Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. One of the longest-running television series of all time was Star Trek, created by producer Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. It made William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy famous.

Then there was Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Deep Space Nine. But did you know the Bible talks about a spectacular series of Star Treks that began many thousands of years ago? And now to tell us more about it, here is our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you and welcome back to our studios here in San Antonio, Texas. It's good to have you with us today, listening friend, as we continue these studies on biblical journeys through outer space. And what we've seen so far is that long before NASA, long before the space shuttle, centuries before Star Wars and Star Trek, the Bible records that certain men had already experienced space travel.

And we said that one of the first space travelers was a man named Enoch, who was a preacher of judgment in the days before the flood. Enoch was caught up into outer space and taken away to heaven by God. It says in Genesis 5:24 that he was not, for God took him.

Now today we want to finish up this series of studies by talking about Enoch and his son Methuselah. We have a key to the mystery of Methuselah's life in the fact that it is mentioned twice that Enoch, his father, walked with God. This implies intimacy and is used of only two men in the entire Bible: Enoch and Noah. They walked with God, it says.

It implies intimacy, confidence, and communication, the sharing of information. In this intimate fellowship, God took Enoch into His confidence and began to reveal to Enoch His plan for the future. You say, "Gary, how do you know that?" I know it because the Bible says it. In the book of Jude, for example, we read about the prophecy of Enoch, a prophecy that was given long before the Old Testament prophets ever mentioned the details of the second coming.

Centuries before Moses or Isaiah or Ezekiel or Joel or any of them, Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, was able to prophesy that, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment." Now how did Enoch know about the end-time judgment? How did he know about the second coming? How did he know that the Lord would come back a second time, not for His saints, but with His saints?

It almost sounds like Enoch had read the New Testament. Yet we know he lived thousands of years before the New Testament was ever written. The logical conclusion is that God revealed these things to Enoch as they walked together and as they fellowshiped together and as they talked together. God began to unfold His prophetic plan for the future to Enoch.

It is not only a promise, but a characteristic of God that He takes His servants into His confidence and reveals to them things to come. Abraham is a case in point. When the Lord was ready to destroy Sodom, He revealed to His servant Abraham, Avraham, His plan. And we hear God saying, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" Genesis 18:17.

The Lord does not leave His children in darkness, but reveals to them His plan and His program if they are willing to listen. This is the very essence of the word of God. It is the revelation of Himself, His work, His purpose, and His future program. And so it was in the days before the flood. Enoch, who was a type of the church, was evidently informed by the Lord what He was about to do.

Not only did God reveal to Enoch the coming of the flood, but also the blessed hope that he would be translated before the judgment fell. And as a result of this revelation, Enoch became the world's first prophet, preaching the coming judgment of God on a wicked world. It is not unreasonable to suppose that questions would arise in Enoch's mind concerning the details of this coming catastrophe.

He would of course like to know when this judgment would come. It's only natural to want to know when. Like the disciples when Jesus told them about the destruction of the temple and the end of the age, they said, "Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age?" Matthew chapter 24 verse 3.

Evidently the Lord had revealed to Enoch that he would be taken out before the judgment. You say, "Gary, how do you know that?" Well, let me show you something over here in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5. It says, "By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death." Now think about that. What would Enoch's faith have to do with it unless he had been told ahead of time what was going to happen?

By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death. However, once Enoch knew the fact of God's coming judgment and his translation from Earth to heaven, he wanted to know when these things would occur. But just as in the case of the disciples centuries later, the Lord did not reveal the day or the date. Enoch had to accept by faith its certainty and its imminence.

To the disciples' question, Jesus gave a long list of signs and among them the repetition of the days in which Enoch lived before the flood. To Enoch also, the Lord gave a sign in a most dramatic way. That sign was the birth of his son Methuselah, Metushelah. We believe God revealed to Enoch that the coming of the flood would correspond to the death of his son.

As long as Methuselah was alive, the judgment would not come. But when Methuselah was taken from the world in death, then it would happen. The life of Methuselah became the measure of God's long-suffering and patience before the flood came. And the key is in his name, Methuselah. In Hebrew, it's Metushelah. If you look the name up in your Strong's Concordance, it'll tell you that it means "man of the dart."

But when you go a little deeper, you find that it has another meaning. In Hebrew, the word "matai" is an interrogative adverb asking the question, "when?" or "how long?" When it's used with a preposition, it can mean "against when," "until when," "how long," or "after how long." Matai. Then "shalach" is a Hebrew word which means "to depart." So you've got Methuselah or Metushelah from these two Hebrew roots.

Arthur Pink puts it all together in his very fine book *Gleanings in Genesis*. He says the name Methuselah is the key to God's revelation concerning the coming of the flood. He gives the meaning of the word Methuselah as, quote, "When he is gone, then it will happen." In other words, when Methuselah is gone, then the flood will come.

Let me quote Arthur Pink. He says, quote, "The name Methuselah strongly implies that Enoch had received a revelation from God. The name Methuselah signifies when he is dead, it shall be sent. That is, the deluge. In all probability then, a divine revelation is memorialized in this name. It was as though God said to Enoch, 'Do you see that baby? The world will last as long as he lives and no longer. When that child is taken out, I shall deal with the world in judgment. The windows of heaven shall be opened, the fountains of the great deep will be broken up, and humanity will perish.'" End quote.

That's from *Gleanings in Genesis* by Arthur I. Pink. We can easily see what a revelation like this would do to Enoch. He didn't know whether this boy would live one day or a hundred years. It might occur at any moment and it is no wonder he walked with God from that day on. How he must have watched little Methuselah, knowing that if anything happened to that boy and he should die, the great flood would come.

Just suppose God had revealed to you that the life of one of your children would be the measure of time before the rapture would occur. You'd watch that child constantly: every time he got sick, every time he came down with a fever, every time he was late coming home from school, you'd wonder if the time had come. That's how it was for Enoch.

And that's why from the day Methuselah was born, the Bible says Enoch walked with God. The presence of this son of Enoch is what prevented the flood from coming. But when he was gone, it would come. The longer Methuselah lived, the longer the day of God's grace would be extended. In much the same way, the longer the church remains here on earth, the longer the day of God's grace is extended.

You say, "Well, I've never heard that interpretation before." Well, if you listen to this program, my friend, you're going to hear a lot of things you've never heard before. But if you have any difficulty with this interpretation of Methuselah's name, let me give you one more fact that should nail it down for you. It is the fact that this interpretation corresponds perfectly to the genealogical records in the book of Genesis.

You see, the flood came in the same year and the very same day of Methuselah's death. If you have your calculator handy, you can check it out for yourself. The Noahic flood came exactly 969 years after Methuselah's birth. In Genesis 5:25, we read that Methuselah lived 187 years when his son Lamech was born. In verse 28, we are told that Lamech was 182 years old when Noah was born.

Adding the two figures together, we find that Methuselah was 369 years old when Noah was born. That's 187 plus 182. Now look at Genesis 7:11. It says, "In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, in the 17th day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up." The flood came. Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and Methuselah was 969 years old at the very same time.

It works out perfectly, down to the very day. It was the verification of God's promise recessed in the Hebrew name Metushelah. "When he is gone, then it shall come." Well, that's our study of Star Trek: The Original Series. One day soon, we'll all embark on a heavenly Star Trek. Are you going with us? I hope so. In the meantime, let's stay busy for the Master. Thanks for joining us, listening friend. I'll see you next time. God bless you. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Today we've been listening to our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick, talking about Star Trek: The Original Series. By the way, if you enjoyed today's study, you'll be glad to know that we've placed all seven of these programs on one convenient CD. It's available for your gift of just six dollars or more to help us keep this program here on your station.

Just ask for the program GT25 entitled Star Trek: The Original Series. Visit our secure online store at MessianicSpecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Pastor Al Runge begins his series on *The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God*, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.