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Voddie Baucham - The Sons of Promise The Gospel Significance of the First Genealogy · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 5 is our text for this morning. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 5. And it's interesting, as we look through this book,
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  Speaker 1: and you know my responsibility as the pastor for preaching
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  Speaker 1: is to do the rhetorical analysis of the different materials
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  Speaker 1: that we're preaching through, to break them into their various
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  Speaker 1: teaching sections, and then we sort of dish out the
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  Speaker 1: assignments for who's going to preach what. And this is
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  Speaker 1: one that nobody really wanted. Because how do you preach
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  Speaker 1: a genealogy, you know? This guy was the father of
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  Speaker 1: this guy, and then this guy died. And then this
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  Speaker 1: guy was the father of this guy, and then this
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  Speaker 1: guy died. How do you do that? How do you
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  Speaker 1: handle this whole genealogy thing? Well, it's very interesting. In
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  Speaker 1: looking at this text and spending time with this text,
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  Speaker 1: it became obvious that there was a lot more happening
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  Speaker 1: here than just this guy fathering this guy and dying.
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  Speaker 1: There was a lot more involved in this process, and
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot more that we needed to be aware of.
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  Speaker 1: So if you'll join me here in Genesis chapter 5,
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 5. Let's begin there at that first verse
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  Speaker 1: in Genesis chapter 5. This is the book of the
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  Speaker 1: generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him
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  Speaker 1: in the likeness of God. Male and female, he created them.
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  Speaker 1: and he blessed them and named them man when they
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  Speaker 1: were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered
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  Speaker 1: a son in his own likeness after his image and
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  Speaker 1: named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered
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  Speaker 1: Seth were 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: all the days of Adam were 930 years. And he died.
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  Speaker 1: When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived,
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  Speaker 1: after he fathered Enosh, 807 years. And he had other
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  Speaker 1: sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were
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  Speaker 1: 912 years, all together now, and he died. When Enosh
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  Speaker 1: had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after
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  Speaker 1: he fathered Kenan 815 years. And he had other sons
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  Speaker 1: and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905
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  Speaker 1: years altogether. And he died. When Mahalalel lived 65 years
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  Speaker 1: he fathered Jared. Did we skip somebody? We skipped somebody. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: When Kenan had lived 70 years he fathered Mahalalel. When
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  Speaker 1: Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years, and he
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  Speaker 1: had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of
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  Speaker 1: Kenan were 910 years, and he died. Very good. When
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  Speaker 1: Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived
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  Speaker 1: after he fathered Jared 830 years, and had other sons
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  Speaker 1: and daughters. Thus, the days of Mahalalel were 895 years,
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  Speaker 1: and he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, he
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  Speaker 1: fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years
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  Speaker 1: and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days
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  Speaker 1: of Jared were 962 years and he died. When Enoch
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  Speaker 1: had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with
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  Speaker 1: God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other
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  Speaker 1: sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Enoch were
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  Speaker 1: 365 years. Now, immediately we see, boy, this is a
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  Speaker 1: short lifespan compared to the rest of his ancestors. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked
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  Speaker 1: with God and was not, for God took him. When
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  Speaker 1: Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived,
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  Speaker 1: after he fathered Lamech, 782 years. and had other sons
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  Speaker 1: and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years,
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  Speaker 1: and he died. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he
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  Speaker 1: fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, Out
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  Speaker 1: of the ground the Lord has cursed. This one shall
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  Speaker 1: bring us relief from our work and from the painful
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  Speaker 1: toil of our hands. Lamech lived after he fathered Noah.
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  Speaker 1: 595 years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all
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  Speaker 1: the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.
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  Speaker 1: After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham,
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  Speaker 1: and Japheth. Now, these are the 10 generations from Adam
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  Speaker 1: to to Noah. These ten generations that take place over
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  Speaker 1: a period of nearly a thousand years from Adam to Noah.
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  Speaker 1: Now our first tendency when we look at these generations
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  Speaker 1: is to do something like this. We're going to look
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  Speaker 1: at this passage and we're going to study this passage,
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  Speaker 1: therefore we're going to pay attention to the individuals in
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  Speaker 1: the list who are exceptional. That is why there's usually
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  Speaker 1: only two or three guys in this list that we
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  Speaker 1: talk about. We talk about Enoch. Why do we talk
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  Speaker 1: about Enoch? Because Enoch's the only one in the list
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  Speaker 1: who doesn't end with that phrase, and he died. He
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  Speaker 1: walked with God. And so much so that he didn't
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  Speaker 1: taste death. God took him. He was translated, if you will.
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  Speaker 1: And so we talk a lot about Enoch and what
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  Speaker 1: it means to walk with God. Newsflash. Genesis chapter 5
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  Speaker 1: is not about Enoch. Genesis chapter 5 is not about
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  Speaker 1: what it means to walk with God. Genesis chapter 5
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  Speaker 1: is not even about escaping death. It's not what it's about.
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  Speaker 1: Or the other individual that we talk about a lot
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  Speaker 1: in Genesis chapter 5 is Methuselah. The reason we talk
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  Speaker 1: about Methuselah is because of trivia. Methuselah happens to be
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  Speaker 1: the oldest man recorded in the Bible at 969 years.
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  Speaker 1: Lord have mercy. And so we talk about Methuselah and
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  Speaker 1: how long Methuselah lived. And if we talk about Methuselah
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  Speaker 1: and how long Methuselah lived, then the sermon is something about,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the age of the earth and the condition
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  Speaker 1: of the antediluvian earth and what the air was like
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  Speaker 1: before the flood and what the water was like before
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  Speaker 1: the flood and what the nutrients in the food were
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  Speaker 1: like before the flood. And that's the angle that we
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  Speaker 1: go if we talk about Methuselah. Or we focus on Noah,
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  Speaker 1: but usually we don't focus on Noah in Genesis chapter
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  Speaker 1: 5 because Noah's big debut really comes in Genesis chapter
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  Speaker 1: 6 and Genesis chapter 7. And so all of a
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  Speaker 1: sudden we look at Genesis chapter 5 and we're either
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  Speaker 1: talking about Enoch because he was translated or Methuselah because
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  Speaker 1: he was the oldest man in the Bible. Neither one
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  Speaker 1: of those is what Genesis chapter 5 is about. That's
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  Speaker 1: not the point. I mean, really, who cares that one
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  Speaker 1: guy lived 969 years compared to another guy who didn't
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  Speaker 1: make it the whole 969? What difference does it make
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  Speaker 1: how old Methuselah was? Is it an issue? It's an issue,
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  Speaker 1: and it's something that we think about. But that's not
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  Speaker 1: the point. We have to address this issue of their
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  Speaker 1: age because it is an issue. So we'll address that,
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  Speaker 1: and then we'll get to the point of Genesis chapter 5.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to this from John Gill. Though the length of
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  Speaker 1: time they lived may in some measure be accounted for
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  Speaker 1: by natural things as means, such as their healthful constitution,
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  Speaker 1: simple diet, the goodness of the fruits of the earth,
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  Speaker 1: the temperate air and climate they lived in, their sobriety, temperance, labor,
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  Speaker 1: and exercise, yet no doubt it was so ordered in
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  Speaker 1: providence for, listen to this, the multiplication of mankind for
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  Speaker 1: the cultivation of arts and sciences and and for the
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  Speaker 1: spread of true religion in the world, and the easier
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  Speaker 1: handing down to posterity such things as were useful, both
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  Speaker 1: for the good of the souls and bodies of men.
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  Speaker 1: That's why it was important. And so from Gil, we
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  Speaker 1: get these three issues as it relates to the longevity here.
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  Speaker 1: Because there is a point about the longevity, and there
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  Speaker 1: is a point to the longevity here. And the point
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  Speaker 1: to the longevity, you know, as much fun as we
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  Speaker 1: have talking about, you know, what the canopy must have
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  Speaker 1: been like before the flood and what the conditions must
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  Speaker 1: have been like before the flood. As much fun as
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  Speaker 1: it is to talk about those things, as I said,
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  Speaker 1: that's not the point of Genesis chapter 5. And besides,
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 5 doesn't answer those questions. We're just told
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  Speaker 1: how long these individuals lived. We're not told why they
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  Speaker 1: lived this long. But why would it have been important?
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  Speaker 1: And Gil points out these three, and I'd seen two
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  Speaker 1: of them before, but the reason I chose this quote
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  Speaker 1: from Gil is because one of them I hadn't seen before,
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  Speaker 1: but one for the multiplication of the race. That's why
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  Speaker 1: it was important, for the multiplication of the race. You're
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  Speaker 1: going to start the world with two people, and you're
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  Speaker 1: going to get to where we are, okay? What is it,
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  Speaker 1: 8 billion now on the earth? There has to be
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  Speaker 1: a multiplication of the race. And if you're going to
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  Speaker 1: see multiplication of the race and a maximized multiplication of
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  Speaker 1: the race, you're going to need extended life cycles. so
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  Speaker 1: that people can have more children. Amen. So you get
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  Speaker 1: the multiplication of the race through these extended life cycles.
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  Speaker 1: There's no telling how many children each of these individuals
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  Speaker 1: could have been responsible for, or how many children that
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  Speaker 1: their children could have been responsible for. In these first
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  Speaker 1: 10 generations, I mean, we could have had hundreds of thousands,
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  Speaker 1: if not millions, in these first 10 generations from Adam
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  Speaker 1: to Noah. We could easily have gotten to millions in
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  Speaker 1: the first 10 generations from Adam to Noah because of
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  Speaker 1: the extent of the life cycles. So there is the
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  Speaker 1: application of the race. There is this second issue that
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  Speaker 1: he raises, though, and that is the preservation of of
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  Speaker 1: the arts and sciences. I hadn't thought about that one before,
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  Speaker 1: the preservation of arts and sciences. Imagine this, if you will, okay?
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  Speaker 1: Imagine if Da Vinci had gotten 300 more years. Imagine
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  Speaker 1: what Da Vinci could have done with 300 more years.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, there's still great impact because of Da Vinci's work,
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  Speaker 1: but imagine if he had had 300 more years. Or
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  Speaker 1: imagine if Einstein had gotten 400 more years. Think about
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  Speaker 1: that for a moment. Think about the discoveries of Einstein
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  Speaker 1: and imagine him applying himself and applying his God-given gifts
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  Speaker 1: and talents and abilities for another 400 years. Imagine that
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  Speaker 1: if you will. Think about the great scientists, great musicians.
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  Speaker 1: Think about, think about Beethoven. If Beethoven had been given
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  Speaker 1: 800 years, can you wrap your mind around that one?
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  Speaker 1: The kind of music that would have been produced. Mozart.
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  Speaker 1: If Mozart had been given 969 years, can you imagine
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  Speaker 1: what would have developed from the mind of Mozart in
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  Speaker 1: all of that time as he continued to ply his trade?
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  Speaker 1: And so we have Adam, this original man. 930 years,
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  Speaker 1: the most pristine mind ever on this earth. Aside from Christ,
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  Speaker 1: of course. The most pristine mind ever. The most unpolluted
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  Speaker 1: mind ever. Perhaps the keenest human intellect ever. Because it
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  Speaker 1: was completely unhindered. And he gets 930 years. For what? Well,
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  Speaker 1: he's got to learn how to hunt. He's got to
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  Speaker 1: learn how to gather. He's got to learn how to
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  Speaker 1: build shelters. He's got to learn how to organize a family.
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  Speaker 1: He's got to learn how to organize a community. Can
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  Speaker 1: you imagine? Can you imagine? How effective and efficient you
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  Speaker 1: would become at those basic things over a lifespan of
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  Speaker 1: 930 years. Here's the way the world works now. The
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  Speaker 1: way the world works now, a great mind comes along.
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  Speaker 1: And that great mind plies its trade for maybe 40
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  Speaker 1: or 50 years in whatever area. Technology, engineering, in whatever area.
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  Speaker 1: For 40 or 50 years, they get to ply their trade.
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  Speaker 1: And they get to pass that on to as many
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  Speaker 1: people as they can Perhaps not even for those 40
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  Speaker 1: or 50 years because in their early years, they're not
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  Speaker 1: passing those things on to anybody. They're just working and
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  Speaker 1: they're making money. It's only at the end of those
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  Speaker 1: careers that they're passing it on to other people. So
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  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, at the end of their life,
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  Speaker 1: they get to pass on whatever they've developed to a
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  Speaker 1: few people, maybe over the period of two decades. And
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  Speaker 1: then people learn as much as they can from them,
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  Speaker 1: master it as best they can, and take it a
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  Speaker 1: little bit further. And then they get 40 or 50
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  Speaker 1: years to do that. And then another person and another
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  Speaker 1: person and another person. And eventually, we get these unbelievable
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  Speaker 1: breakthroughs as far as science and technologies and the arts.
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  Speaker 1: But take that 40-year, 50-year period and turn it into 700, 800, 900.
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  Speaker 1: You getting the picture? Sure. You get better at what
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  Speaker 1: you do and you influence exponentially more people than you
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  Speaker 1: would have influenced otherwise. And thirdly, this idea of multi-generational faithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: Multi-generational faithfulness. The idea of passing on the faith without
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  Speaker 1: the bricks. Think about yourself. You may have people, some
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  Speaker 1: of you have discovered, some of you came from families
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  Speaker 1: where you weren't raised as a follower of Christ. Your
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  Speaker 1: parents weren't followers of Christ. But then you did some
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  Speaker 1: searching on your own genealogy and perhaps you found two,
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  Speaker 1: three generations ago there were pastors and there were missionaries
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  Speaker 1: and all of these people. What's your first thought? Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I wish I could have met great, great, great, great, great,
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  Speaker 1: great grandpa so and so. who was this unbelievable, godly man.
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  Speaker 1: But somehow that was broken, and then you came along. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: this is what just blew my mind when I did this.
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  Speaker 1: And I know many of you have already done this.
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  Speaker 1: You've got kids, and most of the kids in this
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  Speaker 1: church are homeschool kids, so you figured this out a
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  Speaker 1: long time ago. But just let Pastor Votie have his moment, okay?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing the math, and I'm going, okay, by the
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  Speaker 1: time Lamech was born, if you do the math, Adam
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  Speaker 1: was only 774 years old. There's only one person in
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  Speaker 1: this whole list that Adam wouldn't have been alive to
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  Speaker 1: see born, and that's Noah. Everybody else, everybody else would
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  Speaker 1: have had a minimum of 150 years with the first
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  Speaker 1: man created. With a man who walked with God in
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  Speaker 1: the garden in the cool of the day. Enoch didn't
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  Speaker 1: have to hear about Adam from somebody else. Enoch could
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  Speaker 1: have known Adam in his prime. Because Adam would have
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  Speaker 1: just been a little more than halfway through his life
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  Speaker 1: by the time Enoch was born. So the first nine
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  Speaker 1: generations from Adam, they're not hearing about what Adam did.
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  Speaker 1: They're not hearing about the fall. They're not hearing about
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  Speaker 1: it through stories and fables that were preserved imperfectly. Through
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  Speaker 1: other generations before them, they had the opportunity to sit
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  Speaker 1: at the feet of Adam themselves. Now that is multi-generational faithfulness. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Some of you have told stories, and a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people around here just sort of envy those of you
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  Speaker 1: who sit here and talk about great-grandparents that you have
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  Speaker 1: who were godly, and then grandparents who were godly, and
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  Speaker 1: then parents who were godly. And some of you have
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  Speaker 1: had the opportunity to for your grandparents or great-grandparents to
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  Speaker 1: even tell you some of your family history. And it
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  Speaker 1: is an unbelievably rich experience. And all of us listen
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  Speaker 1: to it, you know, and we try not to violate
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  Speaker 1: the Ten Commandments and covet, but we can't help it
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  Speaker 1: because we just covet that. Oh, what it would have
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  Speaker 1: been like to sit down and hear my great-great-grandfather talk
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  Speaker 1: about the old days and to give me that information firsthand.
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  Speaker 1: Lamech is nine generations removed from the man who was
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  Speaker 1: created by the hand of God. And he had 150
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  Speaker 1: years to get to where Adam was and to listen
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  Speaker 1: to him personally, firsthand, firsthand. So for at least these
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  Speaker 1: three reasons, those long lifespans are very important. And we
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  Speaker 1: could go on and on and on about why these
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  Speaker 1: lifespans were so long. And it's great. I'm not devaluing
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  Speaker 1: that at all. It's wonderful. But it's not the point.
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  Speaker 1: What's the point in Genesis chapter 5? The point is
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  Speaker 1: the unbroken link between Adam and Noah. That's the point.
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  Speaker 1: The unbroken link between Adam and Noah. That's what Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 5 is about. It begins with Adam and it
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  Speaker 1: ends with Noah. It is about how we got from
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  Speaker 1: Adam to Noah. That's what Genesis 5 is about. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: 5 contains long lifespans. But Genesis 5 is not about
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  Speaker 1: long lifespans. Genesis 5 is about the sons of promise.
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  Speaker 1: That's what it's about. The significance of genealogy. is about
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  Speaker 1: the sons of promise and how we get from one
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  Speaker 1: to the other. That's the answer to the question. what's
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  Speaker 1: Genesis 5 about? So how do we get there and
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  Speaker 1: what do we learn about the sons of promise? First
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  Speaker 1: of all, we learn that the sons of promise are
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  Speaker 1: revealed when the promise is fulfilled. The sons of promise
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  Speaker 1: are revealed when the promise is fulfilled. Quick, what's your genealogy?
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  Speaker 1: You think about it right now, right now, right now,
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  Speaker 1: right now. What's your genealogy? Well, if I ask you
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  Speaker 1: that question, what's your genealogy? The first thing you do
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  Speaker 1: is you go to your parents and then you go
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  Speaker 1: to their parents and then you go to their parents.
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  Speaker 1: You always go up. You don't go down with your genealogy.
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  Speaker 1: You always go up. So the significance of your genealogy
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  Speaker 1: is how did you get to you? That's the significance
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  Speaker 1: of your genealogy. The significance of anybody's genealogy is how
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  Speaker 1: did they get to me? How did we arrive at me?
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  Speaker 1: And so you go through that list and ask the question,
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  Speaker 1: how did we arrive at me? When you find a
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  Speaker 1: genealogy in the Bible, here's the question. There is a
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  Speaker 1: person whose genealogy is being given. How did we arrive
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  Speaker 1: at that person and what is significant about how we
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  Speaker 1: got there? This genealogy is about how we arrive at Noah,
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  Speaker 1: the great deliverer. And how Noah is a descendant of Adam,
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  Speaker 1: but not just any descendant of Adam. He's a descendant
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  Speaker 1: of Adam through the line of Seth. Here's what's important.
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  Speaker 1: Go back with me to that first verse. This is
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  Speaker 1: the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man,
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  Speaker 1: he made him in the likeness of God, male and female,
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  Speaker 1: who created them and blessed them and named them man
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  Speaker 1: when they were created. When Adam lived 130 years, he
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  Speaker 1: fathered a son in his own likeness after his image,
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  Speaker 1: and his name was Seth. It's interesting. It doesn't say
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  Speaker 1: that his name was Cain. It says his name was Seth.
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  Speaker 1: It also says he had many other sons and daughters,
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  Speaker 1: as well as everyone else in the list. They had
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  Speaker 1: many other sons and daughters. But which son, because you
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  Speaker 1: trace these genealogies through sons... If a guy's got 10 sons,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: or in these cases, you know, 150, 200, 400, however
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: many sons, why this one? Why this one? For example,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: when you talk about Seth. Seth. The next one after
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Seth is Enosh. Why is Enosh next in the list?
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: It says Seth had many more sons and daughters. So
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: why is the next one in the list Enosh and
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: not some other son or some other daughter? I'll tell
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: you why. Because we're trying to get to Noah. That's why.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: These names are only important because they're the link between
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Adam and Noah. Do you see that? That's what we're
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: trying to get to here. It's not about how many
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: kids each individual had because we don't have those numbers.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: It would have been just as easy for God to
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: give us the number of children Adam had and the
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: number of children Seth had and the number of children
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Enosh had. The number of children for Kenan and for
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Jared and for Mahalalel and for Methuselah and for Enoch.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: It would have been wonderful and it would have been
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: easy for us to get the number of children that
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: each of them had. So that we can then go
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: back and do the math and we can go, by
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: the time the flood came, there were this many millions
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: and hundreds of thousands and billions of people on the
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: earth by the time the flood came. Great. What's that
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: have to do with my redemption? What does that have
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to do with the glory of Christ? Nothing. Just a
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: nice little piece of trivia to stuff in your head.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: This chapter is not about trivia that you stuff in
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: your head. This chapter is about the sons of promise.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: This chapter is about how we go from Adam to Noah.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: That's what this chapter is about. That's why the only
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: sons mentioned are the sons who are part of the
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: unbroken chain between Adam and Noah. You can only understand
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: the significance of the sons of promise and the identity
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: of the sons of promise when the promise is fulfilled. Secondly,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: the sons of promise are determined by covenant not merit.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: The sons of promise are determined by covenant, not merit.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: There's only one guy in here, and this is where
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: we look at Enoch. Look at verse 21. When Enoch
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: God after he had fathered Methuselah 300 years and had
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and was not,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: for God took him. I mean, you look at that.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Don't you think there could have been more there? That's
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: just juicy. He walked with God. What does that mean?
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Tell us about his life. We get a little bit
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: of a glimpse, for example, in Jude about the life
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: of Enoch. But other than that, we don't get this picture.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: And the writer of Genesis, Moses, does not give us
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the deeds of Enoch and why Enoch was godly. You
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: notice that? We don't get that. We don't get the
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: deeds of Enoch, and we don't get why Enoch was godly. Why?
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Because Genesis chapter 5 is not about Enoch. It's about
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: the link from Adam to Noah. Enoch is important in
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 5 because he's seventh in the chain from
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Adam to Noah. That's why Enoch is important here. We
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: learn something from Enoch about, you know, translate it. We
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: learned something about that. We learned something about that theologically,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: and we'll get to that in a moment. But the
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: point here is about the sons of promise that bring
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: us to the fulfillment of God's covenantal promise. And the
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: sons of promise are determined by covenant and not by merit.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: And why is Enoch so important in that regard? Because
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Enoch's the one who's talked about here as walking with God. Now,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: here's what we would think. We would think that you
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: get to be a son of promise by being a
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: person who walks with God. And so God looks down
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: and he says, okay, this one's walking with God, therefore
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: I will make them the next link in the chain. Okay,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: now that one's walking with God, therefore I will make
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: them the next link in the chain. Okay, that one's
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: walking with God, therefore I will make them the next
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: link in the chain. Nope. Nope, not at all. Some
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: of these guys are probably scoundrels. Look at the genealogy
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Was it just all the most godly people
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: in the world who earned the privilege of being in
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: the genealogy of Jesus? Nope. You got scoundrels in the
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: genealogy of Jesus. You don't earn your way into being
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: a son of promise because it's the promise of God,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: not the promise of man. They're determined by covenant and
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: not by merit. Let's look at a couple of these.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: There's Ishmael and Isaac. Go with me to Genesis chapter 17.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 17. And look at 15 to 21 in
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 17. There's the same principle. God said to Abraham,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: ask for Sarai, your wife. You shall not call her
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: bless her. And moreover, I will give you a son
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: by her. I will bless her and she shall become
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: nations kings of peoples shall come from her then Abraham
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: fell on his face and laughed and said to himself
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: shall a child be born to a man who is
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: a hundred years old shall Sarah who is 90 years
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: old bear a child and Abraham said to God oh
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: that Ishmael might live before you he's already got a
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: son named Ishmael right he's the firstborn certainly the son
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: of promise would be the firstborn right I mean, that's
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the one who traditionally gets the blessing and gets the inheritance,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: so certainly it would be the firstborn. God said, no,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish, listen
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: to this, my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: for his offspring after him. Could Isaac have done anything
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: before he was even conceived by Sarah to earn his
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: way into being a son of promise? Absolutely not. It's
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: not about merit. It's about covenant. Isaac was the son
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: of promise because God said so, not because Isaac was
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: worthy of it. It's about covenant. Next, Jacob and Esau.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: Look at Genesis 25. Genesis 25. Well, actually, we're not
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: going to look at it. Genesis 25, 21 to 23
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: is where you see this promise about Jacob and Esau.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: But go to Romans chapter 9 where this promise is
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: repeated and we get some theological ramifications of this promise.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: It's Genesis chapter 9. I mean, not Genesis, Romans chapter 9.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Romans chapter 9. And let's look at verses
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: 6 through 13. Among the most controversial passages in the
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: whole Bible, Genesis chapter 9 just gives people fits. I mean,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 9 just gives people, I keep doing that,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: don't I? That's all right. Romans chapter 9, that's why
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: we have editing. Romans chapter 9. And listen to this,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: beginning of verse 6. But it is not as though
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the word of God has failed. For not all who
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And not all
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: through Isaac shall your offspring be named. Amen. This means
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: that it is not the child of the flesh or
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: the children of the flesh who are the children of God,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: For this is what the promise said. About this time
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: next year, I will return and Sarah shall have a son.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: children by one man, our forefather Isaac, Though they were
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: not yet born and had done nothing either good or
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: not because of works but because of his call, she
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: was told, the older will serve the younger as it
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: is written, Jacob I loved and Esau I hated. The
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: sons of promise are determined by covenant and not by merit.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: They're determined by covenant and not by marriage. These individuals
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: in the lineage between Adam and Noah are not there
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: because they earned the right to be there. They are
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: there because God is working out his plan and he
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: determined to use them in the process. Amen? Finally, finally,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: we see this borne out in the choosing of Israel
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: over other nations. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 7. I mean, yeah,
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy 7, verses 6 through 11. Deuteronomy 7,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: beginning at verse 6. For you are a people holy
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: out of all the peoples who are on the face
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: of the earth. It was not because you are more
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: in number than any other people that the Lord has
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: set his love on you and chosen you, for you
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: are the fewest of all the peoples. But it is
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: that he swore to your fathers. that the Lord has
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh,
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: the king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: steadfast love with those who love him and keep his
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: commandments to a thousand generations and repays to their face
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: those who hate him by destroying them. He will not
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: be slack with one who hates him He will repay
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: do the commandments and the statutes and the rules that
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: I command you today. I chose you, people. Not because
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: of what you do. I chose you because of a
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: promise I made to your forefathers. Not because Israel was
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: the greatest. In fact, Israel was the weakest. Not because
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: Israel was full of perfect people and therefore they got
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: to be in the line. No. No. There are many
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: of you today who are the result of the promise
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: of God to faithful people generations ago. Amen? Not because
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: of your merit. Fourthly, the sons of promise. reveal the
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: providence and justice of God. They reveal the providence and
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: justice of God. We see that also here in Genesis
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: chapter 5. There was a phrase that we repeated. We
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: repeated that phrase eight times as we read Genesis chapter 5.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: It was said of Adam and all of the rest
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: of his descendants, with the exception of two, Enoch and Noah.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: By the way, Noah gets his in chapter 6. And
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: that phrase is, and he died. What's that statement about?
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: That statement is about the justice of God. You eat
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: from this tree and you will surely die. Really? Have
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: we experienced much death up to this point in Genesis
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: chapter 5? Well, Abel was killed by Cain. And so
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: maybe it could have been said, well, yeah, because of that,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: a person can die. And, you know, Cain killed Abel. And, yeah,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: because of that, he dies. But we got these long lifespans.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Do we really believe that every person has to die?
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Do we really believe that? Adam lives 930 years. But
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: this phrase is said of Adam. And he died. He died.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: It's said of everyone who comes after that. And he died.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: We see the justice of God. No matter how many
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: years you get, you will die. Every one of us
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: in this room will eventually die. Unless the Lord returns
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: for us first. Amen? Come Lord Jesus. But it's inevitable.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: We will die. How many times have we heard, for example,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: of people who were in the greatest shape of their life?
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Because maybe we say, okay, but if we just stay
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: in great shape, we can live for a long time
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: and we'll get 100 years and this and that and
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: the other. Well, you know, we hear about these individuals
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: who are marathon runners. Best shape in the world. You
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: look at them and they're just, they're elite athletes. And
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: they go out for a run and never make it home.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: They die. They die. Every time we go to a funeral,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: we're reminded of the justice of God. Everyone dies. Without exception.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: They die. It's the justice of God. But the sons
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: of promise also remind us, not of the justice, but
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: also of the providence of God. We see the providence
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: of God in two ways here. Number one, in that
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: we get from Adam to Noah. And who's Noah? Noah's
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: the deliverer. So there's the providence of God. So the
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: justice of God says, you're going to die, and all
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: of your descendants, they're going to die. But the providence
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: of God says, I'm going to bring about a deliverer.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: But here's the providence of God also, and here's where
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: Enoch is important. If there is no Enoch in these
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: first 10 generations, what do these people believe about death?
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: You live and then you die. You're dead like a dog.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: There's nothing beyond that. But God takes Enoch as if
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: to say to all the people then and all the
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: people now, death is not. The end. The providence of God.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: He provides for us in life and in death. That's
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: the providence of God, people. So through the sons of promise,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: we see the justice of God in that they all die.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Why do we need this link between Adam and ultimately
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: between Noah? Because everybody's going to die between Adam and
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: Noah and Noah's going to die too. The justice of
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: God will be meted out. But all of a sudden,
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: we also see the providence of God. God has made
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: a promise in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. And
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Lamech understands this promise. Listen to his phrase here in
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: chapter 5 and verse 29. Verse 29. And he called
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: his name Noah, saying, out of the ground the Lord
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: has cursed. This one shall bring us relief from our
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: work and from the painful toil of our hands. Where
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: does he get this phrase? Remember, at least 150 years
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: he's alive while Adam is alive. Adam was there and
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: heard the curse from God, and the curse was about
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: this toil in the land. Lamech believes that there's going
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: to be a deliverer because in Genesis chapter 3 and
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: verse 15, we have the proto-evangel, if you will, the
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: first gospel proclamation that there's going to come a deliverer.
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: The enemy will bruise his heel, but he will crush
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: the enemy's head. Lamech believes that. And he names his
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: son in accordance with that, believing that a deliverer will come.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: And a deliverer does come. Noah's a deliverer. He's the
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: son of promise. Enoch is a sign of the promise
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: that there is something beyond death, that this is not
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: as good as it gets. This is not the be-all
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: to end-all. It's not the end. And finally, not only
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: are the sons of promise revealed when the promise is
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: fulfilled and determined by covenant and not merit, not only
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: do they reveal the justice and the providence of God,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: but finally, The sons of promise are always a foreshadowing
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: of Christ. Noah's a foreshadowing of Christ the theological term
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: is he's a type of Christ not that you know
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: he's one type Jesus is another type know that that
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: word type means he's a symbol of Christ Noah comes
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: and he's the son of promise And it's through this
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: son of promise that deliverance and rescue comes. He's the
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: son of promise. Christ is the ultimate son of promise.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: And so when we see Christ in Matthew, where do
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: we begin and what do we begin with? A genealogy.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: A genealogy. Just like in Genesis chapter 5. This genealogy, though,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: in Matthew, connects Jesus to whom? David. Because Matthew is
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: trying to demonstrate that Jesus is the son of promise
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: as it relates to Israel and the throne. Amen, hallelujah,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: praise the Lord. Amen. He is a king, just like
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: David was a king. That's what Matthew says. But then
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: we get to Luke. That's my favorite genealogy. Why? Because
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: Luke goes back further than David. He goes back all
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: the way to Adam. What is he saying when he
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: gives the genealogy of Jesus and goes all the way
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: back to Adam? Here's what he is saying. There was
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: a promise made in Genesis chapter 3. that a deliverer
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: would come and crush the head of the adversary. And
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: throughout this time of covenant between God and man, there
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: have been signs as God has raised up a deliverer
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: to say, I'm still God and my promise is still real.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: When Noah came and the floods came, Noah was God's
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: way of saying, I am still God and my promise
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: is still real. When Moses came as the deliverer from Egypt,
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: God was saying, I'm still God and my promise is
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: still real. But we read in the book of Hebrews
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: that Jesus is superior to everyone who came before. Why?
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Because they were just types and they were just shadows.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: But there is one ultimate son of promise and his
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: name is Jesus. And just like God gave us a
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: genealogy to show us that Noah was a son of promise,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: there in the book of Luke, genealogy to show us
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: that Jesus is the son of promise. And every other
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: son of promise was merely a foreshadowing of this son
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: of promise. That's what Genesis 5 is about. So when
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: we get bogged down in what it would take for
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: a man to live this long, we're missing the big picture.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: The big picture is Jesus. I don't care how long
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: Methuselah lived. He's not going to live longer than me. Amen?
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: Because I will live forever with the ultimate son of promise,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. What's a thousand years? To the Lord, a
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: thousand years is as a day. And a day as
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: a thousand years, by the way, I don't run from
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: 2 Peter 3.9. I don't run from that at all.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: The Lord is not slow the way some consider slowness
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: concerning His promise. By the way, this comes right alongside
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: that statement about a day being as a thousand years
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: and a thousand years being as a day. No, He's
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: not slow. He's patient. He's not willing for any to perish.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: But for all to come to repentance. And people look
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: at that and they go, well, wait a minute. If
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: it's God's will that everybody come to repentance, how come
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: everybody doesn't go to heaven? That's interesting. Maybe we're reading
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: the verse wrong. Who's the all there? All those in
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: the lineage of the son of promise? I look at
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: 2 Peter 3.9 and here's what I read. Everybody's looking
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: for a deliverer. Noah comes and he's the deliverer. And
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: everybody's going, now? No, not now. Moses comes and he's
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the deliverer. And everybody's going, now? And here's what I see.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: Here's what I see. God's not slow concerning his promise.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: And you wish and I wish that God would just
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: sort of sum this thing up. But in the mind
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: of God and in the economy of God, I just
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: happen to believe that there's a little guy by the
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: name of Asher that he desires to see come to repentance.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: And he ain't summing it up yet because that hadn't happened.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Because if it's in the plan of God that before
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: things are wrapped up, Little Asher comes to faith in repentance.
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be wrapped up until little Asher
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: comes to faith in repentance. By the way, you can
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: put in the name of any little person or older
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: person for that matter that you're praying about coming to faith.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: God's not slow as it concerns his promise. If he
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: hadn't wrapped things up yet, he's not finished yet. Amen. Amen.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: 2 Peter 3.9 is not about God pining, oh, oh, oh,
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: I just hope, oh, I just hope, oh, I just hope. No.
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: 2 Peter 3.9 is about God saying, I am in
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: control of the sons of promise, and I am in
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: control of the covenant and the children of the covenant.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: I am in control of how history works itself out,
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: and it is not random. I was in control from
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Adam to Noah. I was in control from Noah to Moses.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: I was in control from Moses till David. And I
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: was in control from David till Jesus. And I'm still
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: in control until I wrap this thing up and the
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: number of my elect are complete. That's the God I serve.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Not some weak, pining God. But the God of the universe.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: Who works all things well. according to the counsel of
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: his own will. And when we look back through the
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: corridor of time, we can measure that through the sons
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: of promise and through the covenant that God makes with them.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: That is what Genesis chapter 5 is about.