1. "Genealogies often daunt us, right? We don't know how to pronounce the names. We love the Bible, but what do we do? Well, brothers and sisters, when reading a genealogy, we remember that all of God's Word is true. It's about real people who really lived."

2. "All cultures are organized rebellion against God. And different cultures can struggle with different sins. In American culture, you better believe we have our sins too. And if those sins aren't obvious to you, keep in mind that water is not obvious to a fish."

3. "Friends, we don't have the moral clarity to exact revenge. That's why it belongs to God. And Lamech here acts as if he is God."

4. "If you're here and you're not a Christian, do you struggle to think that God could be at odds with you, given how well your life is going? My friend, what if your good circumstances are not a sign of God's favor, but is judgment?"

5. "Lamech wants his sin to abound 77 times over. Jesus wants forgiveness to abound 77 times over."

6. "Friends, pride marks people in the world. Prayer marks people in the church. Which family do you bear more resemblance to? Are you calling on the name of the Lord?"

7. "Our desks were never meant to be altars."

8. "Adam and Eve took that forbidden fruit and the string attached was a noose. Beloved, death is the consequence of sin."

9. "Beloved, are you here this morning waiting on God? Then you're here this morning knowing mercy. You should have died for your sins, but God has spared you."

10. "There is a difference between merely living and walking with God."

Observation Questions

1. According to Genesis 4:17-22, what cultural and technological developments came through Lamech's sons Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain?

2. In Genesis 4:23-24, what does Lamech boast about to his wives, and how does he compare himself to Cain?

3. What does Genesis 4:25-26 tell us about Seth's birth and what began happening during the time of his son Enosh?

4. In Genesis 5:1-5, what key details are given about how Adam was created, how Seth was born, and what happened to Adam at the end of his life?

5. According to Genesis 5:21-24, what is said about Enoch that distinguishes him from all the other individuals listed in this genealogy?

6. In Genesis 5:29, what hope does Lamech express when he names his son Noah, and what does he say Noah will bring?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think Moses, the author of Genesis, highlights both a Lamech in Cain's line (Genesis 4:19-24) and a Lamech in Seth's line (Genesis 5:28-31), and what contrast is he drawing between these two men with the same name?

2. The sermon emphasized that Lamech in Cain's line wanted revenge to abound 77-fold, while Jesus told Peter to forgive 77 times (Matthew 18:22). What does this contrast reveal about the difference between the values of the serpent's offspring and God's kingdom?

3. Why is the repeated phrase "and he died" throughout Genesis 5 significant in light of the serpent's promise in Genesis 3:4 that Adam and Eve would "not surely die"?

4. How does Enoch's experience of being "taken" by God because he "walked with God" (Genesis 5:24) point forward to the hope of salvation and escape from death's curse?

5. The sermon stated that "pride marks people in the world; prayer marks people in the church." How does Genesis 4:26 ("At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord") support this distinction between the two family lines?

Application Questions

1. The sermon warned against presuming on God's grace the way Lamech did. In what specific areas of your life might you be assuming God approves of your choices simply because things seem to be going well for you?

2. Enoch "walked with God" rather than merely living his years. What is one practical change you could make this week to move from simply existing day-to-day to intentionally walking with God in fellowship?

3. The sermon noted that "our desks were never meant to be altars" and warned against finding identity in work and accomplishments. How can you evaluate whether your career, achievements, or possessions have become a source of pride that competes with your trust in God?

4. Genesis 4:26 says that Seth's line "began to call upon the name of the Lord." What does your prayer life reveal about which family—the proud or the prayerful—you most resemble, and what specific step could you take to grow in calling upon God?

5. The sermon emphasized that faith in God's promises is what makes the difference between life and death. Is there a specific promise of God in Scripture that you are struggling to trust right now, and how might you actively exercise faith in that promise this week?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Hebrews 11:1-7 — This passage explains how Abel and Enoch pleased God through faith, providing the New Testament interpretation of the Genesis 4-5 narratives emphasized in the sermon.

2. Matthew 18:21-35 — Jesus teaches Peter to forgive 77 times, directly contrasting with Lamech's boast of 77-fold revenge and illustrating the kingdom values the sermon highlighted.

3. Romans 5:12-21 — Paul explains how death entered the world through Adam's sin and how life comes through Christ, connecting to the sermon's emphasis on death as sin's consequence and Jesus as the solution.

4. Jude 14-16 — This passage quotes Enoch's prophecy about judgment on the ungodly, showing how Enoch stood against the ungodliness of his age as mentioned in the sermon.

5. Genesis 3:1-19 — This passage records the serpent's lie, the fall, and God's curse and promise, providing essential background for understanding the two lineages and the hope for a Savior traced through Genesis 4-5.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Story of Two Men Named Wes Moore Illustrates How Similar Beginnings Can Lead to Different Fates

II. What Happened to the Sons of the Serpent? They Went from Bad to Worse (Genesis 4:17-26)

III. What Happened to the Sons of Seth? They Died (Genesis 5:1-20)

IV. What Happened to the Sons of Seth? They Died, Except One of Them (Genesis 5:21-32)

V. Faith in God's Promises Makes the Difference Between Life and Death

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Imagine picking up the Washington Post tomorrow.

Imagine opening it up and seeing an article.

Imagine the article is about a criminal.

And the criminal is your age, your ethnicity, your gender grew up in the same zip code you did. Friends, imagine the criminal wasn't you, but had the exact same name as you.

Imagine sharing one name with someone, but two very different Fates.

How would you feel reading that article?

I think you'd feel a lot like an author named Wes Moore. In his book, the Other Wes Moore, he tells a disturbingly true story. As Amazon describes it, the book recounts the lives of two kids named Wes Moore, who were born blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless in similar neighborhoods in Baltimore, so right up the road. Both boys had difficult childhoods.

Both hung out on street corners with their crews. Both ran into trouble with the police. How then did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House fellow, and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence.

What made the difference in these two men's lives? Friends, that's the haunting question the author Wes Moore sets out to answer. He was inspired to write the book because one day he was reading the newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, the newspaper of his hometown, and in it was an article about this criminal named Wes Moore.

Beloved, friends, kids, this is exactly what we see in our passage today.

We see hopelessness and harm. Vengeance and violence. We see fathers, boys, men with the same name, but different fates. And through it all, God intends to teach us a lot about the difference between the two and why those differences are a matter of life and death for us.

For you. Turn to Genesis 4:17. Genesis 4:17. So on page four of those red Bibles around you, if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, we're glad to have you. The passage we're looking at today is a genealogy.

In fact, we're gonna look at two different genealogies. So if you were here last week, we looked at a narrative, nonfiction, but a narrative nonetheless. Today's text is a different genre on some levels. It traces lineages, and so you'll see lots of names. Lots of names you've probably never heard.

And as I read it, you may be sitting there wondering, what in the world is going on? And I just want you to know that everyone around you will be wondering the exact same thing. After all, beloved, let's just be real and admit that when we get to genealogies in our quiet times, there's often a temptation to, how can I put this, Skip them.

Genealogies often daunt us, right? We don't know how to pronounce the names. We love the Bible, but what do we do? Well, brothers and sisters, when reading a genealogy, we remember that all of God's Word is true. It's about real people who really lived.

All of God's Word is true. And when reading a genealogy, we remember that all of God's Word is useful. All of God's word is useful. Second Timothy 3:16 says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable, including the genealogies. Beloved, I love how Sam Amadi, former CHBC intern, put it.

He said, what the genealogies do is give us a reading plan for the Bible.

They summarize the story and fast forward but pause where God does a lot of work or where he makes a covenant.

So in chapter five today we'll see a ten member genealogy, ten generations from Adam to Noah. In Genesis 11 we see another ten member genealogy from Noah to Abraham. At the end of Ruth we see another ten member genealogy from Perez to David. Why?

Because in the New Testament and Luke we see a genealogy from Adam to Jesus.

We'll see that promised savior, that second Adam, show up. Friends, through the genealogies, God is teaching us about his faithfulness and how and why he works through history. So, kids, a genealogy is like a family tree in writing. It traces parents in our passage today, specifically the fathers of a family. And through our passage today, Moses, the author, is going to compare and contrast two families.

And kids, in both of these families are people who have the exact same name. And by comparing and contrasting them, Moses is going to show us how to live as children of the Savior's family, the family line he would come from. So, brothers and sisters, you'll remember last week we left off with the story of Cain. We saw how he was fulfilling that crucial prophecy from Genesis 3:15, that there would be strife between the offspring, the family of the serpent, and the offspring of the woman. But a Savior would come from the line of the woman and crush that serpent.

And we asked whether Cain was that Savior. And we saw the answer was no. We saw how Cain, the first murderer in history, was in fact a son of the serpent. Though God showed Cain mercy, God cursed him and sent him on his way. But that leaves us with a natural question: what happened to him?

And those who came after him? Friends, in our sermon today, we're going to ask two simple questions. First, What happened to the sons of the serpent? What happened to the sons of the serpent? Answer.

They went from bad to worse.

They went from bad to worse. It's gonna be our longest answer this morning. We'll see this in chapter 4, verses 17 through 26. Follow along as I read.

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah and the name of the other Zillah.

Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of those who play the lyre and the pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain.

He was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.

And Adam knew his wife again. She bore a son and called his name Seth. For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Friends, we pick up the story with Cain there in verse 17 where it says he knew his wife. Now, let me just go ahead and deal with a question a number of you asked me last week. Where did Cain's wife come from? I presume Adam and Eve, but remember, that's not the point of the story. We don't want to look for answers to questions Genesis isn't asking.

This book isn't a census of all humanity or a biology textbook. The point is that a male descendant of the woman would come to crush the serpent. That's why Moses, the author of Genesis, puts this puts the birth of these men in the foreground, and the story is continuing to develop. So verse 17, if you're reading it right, should sound like an echo of verse 1 of chapter 4. Adam knew Eve, his wife, and Cain does the same.

After all, God had commanded the man and the woman to be fruitful and multiply, and Cain does that. And even in this we should hear an echo of God's grace. God spared Cain from being killed. He allowed him to have family.

Cain has a son, Enoch, and this is a different Enoch than the one we'll meet later. Remember the same name, but different men with different fates. But it's enough to say for now that Cain has a son. And Cain builds a city. It's interesting, earlier in chapter four, God has said Cain should be a wanderer, but does Cain disobey by establishing a home?

Even so, Cain has a son, his son has a son, and this keeps happening until we get to Lamech. So from Adam to Lamech, you can count later, we have seven generations. And that number seven is significant. Often in the Scriptures it represents completeness, fullness. We're getting a full picture of Cain's lineage.

So the text pauses to see the fruit of this first family. And what do we see?

We see sexual immorality. Back in chapter 2, God had said, A man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. Singular. You see there in verse 19 that Lamech took two wives, which makes him the first polygamist. Beloved, the sin of polygamy may seem foreign given our immediate context, but just travel to some other contexts.

I remember when Bobby and I went to Africa a couple of years ago and trained pastors, one of the main questions they were asking us What do we do about polygamy in our churches? And I was kind of shocked. Until I remember something Michael Lawrence said. All cultures are organized rebellion against God. And different cultures can struggle with different sins.

In American culture, you better believe we have our sins too. And if those sins aren't obvious to you, keep in mind that water is not obvious to a fish.

The fish is so used to water, it doesn't know anything different. Friends, this is why the whole world needs the light of God's word shining into it, showing us what our sins are, because what might be an obvious evil to one culture is not obvious to another. I speak of culture because that's what we go on to see. So we're looking at the full picture of Cain's lineage. We saw sexual immorality.

We also see the development of culture.

So Lamech and his two wives have three sons, Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain. And between these young men, we see agricultural developments with livestock, musical developments with the lyre and the pipe, verse 20 says, and the forging of metals, verse 22 says. Now, the development of industry and music in advancing civilization isn't inherently wrong. That God had placed man in the earth to fill it and rule it. And indeed, man had accomplished much.

The problem is, man became proud because of it. After all, Lamech goes on to praise himself about violence he committed. Look again at verse 23. And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is 77-fold.

Beloved, this is the longest speech we have so far in the Bible by any human, and it centers on self, and violence. So to be clear, Lamech isn't lamenting his sin, he's bragging about it. Lamech had retaliated against a young man, we don't know who it was, and killed him. But notice Lamech's retaliation was not proportionate to what happened to him. He was wounded but he takes a man's life and takes pride in this fact.

Friends, in God's economy of justice, punishments should fit the crime. And yet what do we see? Overreaction, revenge. If you're here plotting this morning about how you can get back at someone, you better think again. Friends, we don't have the moral clarity to exact revenge.

That's why it belongs to God. And Lamech here acts as if he is God. I fear that he looked out on all that he and his three boys had accomplished, all the stuff they built and acquired even by violence. I fear that he looked at it and thought, curse of Cain. What curse of Cain?

We're doing pretty well.

If you're here and you're not a Christian, Do you struggle to think that God could be at odds with you, given how well your life is going?

My friend, what if your good circumstances are not a sign of God's favor, but is judgment?

Is it really wise to assume that God approves of everything you do?

That's what Lamech does. In verse 24 he talks about Cain's revenge. You'll remember that earlier in chapter 4 verse 15 God said that if anyone comes after Cain, revenge would be taken sevenfold. And this is God's grace to Cain, his protection. But here Lamech tries to multiply that grace.

Did you see this in verse 24? He says, if Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is 77 fold.

You know a dude is cocky when he refers to himself in the third person.

Lamech is basically saying, you, thought Cain had God's grace? I have it 11 times over. Now, if you're wondering how someone as vile as Lamech could think God is on his side, I think you're asking the right question. But that's what sin does. It blinds us.

Lamech thought God was on his side. He thought because God was gracious to Cain, he'll be gracious to me. And I think Lamech presuming on God's grace is a helpful reminder for the kids here. Kids, don't assume that because God is gracious to your parents, he'll automatically be gracious to you. You have to repent of your sins.

You can't just count on mom and dad having repented of theirs.

Friends, as we see the descendants of Cain, we see the descent of morality. Things have gone from bad to worse. Now people are proud about murdering, violent revenge, sexual immorality. Who cares about fellowship with God? We have our livestock and our metal and our stuff and our work.

Oh, my friend, if someone put a megaphone to your heart, would they hear that anthem?

I love how one journalist put it, Our desks were never meant to be altars.

And I pray we see that clearly. I think that's why, in part, Moses, the author, is writing this genealogy as he does. Remember, Moses has led people out of Egypt. They're wandering in the wilderness. They want to get to that promised land and they're weary and in their fatigue, they're having second thoughts.

They're having regrets like, man, things were better in Egypt. Things were better where the livestock was, where the bronze was, where the power was, where the culture was. And Moses is reminding the people, not everything. Is as it seems.

The Kingdom of God does not reside in the achievements of men. No, things are different in the Kingdom of God. And brothers and sisters, as we wander, as we're weary, headed to our promised land, heaven, we gotta remember the same thing. You think power is in that building down the street?

Oh, our hope is in the heavens, where there's that building not made by human hands. Beloved, things are not always as they appear. What the world values isn't what we should value. Among the sons of the serpent, we see might and revenge valued. But with the way of Jesus, we see something different, don't we?

We see that it's not revenge that should be 77 fold, but forgiveness, right? Isn't that what Jesus told Peter in Matthew 18? There Peter asked, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him seven times? No, Jesus said, but 77 times.

Friends, Lamech wants his sin to abound 77 times over.

Jesus wants forgiveness to abound 77 times over. Brothers and sisters, the allure of the power and the position and the attitude and the stuff of the world might call you. But Genesis is telling us, don't go that way. That's the way of the sons and daughters of the serpent.

But our story turns there into verse 25. Did you see it? There Moses plays a new note as the entire story of Genesis begins to be retold. Adam knows Eve, his only wife again. It says she's got another son, Seth.

She says in verse 25, look with me, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel for Cain killed him. Surely, Eve is thinking, this is the line the Savior will come from. Seth's son, Enosh, here in verse 26, his name simply means humanity. For Adam and Eve, humanity is starting over. And immediately with this new line of people, this new family, we see a contrast, a difference from the line of Cain.

In Cain's family, the sons of the serpent, people like Lamech worshiped themselves. In Cessline, they worshiped God. Did you see the end of verse 26? At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Friends, pride marks people in the world. Prayer marks people in the church.

Which family do you bear more resemblance to? Are you calling on the name of the Lord?

Adam and Eve certainly had to be calling on the Lord as they returned to the maternity ward in some sense, holding this new son, this shot at redemption. If you're here and you're not a Christian, I wonder if you've ever asked, what would make the difference in my life?

What could turn it around? Adam and Eve are all asking a lot of the same as they held this baby boy named Seth. Surely things are looking up. Which leads to our second question. And it'll have two answers.

We saw what happened to the sons of the serpent. They went from bad to worse.

What about the sons of Seth? Question number two, what happened to the sons of Seth? Answer number one, they died.

What happened to the sons of Seth? Answer number one, they died. This point we'll cover verses 1 through 20 of chapter 5. Follow along as I read. This is the book of the generations of Adam.

When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters, thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 and he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh.

Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years.

And he died. When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters, thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters, thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years.

And he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years.

And he died.

Friends, we pick up the account on a discouraging note.

Don't get caught up in the names that sound different or be distracted by how long these people lived. Just for the record, I take these centuries that folks lived as literal descriptions. We believe in a God who made a universe out of nothing, so I don't think long lives are that hard to accept.

The earth is being filled. In chapter 6, verse 3, later, the Lord ordains that man will not live as long as the people we see here. He says, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, his days shall be 120 years. In Psalm 90, even further down in history, Moses himself says, the years of our life are 70, maybe 80. So it does seem that in his providence, God ordained the men we see here in chapter 5 to live longer lives.

But friends, the main point is that even with their longer lives, they all died.

I think to read this passage correctly is to be disturbed, disrupted, discouraged by death.

After all, isn't this the line the Savior would come from?

But isn't that what death does? Disturb. Disrupt. Discourage.

I remember Pastor Jamie talking to me earlier this week. He was talking about reading this genealogy in his quiet times, and he just said simply, the emotional experience of reading this genealogy.

As opposed to reading those in the New Testament is very different. Those genealogies crescendo with Jesus. This one crashes with the discouragement of death. In our verses here, in these centuries, there are many caskets and no saviors. Friends, here we see how bankrupt Satan's temptation was.

Just a couple of chapters earlier, he slithered on in sounding sweet. Look at what he said to Eve in chapter 3, verse 4. Chapter 3, verse 4. Encouraging her to eat the fruit, the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die.

What a lie.

Friends, that is how badly your sin, whatever sin you're being tempted with, that is what it's doing to you. It is lying to this disastrous degree. Adam and Eve took that forbidden fruit and the string attached was a noose.

Beloved, death is the consequence of sin. The wages, what we've earned. So teenagers, maybe you've gotten a summer job where you're earning wages. The wages of sin, our rebellion against God, the scripture says, is death. That's the judgment for our sin.

So in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 5, we see that man still bears God's image. Seth bears Adam's image. Adam is made in God's image. All people, male and female, are made in God's image. Meaning we show something of of what God is like means we are worthy of love, respect, and dignity.

So man still bears the image, yes, but man also still bears the judgment for his sin.

Death.

Now, this passage isn't all doom and gloom. We see mercy here as well.

Before Satan's temptation that we just read, God had said that the day man eats of the forbidden fruit, he shall die.

But we see how in God's mercy, Adam, Eve, Seth, they did not just drop dead. No, they knew hundreds of years, centuries of life, centuries of mercy.

Beloved, in the length of these lives, do we not see something of the length of God's mercy? I think Moses wanted his readers to know this as they were wandering. He wanted them to know that guys, that we get to wait on God is itself a mercy.

Beloved, are you here this morning waiting on God?

Then you're here this morning knowing mercy. You should have died for your sins, but God has spared you. Friends, are you here stressed out this morning?

Does not the length of these lives, does not this genealogy literally show you what the psalmist says in Psalm 139? In your book, Were written every one of them the days that were formed for me Friend God has ordained the days of your life He's in charge and he is merciful But I don't think the main point of this section is mercy I think the point the main point is what's clear and what we so instinctively don't want to see death and the despair it brings. Think about the implicit refrain of hope in our passage. With each new generation came the possibility that the Savior might be born. With each passing one, we see hope rise as we read these two words, He fathered, he fathered, he fathered.

But then what do we see? But hope's dashed, as we're told, seven times over in this chapter.

Of the end of the son's life. Our text almost sings, better yet wails with a cruel call and response. He fathered, he died. He fathered, he died. He fathered, he died.

Our passage laments the fullness of death we see here. We are in many senses in the valley of the shadow of death.

After all, here we have fathers hoping their sons would crush death, only to see their sons crushed by death in the matter of a verse or two. Friends, I know that when we get to genealogies in our quiet times, there's a temptation to fast forward a few pages. Genealogies often make our quiet times feel like drier times, if we're honest, right? And I resonate with that.

But if you stop and stare, if you see how generations come and generations go, do you not feel something of the brevity of your own life?

You working hard to take over or change the world?

Your life could be summed up in a verse or two, maybe. And there's a good chance your great grandkids won't even know your name.

Or didn't we hear it from James in Bible study this past week, the question, what is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Friends, you will die one day, and one day soon.

Get right with God.

And if you're wondering how to do that, listen to the next part of our passage. We've asked what happened to the sons of Seth. We said that our second question had two answers. We saw that they died, but there is a second answer to this question. What happened to the sons of Seth?

Answer number two. They died, except one of them. What happened to the sons of Seth? Answer number two, they died, except one of them. This point will cover verses 21 through 32.

Follow along as I read. Verse 21, When Enoch had lived 65 years. He fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.

Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years. And he died. After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So I want you to see the similarities between these two genealogies for Cain and Seth families.

Both genealogies end with three sons being born. So Shem, Ham, and Japeth in Seth's genealogy, chapter 5, verse 32, and Jabel, Jubal, and Tubal Cain in Cain's genealogy, chapter 4, verses 20 to 22. Both genealogies speak of life and death. Both have people who share the same name, so we've met violent and vile Lamech in Cain's lineage, yet we meet another Lamech in Cessna line. And here we find the answer to that question we asked at the beginning, what makes the difference between the two families, the sons of the serpent and the sons of the savior's line?

Well, notice there's nothing about power or civilization in this second genealogy.

Here we just see another man named Lamech, but unlike the first one, this Lamech isn't looking to himself, he's looking to someone else. He's hoping in a Savior to come. We saw it last week, what this second Lamech said in chapter 5 verse 29, look with me. Hoping that Noah would be the promised Savior, Lamech said, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands. And in some sense, Noah did that.

But we recognize last week that Noah wasn't ultimately the man we need.

Which is why I want to focus on someone else in this genealogy. Enoch. But not the one we met earlier.

This Enoch is the seventh son mentioned in the line of Seth. Remember, the seventh son of Cain was highlighted earlier. That was the first Lamech we met. Here we see another seventh son highlighted as we get a full picture of what Cessline looked like. And what do we see in Enoch?

We see fellowship with God. Verse 22 of chapter five, Enoch walked with God. Notice this small detail. Unlike all the other fathers in chapter five, verse 22 doesn't say Enoch lived after he fathered his child. So verse 19, for example, it says Jared lived after he fathered Enoch.

But in verse 22 it says Enoch walked with God after he fathered. It's a reminder that as one commentator put it, there is a difference between merely living and walking with God.

Beloved, there is a difference between merely living and walking with God. But an even bigger detail is that Enoch didn't die. Unlike all the other sons in chapter 5, the text doesn't say, and he died. No, look with me at verse 24. It says, Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Like we'll see later in Scripture with Elijah, God took Enoch up to heaven. Friends, why did God take him there?

Because Enoch pleased God. If you're using the Pew Bible, you'll see a footnote in verse 22 saying that that phrase walked with God could also be read as Enoch pleased God. And the question we should be asking is how? How did Enoch do that when all looked bleak in the valley of the shadow of death? How did Enoch please God?

The Bible tells us. Brothers and sisters, I'm amazed as I study Genesis how much the rest of the Bible comments on Genesis and those we meet in it. And so we hear a good bit about Old Testament Enoch in the New Testament, specifically in Jude, where it says Enoch, the seventh from Seth, didn't put up with ungodliness. And in Hebrews, we also hear about Enoch. Friends, Hebrews, especially chapter 11, is an incredible lens to read the book of Genesis through.

We heard some of it last Sunday. We heard about Abel and Cain and how by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. So Hebrews 11, a spiritual kind of genealogy is tracking the family of faith. And it says this about Enoch. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death.

And he was not found because God had taken him. Now, before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith, it is impossible to please him. Let me say it again. Without faith, It is impossible to please God.

And the question we should be asking is faith in what? Faith in whom? Enoch had faith in the promises of God. Like his grandson Lamech, he too was looking forward to that one who would bring relief He too was hoping in the promise given. And that promise finds its fulfillment, its yes and amen in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came down and lived a perfect life, a life fully pleasing to God, a life you and I should have lived but didn't.

Friends, the wages of our sin is death. But thanks be to God that Jesus died the death we deserved. On that cross as he hung there, he didn't call for revenge. No, he called for forgiveness. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And three days later, when it came to his casket, his tomb, like Hebrews says about Enoch, Jesus was not found. Oh beloved, I love this. In our passage, death may have the first word, but it does not have the last. Friends, Jesus got up from the dead and now offers forgiveness to all who would turn from their sins and trust in him. And that, repentance and faith, is what makes the difference between people who even shared the same name.

That's what makes the difference between Enoch and Enoch, between Lamech and Lamech.

In my introduction, I talked about two men named Wes Moore.

One went on to life in some sense, the other went to death in prison. The Wes Moore who authored the book ends with this haunting reflection: Noting all the similarities that his life had with the other Westmore, he said, the chilling truth is that my story could have been his. The tragedy is that his story could have been mine.

Beloved, the chilling truth of the gospel is that your story is Cain's.

The beauty, the wonder of the gospel is that Jesus' story can become yours.

His righteousness, His death, His resurrection are all available to you by faith. In Jesus, you get a new past. In Jesus, you get a new present. In Jesus, you get a new future. Beloved, the good news this morning is that even if we die, we, like Enoch, will live.

Friends, our passage compares and contrasts two families: the family of Cain and the family of Christ. It does this to teach us about waiting on God and how we should live as we wait.

It does this to show us where and how and why God is working. It does this to show us where to turn our eyes when all looks bleak. Don't look back to Egypt.

Look forward to God and that Promised Land. After all, we, like Moses' audience, are headed there. Let's pray.

Oh Father, we want to get to that promised land, but if we're honest, God, we get confused about where it is or what it looks like.

Father, we pray that you would keep us. We pray that Jesus would come back. And come soon. Father, we pray that he would take our ransomed souls away. We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.