Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Are you one of those people who thinks the genealogies in the Bible are boring? Well, you may change your mind after you hear today's edition of Messianic Perspectives. This is Messianic Perspectives, where we look into the scriptures from a distinctively Messianic point of view.

Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is leading our Bible study with the 10 Gentile patriarchs who lived before the flood. If you have your Bible handy, we invite you to turn to Genesis chapter five and join in. I'll be back at the close of the program with news about a special offer. And now, with today's message, here's Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you, and welcome listening friend to another edition of our program. We're talking about the significance of Bible names, and we said God often used a person's name to reveal aspects of his background, character, or destiny. And in the case of the genealogy of Genesis chapter five, God used the names of these 10 Gentile patriarchs to reveal, in a most amazing way, his wonderful plan of salvation.

What we're going to find as we continue working our way through this remarkable chapter is that God revealed in capsule form, through the names of those first 10 patriarchs, his plan of redemption thousands of years before Messiah Jesus was ever born. Now, so far, we've looked at the first two patriarchs in Genesis 5, Adam and Seth. These two Hebrew names, Adam and Shet, form the first part of this remarkable sentence.

Adam means man and Shet means appointed. So the first part of the sentence is, man is appointed. Now, let's continue. The next generation is given in Genesis 5:6. It says, and Seth lived 105 years and begat Enos. So Seth had a son named Enos. The Hebrew word Enosh comes from a root meaning frail, feeble, or melancholy. Therefore, this name emphasizes the frailty and mortality of fallen humanity.

Before the fall, God warned Adam that the consequences of sin would include physical and spiritual death. In Genesis 2:17, the Lord said, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Literally, dying, thou shalt die. It's a process of decay and disease and death that would be introduced into this world as a result of sin.

Because at its root, that's what sin really is: destruction. One of Satan's Hebrew names is Apollyon, which means destroyer. And what he does is destroy. In our relationships, what does sin do? It destroys those relationships. In our bodies, what does sin do? It destroys our physical bodies. In our spiritual lives, what does sin do? It destroys us spiritually. So that's what sin is: destruction.

By the way, it's interesting that leaven in the Bible symbolizes sin because leaven or yeast works through a process of destruction. The chemical term is fermentation or degradation. It degrades molecules; that is, it breaks complex molecules down into simple compounds. It's a process of destruction, you see. That's why the Jews could only use unleavened bread in the Passover.

That's why in the Levitical law, the Israelites were told never to use leaven in the temple sacrifices and the offerings. And that's why Jesus warned his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He was talking about the pervasive and destructive influence of their teaching. So that's what happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. A process of decay and disease and death was introduced into this world.

However, one or two generations must have passed before the full impact of the fall began to be felt. Because it says in Genesis 4:26 that when Enos was born, the second generation from Adam, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. In other words, it really wasn't until then that men felt the need to call upon the name of the Lord.

That leads us to conclude that this was when men began to experience the full magnitude of sin's effects. During those first few hundred years after the fall, there was enough of a carryover effect from the perfect conditions of the Garden of Eden to shield mankind from some of the effects of the fall. By the way, that's why lifespans were so much longer in those first generations after the Garden of Eden.

It was nothing to see someone live to be 700 or 800 years old. Some lived to be 900 years old and even more because it took several generations for the aging process to take hold. And then the lifespans went down, especially after the flood, until they were about where they are now. So it's in the generation that Enos is born that the Adamic curse really kicks in.

Man begins to feel his mortality. And when that happens, man begins to call on the name of the Lord. You see, that's one reason the Lord allows us to experience trouble and pain because he wants us to be aware of our need for him. Toil and pain have a humbling effect. They remind us of our weakness and mortality and of our need to depend on the Lord. So the Hebrew word Enosh emphasizes the frailty and mortality of fallen mankind. Enos represented the second generation after Adam.

Then the third generation after Adam is represented by Cainan, whose Hebrew name Kanan means habitation or dwelling place. Genesis 5, verse 9. Its roots include the following meanings: fixed, a nest, or to erect. So Kanan means habitation or dwelling place. Now, let's stop here for a moment and see what we have so far. Remember we said that if you take the Hebrew names of these 10 patriarchs and put them together in sequence, they form a sentence.

And so far, we've said the word Adam means man, Seth means appointed, Enosh means mortal, and Cainan means habitation. So the first part of the sentence reads like this: Man is appointed a mortal habitation. Isn't that remarkable? But just wait, it gets even better. Let's move on here in Genesis chapter five, verse 12, where it says, and Cainan lived 70 years and begat Mahalaleel.

So the fourth generation after Adam is represented by Mahalaleel, whose name comes from a number of Hebrew roots. It means the blessed God. Mahalaleel. El is God. The blessed God. Notice the similarity to the word Hallelujah, which means bless the Lord. Mahalaleel means the blessed God. The fifth generation after Adam is represented by Jared, who was Adam's great-great-great-great grandson.

It says in Genesis 5:15, and Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years and begat Jared. His Hebrew name is Yared, which means descend or he shall come down. Yared, he shall come down. Now, what do we have? Adam: man. Shet: appointed. Enosh: mortal. Kanan: habitation. Mahalaleel: the blessed God. Yared: he shall come down. Put the names of the first six patriarchs together and here's what you have: Man is appointed a mortal habitation, but the blessed God shall come down.

But there's more. We've got four more patriarchs to go, so the sentence is only a little over half complete so far. Let's move on to patriarch number seven. His name is Enoch, and you'll find him in verse 18 where it says, and Jared lived 162 years and he begat Enoch. Now, this man Enoch, son of Jared, is a very interesting character. For one thing, he's the first prophet mentioned in the Bible.

Not only is he the first prophet, but he gave the first explicit prophecy of the second coming of the Messiah. Part of that prophecy was preserved for posterity in the New Testament book of Jude, verse 14, where it says, and Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints (verse 15) to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Now, sometimes people say the judgment Enoch prophesied about was the flood. But Enoch's preaching in the days of Noah looked way beyond the judgment of the flood to that future day when the Lord would come with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon the wicked. When Enoch's preaching was ended, the Lord translated him into heaven before the judgment fell.

In that sense, Enoch is a clear, unmistakable type of the ecclesia of Jesus Christ in the world today. He symbolizes the first of three groups of people because he was taken up into heaven before the judgment fell. Group number two is represented by Noah, who went safely through the judgment and came out on a renovated earth. Group number three is represented by the wicked who perished in the flood.

So you have three groups. Group number one, typified by Enoch, consists of those who are translated into heaven before judgment falls. Group number two, typified by Noah, consists of those who are taken through the judgment and come out safely on the other side. And group number three, typified by the ungodly in the days of Noah, consists of those who perish in the judgment.

So in the days before the flood, all of humanity could be divided into three groups. Group number one: those who will be taken out before the judgment. Group number two: those who will be taken through the judgment. And group number three: those who will perish in the judgment. And what did Jesus say in Luke 17:26? As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.

In the days immediately prior to the second coming, all of humanity will be divided into three groups. Group number one: those who will be taken out before the judgment falls. That's the church, typified by Enoch, who was taken out of this world by God before the flood came. Like Enoch in the days before the flood, the church will be translated to be with the Lord before that great and terrible day of the Lord shall come.

How precious is the promise of Revelation 3:10 to the church? He says, because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Well, that's all the time we have for today. We'll talk some more about these three groups of people on the next program. Until then, this is Gary Hedrick saying, God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning into Messianic Perspectives. It was good to have you with us today. And if you're one of our newer listeners, we hope you'll make our program a part of your daily routine. If you found today's program especially helpful and insightful, you'll be glad to know that we have placed the entire series of programs on one compact disc.

The title is simply What's in a Name?, and it's available for your gift this week of just $6. Or if you prefer to have it in printed form, you can order the pamphlet. The pamphlet includes a helpful chart with the Hebrew names of the 10 Gentile patriarchs. It shows how those names together form a remarkable acrostic that may be the first mention of the plan of salvation in your entire Bible.

Again, the title of the pamphlet is What's in a Name?, and it's available for your contribution of any amount to help us keep this program on your radio station. Just visit our online store at MessianicSpecialties.com. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO 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. This is Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series on What's in a Name? right here on Messianic Perspectives.

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