GOD S MERCY STRATEGY (GENESIS 5:21-32) Sept. 21, 2014 I. GOD S MERCY BEFORE THE FLOOD God created the heavens and the earth and declared that it was very good (Gen. 1:31). But mankind rebelled against God s plan and opened the door for sin and death to enter into the world. God sets in motion a plan to redeem mankind. Judgment is coming. As civilization and culture begin to develop, lawlessness begins to reign. The flood is sent as a result of man s maximal level of sin. Man had become corrupted to the core. Not some or most, but every inclination of his heart was evil continually. 1. It was only 10 generations down, but now, God was grieved at what He was seeing. The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-- men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-- for I am grieved that I have made them." (Gen 6:5-7 NIV) a. God didn t give up on the human race. God provides a way of redemption (Gen. 3:15). God remains faithful to His promise to provide a Savior. b. God s heart is one of grief and heart-ache. His children had rebelled against him and become corrupt to the core. Even in the pronouncement of coming judgment, God s mercy is in operation. God releases His mercy strategy before judgment: He puts people in your life and He waits a very long time. 1. Prophetic messengers (God puts people in your life) 2. Patience (God gives you more time to turn and seek Him) Gen. 5:21-32 21 ENOCH lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. 25 METHUSELAH lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 26 After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died. 28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name NOAH, saying, This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed. 30 After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninetyfive years, and had sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventyseven years; and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
II. GOD SENDS PROPHETIC MESSENGERS ENOCH walked with God. 1. Not the same Enoch, son of Cain (Gen. 4:17). Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 2. Enoch did not experience death. God took him away when he was 365 years old. (Genesis 5:24; Heb. 11:5) c.f. Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). God raised up Enoch to prophesy to His generation that God would come to judge and deal with all ungodliness. Enoch prophesies about the return of Jesus! Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones. (Jude 14) NOAH. Enoch s great-grandson. He is also said to have walked with God as Enoch did (Gen. 6:9). But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LOR 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. (Gen. 6:8-9 NIV) 1. God instructs Noah to build an ark. 450 ft. long, with 3 levels. It can be estimated that it took 55-75 years to build it. Gen 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him. 2. Noah is called a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet 2:5). What is God s heart in sending judgment? That people would repent (turn around) choose life. Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' 1. This was God s heart toward Israel. This is God s heart for mankind. This is God s heart us right now. God wants the maximum number of people to be saved before judgment. This delay is a demonstration of God s mercy. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH but that ALL should come to repentance. III. GOD S LONG-SUFFERING BEFORE SENDING JUDGMENT Sometimes patience is translated long-suffering. - 2 -
1. God does not send judgment in the flood as a decision of rage and anger. God is not being vindictive and cruel. He sends prophetic messengers to warn of the judgment to come and He provides a way out: the ark. At the age of 65, Enoch has a son, and the name given to the boy is: METHUSELAH. 1. In the movie, Noah, Anthony Hopkins plays the role of Methuselah. 2. Methuselah 5:25-27 longest life on record, 969 years. He died in the year of the flood (7:6). a. Bible Trivia! It s actually a profound display of God s mercy. 3. Methuselah s name can mean several things, one of which is: When he dies it will be sent, prophesying of the flood that is to come. Enoch named his son as a prophetic sign. It came true that the year that Methuselah died was the year that the flood came to the earth. 4. Methuselah very life becomes a sign of God s mercy: more time to repent and return to God. a. Diagram http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/faq226.html 5. People lived a long time! (Green Diagram). The book of Genesis spans nearly 1/3 of the history of mankind. After the flood, we see the declining life-spans. a. Man was not created to die. Adam lived 930 years (Gen. 5:5). And he died (2:17). It included a spiritual death, immediately and then physical death later. 1000 years was not meant to be a limit. Death was a consequence of the fall. The curse takes hold more and more. b. Coinciding with this is the major changes in the ecology of the earth after the flood. There was probably a layer of water in the atmosphere that served as a protective barrier around the earth. This was removed after the flood. (Gen. 7:11) 6. People up to Lamech s time had direct face-to-face access to Adam. Methuselah s long life is a symbol of God s mercy in stalling the coming judgment of the flood, so that people would have more than ample time to repent and be saved. God gives 4 generation of witnesses Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah to call people back to God. 1. g. Day light savings time. Fall back. Yes, another hour! I waste it lol. The longer he lived, the longer judgment was put off. The Bible doesn t give us the exact date of his death, but some have suggested that Methuselah died 7 days before the flood that the 7 days before the flood in (Gen. 7:4) was the mourning period for Methuselah. - 3 -
IV. CONCLUSION & APPLICATION Main idea: God s mercy strategy before judgment: He sends prophetic messengers to help and He gives many chances for people to come to Him. 1. God this did this in the time of Noah and we see it repeated throughout history. God sends prophets to call people back to Him and He gives people a lot of time. God s mercy strategy is also extended to you. He has put people in your life and He s given you many opportunities to come to Him. Q: Who are the people that God has put in your life? 1. Open to the people God puts in your life. Listen to people who care about you: spouse, children, and friends. 2. Give permission for several people to speak into your life. a. Don t be offended. Don t take it personally. Repent and forgive. Let there not be any outstanding Offense. Offense leads to blind-spots. Offense opens the door to deception. b. Pray deeply and at length about what they say. c. Don t shut out people who you don t agree with. (1) e.g. Saddam's Secrets by Georges Hormuz Sada (Thomas Nelson 2006). Former Iraqi general. A strong Christian in Saddam s inner circle. Saddam didn t heed his counsel, but God is gracious to give people a way out if they will take it. d. The danger of deception is that it s deceptive. If you know about it, then you re not deceived. That s a wisdom issue, or lack of. We need people around us who will speak the truth in love to us. Q: Are there people in your life that God is sending you as a prophetic messenger? 1. God loves the people of this world, therefore He sends us out as prophetic messengers. a. We speak the truth in love, proclaim true hope. b. Noah walked with God. He was a preacher of righteousness. Q: Are there any areas in your life that God has given you a lot of time to work on? Areas of compromise, addiction, etc? 1. Don t mistake God s patience/longsuffering for permission for lawlessness. Oh, I m not getting caught or punished, so it must be okay. God understands. Righteousness matters. Yet, God is very patient. a. e.g. a father disciplines his son. It would not be love to just let them be. That s what parents are there for. To nurture and bring up in admonition of the Lord. - 4 -
2. God s patience (silence) with no immediate judgment is not a sign of lack of holiness, justice, or weakness/inability to do something about it. God is giving you a chance to choose life and choose him. It is actually a form of mercy that we get judged now and get judged later. 3. Don t stop growing in victory over sin. Nobody is perfect. But we keep on pursing the God who loves us and we learn to love Him back. F. God s ultimate mercy strategy: God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to make a way for redemption and glory. If you haven t made the decision to put your faith in Jesus Christ, today, you can make that decision. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17) 1. Jesus righteousness is given as a gift to us. Judgment and condemnation came through the first Adam, now, life and grace come through the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45). For if by the one man s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17) G. Q: Aren t you grateful for God s mercy? He waits a very long time and puts people in your life to help you. - 5 -