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The mockers denied that there had been any interference in the form of judgment ever
since the creation. They therefore denied the overthrow of the world in Gen. 1: 2.
Enoch took up this line of teaching. He, too, uttered the solemn word: "Behold, the
Lord came", and his reference to angels and Satan, as well as to man, removes any sense
of disproportion. Enoch named his son Methuselah, which means, "At his death it
(namely, the flood) shall be", and in the year that Methuselah died the flood came.
Jude now takes up Enoch's witness, coupled with Peter's words (II Pet. 2:, 3:), and
links together (1) the overthrow of the world that then was (Gen. 1: 2), (2) the flood
(Gen. 6:, 7:), and (3) the second coming of the Lord, which shall be accompanied by
a deluge of fire. This is indeed a solemn aspect of the coming of the Lord.
Two items of importance now demand our attention:--
1.
The statement that this Enoch was "the seventh from Adam".
2.
The reference to "ten thousands of His saints".
"The seventh from Adam."--Why should it be necessary for Jude to pause in the
midst of his utterance to make this remark? The reason is that there is a great need to be
on our guard against deception and false prophets, and as there are two named Enoch in
the book of Genesis (the one being the true seed of Adam, the other being in the line of
Cain), this warning becomes necessary. It may be that the warning should not be passed
by without due consideration. Let us go back to the early chapters of Genesis and learn
the lesson contained in the note, "Enoch, the seventh from Adam".
Adam's true line omits Cain and his seed. This may be tested by consulting the
genealogies given in Gen. 5:, I Chron. 1: 1, and Luke 3: 38, where the order is always
the same. Cain was of that wicked one, and his seed are prophetic of the seed of the
serpent. The two lines are given in Genesis with the following close parallels
emphasized:--
Adam's line
Cain's line
(Gen. 5:).
(Gen. 4: 17-24).
Seth.
ENOCH.
Enos.
Irad.
Cainan.
Mehujael.
Mahalaleel.
METHUSAEL.
Jared.
LAMECH (70*7 vengeance).
ENOCH.
Jabel.
METHUSELAH.
Jubal.
LAMECH (777 years).
Tubal-cain
Noah.
It will be seen that there is evidently some kind of anticipation and counterfeit in some
of the names given to Cain's seed. Their likeness, however, is limited to their names
only. Enoch, the son of Cain, is connected with the founding of a city in the land of