Calling on the Lord

Genesis 4:25-5:32

When Space X launches a rocket, the rocket often fails to achieve complete success, falling apart or malfunctioning somehow along the way. News outlets often report on these failures by intimating that Space X engineers are somehow incompetent. What this kind of reporting fails to understand is that the engineers fully anticipate failure and intend to gain valuable data from the failures instead, data which will enable them to press forward and succeed in the pursuit of their next aeronautic or aerospace endeavors.

When mankind rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, it appeared that God’s creation of mankind had failed upon launch. Such a conclusion seems to be verified by our preliminary investigation of human civilization afterwards, seeing how one child of Adam and Eve murdered his brother in anger and fled from the presence of God. What’s more, his descendants seemed to descend even further into sinful behavior, noting how his great, great grandson – Lamech – followed his grandfather’s example and murdered someone, as well.

God devoted himself to mankind despite their rebellion against him.

Despite mankind’s progressive descent into rebellion and sin against God, God remained faithful to his original purpose for and desire to bless mankind. He did not turn his back on people even though we had turned our back on him. Instead, because of his perfect holiness and justice, he instituted consequences and limits due to our sin.

But God also, because of his perfect love and mercy, set in motion a path to reconciliation, redemption, and restoration. This path to restoration would unfold throughout history through a designated, guarded, and protected family line which would eventually produce a divine and human Messiah, which would be Jesus Christ. This pathway and plan was first announced in Gen 3:15:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

We see here that God blessed Adam and Eve with another son, named Seth (which means “to set or stand” and envisions a foundation) (Gen 4:25). God intended this son to replace Abel, whom Cain murdered, and to father a line of descendants and generations that would provide the world with a Messiah. This would be the “seed” God had promised would come from Eve to defeat the ungodly seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15).

It is noteworthy that after Cain’s descendants are presented in Gen 4, that line is traced throughout Scripture no further, but Seth’s line of descendants will continue to be traced throughout the Bible, throughout the Old Testament (OT), all the way to Christ at the start of the New Testament (NT). Genealogies in the Pentateuch as well as subsequent OT historical books will trace out this family line meticulously all the way to Christ.

We also see that God repeated through Moses (the writer of Genesis guided by the Holy Spirit) the original purpose and blessing of creation. Despite Adam and Eve’s disobedience and despite their son, Cain’s, act of murder, God neither altered nor ended his original purpose for mankind and his intentions to bless mankind.

• God reaffirmed that he had made mankind in his likeness. So, the image of God in us had not been destroyed.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...” (Gen 1:27-28)

“… He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.” (Gen 5:1-2)

• He reaffirmed that he had made mankind as male and female. So, the original identity and purpose of these two distinct genders had not been destroyed.
• He reaffirmed his blessing towards them, which was “to multiply” and “to have dominion.”

Throughout this genealogy of Seth, we see the names of fathers and their sons. We see that God blessed each of these families and generations with many sons and daughters. And we see that these people lived not only for decades but for centuries – one man, Methusaleh, lived for 969 years, the longest documented lifespan in history!

So, in these ways, God’s original purpose for and blessing on mankind remained on track. Despite man’s failure to trust God and obey his Word, God remained faithful to mankind, persevering in his commitment to fulfill his purpose to bless them. As Job declares:

“I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” (Job 42:2)

We’ll see this even more clearly next week when we look at the disturbing events in Gen 6:1-8 which resulted in God’s judgment through a universal flood.

The most important measure of any culture or generation is devotion to God.

Seeing God’s unwavering commitment and devotion to mankind, how should this affect our response to and perspective of God?

When we looked at the development of Cain’s children and following generations, we saw that though they withdrew themselves from God, God still provided them with the blessings of marriage and family and shelter and stability, as they built and settled in cities. He also provided them with progress and prosperity as they established productive enterprises and technological advances in agriculture, the arts, and metalworking.

So, what about Seth’s descendants? If these were the notable contributions of Cain’s descendants, who seemed to reject God, what about Seth descendants? Of this second, contrasting family line, we can surmise that these people likely enjoyed many of the same advances and developments, as that would be the normal expectation from a literary standpoint since this passage immediately follows and is so closely connected to the first family line. But from this second family line, we see that this was not their signature contribution to society. Their signature contribution was much more significant than artistic, commercial, industrial, or technological advancement. A commentator explains:

Cain’s firstborn and successors pioneer cities and the civilized arts, but Seth’s firstborn and successors pioneer worship. (K. A. Matthews)

We know this because Genesis says that after the birth of Enosh (Seth’s son, Adam’s grandson), “Men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Gen 4:26). What does this mean? By examining other instances throughout the OT when “calling on the name of the Lord” is mentioned, one commentator explains the range of what this behavior means:

Calling on his name involves proclaiming his reputation and attributes (Ex. 34:5–6; 1 Chron. 16:8; Ps. 105:1; Isa. 12:4; notice the parallel in many of these to “making known his deeds”). It is equated to taking hold of him (Isa. 64:6), aligning with his cause (Isa. 44:5–6), and acknowledging him as one’s God (Zech. 13:9).

Now, it is important to acknowledge that just as Cain’s line was not the only line which enjoyed technological advancements, either was Seth’s line the only line which called on the name of the Lord. Instead, it is more accurate to say that the more dominant, primary quality of Cain’s descendants was technological advancement mixed with increasing sinful behavior. On the other hand, the more dominant, primary quality and contribution of Seth’s descendants was a more noticeable, widespread reverence and worship of God.

We can see evidences of this belief in and sensitivity towards God, for instance, in the occurrences of words for God in the names given to sons of these men: -iah or -el or start with Jeho- or El-.

We know, of course, that Abel, Adam, and Eve had already formerly worshiped God. But with the birth of Enosh, genuine, serious worship of God became more regular and widespread. This calling on the name of the Lord refers to things like calling upon the one, true God through prayer and worship and through announcing, proclaiming, and teaching the truth of God in a regular and public way. We see this concept described much later in the Psalms, when David said:

“I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Psa 18:1-3)

So, while Cain’s line pressed forward in economic and technological advances and sin, Seth’s line pressed onward in a more serious, widespread obedience to, reliance upon, and worship of God.

From this we see that the most important measure of any culture or generation is devotion to God. When a nation or people abandon or diminish their devotion to and worship of God as their primary value, then that culture or society will ultimately descend into trouble.

“The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psa 33:11-12)

This statement from Scripture reminds me of something which has been said about our response to God in America. Historians and politicians (incl. Eisenhower and Reagan) have attributed this statement to French author and political scientist, Alexis de Tocqueville, which states:

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

As true as this may be, this statement appears nowhere in any of de Tocqueville’s writings and it seems to be a conflation of something that a researcher (Barry Popik, 1887) said based upon a report by two British pastors (Andrew Reed and James Matheson, 1835):

I went at your bidding, and passed along their thoroughfares of trade. I ascended their mountains and went down their valleys. I visited their manufactories, their commercial markets, and emporiums of trade. I entered their judicial courts and legislative halls. But I sought everywhere in vain for the secret of their success, until I entered the church. It was there, as I listened to the soul-equalizing and soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ, as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of the people, that I learned why America was great and free, and why France was a slave.

Regardless of who actually said these things, even if it wasn’t de Tocqueville, the observations are true. If our nation – or any nation, culture, or society of people – refuses to “call on the name of the Lord,” we will descend into mere secularism and increased wickedness and sin, as we are witnessing today. But the solution to this is not so much institutional or political change as it is individual change.

Walking with God is evidence of personal devotion to God.

In both genealogies (first Cain, then Seth), one person is singled out to represent the character of the whole in general, though likely as a more dramatic or extreme example. For Cain’s line, Lamech is focused upon to emphasize a flagrant disregard for God (Gen 4:19-24). For Seth’s line, though, Enoch is focused upon to emphasize a close, trusting relationship with God (Gen 5:21-24).

According to Genesis 5:24, Enoch “walked with God,” and he did so for a long period of 300 years. This description is metaphorical and describes a lifestyle that is characterized by intimate, personal trust in and devotion to God. It recalls how Adam and Eve had “walked with God” in the Garden of Eden before the Fall (Gen 3:8) and also describes how Noah would later be described as someone else who “walked with God” (Gen 6:9). In a later time, a Psalm would describe walking with God as a quality of the person who trusts in God:

“I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psa 116:9)

Such “walking with God” describes a lifestyle that does not merely “worship God” on infrequent, rare occasions, in the most formal of ways only, or in a casual or cursory manner. Instead, it describes someone who lives: (1) aware of God’s presence, (2) attentive to God’s ways, and (3) obedient to God’s Word. In other words, they live as though they are actually walking with God, staying in close step with him, and listening closely to his words – just as when one person runs or walks together with another person.

Throughout the NT, “walk” is frequently used to described a close, intimate, obedient, trusting, regular relationship with God. In one place, Paul says, “We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).

Does this describe your relationship with God? When we consider the general character of our culture, nation, or generation and see we are in spiritual decline, drifting further away from obeying and worshiping God, we naturally focus on political, widescale change, hoping to enforce godly values from the top down, but this is not the way. Widescale change must begin with genuine, personal change.

How many of us who are concerned about the spiritual decline of our culture are genuinely walking with God in a close, intimate, obedient, and trusting way? The spiritual condition of a culture or society is simply the result of the composite spiritual condition of its individuals. As the church goes, so goes the culture, and as the individual members go, so goes the church.

As the prophet, Joel, declares (and as Peter in Acts and Paul in Romans repeats), “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32).

It is interesting to note that of Enoch, Moses says not “and he died,” but “and he was not because God took him” (Gen 5:24). While this seems vague and hard to understand, Hebrews explains what this means more clearly, “he did no see death” (Heb 11:5). So, in some way or another, God spared Enoch from the normal experience of death, something which seems to have happened for only one other person in biblical history, the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 2:11).

While this is difficult to comprehend, it seems likely that God has done this as an example for us to encourage us to walk with God as these two men did, encouraging us to look forward to the future rapture of God’s people at Christ’s second coming (1 Thess 4:16-17). It is also possible – though not something we can say for sure – these two will return as God’s two, special witnesses during the future, seven-year Tribulation (Zech 4:14; Rev 11:7-12). Only God knows.

We must remain devoted to God though the effects of our rebellion remain.

Now, despite the general, more widespread personal, serious faith in God which characterized Seth’s descendants and God’s ongoing, persistent devotion to mankind, we see that the effects of sin and human depravity remain and the effects of the curse continue on. After each generation lived (and they lived a very long time, to be sure), Moses writes “and he died.”

We also see from this passage that the effects of the curse continue on in the form of difficult, exhausting, painful work. Thanks to the curse due to our sin, all that we do happens only through great difficulty and features a degree of frustration, futility, and incompletion as well.

One of Seth’s eventual descendants, the father of Noah, acknowledged that generations following the Fall, this curse remained in force, and he hoped that his son, Noah, would somehow provide relief or even bring to an end the effects of the curse. Though Noah would, in a way, be the agent of change by announcing and introducing God’s judgment to the world through the universal flood, he would not be the promised Messiah. Perhaps that’s what his father hoped would be the case?

Today, we know of course, that our Savior has come, and he was not Noah, but Jesus Christ. Though we all continue to live and then die, Christ offers the salvation and hope that we need to be rescued from the ongoing effects of sin.

It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Heb 9:27-28)

In conclusion, let me urge you to consider two crucial responses to this message and the teaching we have received from Genesis 5.

• Have you called upon the name of the Lord? Have you acknowledged your sinfulness and trusted in Christ alone as your God and Savior – as the one who has come to provide comfort, relief, and rescue from sin and death?
• If you have called upon the name of the Lord for salvation, are you indeed “walking with God?” It’s fascinating to observe how people who believe in Christ are called “disciples.” This word means to be a “follower,” and to be a follower is a metaphor that resembles “walking.” It describes a person who follows closely in the footsteps of another, stepping closely to where they step, listening closely to what they say, and doing what they say.

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20)

“To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Pet 2:21)

In closing, consider these words of poetry by English pastor John Newton:

By faith in Christ I walk with God,
With heav'n, my journeys'-end, in view;
Supported by his staff and rod,
My road is safe and pleasant too,

I travel through a desert wide
Where many round me blindly stray;
But He vouchsafes to be my guide,
And will not let me miss my way.

Though snares and dangers throng my path,
And earth and hell my course withstand;
I triumph over all by faith,
Guarded by his Almighty hand.

The wilderness affords no food,
But God for my support prepares;
Provides me every needful good,
And frees my soul from wants and cares.

With him sweet converse I maintain,
Great as he is I dare be free;
I tell him all my grief and pain,
And he reveals his love to me.

Some cordial from his word he brings,
Whene'er my feeble spirit faints;
At once my soul revives and sings,
And yields no more to sad complaints.

I pity all that worldlings talk
Of pleasures that will quickly end;
Be this my choice, O Lord, to walk
With thee, my Guide, my Guard, my Friend.