{"id":18568,"date":"2021-01-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/genesis-022-why-the-monotony-part-2\/"},"modified":"2023-04-11T09:39:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T14:39:22","slug":"genesis-022-why-the-monotony-part-2","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/genesis-022-why-the-monotony-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 022 – Why the Monotony? (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[12],"series_event":[511],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18568","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-genesis","series_event-genesis","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Genesis 022 - Why the Monotony? (Part 2)","sermon_date":"20210117","sermon_month":"01","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":19906,"sermon_slides":19907,"sermon_mp3":19908,"sermon_id":"116212246221506","series_or_event":511,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":12,"chapter_and_verse":"5:3-5","sermon_transcript":"

Genesis 022-<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

Why the Monotony, Part 2<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

Genesis 5:3-5<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\u201cFather, We're grateful for your truth, Your Word. \u00a0We're grateful for the book of Genesis<\/strong>, the book of beginnings as we get into a section of Scripture that is largely misunderstood and neglected and quite frankly, not even believed by a lot of people, I just ask that You would use this section to edify Your people in Your Word. \u00a0I ask if anybody is listening that does not know You personally, that the Spirit of God might be in convicting them, and so for them, today might be the day of salvation. We just ask that You do this great work, only You can do it. \u00a0We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, God's people said, Amen.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nWell, good morning, everybody. \u00a0I want to welcome you to the Sugar Land Bible Church main service. \u00a0If you could locate in your Bible the book of Genesis 5:3<\/strong>, I think we'll start there.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is \u2018Why the Monotony, Part 2.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0The reason we're entitling these two messages \u2018Why the Monotony<\/em>\u2019 is [because] we're in a section of God's Word as we are moving through the book of Genesis<\/strong> verse-by-verse, thus, it seems redundant; boring; unexciting. \u00a0The reason is that this is actually a genealogy. \u00a0As we get into this, you'll see that this genealogy has been strategically placed here by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 There are things that you can learn in this genealogy that you can't learn anywhere else in God's Word, so we want to be good custodians of the full counsel of the word of God.\r\n\r\nIf you're here for the first time or watching for the very first time, let me orient you to where we are in our study in the book of Genesis<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nGenesis 1-11<\/strong> is about the beginning of the human race\u2014that first major section has four major events, the first of which is Creation itself\u2013Genesis 1-2<\/strong>. \u00a0[See slide on Genesis Structure]\u00a0 <\/strong>That's where we learn that God is not<\/em> the author of all of the problems in our world. \u00a0God is frequently blamed for things that He didn't cause. \u00a0\u00a0If you want to see what the original design of God is for humanity, for creation, you need look no further than Genesis 1-2. \u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGenesis 3<\/strong> is where things got contaminated [The Fall]. \u00a0Genesis 3<\/strong>, the creation itself was subjected to futility, as Paul tells us in Romans 8<\/strong>, not by its own accord, but by the one who subjected it. \u00a0\u00a0In other words, the biblical position is that evil and sin and all of the problems that are actually normal today did not come into existence through the hand of God, but through the free will of the creation in rebellion against God. \u00a0The pivotal chapter where that happened is\u00a0 Genesis 3<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nGenesis 4-5<\/strong> are the after-effects of that chapter, but Genesis 3<\/strong> is where everything, to use a proverbial expression, went south, awry.\u00a0 It's in Genesis 3<\/strong> where there is probably the most important verse in the entire Bible<\/strong> because in that verse is a microcosm of the gospel itself and the Creator's intention to fix what went awry through the birth of a coming One through the seed of the woman, or Eve. \u00a0God announced to the serpent in Genesis 3:15<\/strong>, \u201cI will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0\u00a0There's coming One from the seed of the woman, or Eve, who is going to take the serpent\u2019s, Satan's head and destroy it. \u00a0Satan is put on notice. \u00a0\u00a0Really all of us are put on notice that one of these days everything is going to be made right. Everything is going to be restored to God's original order, and the effects of Genesis 3<\/strong> will be reversed.\r\n\r\nGenesis 4<\/strong> is the first murder, or Satan's attempt to influence Cain to murder Abel so that this Messiah, Genesis 3:15,<\/strong> can never be born. \u00a0Satan, as we have taught, reasoned that \u2018The coming One is coming from Able, and so I [satan] will have Cain murder Abel.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>That explains the first murder in human history\u2014Genesis 4:1-15<\/strong>. \u00a0Satan thought that he had cut off the coming Messiah. \u00a0And what Satan built through the ungodly line of Cain, the first murderer, and his descendants, was Satan's New World Order. \u00a0A one-world system of economics, politics and religion that excludes God. \u00a0It looks<\/em> like Satan has won. \u00a0He's stopped the Messiah from coming, and he's built a world system in the place of the Kingdom of God.\r\n\r\nAnd yet you learn in Genesis 4:25,26<\/strong> how God got around what humanly speaking, seemed very difficult. \u00a0And there was born a son named Seth as a replacement to Able, and so God started a brand new line. \u00a0Through that brand new line, Seth begat Enosh and a whole line develops separate from the Canite line, the corrupted line. \u00a0And through this godly line of Seth, the Messiah will be born.\r\n\r\nAnd then as you get to Genesis 5<\/strong>, you start getting a picture of what this godly line looks like. \u00a0We're no longer dealing with the ungodly line here. \u00a0We've got a description of them in Genesis 4:16-24<\/strong>, but here, we get an in-depth presentation of this godly line that will ultimately lead to a man named Noah. \u00a0That's where this chapter concludes. \u00a0But then post-flood, the line will continue in Genesis 11<\/strong>, beginning around verse 10<\/strong>, it is through Noah's son Shem, that several patriarchs come, leading to Terah, who is Abraham's father.\r\n\r\nGenesis 11<\/strong>, concludes then where Genesis 12<\/strong> will pick up: the calling of Abraham. Through Abraham and God's special dealings with the nation of Israel, a new nation that He will raise up \u00a0Genesis 12<\/strong>, the Messiah ultimately will be born.\r\n\r\nSo that's where Genesis 5<\/strong> fits into all of this that we have talked about thus far in the book of Genesis<\/strong>. \u00a0So here is the outline of Genesis 5 [see slide on Genesis 5 Outline].<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThere is an Introduction Genesis 5:1-2<\/strong>, and then the line starts \u00a0Adam (Genesis 5:3-5)<\/strong> to Seth (Genesis 5:6-8)<\/strong> to Enosh (Genesis 5:9-11)<\/strong> to Kenan (Genesis 5:12-14)<\/strong> to Mahalalel (Genesis 5:15-17)<\/strong> \u00a0to Jared (Genesis 5:18-20)<\/strong> to Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24)<\/strong> to Methuselah (Genesis 5:25-27)<\/strong> to Lamech (Genesis 5:28-31)<\/strong>, and finally to Noah (Genesis 5:32)<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nAnd the last time I was with you, we looked at the Introduction to this lineage. \u00a0In Genesis 5:1,2 <\/strong>\u00a0it rehearses a lot of information that we learned about in the original Creation event. \u00a0But then the line starts getting discussed. \u00a0Last time, we were talking about the beginning of this line, starting with Adam, so let's reorient ourselves and reread, 5:3-5<\/strong>. \u00a0It says, \u201cWhen Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.\u00a0 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth, were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. \u00a0So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nNow here begins something that is repeated almost verbatim through each of these pre-flood patriarchs, and ten times this is repeated. There's a six-fold pattern in this repetition.\r\n\r\nNumber 1, there is the name of the pre-flood patriarch, in this case, Adam. \u00a0And for each of these names, I'll give you what his Hebrew name means:\u00a0 Adam means Man<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nNumber two, the age of Adam at the time, the seed-son,<\/strong> or the next in line is born<\/strong>. \u00a0It gives you the exact age of Adam at that point, 130 years<\/strong>. \u00a0In other words, Adam was 130 years when God continued this line through Seth.\r\n\r\nNumber 3, the additional years Adam lived subsequent to the birth of the seed-son<\/strong>. \u00a0So we're told here that he lived an additional 800 years<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nNumber four, tells us that during that 800-year time period, Adam begat other sons and daughters<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nNumber five, tells us how how many years Adam, in totality, lived<\/strong>. And you get that by adding up numbers two and numbers three. \u00a0Adam was 130 years old at the time of the birth of Seth. He lived an additional 800 years: \u00a0<\/strong>800 + 130 = 930 years=the total years of Adam's life.\r\n\r\nAnd then each of these with one exception that's very notable, which we'll explain in just a minute, records the death<\/u> of these antediluvian patriarchs<\/strong>. \u00a0Antediluvian means prior to the flood. How old were each of these individuals when they died? \u00a0It's very interesting, very specific, very concrete with very specific data given for each of these ten pre-flood antediluvian patriarchs. \u00a0And the last time I was with you, I said, \u2018Before we look at all of the names on this list, you need to understand the significance of this six-fold pattern. \u00a0Why is the Holy Spirit giving us this information?\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 And I had six reasons why we have this six-fold pattern, the first three of which we talked about last time.\r\n\r\nReason number on: the name of each patriarch is given to show us that these are historical figures<\/strong>; people who actually lived in human history. \u00a0This is not Jack and the Beanstalk; not some sort of fairy tales but actual human beings, many of whom are in the line leading to Christ as recorded in Luke's gospel.<\/strong> So just as Jesus Christ Himself was a historical figure, so were all of these individuals we are reading about here in Genesis 5<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nA second reason noted the specific information about the age of the patriarch<\/strong>, not just how old he was when he died, but how old he was when his seed-son was born<\/strong>. \u00a0This very specific information reveals that there are no genealogical gaps here<\/strong>. \u00a0And we talked about the fact that there has been a great obsession by evangelical Christians ever since Darwin's publication of Origin of the Species<\/u><\/strong> in 1859. \u00a0The evangelical church began to be intimidated by the scientific world with a mindset that says, \u2018Well, the real science rests with the scientists. The Bible is just filled with fiction.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0And if that's the mindset, then people have a tendency to try to rewrite the Bible<\/strong> to keep up with science. \u00a0\u00a0After all, Charles Darwin was saying at that time that the earth is millions<\/em> of years old. \u00a0Now today, they say it's billions<\/em> of years old, and if the science so-called is true, then we need to rewrite the Bible<\/strong> to keep up with science. \u00a0\u00a0One of the tools that was used beginning around 1890 is this attempt to find massive gaps in this particular genealogy.\u00a0 The last time I was with you, I showed you, as my professor Dr. Toussaint used to say, \u2018that dog won't hunt<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0The Bible<\/strong> does not lend itself to that type of scheme. \u00a0You won\u2019t \u00a0find millions or hundreds or thousands of missing years between these patriarchal names for the simple reason that the concrete data that's revealed gives you the age of the patriarch at the exact same time that the seed-son was born. \u00a0It doesn't just tell you how many years he lived total, and how many years he lived after the birth of the seed-son, but exactly how old he was when the seed-son was born.<\/strong> \u00a0And that does not lend itself to vast ages of time. \u00a0And so you're really forced into a conflict here where the scientific world says one thing about the age of the earth, the Bible<\/strong> is saying something completely different.\r\n\r\nAnd that's why I praise the Lord for men like John Whitcomb and Henry Morris, who came along with The Genesis Flood<\/u><\/strong>, a seminal book. \u00a0They reversed the evangelical strategy because prior to that point in time, from about 1890 to 1960, the only thing the church knew how to do was to rewrite Genesis<\/strong>. \u00a0They said that there's a more excellent way in the Genesis<\/strong> flood. \u00a0\u2018Let's go out and challenge what the so-called scientific world is saying.<\/em>\u2019\r\n\r\nIt's interesting how in 1 Timothy 6:20<\/strong>, in the King James Version<\/strong>, it talks about science falsely called. \u00a0Whitcomb and Morris showed us that there are a lot of things being advocated in the name of science that are really nothing more than human philosophy, so there's no need to rewrite the Bible<\/strong> to keep up with human philosophy.\u00a0 <\/strong>They began to expose that there is no missing link in the evolutionary system. \u00a0The missing link is still missing. \u00a0They began to expose the problems with carbon-14 dating. \u00a0A lot of my friends in creation science ministry today talked about soft tissue amongst the remains of dinosaurs, indicating that those dinosaurs\u2019 skeletal remains have not been around for billions and trillions of years but are much younger.\r\n\r\nThe fact that the age of the patriarch is given at the exact moment of the birth of the seed-son is evidence that there are no missing gaps in these particular genealogies. \u00a0So let's stand on the authority of Scripture and hold hostage what is falsely<\/em> called science. Consequently, evangelicals today are doing one of two strategies. They're either going back to the old strategy of rewriting the Bible<\/strong>\u2014that's where the day age theory comes from, and I believe that's the root of the so-called gap theory. \u00a0Or<\/em> let's do something different\u2014let's stand on the authority of the Bible<\/strong> and hold hostage to the Bible<\/strong> the beliefs of so-called<\/strong> science, which is really false knowledge.<\/strong> \u00a0That's why I bring up that second bullet point there.\r\n\r\nAnd then third, we looked at the fact that these genealogies all indicate that after the birth of the seed-son, that particular patriarch begat other sons and daughters<\/strong>. \u00a0The Bible<\/strong> tells us that because it's an explanation of the population explosion <\/strong>that was taking place during this time period. \u00a0By the time of the flood, there were probably about 7 billion people on planet earth. And it also helps us understand all kinds of other issues, such as why Cain, when he complained to the Lord about his punishment, afraid of vigilantism from others?\u00a0 \u00a0Where would these other people come from? \u00a0Or where did Cain get his wife? \u00a0Or, why does Genesis 6:1<\/strong> say, \u2018When men began to multiply in number in those days,<\/em>\u2019 people puzzle over those types of questions. \u00a0But if Adam and all of these patriarchs are living into their eight hundreds and nine hundreds and having other sons and daughters, when you just do the mathematics, you can see where this giant population explosion ultimately came from.\r\n\r\nWe pick it up here with the fourth reason why this six-fold pattern is so significant. \u00a0The long patriarchal ages at the time of death indicate the type of conditions which existed in the world just prior to the flood.<\/strong> \u00a0Now, when you look at these ages in which all of these patriarchs died, it's stunning how long they lived. \u00a0Adam lived 930 years; Seth lived 912 years; Enosh lived 905 years; Kenan lived 910 years; Mahalalel lived 895 years; and Jared lived 962 years. \u00a0Now it's interesting that Enoch\u2019s life was cut short because God took him. \u00a0He lived 365 years.\u00a0 <\/strong>The oldest living man that we have is Methuselah who lived 969 years. \u00a0And that's a testimony to the character of God, as we're going to explain as we work our way through this genealogy. \u00a0Lamech lived 777 years, and Noah lived 950 years.\r\n\r\nWhy is it that people were living to such great ages prior to the flood? \u00a0I believe a lot of the answer to this relates to what is called the canopy theory. \u00a0Now, I want to be clear on this: not every literal creationist today believes in the canopy theory. \u00a0A lot of good people would reject this. \u00a0I guess I'm just sort of simple and naive enough to accept it. \u00a0So this is not something I would probably start a new church over. There's room for discussion on this, but it's just a model. \u00a0And when you adopt a model, you adopt a biblical model based on what model answers most of the questions or the objections.\r\n\r\nAt one point in time, according to the canopy theory, our world was surrounded by a ball of water that probably looks something like this in this picture see slides] <\/strong>or over here in this particular picture. \u00a0And you say, \u2018well, where does this idea come from?<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0Well, it comes from the book of Genesis 1:6,7<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 And when we were in Genesis 1<\/strong>, I made reference to this, \u201cThen God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so<\/em>.\u201d\r\n\r\nIt's a very interesting section of Scripture very early on in biblical history in the creation week itself. \u00a0There is an expanse called sky; waters beneath the expanse, which would obviously be ocean. \u00a0But then it makes a specific reference to the waters above<\/em> the expanse<\/strong>. \u00a0What were those waters above the expanse? \u00a0In fact, there may be a reference to this in Psalm 148:4<\/strong> which says, \u201cPraise Him, highest heavens<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, in Psalm 148<\/strong>, the various elements of creation are personified as praising the Lord. \u00a0Psalm 148:4<\/strong> says, \u201cPraise Him, highest heavens, \u00a0And the waters that are above the heavens!\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nSo this canopy that at one time surrounded our world, I think, is potentially alluded to in Genesis 1-6,7<\/strong> and in Psalm 148:4<\/strong>. \u00a0And if that is true, it explains an awful lot. \u00a0It would explain why all of these pre-flood patriarchs are living such long lives into their seven, eight and nine \u00a0hundreds, etc.. \u00a0Adam is going to live 930 years. \u00a0Methuselah, the oldest living man that we have record of, is going to live 969 years. \u00a0Why were they living so long prior to the flood?\u00a0 \u00a0Well, the canopy theory would explain that because this giant ball of water filtered the sun's harmful rays, thereby allowing people to live very, very long [lives]. \u00a0And with that ball of water gone post-flood, it starts to explain why man's lifespan started to be dramatically curtailed post flood.\r\n\r\nSo you're reading all of these names here, and they're living into their eight hundreds and nine hundreds, and the canopy theory would be a potential explanation for that. \u00a0It would also explain strange beasts that we have in the fossil record that have no parallel with animals on the earth today. \u00a0In fact, there's actually a reference to these strange beasts in Genesis 1:24,25.<\/strong> \u00a0It says, \u201cThen God said, \u201cLet the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind;\u201d and it was so.\u00a0 God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nWe're sort of hung up on the word dinosaurs. \u00a0It's interesting that the word dinosaur itself wasn't even used by anybody until the 19th century. \u00a0But if you want to use the word dinosaur, fine. \u00a0There were, in Eden, beasts of such a caliber that we have no reference to them or parallel to them today. \u00a0Why is that? \u00a0Why do we find this in the record? \u00a0Because there was a time in history where things lived longer and grew bigger than what they are today. \u00a0Well, why is that?\u00a0 Because at one time, this entire planet was surrounded by a giant wall or sphere of water which filtered the sun's harmful rays. \u00a0So there was a time in history where things were larger and people lived longer than today. \u00a0That's an explanation for these strange beasts in the fossil record.\r\n\r\nIn fact, the book of Job talks about two such beasts. \u00a0Job 40-41 talks about the leviathan and the behemoth. \u00a0And people say, \u2018Well, that's just a hippopotamus or something<\/em>.\u201d Kind of a strange looking hippopotamus when its tail is like the cedar tree. \u00a0So it's obviously describing something that we don't have a parallel with today. \u00a0Well, I believe that Noah brought into the ark some of these strange beasts. \u00a0They were probably infants or hibernating, and they got out into the post-flood world, and consequently tried to live in the post-flood world. \u00a0Maybe they lived successfully for a period of time, but then they began to die out. \u00a0And that's what Job was seeing in Job 40-41. \u00a0And that's why you have records all over the world, whether it be Josephus, Herodotus, Marco Polo \u2014 of strange animals called dragons that we don't have any parallel with today. \u00a0\u00a0I bring these things up because I ran into some statistics about the number one reason why children reject the Bible<\/strong> is because we have no explanation for dinosaurs.\u00a0 We think it's the scientists that have the explanation, and our Book<\/strong> is just a book of fiction. \u00a0And yet, when you actually begin to grapple with this issue, you see that we do have a reasonable explanation for dinosaurs, and we should come up with or wrestle with an explanation, if that's the number one reason youth are indeed leaving the faith.\r\n\r\nSo this canopy theory would explain these strange animals. \u00a0It would also explain Genesis 2:5,6<\/strong> which says, \u201c...for the Lord, God had not yet sent rain upon the earth.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Genesis 2:6<\/strong> says, \u201c...But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nSo if I'm understanding my Bible<\/strong> correctly, prior to the flood, there was no such thing as rain. And you start to understand this and why Noah is recorded in the Hall of Faith. \u00a0Think how foolish he looked building this ark, presumably warning of a great global flood, when the pre-flood world didn't even know what rain was because water came up from the ground to give moisture. \u00a0So where did these floodwaters come from, this flood that covered the entire earth?\u00a0 Well, a simple answer to it is that God simply released the canopy that surrounded planet earth. \u00a0And, \u00a0it's funny, people today ridicule the idea of a global flood. \u00a0\u2018What a ridiculous idea!\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nThey say that there's not even enough moisture in the clouds to flood the earth. \u00a0And they're assuming that God used the clouds. The Bible<\/strong> doesn't say He used the clouds. \u00a0What it says is waters from above the heavens came upon the earth.<\/strong> \u00a0And if that weren't enough, waters from underneath the earth came up.<\/strong> \u00a0And a ball of water that surrounded the earth, allowing people to live to extremely long ages\u2014having that released would explain where the floodwaters came from.\r\n\r\nSo Noah had to completely and totally walk by faith and not by sight when he was warning of a coming deluge and was building an ark because most likely he had no concept of what rain was like. \u00a0Most likely he was laughed at and ridiculed by the natural man until the moment that he stepped foot in the ark. The whole thing seemed absurd. \u00a0And yet Noah made a decision to walk according to the Word of God, not [according to] what he could trust or see through his five senses around him. \u00a0That's why Noah is so prominent in Hebrews 11<\/strong> as someone in his age and his day that walked by faith.\r\n\r\nThe canopy theory would also explain why man's lifespan after the Flood suddenly gets shortened. \u00a0You look at when the flood occurred and you see people prior to the flood living into their late seven hundreds, eight hundreds, nine hundreds. \u00a0And is it an interesting that once you get post-Flood, the ages of human beings start becoming reduced dramatically? \u00a0For example, in Genesis 11:24,25<\/strong>, which is genealogy after the Flood, it says, \u201cNahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>Notice the ages are given again.\r\n\r\nIt's very similar to the Genesis 5 <\/strong>genealogy, where there's an age given at the time of the birth of the seed-son. \u00a0The additional years that the patriarch lived are given and how old the patriarch was at the time of his death is given, and you don't see 800 or 900 or 700 years. \u00a0You see those numbers rolled back. \u00a0And in the Bible<\/strong>, they continue to get rolled back to what it's like today. \u00a0Psalm 90:10<\/strong> makes a reference to the fact that if you're fortunate today, you can make it to 70 or 80 years. But there is no more record of people living into their seven hundreds, eight hundreds and nine hundreds.\r\n\r\nWhy is it that man's lifespan gets curtailed post-Flood? \u00a0Because the protective canopy around the earth is gone, and there's nothing left to filter the sun's harmful rays, and consequently, the lifespan of people is curtailed. \u00a0And so am I a canopy theory advocate, because I believe that you have to believe in the canopy theory to go to heaven?\u00a0 No, I'm not.\u00a0 \u00a0I'm not saying that; it's a reasonable area where Christians differ. \u00a0But I'm a believer in this for the simple reason that it's a model, and I adopt this model because, to my mind anyway, it explains so many things. \u00a0It explains the long life of the pre-Flood patriarchs. \u00a0It explains where so-called dinosaurs came from. \u00a0It explains where the floodwaters themselves came from. \u00a0And it explains why man's lifespan got cut short. \u00a0\u00a0It explains what Genesis 1:6-7<\/strong> is in reference to.\r\n\r\nNow, I've made reference to the fact that not everybody believes this, and so it's always comforting to find people that are of far greater intellectual countenance than myself that do believe in the canopy theory. \u00a0Notice this quote from Dr. Henry Morris in his The Genesis Record<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0\u00a0Dr. Henry Morris, I made a little reference to this earlier, is the father of what we call the young earth creationist movement. \u00a0And he writes this concerning the canopy. \u00a0He says, \u201c...the upper waters would provide a sort of protective canopy, (\u2018a tent to dwell in\u2018) for earth's inhabitants, and the space between would provide an atmospheric reservoir to maintain the breath of life... The \u2018waters above the firmament\u2019 thus probably constituted a vast blanket of water vapor above the troposphere and possibly above the stratosphere as well, in the high- temperature region now known as the ionosphere, and extending far into space. \u00a0They\u00a0 could not have been the clouds of water...there was no \u2018rain on the earth\u2019 in those days (Genesis 2:5<\/strong>), nor any \u2018bow in the cloud\u2019 (Genesis 9:13<\/strong>), both of which must have been present if these upper waters represented merely the regime of clouds which function in the present hydrologic economy.\u201c<\/em>\r\n\r\nMorris goes on and he says, \u201cThe concept of an antediluvian water canopy over the earth has appeared in many writings, both ancient and modern...Furthermore, a vapor\u00a0 canopy could be more easily maintained aloft and would serve more effectively as a marvelous sustainer of vigorous life conditions on the earth...Since water vapor has the ability to transmit incoming solar radiation and to retain and disperse much of the radiation reflected from the earth's surface, it would serve as a global greenhouse, maintaining an essentially uniformly pleasant warm temperature all over the world...The combination of warm temperature and adequate moisture everywhere would be conducive later to extensive stands of lush vegetation all over the world, with no barren deserts or ice caps.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nAnd finally, he says, \u201cA vapor canopy would also be highly effective in filtering out ultraviolet radiations, cosmic rays, and other destructive energies from outer space. \u00a0These are known to be the source of both somatic and genetic mutations, which decrease the viability of the individual and the species, respectively. \u00a0Thus the canopy would contribute effectively to human and animal health and longevity...Later, when needed, these upper waters would provide the reservoir from which God would send the great Flood, to save the godly remnant from the hopelessly corrupt population of that day...\u201d <\/em>\r\n\r\nSo apparently this whole concept of a water canopy surrounding the earth is much more viable according to Henry Morris, who was a credentialed scientist than most people today would give it credit for. \u00a0So I think that is yet another reason why we need to pay attention to the ages in these particular genealogies.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that people will do, and they do this a lot relative to things in the Bible<\/strong> they don't understand, is they'll just change the Bible<\/strong>. \u00a0A lot of people say it says \u201cyears<\/em>\u201d here. \u00a0\u2018Adam lived 930 years, Methuselah, 969 years,<\/em> etc., etc., etc..\u2019 \u00a0\u2018Oh, the years don't mean years. That really means months.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0So take out your eraser every time you see the word years<\/em>, erase that, and just write over it the word months<\/em>. \u00a0Arnold Fruchtenbaum here in this quote explains why that dog won't hunt. \u00a0He says, \u201cThe years here [Genesis 5<\/strong>] are normal years. \u00a0They are not months, as some have tried to make them, again, only to accommodate the assumption that no one could have ever lived as long as the Bible<\/strong> shows them living. \u00a0If months were indicated rather than years, some of these people would have given birth to children while they themselves were children.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0In other words, you run into more problems trying to make the Bible<\/strong> say something that it's not.\r\n\r\nThe best approach in things like this is simply to take God at His Word, and wait for Him one day to bring in all the evidence as to why what He said is true. \u00a0God cannot lie. \u00a0The book of Hebrews<\/strong> says it's impossible for God to lie. \u00a0\u00a0And so when it says Adam lived 930 years, I believe it. \u00a0\u00a0Now, there is a view today, and we've covered this in our series on 2 Peter<\/strong>, which we did at our mid-week service a few quarters back. \u00a0Peter predicts that in the last days, a doctrine would arise called uniformitarianism<\/em>. \u00a0Uniformitarianism<\/em> is the idea that you evaluate the ancient past by patterns that you can see in the present. \u00a0You pretend that patterns you can see in the present have always been and will always be.\u00a0 In other words, you elevate your five senses. That's where truth is, they say. \u00a0And therefore, you evaluate what happened in the past and what's going to happen in the future by slow processes that you can see in the present. \u00a0Peter warns about that coming in the last days when he says this in 2 Peter 3:3-7<\/strong>, \u201cKnow, this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, \u201cWhere is the promise of His coming? \u00a0For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation...\u201d <\/em>[You see that? That's uniformitarianism]. \u201c...For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the Word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.\u00a0 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nQuestion: \u00a0Is it biblical to evaluate what happened in the ancient past by a pattern you can see presently? \u00a0That's called uniformitarianism. This is what your children and your grandchildren, and to some extent, you are all being hit with. \u00a0That's where they come up with the idea that it took billions and billions of years for this slow process to work its way out so that we could arrive at our present evolutionary trajectory. \u00a0\u00a0And I'm here to tell you that is a philosophy that has destroyed more people's Christian faith than any other philosophy I can think of.\u00a0 It is completely and totally unbiblical to evaluate the ancient past by patterns you can see in the present for the simple reason that the things happening in the pre-flood world with the canopy of water surrounding the earth and the ages of people right down to the size of animals was completely and totally different than what it is today.\r\n\r\nHenry Morris calls this the the great greenhouse effect that our world was once in, and now that greenhouse effect is gone. \u00a0And God changed the rules. \u00a0What's normal today is we don't see dinosaurs. \u00a0We don't live into our nine hundreds. \u00a0But there was a time in history when that did happen. \u00a0And in fact, prior to that time in history, there was a time in history where they didn't even know what death was. \u00a0So obviously the rules changed in the Fall. \u00a0And the rules changed again in the Flood, so you cannot determine what's normative back in those days of ancient times by what you can see in the present. \u00a0And yet this is how the majority of people think. \u00a0Even in Christianity, people think like this, and they have been hoodwinked\u20141 Timothy 6:20 by King James Version<\/strong>, science falsely called. \u00a0They think it's scientific to go back and to erase years<\/em> and put in the word months<\/em> in Genesis 5<\/strong>. \u00a0\u00a0And yet it's not scientific at all. \u00a0It is that you bought into a pagan philosophy of history. \u00a0And so I think this is why the dates and ages of these patriarchs is so significant.\r\n\r\nLet me, if I could, round out our list here and give you the final two reasons why these patriarchal repetitions, genealogically, are so significant.\r\n\r\nThe the fifth reason we have to pay attention to this is because of the repetition of the expression, \u201cand he died.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0All of the deaths of these patriarchs, with the exception of one: \u00a0a man named Enoch, with with the exception of him, every single one of these individuals died.\u00a0 Now, they didn't die into their seven hundreds, eight hundreds and nine hundreds, but they died. \u00a0\u00a0Why does it keep saying over and over again as we move through Genesis 5<\/strong>, \u201cand he died and he died and he died?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Why do I have to know that?\u00a0 I have to know that because it's an outworking of what God said would happen. \u00a0Did not God, all the way back in Eden, say, even before Eve existed, as He was speaking to Adam\u2014did God not say, \u201c\u2018...From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day...\u201d<\/em> [Now, \u2018in the day\u2019 <\/em>there, I think, is better translated \u2018when\u2019<\/em>] \u201c...[when] you eat from it you will surely die (muwth)<\/u><\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 God was right. \u00a0All of these patriarchs, beginning with Adam at the age of 930 died.\r\n\r\nGenesis 3:19<\/strong> explains the consequences of what Adam and Eve did by eating from the forbidden tree.\u00a0 \u00a0Genesis 3:19 <\/strong>says, \u201cBy the sweat of your face, you will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.\u201d <\/em>It happened. \u00a0What God said would happen as a consequence of rebellion\u2014physical death\u2014happened.\r\n\r\nSo when it keeps saying here, \u201cand he died and he died and he died,<\/em>\u201d it's like saying God was right. \u00a0God's opinion was not the only opinion on the table. \u00a0Remember what the serpent said?\u00a0 Genesis 3:4<\/strong>, The serpent said to the woman, \u2018You will not die.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0In fact, it doesn't even say that. It says, \u201cYou surely will not die!<\/em>\u201d And in the New American Standard Bible<\/strong>, there's an exclamation point after the word die<\/em>. \u00a0God said they would<\/em> die. \u00a0The serpent said, \u2018Oh, you won't die.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0Who ended up being right here?\u00a0 You've got two opinions on the table. \u00a0They're saying opposite things.\u00a0 Whose opinion or perspective do you go with at the end of the day? \u00a0I hope you understand this much about Satan: he is a liar to the absolute core of his being. \u00a0He will lie to you and tell you things won't happen when God said they will<\/em> happen.\r\n\r\nJesus, in John 8:44,<\/strong> says of the Pharisees, \u201cYou are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father. \u00a0He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. \u00a0Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 And doesn't Genesis 5<\/strong> vindicate that?\u00a0 God said, \u201cYou will die<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Satan said \u2018You won't die.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 History always vindicates God because God cannot lie<\/strong>. \u00a0And so we're living in a world with death in it. \u00a0Romans 5:12<\/strong> says, \u201cTherefore, just as through one man<\/u><\/strong> sin entered into the world, and death<\/u><\/strong> through sin, so death spread to all men<\/u><\/strong>, because all sinned\u2014.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nDeath is everywhere. And it started right here in Genesis 5<\/strong>. \u00a0Of course, they live longer for reasons I've tried to explain, but other than Enoch, death got every single one of them. \u00a0Romans 5:14<\/strong> says, \u201cNevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. \u00a0\u00a0Even those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who was a type of Him who is to come.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0Romans 6:23, <\/strong>\u201cFor the wages of sin is death,...<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Hebrews 9:27<\/strong>, \u201cAnd inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after that comes the judgment,...\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nIsn't it interesting that even in this godly line, we're not even dealing here with the Canite line?\u00a0 We're dealing with the Sethite line\u2014that death is so pervasive that other than Enoch, it got every single one of them. \u00a0The mortality rate is still 100% even though you are blood-bought and you love Jesus. \u00a0If we're not the Rapture generation, you're going to die, too, and so am I. \u00a0James 4:14<\/strong> says, \u201cYet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.\u00a0 You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nYou enjoy a life of energy and productivity, 70 to 80 years if you're fortunate; and yet, if we're not the rapture generation, every single one of us is going to die.\r\n\r\nBut there's someone in this line that didn't die. \u00a0His name is Enoch. \u00a0And it holds out hope that this curse, one day, will be curtailed.\u00a0 Paul explains [in 1 Corinthians 15:51<\/strong>], \u201cBehold, I tell you a\u00a0mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be\u00a0changed<\/em>,...\u201d There's coming a generation on planet earth that will not die.\u00a0 We call that the Rapture generation.\u00a0 And when God finally makes all things new; restores everything to its original condition just like they were in their normal original condition in Genesis 1-2<\/strong>, what is going to be absent?\u00a0 Death will be a thing of the past.\r\n\r\nIf you want to know what's normal, don't look at today. \u00a0Look at Genesis 1-2<\/strong> before death and evil existed. \u00a0Look at Revelation 21-22<\/strong> after death and evil existed. \u00a0The day is going to come where [Revelation 21:4<\/strong>] \u201c...He will\u00a0wipe away every tear from their eyes; and\u00a0there will no longer be\u00a0any\u00a0death;\u00a0there will no longer be\u00a0any\u00a0mourning, or crying, or pain;\u00a0the first things have passed away.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Yeah, it's terrible to read about all of these deaths here, but it's heartening to read about Enoch, and in Enoch comes hope that the curse itself is going to be done away with.\r\n\r\nThe day in history will arise when death itself will be a thing of the past. \u00a0But we have to pay attention to this genealogy because this genealogy is a record of what God said would happen, being fulfilled in history and how the serpent was wrong right out of the gate in promising that they would not die if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge.\r\n\r\nOne more [reason] here on the significance of the genealogy. \u00a0This is number six, and it is simply this. Why the monotony? \u00a0That's why I've entitled these two sermons, Why the Monotony? <\/em>Well, number six, monotony allows for easy memorization, and it immediately draws attention to deviations<\/strong>. \u00a0That's why it keeps saying the same thing ten times. \u00a0That's why the six-fold repetition of the numbers keeps happening over and over and over again. \u00a0\u00a0And you read through this and you say, \u2018this is boring. This is monotonous.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0But you discover that there's a reason for the monotony.\r\n\r\nOne of the things we need to understand about the ancients is that they committed vast volumes of material to memory. \u00a0They used their memories and their ability to memorize things far more than we do today. \u00a0In fact, I don't even have to have my wife's cell number memorized. \u00a0All I do is push a button and the phone call goes right to her. \u00a0Then the phone breaks, and I'm using someone else's phone, and I'm thinking to myself, \u2018Well, what is my wife's cell number?<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0You see how technology has has destroyed, over the course of time, things we used to automatically commit to memory. \u00a0That's what the ancient world was like. \u00a0They committed vast volumes of material to memory, and the reason for the monotony is so they could easily memorize a pattern. \u00a0You just memorize the pattern and then you substitute the new data into each time the pattern recurs. \u00a0And something like this is conducive to memorization, and it also is conducive to showing you deviations. \u00a0\u00a0It keeps saying, \u201cand he died and he died and he died and he died.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Then you get to Enoch, and it says \u201cGod took him<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0And you say to yourself, \u2018Well, that's not in the pattern.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 And the reason is because the Holy Spirit has primed us to the pattern so that when the pattern is deviated from, you say to yourself, \u2018Oh my goodness, this must be important.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>\r\n\r\nAnd when you get to the last three names in that genealogy, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, you're going to see the pattern deviated from. \u00a0And so obviously, the Holy Spirit, by allowing the pattern to be deviated from to the point where we recognize it, is trying to teach us something very profound in those three names.\u00a0 There is something of inestimable value and worth that God wants us to understand happening through Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech, who was Noah's father.\r\n\r\nAnd so as we go through this material, we're going to be paying particular attention to those three names because they are outside the pattern. \u00a0\u00a0That's the reason for the monotony so that we could memorize this if we were living in the ancient world, and so we could see the deviations that the Holy Spirit is trying to call to our attention.\r\n\r\nThis, beloved, is just a majestic part of the Bible, and the only thing I've done in our prior two sermons on this is to give you some introductory information. \u00a0But the points we covered today is that the long patriarchal ages are there for a reason. \u00a0The repetition of \u201cand he died<\/em>\u201d is there for a reason. \u00a0\u00a0And the monotony is there for a reason.\r\n\r\nAnd so when I'm with you next time on the next Lord's Day, we're going to pick it up with Seth, and you will see how we're going to start moving very fast now. \u00a0Seth is going to give way to Enosh. \u00a0Enosh is going to give way to Kenan to Mahalalel to Jared, and it's going to move fast. But then with Enoch, we've got to slow down because something special is going on there.\u00a0 And then to Methuselah, we've got to slow down because something special is going on there. And then to Lamech, we've got to slow down because something very special is going on there. \u00a0\u00a0So that's where we're headed.\r\n\r\nBy way of closing, we talked about how the wages of sin is death, and this is why Jesus came into the world: to reverse the consequences of death. \u00a0I don't have to fear death, even though death is now a reality in the human race. \u00a0Because Jesus died in my place. \u00a0He came into the world to bear in His body the consequences for my sin and your sin, which is death. \u00a0\u00a0And so to escape those consequences and forces which are eternal, Jesus asks us to trust in what He has done for us in our place, not what we do for ourselves. \u00a0\u00a0You may be the most religious person on planet earth, but the fact of the matter is death is going to come knocking at your door just like it's going to come knocking at my door. \u00a0It's inevitable. \u00a0\u00a0And yet how wonderful it is to learn that this Man, Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15<\/strong>, came into the world to bear the consequence of our sin in our place, which is death, and consequently, when we trust in Him, we need not fear death because He overcame death, the last enemy in our place. \u00a0Our exhortation to anybody listening by way of live streaming or anybody listening to this or viewing it by way of archive after the fact is to respond to this gospel message, meaning good news, and it's good news because Jesus did everything for us, and He wants to give us this good news as a free gift.\u00a0 The only way to receive a gift from God is not<\/em><\/strong> to work for it, but simply to believe<\/em><\/strong> in the One He has sent. \u00a0What must we do to do the works of God? is a question on the minds of people in John 6:28-29<\/strong>, and Jesus answers so simply, \u201cThis is\u00a0the work of God, that you believe<\/strong> in Him whom He\u00a0has sent<\/em>.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo in your heart of hearts, the best you know how, as the Spirit of God places you under conviction, trust<\/strong> which is a synonym for believed<\/strong>;\u00a0 trust<\/strong> in what Jesus has done for you, and be ushered into the glories that He has for you.\r\n\r\nIf it's something you need more information on, I hope you'll put a notification there on social media or send us an email here at the church because we'd love to talk to you as you move into a relationship with the God that made you. \u00a0Shall we pray?\r\n\r\nFather, we're grateful for Genesis 5<\/strong>. \u00a0Even today, not covering much ground, but laying the foundation, I pray that You\u2019ll be with us as we progress now a little bit more rapidly through this very important section of Scripture. \u00a0Help us to take these things to heart because they are realities that You have for us. \u00a0We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God's people said, Amen!\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nThank you for watching.\r\n\r\n ","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t