In this message we come to Gen. 5. Many readers of the Bible have found this chapter to be so dry that they have passed over it in their reading, perhaps, at most, paying attention only to the last twelve verses. Nevertheless, we must recognize that Genesis 5 is a most important portion of the Holy Word. Although many names and years are mentioned in this chapter, it is not an account of history. The whole Bible is a book of life, and this chapter, with all of its names and years, shows us the way of life.
As we saw in the last message, at the end of Genesis 4 we have the wonderful matter of calling on the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26). Genesis 5 speaks of walking with God (Gen. 4:22). To call on the Lord is one thing, and to walk with God is another. We all must call on the Lord and, following this, walk with God. We should not walk according to the age, but with God. Walking with God must follow our calling on the Lord. Thus, we must progress from Genesis 4 to Genesis 5. Let us now consider the contents of this chapter.
Firstly, Genesis 5 tells us the origin of man. What was man's origin? The answer is found in the first two verses of this chapter, which are very important and wonderful. "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." According to these verses, man's origin was not only God, but also the likeness, the image, of God. God's image was the practical origin of Adam, for Adam was made in the image of God. Thus, our origin is not a certain race or nationality; it is God with His image. All of us have been created by God in His image. It does not matter whether we are male or female because both male and female, both husband and wife, were called Adam. God has ordained this as a divine principle, and this principle still operates today. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor both have the name Taylor. Mr. Taylor is husband Taylor, and Mrs. Taylor is wife Taylor. Thus, both the husband and the wife are Taylor. In like manner, both Adam and Eve were called Adam. Once God has established a principle, it remains. No one can alter it.
Genesis 5 is a wonderful chapter. I have never read a record like it in any other book. I have not read elsewhere that a man lived for a certain number of years and begat a son, that after this begetting he lived another period of time, begat children, and then died, and that his son lived for certain years and begat a child and continued to live and to beget children and then died. This is the record of Genesis 5, a record which seems very repetitious. Genesis 5 is filled with names that are difficult to pronounce, with the number of years that the people lived, and with the words "lived," "begat," and "died." These three words are repeated again and again throughout the chapter. Furthermore, have you ever noticed that the word "lived" is used twice for each person? For instance, we are told that Adam lived a hundred thirty years and begat Seth (5:3) and that all the days Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years (5:5). Following Adam, Seth lived a hundred five years and begat Enosh and then lived another eight hundred seven years (5:6-7). This cycle of lived, begat, lived, begat, and died is repeated eight times in this chapter. Although ten generations are mentioned in Genesis 5, we must deduct Enoch who was an exceptional case and Noah whose death is not recorded in this chapter. Thus, we have eight generations that lived, begat, lived, begat, and died.
There is a great difference between the records of Genesis 4 and 5. Genesis 4 tells us that certain people lived, but it does not tell us how many years they lived. In a sense, the people named in Genesis 4 had no living in the eyes of God. Their lives were vanity. However, Genesis 4 tells us of many of the things that they invented — religion, city planning, city building, farming, music, and weapons. That chapter also speaks of the evil things that the people did. How strange that Genesis 5 tells us nothing of the deeds and activities of the people. Those men lived for such a long time, in most cases for more than nine hundred years. What did they do? Although I have spent considerable time studying this chapter, all I could learn was that the people lived, begat, lived, begat, and died. Other than this, there is not the slightest hint revealed as to what they did. All they did was live and beget.
Man was not only created by God in the image of God, but also for God. Thus, God ordained that man should multiply. God's eternal purpose can never be fulfilled without man's multiplication. If you had asked Adam what he was doing, he probably would have answered, "Brother, I am living for God's purpose. I am begetting for the fulfillment of God's purpose. God doesn't need my work, He needs my begetting." What is begetting? Using a New Testament term, we may call it fruit-bearing. Begetting is fruit-bearing. Therefore, Adam was bearing fruit for God's purpose. He was being very fruitful. I have already mentioned that the word "lived" is used twice for each person. Now I wish to point out that the word "begat" is used three times for each. For example, Adam lived a hundred thirty years and begat Seth; after he begat Seth, he lived another eight hundred years and begat sons and daughters. This indicates that the people in Genesis 5 were simply living and begetting.
We are doing the same thing today. Do not say that you are teaching or working as a carpenter. You must say, "I am living in the presence of God and I am begetting, bearing fruit to fulfill God's purpose." As we have seen, the fulfillment of God's purpose depends upon our begetting. The more sons we beget, the more useful we are in God's hands. This was a physical matter with Adam, but it is a spiritual matter with us. We are living and begetting. Fifty years ago I was a single person. Now I have a large family composed of many children and grandchildren. Nevertheless, I am not as happy with my physical family as I am with my family in the churches. Under this little ministry I have been living and begetting a large family composed of thousands of persons. If you were to ask me what I have been doing for the past forty-three years, I would answer that I have been doing nothing except living and begetting.
Our profession is unique — it is living and begetting. When we say this, the worldly people simply cannot understand what we are talking about. However, it is very real. The things mentioned in Genesis 4 are vanity, but there is no vanity found in Genesis 5. If you read Genesis 5 along with Luke 3, you will see that the genealogy in Genesis 5 eventually brought forth the Lord Jesus. This genealogy began with God and issued in Christ. The living and begetting brought forth Jesus. When Genesis 5 and Luke 3 are put together, we see that all the dear ones in Genesis 5 were not living in vanity. They were living and begetting in a most meaningful way to bring forth Christ.
The record of the genealogy in Genesis 5 is wonderful as far as the people's living and begetting are concerned. However, it contains a black spot, that is, after the people lived and begat, they died. For them to live and beget was wonderful, but for them to die was not a pleasant thing. If you compare this genealogy with the genealogy in Matthew 1, you will see that in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1 there is no death. Death remained in Adam's genealogy because Christ had not yet come. Since Christ has come, in the genealogy of Christ death has gone. Christ "nullified death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).
Genesis 5 is a record of the saved people who lived with the expectation that Christ would come. But, in their time, Christ did not come. So they were still subject to death, and in their genealogy there was the mention of death, a negative matter. To live and to beget are good; to die is not. I do not want to die. Eight of the ten generations mentioned in Genesis 5 died. Death is the ultimate issue of man's fall. Although Genesis 5 is a wonderful record of the living and fruit-bearing ones, this chapter still shows that they were under the ultimate issue of man's fall, death. Is there a way to escape this death? What is the way? While this chapter reveals the living and begetting of the saints in the earliest days, it also unveils the way to escape the ultimate issue of man's fall. Among the records of the ten generations, we find that one generation escaped death. Enoch lived, begat, walked with God, begat, and did not die. God took Enoch away (Gen. 5:24). The reason that God took Enoch away was that he should not see death (Heb. 11:5). His being kept away from death was God's ultimate salvation. This is salvation in full. The other eight generations might have enjoyed ninety percent of God's salvation. They lived and begat for God's purpose, but they were not kept from the ultimate issue of man's fall. Only Enoch enjoyed and partook of God's salvation to the fullest.
Today we are living and begetting, but how about death? Death has a double application. Death is working and killing continually, and daily we are under its threatening. Physically, mentally, and spiritually we are under the killing of death. This is the first application. If the Lord delays His coming back, we shall all die physically. That is the second application of death. There will be no third application of death for us, because we shall not share in the so-called second death (Rev. 21:8). However, in two senses, we are presently under death: in the sense that death is continuously damaging us and doing a killing work within and upon us, and in the sense that this death power can bring our mortal body into actual death.
Do you know that there is a way to escape from death? Do you believe there is a way? The way was discovered by the seventh generation of mankind. Calling on the name of the Lord was discovered by the third generation, and, four generations later, the way to escape the ultimate issue of man's fall was discovered by the seventh generation, Enoch. Enoch lived in such a way that he was kept from death both literally and totally. Before Enoch was taken up by the Lord and while he was living and walking on earth, death had ceased to kill him. Enoch overcame the killing of death.
Enoch was the first person to be raptured. Today many Christians are fond of discussing prophecy and the rapture. Many say that the Lord Jesus will soon return and that we all shall be taken to the air. In a sense, this is according to the prophecy of the Scripture (1 Thes. 4:16-17). But, in another sense, I am afraid that most Christians apply this prophecy according to their human understanding. If you read the Bible carefully, with the divine light, you will see that the rapture revealed in the Bible is not in the way that so many Christians imagine. Since the first mention of a thing in the Bible establishes the principle for that thing, the case of Enoch, the first mention of the rapture, establishes the principle of the rapture. What is the principle of the rapture? It is to be matured in life by walking with God. Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and God took him away (Gen. 5:22-24).
Do you expect to be raptured? If you do, you need to walk with God. We should not only call upon the name of the Lord, but should also walk with God. The calling must be followed by the walking. To walk with God is not to override God, not to be presumptuous, not to do things according to our own concept and desire, nor to do anything without God. To walk with God is to take Him as our center and everything, to do things according to His revelation and leading, and to do everything with Him. It is not only to live for God and to do things for God, but to live and to do things according to God and with God. Enoch walked with God in such a way, living and doing things according to God and with God, not according to his own desire or concept, nor according to the current of the age in which he lived.
It is not easy to walk with another person. When I have walked with the brothers or with the members of my family, they all have said that I walk too fast and that they cannot keep up with me. They have asked me to walk slower. However, I have a question to address to the brothers and to my family: Are you going to walk with me or am I going to walk with you? Let us firstly determine who is going to walk with whom. If you are going to walk with me, you must keep up with me. Do not blame me for walking too fast. If you complain that I walk too fast, forget about me and walk with someone who is as slow as you are. But, if your intention is to walk with me, you must come up to my standard. If my intention is to walk with you, I should slow down to your pace and be as slow as you are.
Please tell me, is God walking with you, or are you walking with God? Was God walking with Enoch or was Enoch walking with God? The Bible does not say that God walked with Enoch; it says that Enoch walked with God. It is difficult to find a place in the Bible that tells us that God walked with people. We do find an instance of this in Luke 24. On the day of resurrection the Lord Jesus walked with the two disciples who were going from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The disciples did not walk with the Lord Jesus; the Lord Jesus walked with them. Whenever the Lord walks with you, it means that you are going downward. You are descending from Jerusalem to Emmaus. However, whenever you walk with the Lord, you are going upward, coming back to Jerusalem from Emmaus. Are you walking with the Lord or is He walking with you? In other words, are you going downward or upward? If you are going downward to the movies, for example, the Lord Jesus will walk there with you. Many times the Lord has walked downward with the saints in such a way. A number of saints have told the Lord, "Lord, I cannot stay with You. I want to go to a movie." Then the Lord has said, "Are you going to a movie? I will go there with you; I will walk downward with you. Why will I walk with you there? Because I am going to bring you back. You shouldn't go downward to Emmaus. My intention is that you all remain in Jerusalem. Since you are going down, I have to go with you. I must walk with you in order to bring you back."
Enoch walked upward with God. Do not think that Enoch's being taken away by God happened suddenly. Do not think that one moment he was on earth and that the next he was in heaven. Enoch did not walk up and down with God; neither did he walk in a zigzag pattern. He continually walked upward until he touched heaven. At the age of three hundred sixty-five, as he was nearly touching heaven, God said to him, "Dear child, I am here. Come with Me." And Enoch was taken away.
Do you believe that Enoch's walk with God was up and down? Do you believe that Enoch walked with God inconsistently and that God said to him, "Poor child, come up quickly"? I do not believe that that was God's way of taking Enoch up. Enoch walked with God day and night for three centuries, for more than a hundred thousand days. Enoch walked with God day by day, a little closer to God each day than the day before. Enoch looked at the situation, the environment, the people and their deeds, and saw that everything was ungodly. Yet he kept on walking with God in a godly and holy way, walking with Him in this way for three hundred years.
In order to walk with God we must be with Him. We must be one with Him in our thinking, loving, and choosing. As I have already pointed out, it is not easy for one person to walk with another. Suppose, while I am walking with you, I have a different concept from you and say, "Brother, I love you and I want to walk with you, but don't go that way. Turn this way. I don't want to go that way." If I say this, I am not walking with you, I am arguing with you. However, this is exactly what so many lovers of Jesus do. They say, "Lord, I love You and I like to follow You. I want to go with You." However, when the actual time comes, many do not walk with Him, but argue with Him. For you to walk with the Lord implies a great deal: the denial of yourself, the denial of your thinking and your loving, the denial of everything that is of you. It implies that you have given yourself to Him, that you will give in to Him and let Him take the lead. To walk with the Lord is not a small thing. Walking with Him will kill you. My wife suffers whenever she walks with me. Nevertheless, if you are going to walk with me, you have to deny yourself. On the other hand, if I am going to walk with you, I must forget myself, condemn myself, and renounce myself that I may be one with you. If I am unwilling to do this, I cannot walk with you or with anyone else.
It is not simply a matter of calling on the name of the Lord. It is wonderful and enjoyable to call, "O Lord Jesus," but what follows the calling? When the Lord says, "Follow Me," will you follow Him? Will you walk with Him? Never forget that calling is found in Genesis 4 and that walking is revealed in Genesis 5. If walking does not follow our calling, our calling will not be very genuine. In a future message we shall see that after the walking we have the building. Enosh called, Enoch walked, and Noah walked and built. We must go on from Genesis 4, progressing from calling to walking. Calling may supply you, but it will not kill you. Calling makes you living. However, walking always kills you. But it will also resurrect you. Walking firstly kills you, then it resurrects you to make you so living in enjoying the presence of God. You will be living to the uttermost, not in a natural way, but in a resurrected way. Oh, how we all must walk with God!
Although the Bible says little about Enoch, what is revealed in Genesis, Hebrews, and Jude is sufficient for us to appreciate his life. Hebrews 11:5-6 shows us that before Enoch was taken by God, he believed in God. This indicates that Enoch not only walked with God, but that he also believed God. "By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death" (Heb. 11:5). What does faith mean? According to the context of Hebrews 11, faith means that we believe that God is (Heb. 11:6). This means that we believe that there is a God. God exists, God is real, God is living, God is present, and God is God. We all must believe this. We hope that no one reading this message has any difficulty with this matter. We do believe that God exists and that He is living today.
Hebrews 11:6 says that if you believe in God, you will also believe that He is a rewarder. He not only exists, He is a rewarder. Why does God reward people? Because He is anxious to have man living for and fulfilling His purpose. We should not only believe that God exists, but also that He rewards all those who seek Him out. Although the King James Version says "diligently seek Him," the Greek text actually means "seek Him out." God is in this universe, and no man can see Him, but we must seek Him out. Do you believe that there is a God, that God exists? Then what should you do? You must seek Him out. Enoch did this. He believed that there was a God and he sought God out by believing that God was a rewarder. It must have been his believing in God and his seeking God that motivated him to walk with God. Enoch was God's seeker, and God was his rewarder. He sought God and walked with God, and God rewarded him.
What reward did God give Enoch? God gave him the highest degree of life — escape from death. "Enoch was translated that he should not see death." What a reward that was! For quite a number of years I have told the Lord, "Lord, I don't want to see death. Lord, come quickly. Keep me until the time of Your coming. I do not want to see death, I want to see You." This desire has caused me and still causes me to seek the Lord out. I am not boasting, but speaking the truth I must say that I am a seeker of the Lord. Are you not one of His seekers? By His mercy and grace we are all seekers of the Lord.
When I first began, in this country, to use the term "seeking saints" in my fellowship and prayer, many who heard this term were surprised by it. Later I shortened this term to "seekers," the Lord's seekers. Although some of the saints hesitated in adopting this term, today it is used in all the churches. Many would pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, You have so many seekers in Orange County. O Lord, capture all Your dear seekers." The Lord is a rewarder, and we need to be His seekers. Enoch believed this and practiced it. He believed that God was and that He would be a rewarder to him if he sought Him out. Enoch did seek the Lord and obtained the reward.
Jude speaks about the environment in which Enoch lived, using the word "ungodly" four times in describing the people and the deeds of Enoch's generation (Jude 1:15). Nevertheless, Jude records one of Enoch's prophecies in which Enoch used a wonderful word — saints. "And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied also of these, saying: Behold, the Lord came with myriads of His saints" (Jude 1:14). Enoch did not say that the Lord is coming with myriads of sinners or ungodly ones or even believers or saved ones. Enoch said that the Lord was coming with myriads of His saints. As the record of Jude reveals, Enoch prophesied what was within him. He realized that his whole generation was ungodly. The neighborhood, the people, and everything else were ungodly. However, he was godly and holy, leading a holy life. Otherwise, he could not have prophesied of the Lord's coming with myriads of His saints to execute His judgment upon the ungodly. The saints mentioned in Jude 1:14 are versus the ungodly in verse 15. Although the generation, age, society, environment, people, and everything were ungodly, Enoch still lived a godly and holy life. Among ungodly people in an ungodly situation, he lived a godly life. He did this in faith, believing that God was and that He was a rewarder. Enoch walked with God in faith.
When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he begat a son giving him the name Methuselah (5:22). The name Methuselah has a prophetic significance. It means "when he is dead it shall be sent." That was a prophecy of the deluge. By naming his son Methuselah, Enoch prophesied of the coming judgment of the deluge. Undoubtedly he did this by the Spirit of God. He received God's revelation and did not set His will aside. He was inspired with the divine will and learned of the coming judgment upon the entire ungodly generation. I believe that the prophecy recorded by Jude has a double fulfillment. Enoch might have believed that the judgment of the deluge was the Lord's coming with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon the ungodly. However, this prophecy of his, like others in the Old Testament, has a double fulfillment. The first fulfillment by the coming of the deluge was a prefigure of the second fulfillment by the Lord's second coming as referred to in Jude. If Enoch had not prophesied of the Lord's second coming, Jude would not have mentioned it. By Enoch's prophecy we can realize that he learned that God was going to execute His judgment upon the ungodly generation. Thus, he named his son Methuselah, indicating thereby that when his son died, God's judgment would be sent.
Enoch begat Methuselah at the age of sixty-five. Therefore, Enoch's prophecy regarding the flood was uttered when he was sixty-five years of age. Thereafter, day and night, Enoch was expecting the fulfillment of that prophecy, and that expectation caused him to walk with God. Although the whole generation and everything in it was ungodly, he himself did not dare to be ungodly. He was holy and walked with God, hoping to be saved from God's judgment. Enoch held on to this expectation for three hundred years. Nevertheless, the judgment did not come during that period of time. It was not to come until nine hundred sixty-nine years after Methuselah was born.
The flood came in the year that Methuselah died. Methuselah begat Lamech at the age of one hundred eighty-seven (5:25), and Lamech begat Noah when he was one hundred eighty-two (5:28). When Noah was six hundred years old, the deluge was sent (7:11). If we add these three figures together, we arrive at a total of nine hundred sixty-nine years, the age at which Methuselah died. The deluge came nine hundred sixty-nine years after Enoch prophesied regarding it. It occurred, as was prophesied, in the year Methuselah died. If Enoch had remained on the earth until the actual time of the deluge, he would have waited nine hundred sixty-nine years. But, he only had to wait three hundred years, for God seemed to say, "Enoch, it is good enough. I will not leave you on earth to exhaust your patience. Come with Me and stay with Me." And Enoch was taken up. Hebrews 11:5 indicates that after he was taken, people looked for him, but could not find him.
In a sense, I love Methuselah. In another sense, I do not love him, because he lived too long. He had the longest life of anyone recorded in the Bible. To live such a long time would surely exhaust our patience. So we pray, "Lord, come quickly." Although the Lord told us that He is coming quickly (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20), over nineteen hundred years have passed, and He still has not come. There is a principle here and it is this: our natural patience must be exhausted. If you are awaiting the Lord's coming in your natural patience, you will be disappointed and exhausted. Forget about the matter of time and simply walk with God. With Him, a thousand years are as one day. If you say, "Lord Jesus, it is too long," He will say, "It has not been two days yet. To Me, a thousand years are as one day. Why are you so impatient? You are impatient because you don't walk with Me. If you walk with Me, if you have Me with you, you won't care for the time. The earth will be the same as heaven because when you have Me, you are in heaven."
The most crucial matter that is revealed in Genesis 5 concerning our living is that we need to walk with God. In order to walk with God we must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder. We also must believe in His Word. Then we need to seek Him out, live according to His Word, follow Him, and walk with Him by faith. Eventually, we shall be taken up. We shall be raptured to escape death — the ultimate issue of man's fall. Hallelujah!
The genealogy of the saved ones recorded in Genesis 5 ends in a very promising way. It concludes with the name of Noah, which means "comfort" or "rest" (Gen. 5:28-32). With the birth of Noah, the family of salvation finds comfort and rest. The family of the saved people is not a family without hope; it is a family full of comfort. This means that the family of Noah is full of expectation, comfort, and rest.
