Noah; The Man Of Favor Series

Hillary and Bill Clinton decided to go for a drive one weekend to see the beautiful countryside and take a break from politics. After a while, they needed to stop for gas. They pulled into a tiny gas station, and out walked a man to help them. Hillary looked up and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Charley! Is that you? I can't believe it!" She jumped out of the car and gave the man a big hug, and proceeded to talk with the man for a long time. After they were finished talking, they hugged again, and Hillary got back in the car.

As they were driving away, Bill turned to Hillary and asked "Honey, who was that?"

"That was Charley, an old boyfriend of mine," she responded. "We dated for a long time, and almost got married."

"Just think," said Bill. "If you had married him, today you would be the wife of a gas station attendant."

"No," said Hillary, "If I had married him, today he would be the Ex- President of the United States, helping his wife to get elected!"

As we been studying Adam and the generations following him, we are left with a lot of if’s. If Adam had not disobeyed God, what would our world be like?

As we begin today looking at the genealogy of Jesus, let’s get current on the world situation that exists at this time.

Adam, Seth, Enosh, and Mahalalel have all died. Kenan is 731 years old. Jared is 596 years old. Enoch has disappeared, walking into heaven with God. Methuselah is 369 years old. His son Lamech is 182 years old. So it’s in the 10th generation that Noah is born. At the age of 500, Noah would father Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

I find it interesting that all three are named when it is only one of them that the lineage of Jesus will come through. Perhaps they were triplets since Noah was 500 when they were born. Also it is safe to assume that Noah was the father of other sons and daughters as were his ancestors. Just because they are not mentioned does not mean they did not necessarily exist.

We are told in Genesis 6 that the people began to multiply on the earth. The sons of God saw beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives. We are told that whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times. These children were called Nephilites, which meant giants.

Now, we are going to chase a rabbit trail here because someone is going to ask later. Who were these sons of God? Were they fallen angels? No. Angels are spiritual created beings, unable to reproduce.

To understand these sons of God we must go back to

Genesis 4. Cain has killed his brother Abel. God has discovered the murder and cursed Cain. He settles in Nod, east of Eden. It was one of his descendants that first introduced music into the world. Another introduced making tools from bronze and iron.

When Cain’s brother Seth had a child named Enosh, they instituted the worship of God by name. This was the holy lineage through Adam who was referred to as the son of God, since he had no earthly beginning.

The future generation of Adam, the sons of God, began to marry the daughters of Cain’s future generation. This was corrupting God’s plans to keep pure the generation of Adam designed to worship him. These offspring would become the heroes and warriors of ancient times.

What was God’s reaction to this intermingling?

Genesis 6:3 “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.’”

I have heard it asked a lot if the years of Adam and the others were actual years like those that we know or perhaps seasons. I feel certain they were actual years. So when you are asked why we don’t live as long as they did, here is the answer. God can’t put up with us much longer then what He allows us to live.

Here is our first lesson. God is not impressed with our accomplishments.

Man had learned how to make music and forge tools. They had become heroes and warriors. God was looking for worshipers.

He still is.

There are people who go to church to make a name for themselves in the community. That is not worship. There are people who give abundantly of their finances so they can control the church. That is not worship. Church is not a social club or a business opportunity. It is a place of worship. It is a place to sing to the Most High. It is a place to hear the teachings from his Book. It is a place to be ministered to by his Spirit. Anything less is lacking.