Genesis Framework

 

GF 52 Genesis 5
September 4, 2016
Part 52

 

NKJ Genesis 5:18-32

18 Jared lived 162 years, and begot Enoch.
19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived 800 years, and had sons and daughters.
20 So all the days of Jared were 962 years; and he died.
21 Enoch lived 65 years, and begot Methuselah.
22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years, and had sons and daughters.
23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years.
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
25 Methuselah lived 187 years, and begot Lamech.
26 After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years, and had sons and daughters.
27 So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years; and he died.
28 Lamech lived 182 years, and had a son.
29 And he called his name Noah, saying,"This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed."
30 After he begot Noah, Lamech lived 595 years, and had sons and daughters.
31 So all the days of Lamech were 777 years; and he died.
32 And Noah was 500 years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Let’s take one last look at the time-line from the birth of Jared through to the Flood, in order to answer the question: when was the Flood, relative to the lives of Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, and the three sons (Shem, Ham, Japheth)?

So, Enoch was not around when Noah was born, but did Methuselah and Lamech escape the flood by dying first, or what?

The Flood was some time before Noah died and after the birth of the three sons.

This puts Methuselah and Lamech within the possible range of the Flood.

In order to explain the time-line intersection of the death of Methuselah with the date of the Flood, we have to turn to an extra-biblical source to obtain helpful information.

In this case, it happens to be the Book of Enoch.

Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah. He is reported to have lived the longest at the age of 969 in the Hebrew Bible. His name is said to mean “man of the dart/spear”, or alternatively “his death shall bring judgment.” Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died (martyred) just seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood; hence, the meaning, “his death shall bring judgment.”

How did we get a copy of the Book of Enoch?

This is the best summary explanation I can give you for the existence of an ancient book written by Enoch prior to the Flood- There is a long gap between the time of the Flood and the time when Moses gave praise to Enoch in Genesis.“Enoch walked with God.” Nevertheless, it seems likely that that copies of the Book of Enoch survived into Egyptian times, 3500 BC, and was known to Moses around 2,000 years later.

Moses presumably took a copy of the book with him when they all left Egypt, and was no doubt pleased to see Enoch’s prophecy fulfilled.The book probably existed mainly in Hebrew during the 1000 years after the exodus. No Hebrew copies exist today, however, there are some Hebrew passages quoted in some of the Aramaic fragments that survive from a few centuries BC.The appearance of the book in Ethiopia, is probably due to events in Jerusalem during the reign of King Manasseh of Judah (695-642).

King Manasseh was a very bad man, so was his son Amon who replaced him on the throne, and the cultus situation continued to be terrible until Amon’s 8-year old son began to reign in his stead.In the meantime, it is believed that the religious establishment had already left the country, taking the Ark of the Covenant and all the important religious texts with them.

After a number of years in Egypt, the refugees went further south, near to the source of the Nile, at Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile, in Ethiopia. The descendants of these people are the Falashas, who even today follow the form of Judaism that had been practiced in Israel only before 620 BC.

The Falashas in Ethiopia are Jews that developed and lived for centuries in the area of Kingdom of Aksum and the Ethiopian Empire, they hold the Jewish faith but use Ge'ez rather than Hebrew as a liturgical language. The Falashas were not formally recognized as Jews until 1975, and many of them were airlifted to Israel in 1984–85 and after.

The Ethiopians translated The Book of Hanokh into Ge’ez, and had enough respect for it to look after it in preservation.

Inside of Ethiopia, all Hebrew versions of the Bible, along with the Book of Enoch, accompanied those who divided out from among the number of the Falashas, as they became Christians.

From Wikipedia:

Classical Rabbinic literature is characterized by near silence concerning Enoch. It seems plausible that Rabbinic polemics against Enochic texts and traditions might have led to the loss of these books to Rabbinic Judaism.

polemics: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

In the development of their Mäṣḥafä Kedus (Holy Scriptures) in the Ge'ez language, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church included the Book of Enoch into their canon.Outside of Ethiopia, all Hebrew versions of the Book of Enoch disappeared; again, no doubt determined by
polemics, but a sizable part of it survived in Greek, and some parts in Aramaic.

In 1768, Scottish traveler, James Bruce set out to discover the source of the Blue Nile. Bruce returned in 1773 with among many other
collections, including 3 Ge'ez manuscripts of the Book of Enoch.No one in the west had ever seen the whole book.Two translations were made, which are available today, but the book is said to have been received “with an embarrassed silence,” and for the most part not widely
read.

The Book of Enoch from which I am presently studying is based on a new translation published in 1978, which was produced as a result of research into a large number of the Ethiopian manuscripts and a review of all other surviving fragments. As far as I can tell, this text is probably the best version of Enoch’s book available today.

For me the “curious” aspect stems from what Enoch Himself had to say about the book in terms of its purpose and timely usefulness. The text of The Book of Enoch seems to indicate that this book of history and prophecy was intended to be read by an audience way far into the future, as in the “Last Days,” in the days of our time.

In that regard, The Book of Enoch has been curiously either ignored or mildly accepted for a very long time; until now, a newly sparked interest has taken hold.

Listen for yourself…

Enoch 37:2-5

37.2 And this is the beginning of the words of wisdom, which I raised my voice to speak, and say. “To those who dwell on dry ground: - Hear, you men of old, and see, those who come after; the words of the Holy One, which I will speak, in front of the Lord of Spirits.”
37.3 “It would have been better to have said these things before, but from those who come after, we will not withhold the beginning of wisdom.”
37.4 Until now, there has not been given, by the Lord of Spirits, such wisdom as I have received. In accordance with my insight, in accordance with the wish of the Lord of Spirits: by whom the lot of eternal life has been given to me.
37.5 And the three parables were imparted to me and I raised my voice, and said to those who dwell on the dry ground: -

Enoch 38:1-2

38.1 The First Parable.
When the community of the righteous appears and the sinners are judged for their sins and are driven from the face of the dry ground.
38.2 And when the Righteous One appears, in front of the chosen righteous, whose works are weighed by the Lord of Spirits. And when light appears to the righteous and chosen who dwell on the dry ground.

Enoch 45:4

45.4 And on that day I will cause My Chosen One to dwell among them and I will transform Heaven and make it an Eternal Blessing and Light.

Enoch 46:3-5

46.3 And he answered me, and said to me: "This is the Son of Man who has righteousness and with whom righteousness dwells.
46.4 And this Son of Man, who you have seen, will rouse the kings and the powerful from their resting places, and the strong from their thrones, and will loose the reins of the strong, and will break the teeth of the sinners.
46.5 And he will cast down the kings from their thrones, and from their kingdoms, for they do not exalt him, and do not praise him, and do not humbly acknowledge from where their kingdom was given to them.

Let’s close by listening to another prophecy of Enoch with regard to the eschaton, far after the Flood…

From The Book of Enoch: 62:3,5,7-11

62.3 And on that Day, all the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who possess the earth, will stand up and they will see and recognize how he sits on the Throne of His Glory. And the righteous are judged in righteousness, in front of him, and no idle word is spoken
in front of him.
62.5 And one half of them will look at the other, and they will be terrified, and will cast down their faces, and pain will take hold of them when they see that son of a woman sitting on the throne of His Glory.
62.7 For from the beginning that Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High kept him in the presence of His power, and revealed him only to the chosen.
62.8 And the community of the Holy and the chosen will be sown and all the chosen will stand before him on that day.
62.9 And all the mighty kings, and the exalted, and those who rule the dry ground, will fall down before him, on their faces, and worship; and they will set their hopes on that Son of Man, and will entreat him, and will petition for mercy from him.
62.10 But the Lord of Spirits will then so press them that they will hasten to go out from before Him, and their faces will be filled with shame, and the darkness will grow deeper on their faces.
62.11 And the Angels of Punishment will take them so that they may repay them for the wrong that they did to His children and to His chosen ones.

Enoch 62:13-16

62.13 And the righteous and the chosen will be saved on that Day and they will never see the faces of the sinners and the lawless from then on.
62.14 And the Lord of Spirits will remain over them and with that Son of Man they will dwell, and eat, and lie down, and rise up, forever and ever.
62.15 And the righteous and chosen will have risen from the earth, and will have ceased to cast down their faces, and will have put on the Garment of Life.
62.16 And this will be a Garment of Life from the Lord of Spirits; and your garments will not wear out, and your glory will not fail, in front of the Lord of Spirits.

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life. As we continue to examine man’s earliest duties with regard to the covenant of works, although they can be categorically divided into two distinct types of classes; one in relationship with God, and the other in relationship with fellow man, all covenant stipulations are expressions of the will of the Lord. The law of the covenant is the law of man’s image-sonship.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name,AMEN

 

Copyright September, 2016
Rev. Jim Craig
All Rights Reserved