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.

Guest (Male): This is Messianic Perspectives, where we look into the scriptures from a distinct Messianic point of view. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is leading our Bible study with the ten Gentile patriarchs who lived before the flood. If you have your Bible handy, we invite you to turn to Genesis chapter 5 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 about this amazing sentence that's formed when you take the names of the ten patriarchs in Genesis chapter 5. It very likely forms the earliest clear statement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here's what we have so far. The first patriarch is Adam, whose Hebrew name means man. Number two is Seth, whose Hebrew name means appointed. Number three is Enos, which means mortal. Then Cainan means dwelling place or habitation. Number five is Mahalalel, which means the blessed God. Number six is Jared, which means he shall descend. Number seven is Enoch, which means teaching. And number eight is Methuselah, which means his death shall bring. Put it all together, and here's what you've got: man is appointed a mortal habitation, but the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring something.

To find out what his death will bring, we go on to patriarch number nine, Lamech. This is the most difficult name of all because no one seems to know what it really means or even where it came from. In Hebrew, it's Lamech. Some rabbinic sources suggest that Lamech's name conveyed the idea of a captive or someone who is ruled. Their reasoning was that the Hebrew spelling of Lamech is the opposite of Melech, which means king. Melech, the Hebrew word for king, consists of three Hebrew letters: Mem, Lamed, and Kaph. Melech. In rabbinic thought, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet symbolizes something. In the case of the word Melech, the Mem represents the brain, the Lamed represents the heart, and the Kaph represents the kidneys. Brain, heart, and kidneys. The rabbis took this to mean that a king ruled with his brain, not with his heart. In other words, his intellect is in control rather than his emotions. That's the word Melech, which is the Hebrew word for king. One of the Jewish titles for the Messiah is Melech Mashiach, King Messiah.

The word Lamech reverses those first two letters. Instead of the mind ruling the heart, the heart is ruling the mind. In other words, the emotions rule the intellect. He's a slave to his emotions. Lamech is the opposite of Melech. What's the opposite of a king? A slave or a captive. That's the meaning of Lamech. Patriarch number ten, the last one, is Noah, son of Lamech, whose name means comfort. In Hebrew, it's Noach, which means rest or comfort. When Noah was born, his father, Lamech, spoke of his hope that his son would be the Messiah. In Genesis 5:29, Lamech said he named the boy Noah because, "This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." Lamech was hoping that Noah would be the Messiah, the one through whom the Adamic curse would be broken. Although his son was not the Messiah, Lamech's name does appear in the genealogy of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, in Luke 3:36.

There are the ten patriarchs, and the message is now complete. Here it is: man is appointed a mortal habitation, but the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the captive's comfort. I want you to notice that all of the essential elements of the Gospel are here. Man is appointed a mortal habitation, but the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the captive's comfort. It's all there. For example, man, Adam, the name of the first patriarch means man. That includes not just one class or race of humanity, but everyone, all the descendants of Adam. In theology, we call Adam the federal head of the human race because he stands for every man, woman, and child who would ever be born. The first word of this sentence puts us all in the same boat, just like the book of Romans says: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23.

Perhaps the greatest messianic passage in the entire Bible is the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. What does the prophet say? "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him, that is on the Messiah, the iniquity of us all," Isaiah 53:6. You see, no exceptions. We're all sinners. What does this mean? It says man is appointed a mortal habitation. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 1, Paul refers to our mortal bodies as an earthly house or dwelling place. Death and mortality entered the world through Adam's sin. Romans 5:17 says that by one man's offense death reigned by one. Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

Before the fall, Adam was immortal. He and Eve would have lived forever. But because of their sin, Adam and Eve were appointed a mortal habitation, a mortal dwelling place. You say, "There you go again, Gary, talking like all of that stuff in the Garden of Eden really happened." Let me ask you: what do you think happened? Do you think mankind just sort of evolved from some anthropoid ancestor, that our forebears used to walk around dragging their knuckles on the ground? Would you say the only difference between man and the animal kingdom is that man is more highly evolved? Let me give you something to think about, my friend. A hundred years ago, when creationism was taught in the schools and the school day began with prayer, you could walk down the halls of the public schools in places like Chicago and New York without any fear at all. When someone graduated from high school in those days, he knew how to read and write.

But now we've taken prayer out of the public schools, and instead of creationism, we're teaching evolution, and what do we have? Armed guards patrolling the hallways of our public high schools, teachers and administrators wearing bulletproof vests, metal bars on the windows like prisons. Because instead of teaching our children that they are the creation of almighty God, made in His image, after His likeness, and that we are accountable to the one who made us, we're teaching them that they're animals, that there is no God, that there is no real purpose for our existence. It was just a random evolutionary process with some accidental mutations in the genetic code, and poof, here we are. Let me tell you something. If you take children and teach them that they're nothing more than animals, they will act like animals. Listen, a lower anthropology always means a lower theology. If you take man down to an animal level, that's how he'll act.

If man is not a direct creation of God, if he is merely the byproduct of random processes of which no one knows what or how or when or why or where, then the mainspring of moral accountability is gone. There's no purpose, no meaning, no real significance to life. It's just live it up while you can because tomorrow you die. You tell me which one you prefer, my friend: the Bible or evolution? If it's the Bible, then it's an entirely different picture because the Bible teaches that man was created to have fellowship with God and to exercise dominion over the creation. But mankind fell into sin, and with the introduction of sin, the universe went into a downward spiral of decay and disease and death. It's not evolution that we see all around us, but devolution. The universe is in decline. That's why the first part of this sentence here in Genesis chapter 5 is so appropriate: man is appointed a mortal habitation.

The New Testament says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," Hebrews 9:27. We all have an appointment with death, and it's because of Adam's sin. That's the bad news. Now we come to the good news. You see, there wouldn't be any good news without the bad news. Just like in magnetism, you've got to have a negative pole in order to have a positive pole. When it comes to the Gospel, you've got to understand the negative dimensions of sin and death and judgment and hell before you can understand the positive dimensions of the Gospel. The Gospel is good news. In fact, that's what the Greek word *euaggelion* means: good news. You've got to get the bad news before you can get the good news. We've already gotten the bad news where it said man is appointed a mortal habitation. Aren't you glad the sentence doesn't end there? Aren't you glad we're not left with no hope beyond this life of mortality and sorrow? Aren't you glad the bad news is followed by some good news?

Here's the good news. It says, "But the blessed God shall come down." Mahalalel, the blessed God. Jared, he shall descend or he shall come down. The blessed God shall come down. Isn't that wonderful? God saw us in our helpless estate, unable to keep the law, unable to live up to His standard of righteousness and holiness, and what did He do? Did He throw up His hands and say, "I'm not messing with them. I gave them everything. They had it all, and then they turn on me like that. I'm just going to let them die in their sins." Is that what God said? Nope. He said, "They are my creation. I want them back. Whatever it takes, I will redeem them." Do you know what it took? God Himself had to come down to earth. He had to condescend and become a man. The blessed God shall come down. We'll talk about this more next time when we finish up our series on what's in a name. Come on back and join us, won't you? 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. 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 six dollars. 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 ten 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, 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. Have you enjoyed this edition of Messianic Perspectives? Why not continue to learn about the Jewish roots of your Christian faith by inviting a speaker from CJF Ministries? Call our toll-free number, 1-800-926-5397, and we'll be happy to handle all of the details. 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. 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.