needs and the needs of my family. I have become one of the richest men in the land. But I still don’t have time.

People are so treacherous these days that I must watch my flocks and herds day and night. It seems I do nothing but settle problems among my servants. I have to sleep with one eye open to catch the thieves among them.

I have grown weary with it all. I have auctioned all my cattle and flocks. I have saved only the camels I have with me today. When I go home, I will sell them and prepare to return to the dust from whence I came.

Here, Noah, is my estate. This bag of jewels is yours to provide for your lie in the age to come. Nay, don’t restrain me.

No!  No!  I won’t have my goods in the hands of my greedy grasping children. How they exasperate me.  Those that aren’t drunkards or thieves are so taken up with activities or getting more gain that they have no time for an old man let alone God.

Well, they won’t get what I’ve got. Ha! I’ll have the last laugh. You should have seen them as I sold off the cattle, sheep, goats and camels. Had I not hired twenty armed men to protect me on the way here, my own family would surely have killed me for that little bag.

Your Uncle Lenosh hasn’t been to my home in a hundred years. But you wait until he hears the word of my death. He will come running to claim his share. Will I have a surprise for him!

You had better put it in a safe place immediately. Who knows what will happen. Had those filthy men in my caravan known what was under my cloak, they would have killed me for it before we had traveled an hour.

I have never seen such violence. But then is it not our nature. Did not gentle Adam’s first son kill his second.  I swear I see the spirit of Cain in all I know. I find that spirit so strong in me. How I have longed to control the anger welling up in me. You will do me a great favor to take that bag. You’ll do that for me won’t you?

Yes!  Yes! Thank you, Noah. What a burden you have lifted from me. Now that all those things are gone, perhaps I shall have a few days with God before I die.

I remember as a young man going with Enoch, my blessed father, to visit Adam. How my father loved to hear Adam talk of those beautiful days in Eden.

I enjoyed going to see Adam. Eve was such a beautiful woman even in her age. She was always trying to get us to eat something.

Adam talked often of Abel. How Abel seemed to have a heart for God from the beginning. Abel wanted to be sure that he pleased God. He carefully chose his very best sheep to offer in sacrifice to God as his father had instructed him.

I can still see Adam’s ancient face cloud with grief when he spoke of Cain’s rebellious spirit. He held Satan to account for Cain’s failure to bring the offering that God desired. I remember Adam explaining how he thought it happened.

Satan saying to Cain, “God doesn’t really care what offering you bring as long as its an offering. Besides the bloody sacrifice of the most innocent, harmless, and lovely of the animals seems such a senseless waste. It is so much more practical to bring your vegetables, grain and fruit. Besides it a lot cheaper.  Think of all the things you can aquire for yourself with what you save. Do it your way, Cain! Do it your way!”

Poor Cain and his children have been doing it their way ever since. Willful pride is the curse of this world.  I struggle with it every day.

Adam told of God’s conversation with Cain. God said, “Cain everything will be fine if you will bring your offering to me in the way I have decreed. I will be pleased and you will be fulfilled. If you don’t do as I request, sin like a demon will be crouching at your door.”

Cain turned his back on God and in a fit of jealous rage killed his brother Able. He was fortunate God didn’t kill him right then.

Now, Noah, I admit that Cain’s people have made great contributions to art, culture and commerce. But they don’t have any time for God at all. They use those things to influence people to think as they do.  Especially in their music, Noah. I swear that I can hear the voice of Satan singing in their music.

When Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he took a lot of people with him.

What I say is that Cain and his people didn’t go far enough away. Adam always had such great pride in Seth and those of us who came from him. I knew there would be trouble when our boys started going over and looking at the daughters of Cain. I can’t blame them for thinking those girls were beautiful. It’s true that some great and famous people have come out of the mix of the two cultures. But we haven’t gotten better. We’ve gotten worse.

The real tragedy started when those great men fell to the seduction of the demonic spirits. It’s Satanic influence again, Noah.  These men thinking they could become immortal through consorting with fallen angels, gathering around themselves great harems of beautiful women all to breed a superhuman race.

And the common people have followed their examples. The sweep of sensuality and violence has gone beyond imagination.

I kept saying to our young men, “Listen to Abel! Listen to Abel! His blood cries out from the ground in warning about the godless tribe of Cain and the influence of demons on them.”

It doesn’t do any good to talk to them. No one listens to me anymore.

They don’t listen to you either, eh?

It will come to a bitter end. I’m sure of that. Abel was right to trust God and obey Him. I don’t like all that killing of animals in sacrifice either. But if that is the way God will accept me, I’m going to do it. I would rather be in a righteous grave like Abel’s than facing what Cain’s tribe has ahead of them when the judgment of God comes.

And it will come! Father Enoch kept saying that the eyes of God are too pure to look on evil. God will not leave the guilty unpunished. Every sweep of your saw and every blow of your hammer as you built this ark should have been a reminder to this world that judgment is coming. But I know what’s wrong with them, Noah, and so do you. They love their evil ways and they won’t bow in submission to God. It is the terrible curse of pride. I surely marvel at your patience, Noah.

What’s that?  It’s God who has been patient. That is an interesting point. I’m sure you’re right. It is God’s decision when the judgment comes and not yours. But you have cooperated with God rather than fighting him as most people do.

Well, I must get back to my story. Father Enoch asked Adam many questions about life in Eden. Most of all he wanted Adam to tell him about what it was like to walk and talk to God. He could never get enough of that. Adam seemed embarrassed to talk about it and never could without tears.

Father Enoch would say to me, “Methusaleh, my son, you don’t have to be in Paradise to fellowship with God. Just open your heart up to Him wherever you are and you will find Him ready to love you and help you.”

You must forgive an old man for repeating stories you have heard a thousand times before. You’re the only one that ever listened to me.

Father Enoch told me many things over and over. He often told me that it was when I was born, and he witnessed the miracle of birth, that he was drawn with a desire to know God more fully. It was then that God revealed the coming judgment to him.

My father Enoch walked with God. You are like him, Noah. He really believed in God. He spent so much time talking to God and about God that some of the neighbors began to say that he was crazy. But he was the most sane, the happiest, and the kindest man I ever knew. He had an encouraging word for everyone and a warm relationship with all his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He prayed for all of them by name every day.

I don’t even know how many grandchildren and great grandchildren I have, let alone knowing their names.

Father Enoch preached to those in his generation of fearful judgment to come, just as you do, Noah.

No, he didn’t have much success either. But that didn’t silence him.

I wish you could have known him, Noah. You are so much like him.

How I loved him. How I miss him still. His memory haunts me.

I do so want to be like him. But I get so angry when things don’t go well. Then I have to go clean up the messes people make and just never seem to have time to work things out with God.

Father Enoch only wanted to please God. That was his first thought every morning when he awoke.  He always seemed to have time to meditate and pray. He got his work done too. I never could figure that out.

He loved to take long walks in the cool of the morning and just talk with God. One day he went out and didn’t come back. We waited and waited, then we went to look for him.

I was the one who finally found his foot prints in the sand. He had walked along, taking short steps like he was talking to someone. Then the steps just stopped. The sand stretched bare in all directions. There was no sign of a struggle. There were no other footprints. He was just gone.

God took him. And, well, He should. I knew why God had taken him. We all did. We didn’t deserve to have him anymore. He was so godly he belonged in God’s presence.

God took righteous Enoch out of this wicked world. Now you say, Noah, that God is going to take the wicked and leave the people who believe in your message enough to get on that ark.

If I were going to be here, I would surely get on your ark, but I feel death near. When I am gone the fearful judgment will fall. Noah, you’re ready. You are the wisest of men. Those who are wise  prepare for coming judgment by choosing to walk with God.

Ah, see the sun will soon pass its zenith. I must be home before this half day is done. I fear to spend the night out with these cut throats.

I did hope that I might join you at your altar. I even brought a choice lamb. But there is never enough time. I’ll tell Zilba to leave the lamb here with you. Will you make a sacrifice with it and pray for me?

I go now, Come to see me soon. I will not leave home again.

Zilba, Zilba, you scoundrel, where are you? Get those camels up and ready. Hi, put down that wineskin before I knock it from your hand!

Conclusion

Read Luke 17:26-27 “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:27 “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

1 Peter 3:20 reminds us that the long-suffering of God waited during the long years of Noah’s building of the ark.  In this age of grace God is still long-suffering.  But the signs of the end-time are everywhere.  The question remains, “Are you ready to face the future unafraid.”  Remember, in the face of coming judgment those who are wise walk with God.  The first step in any persons walk with God is to believe the Gospel.  Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead that you might be saved.  He alone is the ark of safety.  If you have never trusted Christ, will you do so now?

TAGS: 000213AM

No time for God, what a dangerous condition. This morning we begin a study of the World that Perished in the Genesis Flood. The entire world had come to the dangerously deadly state of having no time for God. God has told us that one of the final stages of terminal cancer of the soul is when humans have no place for their Creator in their hearts, minds, or lives.

Why did The World that Perished in the Genesis Flood become a world that had no time for God? Paul explains this condition in Romans 1, “because they were not willing to retain God in their minds, God gave them up.” The World that Perished in the Genesis Flood suffered the fate that all who have no time for God will experience.

If you open with me to Genesis 4:24 on, we can make some observations. Please stand with me as I read Genesis 4:24 through chapter 5.

Evaluated from a merely a human point of view, Cain’s descendants are an admirable lot. Chapter 4 tells us about:

  • Jabal (“wanderer”) founded the science of agriculture (v. 20);
  • Jubal founded “culture”—music; and
  • Tubal-Cain founded the metal industries.

From a worldly perspective which bases its perceptions on outward appearances, Cain”s “city” was a great success, but God made it clear that He had rejected the whole thing. In v. 25, God gave Adam and Eve another seed—Seth—which means “the appointed, the substitute” (taking Abel’s place).

God did not try to reform the Descendents of Cain that had no time for God. He rejected them and ultimately destroyed them in the flood. As the Descendents of Cain were gradually wandering away from the true worship of God, the Descendents of Seth were returning to Him (v. 26) and establishing again their worship of the Lord. The ultimate descendent of Seth is the hero of faith in Genesis 6-8 Noah, whom we shall study at length.

Isn’t our world today so much like those descendents of Cain? Both seem to have time for everything but, have no time for God. We make advances in agriculture, industry, arts, great cities, and religious unity, but our world lives in sin and darkened souls without faith in the blood of Christ. Also, like Cain’s civilization of old, it will be destroyed. We still have boasting murderers like Lamech, and we still have people (like Lamech) who violate the sacred vows of marriage. “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37, NJKV). Men still reject divine revelation and depend on their own human resources. The true Christian does not belong to this “world system” that is passing away (1 John 2:15-17), and should not get involved with it (Rom. 12:1–2; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).

In the last few weeks we have seen Cain murdering Abel and then turning his back on God. And from him a new civilization develops. City life emerges (4:16–17), polygamy occurs (4:19), the arts develop (4:21), metallurgy advances man’s cause (4:22), but violence is also evident (4:23). It appears that in the development of civilization, man has tried to ignore and overcome the effects of the curse of living apart from God.

Then we saw this morning, Genesis 5 traces the descent of the Sethite line as distinct from the Descendents of Cain that had no time for God. The Sethites represent the godly line, while the Cainites represent the ungodly line. The contrast is seen: the fifth descendant from Cain was Lamech, the first polygamist; the fifth descendant from Seth was Enoch, the first to walk with God. Moreover, it was the Sethite line that began to worship God (Gen. 4:26).[1]

Now what do we see about World that Perished in the Genesis Flood? Listen to St. Augustine’s diary, as he once wrote a fantastic observation he had made about God in his personal study diary once, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and we are restless until we rest in Thee.” Now look at the World that Perished in the Genesis Flood as it was described in Genesis 4:16-24.

There are four evils described in these verses which mark the restlessness of Cain’s children, then and now.

  • Restlessness Genesis 4:14. Doesn’t that remind us of when God said in Isaiah 57:20-21 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. 21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
  • Emptiness  Genesis 4:17 like the holes in the pockets of Haggis, only it is their souls that are empty.
  • Sensualness  Genesis 4:18-22  like Peter and Jude say that the lost run greedily after pleasure, as they sought music, commerce, and sex, instead of God.
  • Arrogance  Genesis 4:23-24 like Satan as he boasted to God in his heart his, “I Wills”, so this world boasted of violent, cold blooded murder for one who only wounded him.

As I was trying to summarize this World that Perished in the Genesis Flood, I thought of one man who truly embodies no time for God. Methuselah lived longer than any other human being of whom we have record – 969 years. Scripture records that Methuselah was the father of Lamech and the grandfather of Noah. Since Adam died almost 300 years after Methuselah’s birth, it seems safe to assume that Methuselah would have known Adam. Methuselah died the year of the flood. We are going to assume that he did not die in the flood. His name is thought to mean, “After him, it shall come.”

But more than any other man, Methuselah had time but did not seem to take time for God.

Genesis 5:18-24 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. 21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Hebrews 11:4-7 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

THE WISDOM OF METHUSELAH

The setting for the following monologue will be at the side of the nearly completed ark.  All has been finished but the final applications of pitch. The smell of hot tar hangs in the air.  Boxes of provisions are being assembled to be placed on the ark when the pitch has been applied.

Methuselah will be talking to Noah throughout the monologue. You are invited to use your imagination to fill in the setting. Since all of Methuselah’s immediate family died in the flood, he will be presented as a man of his age who was not a positive influence for God. His life is intended to stand in contrast to that of Able, Enoch and Noah. As you listen, evaluate your life values. If someone were telling your story, what could they say about your relationship to God and your influence on others?

Now here is Methuselah.

Monologue[2]

Zilba, Zilba, you see that the camels are well cared for and these miserable men kept under control. We’ll be returning shortly and you won’t be paid unless you get me safely home. Don’t linger too long at the wine or I will personally see that you lead no more caravans.

Ah, does this world have nothing but drunken wretches to do a man’s bidding.

Noah, my dearly beloved grandson, how good it is to see you. I regret that I am in my usual state of ill temper. That man Zilba could hardly sit on his camel and he was the best of the lot. But they were all I could hire to escort me.  What a sad condition men are in today.

You look in extreme good health! And the ark well nigh finished. What a magnificent work of craftsmanship. You are indeed to be honored. Although I must admit that my nostrils are not attuned to the smell of all that tar. How do you tolerate it?

And this your one hundred and twentieth year at this project. I admit I thought you foolish were when you started. I still have no earthly idea where you will get enough water for it to float. Do you realize that I have lived nearly a thousand years and in all that time I have not seen enough water to float a boat one tenth that size.

Oh, yes, Noah. I believe that what you say is true. My father, Enoch, spoke of God’s coming and His judgment on sinful men. I never doubted that it would come.

Soon, you say? Well, let it be. At least you’ll be done with the abuse people have been dumping on you all these years. I couldn’t have stood the laughter. You are indeed a patient man. And never a flood on this earth since it began.

Father Enoch always said the coming of the judgment was connected in some strange way with the length of my life. Noah, I have come to see you for the last time. I am about to die.

Now don’t be shocked or try to tell me that it isn’t so. I have lived longer than any and I know when the pains of death are coming. One more camel ride home and I’m done with it. I am growing weaker day by day.

I have come to bid you farewell, to gaze once more on this magnificent barge, and to bring you this.

What is it? I’ll tell you soon.

Noah, I have watched you through these years. I have told you often of Enoch, my beloved father. I have seen how much like him you have become. You are a man of faith. A man who walks with God.  You are a righteous man.

I have wanted to be such a man. But I never seem to have time!

I always thought that I would have time to fellowship with God when I had accumulated enough possessions to meet my needs and the needs of my family. I have become one of the richest men in the land. But I still don’t have time.

People are so treacherous these days that I must watch my flocks and herds day and night. It seems I do nothing but settle problems among my servants. I have to sleep with one eye open to catch the thieves among them.

I have grown weary with it all. I have auctioned all my cattle and flocks. I have saved only the camels I have with me today. When I go home, I will sell them and prepare to return to the dust from whence I came.

Here, Noah, is my estate. This bag of jewels is yours to provide for your lie in the age to come. Nay, don’t restrain me.

No!  No!  I won’t have my goods in the hands of my greedy grasping children. How they exasperate me.  Those that aren’t drunkards or thieves are so taken up with activities or getting more gain that they have no time for an old man let alone God.

Well, they won’t get what I’ve got. Ha! I’ll have the last laugh. You should have seen them as I sold off the cattle, sheep, goats and camels. Had I not hired twenty armed men to protect me on the way here, my own family would surely have killed me for that little bag.

Your Uncle Lenosh hasn’t been to my home in a hundred years. But you wait until he hears the word of my death. He will come running to claim his share. Will I have a surprise for him!

You had better put it in a safe place immediately. Who knows what will happen. Had those filthy men in my caravan known what was under my cloak, they would have killed me for it before we had traveled an hour.

I have never seen such violence. But then is it not our nature. Did not gentle Adam’s first son kill his second.  I swear I see the spirit of Cain in all I know. I find that spirit so strong in me. How I have longed to control the anger welling up in me. You will do me a great favor to take that bag. You’ll do that for me won’t you?

Yes!  Yes! Thank you, Noah. What a burden you have lifted from me. Now that all those things are gone, perhaps I shall have a few days with God before I die.

I remember as a young man going with Enoch, my blessed father, to visit Adam. How my father loved to hear Adam talk of those beautiful days in Eden.

I enjoyed going to see Adam. Eve was such a beautiful woman even in her age. She was always trying to get us to eat something.

Adam talked often of Abel. How Abel seemed to have a heart for God from the beginning. Abel wanted to be sure that he pleased God. He carefully chose his very best sheep to offer in sacrifice to God as his father had instructed him.

I can still see Adam’s ancient face cloud with grief when he spoke of Cain’s rebellious spirit. He held Satan to account for Cain’s failure to bring the offering that God desired. I remember Adam explaining how he thought it happened.

Satan saying to Cain, “God doesn’t really care what offering you bring as long as its an offering. Besides the bloody sacrifice of the most innocent, harmless, and lovely of the animals seems such a senseless waste. It is so much more practical to bring your vegetables, grain and fruit. Besides it a lot cheaper.  Think of all the things you can aquire for yourself with what you save. Do it your way, Cain! Do it your way!”

Poor Cain and his children have been doing it their way ever since. Willful pride is the curse of this world.  I struggle with it every day.

Adam told of God’s conversation with Cain. God said, “Cain everything will be fine if you will bring your offering to me in the way I have decreed. I will be pleased and you will be fulfilled. If you don’t do as I request, sin like a demon will be crouching at your door.”

Cain turned his back on God and in a fit of jealous rage killed his brother Able. He was fortunate God didn’t kill him right then.

Now, Noah, I admit that Cain’s people have made great contributions to art, culture and commerce. But they don’t have any time for God at all. They use those things to influence people to think as they do.  Especially in their music, Noah. I swear that I can hear the voice of Satan singing in their music.

When Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he took a lot of people with him.

What I say is that Cain and his people didn’t go far enough away. Adam always had such great pride in Seth and those of us who came from him. I knew there would be trouble when our boys started going over and looking at the daughters of Cain. I can’t blame them for thinking those girls were beautiful. It’s true that some great and famous people have come out of the mix of the two cultures. But we haven’t gotten better. We’ve gotten worse.

The real tragedy started when those great men fell to the seduction of the demonic spirits. It’s Satanic influence again, Noah.  These men thinking they could become immortal through consorting with fallen angels, gathering around themselves great harems of beautiful women all to breed a superhuman race.

And the common people have followed their examples. The sweep of sensuality and violence has gone beyond imagination.

I kept saying to our young men, “Listen to Abel! Listen to Abel! His blood cries out from the ground in warning about the godless tribe of Cain and the influence of demons on them.”

It doesn’t do any good to talk to them. No one listens to me anymore.

They don’t listen to you either, eh?

It will come to a bitter end. I’m sure of that. Abel was right to trust God and obey Him. I don’t like all that killing of animals in sacrifice either. But if that is the way God will accept me, I’m going to do it. I would rather be in a righteous grave like Abel’s than facing what Cain’s tribe has ahead of them when the judgment of God comes.

And it will come! Father Enoch kept saying that the eyes of God are too pure to look on evil. God will not leave the guilty unpunished. Every sweep of your saw and every blow of your hammer as you built this ark should have been a reminder to this world that judgment is coming. But I know what’s wrong with them, Noah, and so do you. They love their evil ways and they won’t bow in submission to God. It is the terrible curse of pride. I surely marvel at your patience, Noah.

What’s that?  It’s God who has been patient. That is an interesting point. I’m sure you’re right. It is God’s decision when the judgment comes and not yours. But you have cooperated with God rather than fighting him as most people do.

Well, I must get back to my story. Father Enoch asked Adam many questions about life in Eden. Most of all he wanted Adam to tell him about what it was like to walk and talk to God. He could never get enough of that. Adam seemed embarrassed to talk about it and never could without tears.

Father Enoch would say to me, “Methusaleh, my son, you don’t have to be in Paradise to fellowship with God. Just open your heart up to Him wherever you are and you will find Him ready to love you and help you.”

You must forgive an old man for repeating stories you have heard a thousand times before. You’re the only one that ever listened to me.

Father Enoch told me many things over and over. He often told me that it was when I was born, and he witnessed the miracle of birth, that he was drawn with a desire to know God more fully. It was then that God revealed the coming judgment to him.

My father Enoch walked with God. You are like him, Noah. He really believed in God. He spent so much time talking to God and about God that some of the neighbors began to say that he was crazy. But he was the most sane, the happiest, and the kindest man I ever knew. He had an encouraging word for everyone and a warm relationship with all his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He prayed for all of them by name every day.

I don’t even know how many grandchildren and great grandchildren I have, let alone knowing their names.

Father Enoch preached to those in his generation of fearful judgment to come, just as you do, Noah.

No, he didn’t have much success either. But that didn’t silence him.

I wish you could have known him, Noah. You are so much like him.

How I loved him. How I miss him still. His memory haunts me.

I do so want to be like him. But I get so angry when things don’t go well. Then I have to go clean up the messes people make and just never seem to have time to work things out with God.

Father Enoch only wanted to please God. That was his first thought every morning when he awoke.  He always seemed to have time to meditate and pray. He got his work done too. I never could figure that out.

He loved to take long walks in the cool of the morning and just talk with God. One day he went out and didn’t come back. We waited and waited, then we went to look for him.

I was the one who finally found his foot prints in the sand. He had walked along, taking short steps like he was talking to someone. Then the steps just stopped. The sand stretched bare in all directions. There was no sign of a struggle. There were no other footprints. He was just gone.

God took him. And, well, He should. I knew why God had taken him. We all did. We didn’t deserve to have him anymore. He was so godly he belonged in God’s presence.

God took righteous Enoch out of this wicked world. Now you say, Noah, that God is going to take the wicked and leave the people who believe in your message enough to get on that ark.

If I were going to be here, I would surely get on your ark, but I feel death near. When I am gone the fearful judgment will fall. Noah, you’re ready. You are the wisest of men. Those who are wise  prepare for coming judgment by choosing to walk with God.

Ah, see the sun will soon pass its zenith. I must be home before this half day is done. I fear to spend the night out with these cut throats.

I did hope that I might join you at your altar. I even brought a choice lamb. But there is never enough time. I’ll tell Zilba to leave the lamb here with you. Will you make a sacrifice with it and pray for me?

I go now, Come to see me soon. I will not leave home again.

Zilba, Zilba, you scoundrel, where are you? Get those camels up and ready. Hi, put down that wineskin before I knock it from your hand!

Conclusion

Read Luke 17:26-27 “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:27 “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

1 Peter 3:20 reminds us that the long-suffering of God waited during the long years of Noah’s building of the ark.  In this age of grace God is still long-suffering.  But the signs of the end-time are everywhere.  The question remains, “Are you ready to face the future unafraid.”  Remember, in the face of coming judgment those who are wise walk with God.  The first step in any persons walk with God is to believe the Gospel.  Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead that you might be saved.  He alone is the ark of safety.  If you have never trusted Christ, will you do so now?

000213 AM World that Flooded-1

[1] Drawn from Enns, Paul, The Moody Handbook of Theology, (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press) 1996.

[2] Adapted and condensed from an original an unpublished work by Dr. John Reed, Dallas Seminary, n.d.