The Broad Way and the Narrow Way part 2
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The Way of Cain is the broad way: self-righteousness and fleeing from God.
The narrow way is the way of the shed blood of Jesus Christ; coming to God for forgiveness, living righteously by His Spirit.
I think that one of Satan’s most effective strategies in directing people away from the narrow way is confusion. The broad way is called the broad way for a reason; it is wide, and you can wander on it from side to side. There are hundreds if not millions of choices that lead you away from the truth. Some estimate that there are about 4000 religions in the world. And that doesn’t take into consideration all the movements that are not considered religious in nature. There are political movements, charitable causes, get-rich-schemes, self-improvement programs, family loyalties, businesses and legacy building enterprises that can all send you down the broad way, leading you away from the narrow path of simple faith in the shed blood of the Lord.
The broad road is complicated. The narrow one is simple.
Race car driver Bill Vukovich won the famed Indianapolis 500 race in 1953 and 1954, a record of success few other drivers had matched. Asked the secret of his success in Indianapolis, Vukovich replied, "There's no secret. You just press the accelerator to the floor and steer left."
Today in the Word, February 17, 1993.
Today we look at the simplicity of the narrow road.
Today we continue with our flight over the foundational truths of the Bible. We leave the Garden of Eden, the first man and woman, their first two children; Cain and Abel, and we will fly quickly over world history to the birth of the next significant person in Bible history; Noah. There is about 1000 years between the creation of Adam and the birth of Noah. Today we will be illustrating the two ways set before man by looking at the lives of particular people who lived from Adam to Noah.
Prayer
We’ve already looked at the broad way. What does the broad way look like?
I. Cain; the broad gate of wandering/searching
I think Jesus’ illustration gives us some clues about these two ways. A narrow path is limited in it’s wandering. When you are on a narrow path you don’t doubt where the next step is. You just follow the path. But the broad way allows a person to wander back and forth, to try this and that. It allows a person to believe that they are the captains of their own fate, to say, “I make my own destiny.” That’s the path Cain took.
You remember where we left Cain. He had offered a sacrifice to God that did not meet the standard for the sacrifice at that time. His brother Abel, on the other hand, offered a sacrifice that was approved by God. Cain was admonished by God, and he was angry. He ran into his brother Abel in the field, and in his anger, he killed him. Then he spent the rest of his life literally and spiritually wandering.
There’s a second example of the broad road of disobedience given in this span of time between Adam and Noah.
II. Lamech; the broad gate of disobedience
Again, the narrow road gives us a picture of a life that is laid out step by step. That means that the person on the narrow knows that as far as morals and spiritual things are concerned, most decisions are black and white. If you stay on the path, that is right. If you step off the path, to the right or to the left, it is wrong, it is sin.
But the broad path allows for wandering and disobedience.
Lamech is born 5 generations after Cain. He is Cain’s great great great great grandson.
Lamech wandered from God into bigamy and murder. And he took it further than Cain’s murder of Abel. He murdered two people; a man and a young man. And he was proud of it.
19 And Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.
23 And Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give ear to my word, For I [s]have killed a man for [t]striking me; And a boy for wounding me; 24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
Proverbs 14: 12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
But, just as there were many on the road to destruction, there were, alongside of them a few on the road to life. After carrying us forward down the genealogical line of Cain, the 4th chapter then takes us back to finish the story of Adam and Eve. And we discover that there are people walking down the narrow road.
III. Seth; the narrow gate of calling out to God.
Just as there are signs that you are on the broad road to destruction, there are also signs that you are on the narrow road to life.
1. You seek God. 2. It’s all about God and others.
25 Then Adam [u]knew his wife again; and she [v]gave birth to a son and named him [w]Seth, for she said, “God [x]has set for me another [y]seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call [z]upon the name of Yahweh.
Seth sought God. He sought for the answers from God.
Jeremiah 29: 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ declares Yahweh
How do we know that Seth followed and sought the Lord? It says that after he was born, and then his son Enosh was born, men began to call on the name of the Lord. This is 240 years after creation. And it is not saying that mankind did not know about God before then. It’s saying that mankind, probably with the leadership of Seth, began to seek God. Up until this point we have no record that man ever sought God. God called out and questioned Adam and Eve, and they responded. God punished. But no one sought that relationship that had been lost in the Garden. In fact, this statement that when Enosh was born to Seth, men began to call on the name of the Lord implies that man’s relationship to God between Abel and Enosh was disjointed at best. Maybe people continued sacrifices. Maybe they quit, for fear of a further curse like Cain received. They are aware of God. They know the story of the creation and fall and tell it to their children, but they consider God now only with fear.
Now there is an interesting part of this section of the story that I think bears consideration. And we can open this discussion with a question; “Was Seth the third son of Adam and Eve?” When you first read the text, it would seem so.
25 Then Adam [u]knew his wife again; and she [v]gave birth to a son and named him [w]Seth, for she said, “God [x]has set for me another [y]seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
It seems to lay out a clear chronology. Cain and Abel are born. Daughters may have been born in those initial years. Cain kills Abel. Then Seth is born as a replacement for Abel. But if we read further into chapter five, we discover something interesting.
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he [b]became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
Adam was 130 years old when he had Seth. Now let’s think a minute. Cain and Abel are presented as Eve’s first children. So, Adam, if he is created as a fully formed man, probably had them when he had existed for a year or two. We have to believe that Adam and Eve would have been very fertile. Now, I suspect that Cain and Abel had to at least be in their teens when Cain killed Abel. And if Adam and Eve are regularly intimate, she would likely be getting pregnant everywhere from yearly, to every couple of years.
So, if Seth is the third son, it means that Adam and Eve would have to have had Cain and Abel as their first two sons, and then had all girls, until they had a third son when Adam was 130 years old. I said all of that to say that I think that Seth was not the third son of Adam and Eve. Rather, I think he was the first son born, after Abel, who actively sought the Lord. He was the first preacher born into the family. He becomes the family priest, if you will.
It's about God, and others first. We’ve frequently heard a children’s story, especially around Christmas using the acronym “JOY.” The secret to real joy is to get your priorities in order; JOY. Jesus, then others, then yourself. And Seth not only sought God, there are indications here that his motivation was serving others.
At the birth of his son, he seeks the Lord. And it says that men began calling on the name of the Lord. That means that it wasn’t just him, but he leads the return. And it says, by the way that they called on the name of Yahweh. It uses the name that God gave Himself later when He meets Moses on the mountain. This is only the second time that God’s name is found on the lips of men. The first is by Eve.Genesis 4:1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh.”So, their calling on Him by that name not only implies a turn back to the spiritual in general, but back to the One True God in particular. This was not just Seth getting spiritual, it was his getting right. He is walking the narrow road following the way, the truth, and the life.There are other examples of the narrow way in the genealogy of Adam.
IV. Enoch; the narrow gate of warning humanity
5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them [a]Man in the day when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he [b]became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth…. he became the father of other sons and daughters…. 6 And Seth lived 105 years and became the father of Enosh. …. 9 And Enosh lived 90 years and became the father of Kenan…. 12 And Kenan lived 70 years and became the father of Mahalalel. …15 And Mahalalel lived 65 years and became the father of Jared. …18 And Jared lived 162 years and became the father of Enoch….
Now, if you are not familiar with the creation narrative you may wonder about the ages of these people. Adam lives to be 930, and the rest of them live long lives as well. The explanation for this is that Adam and Eve were created physically perfect, and they were placed in a perfect environment. There was no curse of sin at the beginning. But as sin and the curse take their effect, the ages of men beginning to geometrically decrease.
But at this point in the story, we come across a young man named Enoch. He only lives to be 365. But he exemplifies the narrow road. Enoch is 7 generations from Adam. He is born 622 years after the creation.
21 And Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
That’s almost all we know about Enoch. He lived 365 years and he didn’t die as all his predecessors had. It says here that “He walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Enoch is one of only two individuals in Scripture who didn’t die. Because of their close relationship with God, God determined to spare Enoch and Elijah the slow march toward death. He just snatched them up from earth to heaven. Now that is quite a remarkable endorsement of Enoch and his qualifications as being on the narrow road.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for prior to being taken up, he was approved as being pleasing to God.
But there’s more. There are two more passages in Scripture that tell us about Enoch.
Luke 3:37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
He is part of the genealogy of Christ. And, as we learn from the book of Jude, he was a prophet.
Jude 14 But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with [c]many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
In short, this is a prophecy about Jesus’ second coming. When Jesus comes the second time, He will come as judge. And Jude is describing that coming. He says that He will come with many thousands of His holy ones, or angels, and He will come to execute judgement on the ungodly.
So Jude not only was a righteous man who knew and served God, he also proclaimed God’s message to his generation. Now we come to the last example of the narrow road.
V. Noah; the narrow gate of rest and God’s judgment
Enoch had a son at 65 years of age. His son’s name was Methuselah. Methuselah was notable for a couple of reasons; He has the oldest recorded lifespan,
25 And Methuselah lived 187 years and became the father of Lamech. 26 Then Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.
and if you do the math, he died the year that the flood came. That means one of two things; either he just happened to die that year, before the flood, or he died in the flood. If he died in the flood, that would mean that he, along with all of the rest of humanity, ignored Noah’s warnings, and didn’t get on the ark before the flood. That explanation doesn’t fit well with Scripture. Because Methuselah is part of the genealogical line that followed God. They were walking the narrow way. Methuselah’s father Enoch is described as “walking with God.” Methuselah’s son Lamech died 5 years before the flood and made a notable statement when his son Noah was born.
28 And Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son. 29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will [c]give us rest from our work and from the pain of our hands arising from the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”
Lamech uses the name of God, and refers to the story of the curse during the time of Adam and Eve. This would imply that he to is a follower of God.
30 Then Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 And Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
So, we come to Noah. And if we look at the genealogical record, he and his sons are all that is left of those walking the narrow road. Though the population has exploded geometrically from Adam forward, there has only been a remnant who held on to the truth. We will read later, when we get to Noah’s generation,
Genesis 6: 5 Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Think about it, only Noah and his sons and their wives were saved out of all the world population that has grown for over 1 thousand six hundred years. How many people would there have been?
https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/pre-flood-population/
Some people believe the population was relatively low. The Bible explains that people were extremely corrupt and violent prior to the Flood. It is not hard to imagine the world being filled with wars, diseases, and other factors that would keep the population in check.
Others believe that Earth’s population was much higher. If the growth rate in the pre-Flood world was equal to the growth rate in 2000 (0.012), there could have been about 750 million people at the time of the Flood. However, given the extremely long lifespans prior to the Flood, the growth rate could have been much higher. Increasing the rate by just 0.001 would put the population at close to four billion at the Flood.
Does that mean that Noah was perfect? No
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
Which brings us back to what sends someone on the narrow road. It is not perfection, or uber-righteousness, it is the grace of God bestowed on those who come to Him in humility, and repentance. And who do not bring a sacrifice of their own deeds to try and buy God’s favor. They came to Him on the basis of God’s promise, that He would send a Savior, who would be wounded and bruised for our transgressions, that by His suffering, beating, and stripes we would be spiritually healed.
“This one will [c]give us rest from our work and from the pain of our hands arising from the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”
The Hebrew word for rest is “
That was Noah, and Enoch, and Seth; travelers down the narrow road to salvation.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, [f]blameless among those in his generations; Noah walked with God.