Genesis 4:1 – 5:24
Hey Everybody, Welcome back to the PvBibleAlive podcast, where we are on a quest to study the entire Word of God. I know I haven’t expressed this yet in one of the podcasts, but it is my aim, Lord willing, to study through the entire Bible with this podcast. The notion first struck me while listening to another preacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and the Through the Bible Broadcast. The late Dr. McGee recorded a five year study through all of Scripture. And I was inspired by that.
Now, I’m not going to say, as he did, that we are going to finish in five years. The nature of his program was that he had a daily half-hour radio broadcast. So he wanted to be able to say that a person could get through all the Scripture in five years.
But today, because of the internet, and podcasts, we are limited either in the length of each show, or in how many a shows we can listen to in one setting.
I am keeping my shows to about an hour each, and frankly, I don’t know how long this will take. That’s why I say, “Lord willing” I’ll teach through the Bible.
But today, we are continuing with our study of the book of Genesis, and we are in chapter 4. So if you want to look that up, you can follow along with us.
But before we get into Genesis
Scripture says in
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
Jesus said that the two commandments on which all the others hang are, “Love God with all your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
What these verses, and many others like them, tell us is that loving God and loving others are very closely related. You could say that they are 2 sides of the same coin. If you don’t love others, it indicates that you don’t love God either. If you don’t love God, you don’t have the capacity to love people.
You may have affection for them, but not an agape kind of love for them.
Apart from a right relationship with God, we cannot know, experience, or share real love. In fact, separated from God, the relationship of Adam and Eve becomes a contest not a companionship, a lust for dominance, not a cooperation of love.
That’s really what we learn in Genesis 4.
In Genesis 3, mankind disobeys God. Man’s Spirit dies, and so dies his capacity to commune with God. And since God is the source of true love, mankind can’t truly love each other either. Instead they war and seek to dominate.
When mankind violates their relationship with God by disobedience, it’s not long before that impacts negatively their relationship to others.
This is the story of the first two sons of Adam and Eve; Cain and Abel.
4 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Let’s break down this story for your understanding.
4 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel.
Adam and Eve have children. By the way, some have interpreted this passage to mean that Cain and Abel were twins. Why? Because it says “Adam knew his wife, she bare Cain, and again she bare his brother Abel. It doesn’t say “Adam knew his wife again” That’s an interesting idea, but we can’t be sure—but regardless they would have probably been very close in age. Since there was no birth control, and Adam and Eve were as close to perfectly healthy as fallen man can be, it’s likely that all of their children would be very close in age.
And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
So we immediately jump from their birth, to their occupations. Abel raised sheep, and Cain raised crops.
This answers the question about “primitive man.” Cain and Abel were the 3rd and 4th humans on the earth. So they are examples of the first of “early man.” Modern evolutionary scientists portray early man as a hunter/gatherer. They say that early man did not plant his own crops, or raise his own domesticated animals for tens of thousands of years. In other words, they say that man was running around for tens of thousands of years throwing rocks and spears at animals to kill them, others were running around searching for wild vegetation to eat. Then one day a more evolved man thought, “Hey, what if I raise my own animals, I won’t have to chase them. What if I grew my own plants, I wouldn’t have to search.” And so began the domestication of animals, and the practice of agriculture.
But the Bible story is completely different. Adam and Eve tended and cared for the animals in the garden, and the plants that grew there. Even after sin, those practices continued, and one generation later their sons take up the family business. They work the family farm. And Abel gravitated toward raising sheep, Cain to tilling and planting the earth. The earliest people were not ignorant, or cavemen, they were intelligent, industrious and innovating.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
So why are Cain and Abel bringing offerings? Who told them to? Later in history, God commands the Israelites to make sacrifices for different things, atonement, first-fruits, thanksgiving. But we are never told that God specifically commanded the first family to make animal sacrifices to Him. We have to assume that either God taught them to bring sacrifices to Him.
It may have been a memorial of the sacrifice God made of an animal to give Adam and Eve skins to cover their nakedness.
So Cain brings something he’s grown from the ground, and Abel brought one of his sheep.
Now God was pleased with Abel’s offering of a sacrificed animal, but not with Cain’s offering of produce. Why?
Well the answer to that lies hidden in the white spaces of your Bible. There is no explicit explanation for why Abel’s offering was accepted, and Cain’s wasn’t.
The incident is referenced in later Scripture, but it still doesn’t tell us why God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. In the New Testament,
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
So, why does God reject Cain’s offering, but accept Abel’s? There have been some proposed explanations. And, based on the text before us, I think two have merit, The first explanation is that Abel brought “the firstlings” of his flock. In other words, Abel brought of the best of his flock, or possibly even the first offspring when the sheep began to bear young. That means that Abel was already following what God told the nation of Israel later. God said, “Give me the best, and give me the first.” Give me the best means that you honor God as the most important in your life. Give me the first means that you are trusting God to provide for your needs. Even before another sheep bore their young, Abel was taking the first one and offering it to God. That takes trust in God. What if some sort of disease strikes the remainder of the flock, and they don’t bear young, or the young die? You just gave your only healthy sheep to God. And so Abel honored and trusted God first, and he gave of his best.
But what did Cain do? It just says that he offered “an offering.” He gave some of the produce—it doesn’t say it was the first, or the best. He just pulled whatever he came across. He gave it no thought.
Now, that’s the first explanation as to why God accepted Abel’s offering.
The second explanation, has to do with the kind of offerings they brought. Abel brought a blood sacrifice, Cain brought vegetables. In other words, the implication is that God had instructed Cain and Abel about the right kind of sacrifices. That they were instructed to bring a blood sacrifice. And to back up this understanding, some point to Hebrews.
Hebrews 9:22 King James Version (KJV)
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
So they say that the reason Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted was because it was not a blood sacrifice.
So Abel is said by these interpreters to have obeyed God, and Cain just chose to disobey. He didn’t raise sheep, so he would have had to have gotten a sheep from someone else. And he was proud, and arrogant, thinking that God ought to accept the offering of his produce.
Well that explanation would be enough if we knew why they were bringing an offering. That interpretation implies that the sacrifice they were bringing was a sin offering. But later in Jewish history, offerings were brought for several reasons—atonement, sin, thanksgiving, first-fruits. But we don’t know what this was. If it was a sacrifice for atonement, it would seem reasonable that an animal be sacrificed. But what if it was an offering of first-fruits, or thanksgiving to God? Israel was commanded to do that as well. And those offerings could be animals, or vegetables, or grain.
So, if we don’t know what kind of offering it was, we can’t be definite about why it wasn’t accepted.
So we don’t know why God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. It is most likely that it had to do with Cain’s attitude. It had to do with his heart. He came to the altar with wrong motives, or an antagonism toward God. And maybe that showed in what he brought to the offer. Cain may have brought his leftover vegetables to God. I think this is a sin of the heart for Cain. God was not first for him, and it showed in his offering. But regardless,
God did not accept his offering. And it says
And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. (his face fell-flushed with anger)
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Sin here is described like a crouching lion desiring to consume Cain. God knew what was stirring in Cain’s heart. He is warning him to “get it under control.” But Cain didn’t.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
This is an astounding 1st act of violence in the world. He didn’t just beat him, or injure him badly. He killed him. And there were no mitigating circumstances. He wasn’t under the influence. Abel had done nothing but obeyed God, and received God’s approval. The book of Hebrews describe Abel this way.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
That’s why this is the archetypical example of innocence martyred by evil men.
So immediately after Cain murders Abel, God calls him on it.
9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
This kind of insolence floors me. He is making the same mistake that Adam and Eve made; that he could hide anything from God. God is omniscient—all-knowing
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
You think I don’t know what you’ve done? You think you can hide your evil actions from me. The very blood of your brother Abel cries out to me from the ground.
That’s one thing that the Bible teaches, God knows everything, and whatever sins you become involved in, will be uncovered.
Numbers 32:23
23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.
Galatians 6:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
You can’t hide from Almighty God.
So God says, I know what you did,
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
What is this? This is essentially a compounding of the curse against mankind. God told Adam that, because of his disobedience, he would work by the sweat of his brow,
cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread
In other words, growing produce from the ground would become a most difficult task. It won’t be like the garden of Eden where there were no weeds, watering was a part of the natural cycle, the soil was naturally fertilized to grow the greatest and best produce. After Adam sinned, thorns, thistles, weeds, and the ground is cursed and barren. It would be a struggle to get plants to grow.
Now with Cain, who was a tiller of the ground, he was a produce farmer, the ground would produce nothing. Now what does this mean? Growing crops was a means by which a person could settle down. They could provide for themselves their daily bread. But sense he would not be able to grow anything—it forced him to become a nomad. He was a fugitive from his family because he had committed murder. That was his punishment. And you know what? He got off easy. It was only the grace of God that kept him alive.
13 And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
What Cain is describing is the kind of natural law that grew out of common sense from the beginning. God later made it the official law. An eye for an eye. Tooth for tooth, life for life. Cain was saying, since I killed my brother, I will be put to death. It was a law that accomplished a couple of good things; It removed evil from a society—if they were a murderer, they were put to death—removal of evil. It deterred or prevented future evil. The evil doer is dead, or punished, and the rest of society got the message that evil leads to judgment.
But Cain thinks this is too much—my punishment is greater than I can bear. I’m going to be running the rest of my life, somebody is going to kill me out of vengeance.
Now you might ask at this point, “Who would kill Cain?” Aren’t there only 3 people in the whole world—1 is dead, that leaves Cain’s parents. Well, if you read the next chapter, you’ll see that Adam and Eve had more children.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
And we don’t know how old Cain and Abel were when Cain killed Abel. It’s likely that Cain was already married at that time.
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch:
Now here’s what we consider the icky part. There is an old question people ask, usually to try and discredit the truth of the Bible. They ask, “Where did Cain get his wife?” Well, as I said, the Bible says that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters. They are just not mentioned by name. In fact, they could have had 20 or 30 children or more. Adam and Eve were perfect human specimens, and they had no birth control. So Eve could have had a child every couple years clear up to the end of her fertility. We don’t know when that was.
So there could have been a small clan of people already living by the time that Cain killed Abel.
So Cain is worried about his current family seeking vengeance, and he’s worried about any future family who might seek vengeance.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
What is the mark of Cain? There’s a lot of bologna out there about what this mark was. I think it was a physical mark—like a birth mark that immediately identified Cain as the first murderer. But some take the idea of the mark and extend it even to Cain’s children. They use the story of Cain as an excuse for racism. They say that Cain was marked by becoming a black man. And that that mark was passed on to his children. Early slave-owners used that as a justification for enslaving black people—because they were the descendants of Cain. May I say that that is ridiculous and offensive. There is nothing in the text that indicates that, and even if it were true, it wouldn’t be a justification for slavery. If the children of sinners can be made slaves because they are the children of sinners, then we all can be enslaved.
Some interpreters have said that God tattooed a letter on Cain’s forehead, others that he made a horn to grow from his head, or struck him with leprosy.
And the stories and legends get even more fanciful. They say that part of Cain’s curse was to lose his soul, and to be cursed to wander the earth, eternally—so no man can kill him.---So Cain becomes the first vampire.
All of this is ridiculous fantasy. The mark is simply called a mark, and all it did was identify Cain as the murderer of Abel. And it was a grace and protection to Cain, God Himself declared that if anyone killed Cain—God would take vengeance on them.
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod (wandering), on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch:
One site I consulted said that Enoch means “dedicated.” Another said disciplined or initiated. I find some of the name meanings interesting, but to tell you the truth, I am not a Hebrew scholar, (I took one year in seminary.) so I’m not going to try and read too much into Biblical names unless the Biblical narrative itself stresses the meaning of their name. Adam’s name means earth, from which he was made. Eve means living—she was the mother of all living human beings, Cain means acquired, because Eve acquired a man from the Lord. Abel means breath—maybe a note about his birth, or he may have come to be called that because his life was cut short.
and Cain built a city (the first city), and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah (adornment), and the name of the other Zillah (shadow).
20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
Once again, this is evidence that early man was not some knuckle dragging caveman. 8 generations from Adam, look at what they are doing; sewing tents, raising cattle, fashioning harps and organs for musical instruments, digging iron ore out of the earth, forging copper and zinc into instruments of brass.
It would seem that these descendants of Cain had a very industrious and advanced civilization. And we do find in Scripture that mankind advances intellectually and technologically at a rapid pace. But as quickly as he masters the earth and its resources, just as quickly his spiritual life apart from God decays.
Go back to the genealogy we just read.
19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Lamech is the first polygamists mentioned in Scripture. It would seem that most were holding to God’s standard of one man and one woman in marriage. And not only was Lamech a polygamist, but he killed a man, maybe two, and wrote a little limerick about it.
23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
Some read this as referring to one man that he killed, others say he killed 2 men. He seems to have gotten into a fight. One guy wounds him, another hurts him, and he kills both men. So his vengeance is disproportionate to the harm done to him. And he seems to be glorying in what he did. He’s not even sorrowful, as Cain was. He seems to regard Cain as a kind of heroic figure, and now he is tougher than Cain. And one author I read said it’s as though he is saying to his wives, “See what happens to those who mess with me.”
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
This story is told as a way of showing the spiritual decay as the years pass after the fall of Adam and Eve, and the sin of Cain. Sin is growing, violence is growing, self-gratification, and there is no remorse.
If we left the story off here, it would be a very disheartening one. Mankind wallowing in violence and self-indulgence. But the Spirit of God directs our attention back to Adam and Eve. And God gives them another son.
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth (appointed): For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
This is a hopeful moment. God raised up a godly seed.
26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
Now who was Seth? Was he the 3rd son of Adam? It’s possible, but I don’t think so. Here’s why;
1. Adam was 130 when he had Seth.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years:
2. Adam had other sons and daughters besides Cain, Abel, and Seth.
and he begat sons and daughters:
So, are we saying that Adam had Cain and Abel, possibly twins, and then didn’t have another boy for possibly close to 130 years? Or is it possible that Seth is the only son mentioned after Cain and Abel because his is the godly line that leads to Noah?
3. Cain had to have married a sister, but they don’t list a sister being born, except with the general statement “sons and daughters.”
4. What sets Seth’s line apart is that “men began to call on the name of the Lord.”
5. It is my opinion that the genealogy that follows in chapter 5 is the “godly line” connecting Adam and Noah. So that means that the names in the genealogy are not necessarily the 1st born sons of each generation, but the godly sons that passed the faith to the next generation.
We’ll look at that further in chapter 5
5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
I suppose the greatest questions that anyone would have about Genesis 5 is; “Do you really believe people lived to be that old?” And my short answer is of course, “yes.” I believe the Bible, so I believe this to be true. That being said, a second question might be; “How?” I mean, these ages defy all the current understanding of the life expectancy of a human being.
Other than those two questions, this chapter is nothing but a genealogy. So that might bring a 3rd question; “Why list all these names?” We’ll get to that.
5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
I’ve already discussed this in a previous podcast. `Obviously Seth was not Adam and Eve’s firstborn. I also believe he wasn’t the 3rd son---Cain, Abel, Then Seth. Why? Because Adam was 130 when he had him. And since Adam and Eve were created perfect physical specimens, I suspect they probably had a child every year. So Adam would not likely go 130 years without a 3rd son.
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Now some may ask, how could Adam and Eve have a child at 130 years of age? And how could Adam live to be 930? This has been discussed extensively in theological circles. Most fall into one of 2 camps; the first chalks this up to mythology, the second chalks it up to the perfection of creation. In other words, God made everything perfect, and intended that our bodies and the creation itself live far longer lives than we do today. But because mankind sinned, God cursed mankind and His creation. And as the first chapters of Genesis unfold, we find the decay of God’s desired longevity until we reach a time when people live to about the ages we are accustomed to.
So, you’ll note that after the flood, the ages get shorter and shorter.
6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
Again Enos is probably not the first son, he is the son who carried on the Godly line that leads to Noah.
7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12 And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:
13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
Now, in the next phrase we are going to have a break in the normal description of the life of a man. Up until now, every person, is begotten, bears a son after so many years, bears other sons and daughters, lives a little longer, then they all end with the same phrase; and he died. 6 times. But now with Enoch, something different happens.
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
“he was not.” For God took him. Enoch is unique in the history of mankind. He and Elijah are the only men who did not die as recorded by the Scripture. Elijah was taken up in a chariot sent from God, and Enoch seems to have just disappeared one day. Why? Well it says that he “walked with God.
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Hebrews 11:5 adds: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
So the impression we get is that this man was so spiritually close to God, that as many preachers have said, one day God said to Enoch, “It’s been another good walk with you today, now tell you what, it’s about supper time, and your closer to my house than you are to yours, why don’t you come on home with me?”
It’s a marvelous thought that many of us who are believers probably have. Life can get very difficult—physically, relationally—God, I’m ready to go when you’re ready to take me.
But this wasn’t a matter of Enoch being tired of life. It was the fact that he pleased God, and God took him, like it was a reward.
He walked closely with God. Now, The last time anyone walked with God in the Biblical record was in the Garden of Eden, when Adam was innocent. After Enoch—Only Noah is described as walking with God.
So it is quite remarkable that a man, after sin entered the world, after the curse, and the sin nature begin to dominate mankind, like sin crouching at Cain’s door—desiring to dominate, Satan roaming about like a roaring lion, trying to kill and destroy---yet it could be said of Enoch that he “walked with God” in such a way that God decided to take him on to glory.
Enoch was an exceptional man. He was also a prophet.
Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,
Do we have these prophecies in the Bible? No, this prophecy quoted in Jude comes from the book of Enoch, and it is not included in the canon of Scripture. All that means to us is that this one statement quoted in Jude was inspired by God, but the rest of the book was not. But he was a prophet.
Now this is extraordinary. What did he prophecy about? This was before the flood, maybe he prophesied about the destruction of the world. But that’s not the quote that Jude lifts from the book of Enoch. Well Abraham, and Israel were not even born yet. It would have been remarkable if he had prophesied about the birth of the nation of Israel. But he didn’t. He could have prophesied about the coming of Christ as the lamb of God. But he didn’t. He prophesied something that hasn’t happened yet. The 2nd coming of Christ.
14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
At the 2nd coming of Christ, He will have accompanying Him, “10,000 of His holy ones.” Some think this means angels—others- believers through all the ages—I think it’s the believers who have been caught up to meet Him in the air---they’ve been changed from corruptible to incorruptible---and now they are the entourage that accompany Him as He returns to set foot on earth in Jerusalem, to set up His 1000 year reign.
But regardless of your opinion on that matter, Enoch prophesied of Jesus’s second coming, even before His 1st coming. In fact, this is the first prophecy from a man in Scriptural history. God gave a direct prophecy to Eve about the seed of the woman, but this is the first given to a man.