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GENESIS CHAPTER 5

GENESIS CHAPTER 5

THE REDEMPTIVE COMMUNITY

THE COVENANTS

 The of Redemption – An eternal pact between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit  The Covenant of Creation – Made with humanity in , the Federal Head  The Covenant of Grace – Made with believers and their children in Christ1

THE REDEMPTIVE COMMUNITY/ COMMUNITY OF FAITH (HEB. 11:1-10)

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of , so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 4 By faith offered to God a better sacrifice than , through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. 5 By faith was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6 And 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 seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 8 By faith , when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with and , fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE OF (GENESIS 4:25-26)

Adam and had a new beginning after they lost Abel for Eve said, “God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” Through came a son, called Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:25-26). This is a switch from the account of tyrant kings and autonomy of the Cainites in Genesis 4:1-23. This did not mean that only the descendants of Seth became believers. The Sethites identified themselves as those who belonged to the Lord, as Yahweh-people, the community of faith. They were the covenant people of God, who proclaimed the sovereignty of God and submit to him. From this community came Enoch, and Noah.

CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD (GENESIS 4:26, 44:3-5)

1 Horton, , God of Promise [MI:Baker Books, 2006] p.77 NLPCA Escondido (KOINONIA STUDY) on GENESIS 5 page 1 of 6 Lena L. Lee, M.A.R (Biblical Studies) © APRIL 24, 2012

GENESIS CHAPTER 5

Isaiah 44:3-5 reads: 'For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.'

A "This one will say, 'I am the LORD's'; B And that one will call on the name of Jacob; A And another will write on his hand, 'Belonging to the LORD,' B And will name Israel's name with honor.”

Note the A.B.A.B poetic form of verse 5. The 1st and 3rd line are synonymous, so is the 2nd and 4th line. The Isaiah described the covenantal confession which will be made when God pours out his spirit on Jacob’s descendants. They will identify themselves as Israelites, the people belonging to Yahweh, the people under the covenant lordship of Yahweh. When men began to call upon the name of the Lord means they began to identify themselves as people belonging to Yahweh (cf. Deuteronomy 28:9-10, 2 Chronicles 7:14. :1-7, 63:19, 65:1, 9:19).

Taking on a person’s name is also used in for:

 Expressing a classification of people under a notable ancestor (Genesis 21:12, 48:5, 6, :1, 65:15).  The submission of a city under her conqueror (2 12:28).  The coming of the wife under the legal protection of her husband (:1)  The owned status of a person’s property (2 Samuel 6:2, 1 Kings 8:43, :6). These references pertain to the ark and the temple of the Lord. The relationship pertains to more than simple ownership.  Subservience under the rule of a lord (:19).  Denotes the consecration of a site to God by an or banner that bears his name. (e.g. Genesis 21:33, 33:20, Exodus 17:15)

The people who identified themselves with the name of Yahweh made Yahweh their Lord and covenant suzerain, and affirmed their covenant relationship. The commitment is reciprocal between them and Yahweh who calls them “My People” (Hebrew Yammi). To name oneself after Yahweh is to acknowledge Yahweh as covenant suzerain and claim his protection and providence as a vassal-son. This group of people was distinctively different from the Cainites. The Cainite genealogy listed the royal tyrants who considered themselves . The genealogy of Seth featured priestly in the community of God’s covenant people who served a living God, Yahweh. There was the presence of a holy Assembly of God which continued from generation to generation fulfilling their forefather’s commission of priesthood and dominion over the earth, and producing godly seed who provided a prophetic witness in the midst of a community that was in rebellion against God. They are a consecrated people.

MISSION OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE (GENESIS 5:3-22)

NLPCA Escondido (KOINONIA BIBLE STUDY) on GENESIS 5 page 2 of 6 Lena L. Lee, M.A.R (Biblical Studies) © APRIL 24, 2012

GENESIS CHAPTER 5

All mankind had the cultural mandate given to Adam before the fall and still enjoyed the kingly dominion over the subhuman creation. The altar families that constituted the redemptive community had distinctive functions in their community which were priestly and prophetic. They were in the world, but not of the world but they were the light of the world.

Priestly Function – Inherent in their calling upon the Lord was the priestly vocation of worship of God the creator. They rendered worshipful service to the Lord in consecratory tribute and expiatory sacrifice, praising God and offering prayers of petition (Genesis 4:26).

1. Sanctification of Culture The Sethites engaged in the priestly sanctification of culture to the Lord as they also sanctified themselves to God. Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah. The phrase “walked with God” is applied only to Enoch (Genesis 5:22, 24) and Noah (Genesis 6:9) and the Levites in 2:6 where the Levites were faithful in their covenant with God and so revered God and stood in awe of his name as they went about their priestly duties. This phrase denotes the maintaining of covenantal relationship through the fulfilling of the appropriate roles (e.g. Genesis 17:1, 24:40, 48:15, Leviticus 26:12, Malachi 2:6). To walk with God was the closest communion with the personal God, a walking as it were by the side of God. Enoch had an extraordinary translation into heaven for he was taken, and did not die. In Enoch, the descendant of Seth, godliness attained its highest point, even as ungodliness culminated in , the descendant of Cain. The narrator listed Enoch as the 7th in the line of Seth, and Lamech is 7th in the line of Cain. Like , Enoch was taken away by God, and carried into paradise and did not experience death (2 Kings 2:11, 11:5). The translation of Enoch and Elijah were prophetic revelations of the blessed of the sinless Christ, the first fruit of those who will rise again. Both men were to an idolatrous people.

2. Confessional Witness — unlike the city of man activity of building cities in their names, the redemptive community were building and perpetuating there the name of God in confessional witness. The missionary principle was present in these early altar- communities. The building of altars was a confession of God’s sovereignty over his creation. Thus Noah erected an altar after to confess that the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it (Psalms 24:1ff). This was a confessional witness to the world, a call to turn from idols and render covenantal allegiance to the LORD and it was also a prophetic warning of the coming Day of Judgment.

Prophetic Function

1. Prophet Figures – Enoch and Noah were two figures in the Seth’s line who definitely performed the distinct prophetic office. The two men were presented as engaging in a prophetic mission of witness and warning. Enoch prophesied of the coming judgment of God against blasphemous sinners (Jude 1:14, 15). Noah was a herald of righteousness to his rebellious and doomed generation (:5, :20). This verbal form of “walking with God” is also used to describe persons engaged in a judicial mission. In Genesis 3:8 God is described as “walking” (Hebrew halak) into an investigatory scrutiny

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GENESIS CHAPTER 5

of his sanctuary in Eden as he entered into judgment with and . Zechariah 1:10, 11 and 6:7 uses the same word to describe God’s agents of his heavenly council on missions of judicial surveillance and of actual judgment among the nations (cf. 22:14).

2. Divine Lawsuit – Genesis 5:22, 24 and 6:9 portray Enoch and Noah as prophet figures. Like God’s prophet spokesmen, they had access to the counsel of the heavenly court, and shared with the LORD in his judicial oversight of the earth, acting as messengers of his decrees and judgments. They participated with the Lord (walked “halak” with the Lord) in his judicial process. Enoch pronounced the eschatological judgment upon the ungodly of their ungodly deeds in an ungodly way and of their ungodly speech against God (Jude 1:14-15). Noah, called a preacher of righteousness pronounced judgment upon the ungodly in his day (2 Peter 2:5, Genesis 6:13). Prophetic warnings served as a summons to repentance.

God’s lawsuits proceed through periods of divine forbearance and warning to the ultimate visitation of divine wrath. Like Enoch and Noah, Elijah the prophet issued the warning and brought the final ultimatum in Israel when the messianic kingdom was at last at hand. Like Elijah, Enoch appeared at a time when idolatry was rampant. The rebellion against God had become acute and ungodly tyrannical kings arose, like Ahab in Elijah’s time and Lamech in Enoch’s time. There was great ungodliness in Enoch’s time, and this is emphasized in the fourfold repetition of the word “ungodly” in Jude 1:14, 15. Both Enoch and Elijah by their translation, revealed to the world the resurrection of Christ and those who are in Christ.

3. The Prophetic Message – Enoch prophesied of the advent of the Lord in his glory, with his heavenly armies for the day of universal judgment (Jude 1:14). The epoch of the world would end with darkness and death through a watery grave, from which would emerge the repentant remnant through the justifying resurrection into a new world. Hence he was translated into heaven as a divine validation of the heavenly authority of his prophetic word. It was the prophetic sign of deliverance from the ultimate death- of the broken covenant, for those who found reconciliation with the LORD.

Conclusion

Genesis Chapter 5 reveals to us that the Lord is faithfully fulfilling his soteric purposes and promises by establishing a community of the faithful. He sustains them throughout the redemptive history of the world. The deluge served to preserve his people. It was an eschatological intrusion of destruction for the unregenerate for their wickedness. By the time of Noah, the covenant community was close to extinction during the reign of the god-kings of Genesis 6 which developed from their ancestor Lamech, descendant of Cain. God rescued his people from total annihilation through the water ordeal. 2

2 Kline Theological Seminary, 1986], Meredith G., Kingdom Prologue, Volume 2, [MA: Gordon-Conwell, 1985], p. 50-67 NLPCA Escondido (KOINONIA BIBLE STUDY) on GENESIS 5 page 4 of 6 Lena L. Lee, M.A.R (Biblical Studies) © APRIL 24, 2012

GENESIS CHAPTER 5

GENESIS CHAPTER 5

GROUP DISCUSSIONS

1. How should we identify ourselves as the redemptive community or as Christians in this century? What are some ways we identify ourselves as Christians?

2. How do we fulfill the Great Commission? What are your gifts and what are needs in the that you can fill in the community effort to reach the lost and to minister to the ?

3. Think of real situations where you can perform your priestly function as a Christian who is serving the covenant Lord.

4. Colossians 2:4 “As you therefore have received Christ the Lord, so walk in Him” How will you walk in Christ? Do we see men and/or women like Noah and Enoch today?

NLPCA Escondido (KOINONIA BIBLE STUDY) on GENESIS 5 page 5 of 6 Lena L. Lee, M.A.R (Biblical Studies) © APRIL 24, 2012

GENESIS CHAPTER 5

GENESIS CHAPTER 6

PREPARATION QUESTIONS

Please read the whole account of the deluge in Genesis 6, 7 and 8 and find the answers to the following questions:

1. Who are “the sons of god” in Genesis 6:2?

2. Why did God send a deluge?

3. What was the crisis that precipitated this judgment? How do we know that there was a crisis?

4. Where did the water come from? For how long?

5. How long did Noah and his family remain in the ark?

6. How big was the ark? Who designed the ark?

NLPCA Escondido (KOINONIA BIBLE STUDY) on GENESIS 5 page 6 of 6 Lena L. Lee, M.A.R (Biblical Studies) © APRIL 24, 2012