Word of Salvation – September 2014

 

Genesis 5:28-30 – Two Humanities – and Jesus Christ

By John Westendorp

Read: Gen.4:19-26 & 5:21-32. 

Singing: Book Of Worship 505 / 465 / 250 / 23a / 148

Theme: Lamech’s confession at the birth of Noah as an expression of Gospel hope to be typified in Noah.

 

Introd: There’s a good course in basic Christianity called Two Ways To Live.

It’s a course put out by Matthias Media that would be good for our cell groups to have a look at.

Two Ways To Live brings out the same lesson as Genesis 4 and 5.
You can live your life like the people in Genesis 4 – the descendants of Cain..
People who basically don’t care two hoots about God.
At best they ignore Him… at worst, like Lamech, they live in total defiance of Him.
Or you can live your life like the people in Genesis 5 – the descendants of Seth.
These are the people who call on God’s name in public worship.
Like Enoch they walk with God by faith.

This morning we want to look at some words spoken by Lamech… the other Lamech.
Not the Lamech in Genesis 4 who introduced bigamy into the world.
Not the Lamech, descended from Cain, who murdered without a twinge of conscience.
The other Lamech… descended from the line of Seth…
The Lamech who was the grandson of Enoch who walked with God.
The Lamech who was the father of Noah who also walked with God.

This other Lamech also spoke some words that have been recorded in the Bible.
This man holds his baby son, Noah, in his hands and he says:
  This one will comfort us (or give us rest) in the labour and painful toil
  of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.
These are remarkable words that give us some good insights into the right way to live.

A] GODLY HUMANITY’S EVALUATION OF OUR PROBLEM.

1. First of all – to live the right way you need a proper understanding of our problem.

It’s not ‘rocket science’ to work out that all is not well on planet earth. You don’t need a Ph.D for that.
Life is tough! Pain and hardship, grief and loss are part and parcel of being here.
Stress and worry and difficulties and setbacks… that’s all a normal part of life.
Movies and novels and newspapers and the evening news all bring it home to us.
We live in a world where things are broken and need fixing.

But when I read Genesis 4 I don’t find anyone in Cain’s family line ever admitting that.

Instead I detect some quite different reactions to the problems of life.

One reaction in Genesis 4 is to play the victim… that’s what Cain did when God punished him.
He lamented: My punishment is more than I can bear.
And today that is still such a common practice. We play the victim.
Some years ago in Florida a man drank himself into a stupor.
He broke into a fenced, gated, and locked electrical substation.
He then climbed up a transformer, and was blasted by 13,000 volts of electricity.
He survived, but he sued the electricity company and the six liquor stores
which had sold him the alcohol he had consumed. He played the victim.

Another reaction in Genesis 4 is to take things into your own hands.
That’s what the first Lamech did. You get even… you take your troubles out on others.
For the rest, Genesis 4 has frantic activity: city building and the development of technology.
Life is tough… and you’ve got to help yourself over the hurdles.

So that’s one way to live. You play the victim… you get even… you solve your own problems…!

But don’t talk about or face up to the heart of the issue: why the world is the way it is.

2. The other way to live is with the attitude of the godly Lamech in our text.

To admit that there is a serious problem… so serious that we cannot solve it ourselves.
Lamech understood the root of all our troubles.
We have this link back to The Fall in Genesis 3.
Lamech zeroes in on what happened when Adam and Eve sinned.
He does that without in any way blaming Adam and Eve. He simply makes the connection:
Life is tough! Why? Because of what happened in Eden.
There are no illusions for Lamech. He doesn’t bury his head in the sand.

Sometimes we live like the people in Genesis 4. We don’t want to talk about the brokenness of life.

But let me tell you something.
Anytime I talk to people about their work it doesn’t take long before we’re up against it.
The problem is with the boss… or with our workmates… or with the equipment.
Management are unrealistic in their expectations. Others are not pulling their weight.

Every job has its difficulties, its setbacks, its problems. We all have something we struggle with.
Except, of course, us pastors. We’ve got the perfect job. We only work two hours on Sundays.
Some years ago someone gave me this sign to put above my desk:
IT’S DIFFICULT TO SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE WHEN YOU WORK WITH TURKEYS.
And so often in our daily work we can relate to that.

So why am I talking about daily work? Well, because that’s what Lamech is talking about.
With his admission that life is tough Lamech zeroes right in on his daily work.
Work has become painful toil… and no trade-union movement can ever fix that.
It’s especially in the daily grind of our work that life so often becomes a struggle.

Lamech had perhaps planted a crop… and there had been no rain… and so no crop.
The following year he had planted again and this time floods washed all the seed away.
Life is difficult… especially in our work.
And especially at a time when there were no government handouts of any kind.
And no Superannuation schemes… and no Long Service Leave entitlements.

So here is the first lesson from Lamech about the Two Ways To Live.
In a tough world, full of hardships, we don’t play the victim and we don’t get even.
Nor do we bury our head in the sand… or act as if we can solve this problem ourselves.
Instead, godly people live with a healthy dose of realism.
We accept that we live in a fallen world where things are less than perfect.
And that’s because all of humanity still shares in the sad results of The Fall.

3. However to live the right way we have to go further… you also need to factor God into the equation.

More than that…! You have to factor God into the equation in the right way.

Because you can bring God into the picture in the wrong way.

Think again of how God features for the people in Genesis 4.
In Cain’s case it seems that all the problems are God’s fault… God is being unfair.
It was unfair of God to accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s offering.
It was unfair of God to make a restless wanderer out of Cain.

The further silences about God in the rest of the chapter means God seems to be ignored.
So they accept God’s blessings and gifts but there is no mention of worship.
Until in the words of that other Lamech, God is even defied.

There are two ways to live:
One is without God… ignoring Him while receiving His blessings.
Or if you can’t ignore then blame Him for your problems.
But you set yourself up as your own authority so that you basically live the way you want to live.

The other way to live is to live in relationship with God.
Not just in public worship but at work too. That’s what the second Lamech essentially does.
He brings God to bear on his daily labours… on the routine of his week-day work.
God is figured into the equation at this point of his painful toil.

Notice how Lamech puts it.
These hardships come because God has cursed the ground due to human sin.
Lamech not only has a realistic view of life… he also has a realistic view of God.
For Lamech, God is not some kind of heavenly Santa Clause, merely dishing out the goodies.
God is also the God who is deeply offended by human rebellion.
Lamech’s God is not just a God of endless, one-sided love.
Lamech’s God is that God who cursed the ground at The Fall In Genesis 3.
And for Lamech life is really only understood – and lived – in context of that God.

4. That doesn’t yet take us to the heart of living the right way.

As Christians we know that the only way to really live is in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But please don’t think that Lamech couldn’t do that. He did…!
His attitude is an attitude of hope in the gospel of Christ.

And that’s the really the big difference between Genesis 4 and Genesis 5.
And it’s the big difference in those two ways to live.
One is living life apart from the hope of the gospel.
The other is a life that hopes in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

This is where the structure of this chapter becomes so important.
This second way to live – Genesis 5 – really begins at Genesis 4:25.
(Keep in mind that chapter divisions were not part of the original text.)
So we’re told that early in the piece that the godly line of Seth commenced public worship.
They began the practice of calling on the name of the Lord.
And this godly character of Seth’s line climaxes with Enoch who walks with God.
But now this chapter ends by highlighting these words of Lamech.

And what’s the heart of Lamech’s message?
The fact that we live in a broken world where life is tough? No!
The reality that life is tough because God cursed the ground because of sin? No!
The heart of his words is this:
That Someone is coming to undo that curse and to give humanity rest.

So where on earth did Lamech get that idea from? Did He make it up?
Not at all…! God himself had promised it in Genesis 3:15.
It’s called the Mother Promise: the seed of the woman would come to crush the serpent’s head.
That promise of Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

That’s why I can preach to you from this text. Christian preachers should always preach about Jesus.
That’s what preaching is about: Jesus. And if it’s not about Jesus it’s not preaching.
And it’s Jesus who Lamech was looking forward to. His hope was in Jesus.
OK, Lamech didn’t know his name – but Lamech lived in hope of the gospel:
That Jesus would come and bring peace… that He would deal with the curse.
And his hope was that this newborn child might be the promised One.

There’s two ways to live. One of them is without the hope of the gospel.
The other way is in the hope of a Saviour who comes to undo the curse of Gen.3.
It’s wonderful to see how that hope was still alive by the time of Lamech.
In the godly line of Seth that hope is passed on… even now to the 10th generation.
The godly not only live in the hope of that gospel.
The godly also pass that hope on to their children and grandchildren.

B] INTERPRETING LAMECH’S EXPRESSED GOSPEL HOPE.

1. So did Noah’s father, Lamech, get it right? The answer is both yes and no!

To understand that let’s unpack that expression of hope a little further.

There are generally three different approaches to our text.

First there are those who see this as a pious wish that totally missed the mark.

I believe that those who take it this way have a very superficial approach to Lamech’s words.
They point out that at the birth of our children we often express our dreams for them.
And Lamech just had big, big dreams for his son, Noah. Hey, don’t we all?
And that bit about rest from our painful toils?
Well, in the ancient world there were no social security payments and no superanuation.
So you had lots of children to go to work and help to bring home the bacon.
Working sons made life easier. They gave you some rest.
And so He names him Noah… which sounds like the Hebrew word for rest.

My problems with this is that it makes the words of Lamech little more than him having a whinge.

But we’ve already seen that there is more to these words of Lamech.
This is not just Lamech having a whinge.
It is Lamech expressing a confident hope in a difficult world where you daily job is tough going.
And his hope is that this child would be the longed for Messiah
But that still means that Lamech got it wrong… Lamech missed the mark.

So these are good words… words of hope… but they needed someone greater to fulfil them.
Noah became a great hero of the faith. That’s true.
He built the ark… a massive boat… and he rode out the flood.
But what we need to give us rest from our painful toil is more than a great boat builder.

In fact, as Christians we know that no mere human being could save us and give us rest.
The One who was needed to save us also had to be fully God.
So the true gospel is not about the coming of Noah.
The true gospel is about the coming of Jesus to save us.

2. If some see too little in the words of Lamech others see too much in them.

They want to turn these words into a prophecy. It’s a prediction, they say, about the post-flood world.

Noah, they say, did bring comfort. And one commentator gave that a novel twist.
After the flood Noah invented alcohol that brought people comfort from their painful toil.
Perhaps that’s why there’s still an alcoholic beverage today called Southern Comfort…!
If you want to know about Noah’s wine-making episode you can read the story in Genesis 9.

Before you laugh about this let me explain the reasoning of these folk.
Because there are some glimmers of truth in their arguments.
With Noah God makes a new beginning after The Flood.
And it’s interesting that God then makes a covenant with Noah.

However, it’s not only a covenant with Noah… it’s also a covenant with the whole of creation.
It’s as if the curse on the earth is somehow toned down a little.
The curse is moderated by God’s covenant with Noah and all creatures.
That brings some rest… to a degree.

The argument then is that Lamech is speaking prophetically about things to come.
But the problem is that the curse on the ground is not removed in Genesis 9 after the flood.
God’s covenant with Noah does not undo… or even begin to undo… the mess of The Fall.

All God was doing was promising that there would be no more world-wide flood.
And the rainbow… not the wine… was the sign of that covenant.
That whole episode of Noah’s wine-making ends up as a pretty sordid story anyway.
So it’s really seeing too much in Lamech’s words to read them as a prophecy about Noah.

3. So if this is not a pious wish that missed the mark… and if it’s not a prophecy about Noah, what is it?

Well, it’s a statement of hope in a cursed world full of hopelessness.

It is confession of hope. A confession that climaxes the line of Seth.

There are two ways to live.
One way is a way in which there is little to hope for.
We work hard in a world where life is tough… and it’s true that we do have some successes
but before long it’s all over and finished.
The other way to live is with hope.
Hope that One is coming who saves us from the curse God put on the earth.
Two ways to live. Which way of living makes most sense to you?
Surely it is in the hope of the coming of Jesus who gives us comfort and rest.

However, I also see a way in which this most certainly applied in a special way to Noah.
These simple words of hope in a better future are gospel based.
And Lamech applies them to his son, Noah. But in doing so he does not totally miss the mark.

There is a sense in which they did come true… not in Noah… but thru Noah.
Because it was from the line of Noah that Jesus was born into this world.

In fact Noah even became a sign of God’s salvation in Jesus.
God destroyed the whole earth with a flood.
Every living creature perished, says the Bible… except Noah and his family.
And through Noah the living creatures too were saved.
In this way Noah becomes a Saviour figure.
In a small way he pictures the salvation that we celebrate as Christians.
He points us to the coming Saviour who came to give us rest and peace.

4. At the end of the day this is then really a prophecy about Jesus.

Lamech looked down at the baby Noah in his arms and he expressed hope in his labours.

We now look to heaven where Jesus Christ reigns in glory and we now have hope in our labours.

Because when Jesus walked on earth He too experienced the curse.
And He experienced that curse also as He worked in Joseph’s carpenter’s shop.
In fact that sign I showed you before would have been especially true for Jesus.
It’s difficult to soar like an eagle when you work with turkeys.
Jesus the perfect man who never sinned had to work with the likes of us turkeys.

But Jesus in His work experienced the curse in an even more profound way.
That curse brought Him to His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And it brought Him to the cross of Calvary… the great climax of His earthly work.
And it’s as He did that, that the curse was dealt with, and rest provided for God’s people.

Genesis 4 and 5 tells us about two men called Lamech. Both are remembered for their spoken words.
Two men called Lamech. But they represent two ways to live – two lifestyles.
One is a lifestyle in rebellion against God… and a life without real hope.
The other is a lifestyle that walks with God… and a life that has the hope of the Gospel.
And that lifestyle full of hope even impacts the way we do our daily work.
Two ways to live! The choice is yours. But your choice will have eternal consequences.

Amen