06.13. "The Seventh from Adam"

"The Seventh from Adam"

It is not without the greatest significance and importance, we may be perfectly sure, that Enoch is specially designated, in the Epistle of Jude, as being "the seventh from Adam."

There is, and must be something for our learning; some finger-post pointing us to a Divine lesson, in this expression, which has attracted the attention of most Bible readers.

"Seven," we know, is the number of spiritual perfection.[26] And therefore it points to some spiritual lesson in the person and faith of Enoch, which is distinctly additional to what we have learned from Abel.

[26] See Number in Scripture, "Seven" by the Author. In Jude 1:14 it is associated with prophesying. And this is by the Spirit of Jehovah; so that the first thing we see is the connection of seven with the Holy Spirit: for a prophet is defined as one on whom the Spirit of God is (Num 12:1-16). He alone gives the words of God, and enables the prophet to utter them as God’s "spokesman."[27] [27] Compare Exo 7:1 with Exo 4:16, and see The Man of God, a pamphlet by the Author. The expression tells us also that Enoch lived and prophesied in a day of declension and apostasy. For there were no prophets or prophecy until there was departure from God.

There was no need in Eden; for Elohim communed Himself with our first parents.

It is in the midst of the Fall, that we have the first prophecy. The prophecy of the coming seed of the woman was to remove the effects of sin and death: and to crush the head of the old Serpent was named as part of the very sentence of Judgment. When God provided and ordered the ritual and ordinances in connection with His worship He ordained everything, and appointed every office and duty from that of the High Priest down to the hewers of wood and drawers of water. But there was no provision for a prophet! A prophet was not necessary while the priests attended to their duty of teaching the knowledge of God, and while men continued in obedience to God’s laws. Not until the Priests departed from their first duties, to teach the people the word of God, and became absorbed in their Ritual, were prophets sent to supply the deficiency; and to be spokesmen for God. The very fact therefore that Enoch prophesied is sufficient, of itself, to tell us that he lived in days when men departed from God’s ways. The very fact that he "walked with God" implies that others did not. And this is borne out by other evidence.

It has been objected by some commentators, as being very strange that, after Abel, no one is mentioned until we come to Enoch, "the seventh from Adam." No example of faith is given in Heb 11:1-40, though we read of Enos (Gen 4:26) "then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."[28] [28] See Michaelis, Introd. to N.T. (Marsh’s translation), pp. 225, 226. This has sounded strangely in the ears of many, who remember how Adam, and Abel and Seth must all have called on the name of Jehovah in truest worship. These are universally regarded as godly men.

These two facts then: the prophesying of Enoch, and the omission of Enos, lead us to suspect that we have not yet rightly understood Gen 4:26.

It is a matter of fact that the words have been understood by those who ought to know what Hebrew is, in exactly the opposite sense. The Targum (or Paraphrastic Commentary) of Onkelos (about the second century B.C. in Hebrew) says: "Then, in his days, the sons of men desisted from praying (or became profane so that they prayed not) in the name of the Lord." The Targum of Jonathan (or Palestine) says: "That was the generation in whose days they began to err, and to make themselves idols, and surnamed their idols by the name of the Word of the Lord."

Kimchi and Rashi agree with this. The latter says: "Then was there profanation in calling on the name of the Lord."

Jerome also says, (Quaest.) that this was the opinion of many Jews in his days.

Without doubt these interpretations arose from a well-known signification of the verb ‏הָלַל‎ (chālal) to call, but also, to profane,[29] and the information, given in the note below, shows that there is good ground for this view.

[29] It is in the Hophal conjugation which is used only once (in Gen 4:26), so that we have no means of determining its exact sense. In the Hiphil it is rendered begin 52 times, pollute 1, sorrow 1, break 1, first 1. In the Pual, it is rendered to be profaned 1, to be slain 1. In the Poel, to wound 1, to be wounded 1. In the Piel, it is rendered to defile 8 times, to pollute 18 times, to profane 30 times, cast as profane 1, etc. In the Niphal it is rendered to be defiled 1, to be polluted 4, profane one’s self 2, to be profaned 2.

It may be added that there is no other word beside this rendered "profane" in the Old Testament (except ‏הָנִף‎ (chānēph), compare Lev 24:11; Lev 24:16. Jer 23:11; Jer 23:15). All the other 34 occurrences of "profane" are the renderings of chalal. The margin of the A.V. shows that an object after the verb to call, must be supplied, and the word "themselves" is suggested. But there is better reason for supplying their gods:—"Then it was begun to call upon [their gods] by the name of Jehovah." That corruption began at a very early date is evidenced by the whole analogy of Scripture.

If it was with Enos the grandson of Adam that idolatry commenced it would correspond with his name Enos, which means, weak, mortal, miserable; and it would correspond also with the fact that it was Jonathan the grandson of Moses, who became the first idolatrous priest in Israel (Jdg 18:30). His name was "Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of MOSES," for the word Manasseh is one of four words in the primitive Hebrew Text which has what is called a "suspended Nun": i.e., the letter Nun (‏נ‎) is written in a smaller character, in, or over the word to show that it originally formed no part of the word, and was inserted there more by way of suggestion, or for pronunciation. The word is ‏משׁה‎, and a small "N" is put between the "M" (‏מ‎) the "S" (‏שׁ‎) not in a line with the other letters—but standing out a little above them; thus making it read Manasseh instead of Moses.[30] This was doubtless done in very ancient times to spare the susceptibilities of those who should hear the scriptures read; and to conceal, or at least to mitigate the terrible fact that, Jonathan, the grandson of Moses, was the first to become an Idolatrous Priest in Israel.

[30] Every Hebrew MS. and printed Text presents the word thus:—

The letter ‏נ‎ (nun) is seen to be inserted, half in the word and half out. In some cases it is placed above the "S," but never as actually forming a part of the word, or as the true primitive Text. That Jonathan was the grandson of Moses is also evident from Jdg 20:28, where his contemporary and second cousin Phineas is stated to be the grandson of Aaron.

It is significant that the name of "Jonathan" is omitted in the Genealogy of 1Ch 23:15-16; 1Ch 26:24, where we read "The sons of Moses, were Gershom, and Eliezer. Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief." And it is equally significant that Shebuel must either have been another son of Moses substituted for Jonathan; or, it may be that another name was taken by Jonathan himself, later in life, for it means "he returned to God."

It may be of course (as the Chaldee paraphrase suggests) that Jonathan did return to God; and took Shebuel as a new name after his conversion.

If Jonathan, the grandson of Moses, could thus profane the name of the Lord, it is no less strange that Enos, the grandson of Adam, should have done the same.

Enos was born 130 years after the death of Abel, and it would be no wonder, if idolatry began within some few years after that; all the Patriarchs being still alive, except Adam.[31]

[31] From the following table the particulars as to "the Generations of Adam" will be at once seen: (see page 84). By the time Enoch was born (in 622 A.M.) there would be need for a prophet to speak for God, and utter His warning words. For of what did he prophesy but the coming of the Lord in judgment! And what could that judgment be for but an account of the fast-spreading corruption, and idolatry, and profanation of Jehovah!

If men began to worship the true God aright in the days of Enos, and continued to do so, why should such burning denunciation have been necessary in the days of Enoch?

But, if corruption and ungodliness then began, we can well understand why Enoch should have been raised up to prophesy of these, saying:—

"Behold the Lord cometh with myriads of His holy ones (i.e., angels), to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly concerning all their works of ungodliness which they did ungodlily, and concerning all the hard things which ungodly sinners spoke against Him" (Jude 1:14-15) .

The repetition of the word "ungodly" is most emphatic; and it is done to call our attention to the one subject of Enoch’s prophecy, so that we may learn at once what must have been the existing condition of things in his days. His mysterious removal may have given a check to the flood of ungodliness, but the effect must have soon worn off. For within another hundred years Noah was raised up as "the preacher of righteousness" being warned of God of the then impending judgment; and, moved with godly fear, condemned the world, by his preaching of righteousness; and the preparation of the Ark.

Here, then, we have our first insight into the nature of Enoch’s faith, and what it was, in respect of which, he believed God. He was "the seventh from Adam," and this carries our thoughts back to Adam, and causes them to dwell on the character of the days in which the six who preceded him (five of whom with their descendants) were all living.

If Enoch prophesied, as God’s "spokesman," then God must have spoken to him and told him what to say: God’s Spirit must have been upon him (Num 11:29; Num 12:6).[32]

[32] We cannot believe that "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James" who wrote "to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called" was quoting the Apocryphal so-called Book of Enoch!

It is much more likely that, someone who read these words of Jude concocted that "Book" out of his own vain imagination. But our point is that Enoch "believed God."

It must have been a special revelation to Enoch. For, How could he otherwise have known of coming judgment?

He knew from Adam, the great fact that "the seed of the woman" was coming into the world, first to suffer from the assaults of the old serpent, and finally to crush his head; and the coming of the Lord, from that moment, was always the hope of His people.

But, the coming, revealed to Enoch, was a new thing. It was a coming in judgment. Would men believe God? It appears not. But Enoch believed: and gave forth the solemn warning of his message. That is the question today. The corruption is spreading apace. Idolatry of the worst kind is the characteristic of "religion." In the so-called "Christian religion," men, today, do not make their gods out of wood, or metal, or stone; but of something far worse than these: they make him out of their own heads. These materials, at any rate, are pure as God created them; but man’s mind is fallen and corrupt; and the imaginations of his heart are only evil continually.

Instead of the "smith with the tongs" (Isa 44:12) working in the coals, we have the Theologian working with his brains in his study. Instead of the carpenter stretching out his rule making it "after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man" (Isa 44:13), we have the Preacher stretching out his vain imagination, making his god after the ideas of corruptible man, and belching forth his "new theology." God is man, and man is God, he says. The corruption in the days of Enos was "new." It was a "new theology." But where are the Enochs today? Where are those who "walk with God," and who witness for God, by testifying: "Behold the Lord cometh to execute judgment on all this abounding religious corruption?" As Abel’s blood yet speaketh, so Enoch’s prophecy yet gives forth its warning voice.

Jude, by the Holy Ghost, applies Enoch’s words to those in his day, who were going in "the way of Cain." He says "And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of THESE ALSO." Jude does not mean that Enoch prophesied as well as others; but that he prophesied of these ungodly ones, of whom Jude wrote, as well as those in his own day. So he prophesies to the same in our day. He "yet speaketh."

It is remarkable that the word rendered "smith" and "carpenter" in Isa 44:12-13; Isa 45:16, is ‏חִרָשׁ‎ (charash) and is specially connected with the making of idols; and it is the same in meaning as ‏חֹרִשׁ‎ (chorēsh) rendered "artificer" in Gen 4:22.

It is also remarkable that Lamech’s sons, Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain should be the sixth in descent from Cain.

These three traders, and inventors, were also the instructors of "artificers" in their respective arts.

How true it is that God "made man upright but they have sought out many inventions" (Ecc 7:29). This word, rendered "inventions" here, is in two other places connected with man’s inventions in departure from God. In 2Ch 26:15, it is connected with instruments of war; and in Amo 6:5, with instruments of music. Thus, four things are allied in Cain’s descendants: Commerce, Music, War, and Idolatry: Jabal, Jubal, Tubal-Cain and the "artificers" or workers in wood and iron.

All their names are connected with a common root, to flow; and mark the onward flowing and increasing of Cain’s descendants.

They flowed on prosperously till they were swept away by the over-flowing flood.[33] [33] The word is from the same root, Yabal: to flow.

They were "carried away" in the judgment; but "the way of Cain" in which they trod is filled to overflowing with their moral descendants today.

"The harp, and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands" (Isa 5:12). On all hands we see the "smiths" and the "carpenters" at work, calling themselves and their works by "the name of the LORD" though they regard not the Work or the Word of the LORD. They call their buildings "the house of the Lord," but He has small place in them. All is done for the praise and glory of man.

Man is busy framing new fashions in Religion, new modes of worship, new theologies, new gospels of humanity and socialism; and side by side with these, the same handling of the harp and the organ.

Musical Performances, and "Festivals" turn, for the time being, our Cathedrals and Churches into Concert Halls: and from "solos and singers" we have advanced to the establishment of Institutions for the avowed purpose of the artificial instruction and training of those who rank equally with the Preachers in the announcements and advertisements of Public Worship. No announcement today is complete without "PREACHER, the Rev.————

SOLOIST, Miss———." The "chancels" regarded by many as the most sacred spot, are profaned by being turned into "Orchestras:" and all in "the name of the Lord."

All is for man!

Man’s pleasure is sought in the churches: man’s achievements are eulogized in the pulpits; man’s compositions are "rendered" in the choir; man’s criticisms of the Bible are treated as general literature, and his new theologies are blazoned in the Press. It is "man" from beginning to end. No announcement today, is complete unless the portrait of the Author, or the Preacher, or even the Evangelist, forms part of it.

It is solemn indeed, to find this very feature, which characterizes the present day, so closely connected in the Epistle of Jude with "the way of Cain," and the prophesying of Enoch: where men are described as "walking after their own lusts," and "having men’s persons in admiration" (Jude 1:16).

Oh! where are the Enochs, today! Where are those who really believe God in His judgment of all these things now, and in His coming to execute that judgment ere long!

God has warned man of "judgment to come," and all man does, is to set it to music, and sing it in the churches which are called by His name; boldly and profanely advertising it as the performance of "The Last Judgment:" and all this is engineered by the very man who should be preaching it as a warning; and is carried out by the Jubals who "handle the harp and the organ." Is not this to repeat the days of Enos, and to "profane the name of the Lord?"

These are the men who are specially designated as "ungodly" in Jude’s Epistle: that is to say "without, or apart from God."

For, as Science has already banished God, from His Creation, so Religion has politely bowed Him out of the Churches; while, as in the days of Enos, they do all "in the name of God." Even this very formula has taken the place, and thus usurped the use, of prayer in the pulpit, before the preacher puts forth his profanity.

Oh! for Enoch’s faith! To believe God with reference to what we have heard from Him as to His coming judgment, and to warn the "ungodly" of their coming doom. May we not well heed the Divine exhortation founded on this very fact (in Jude 1:17-21).

"But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

"These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto eternal life."

Thus, in this Epistle, while we see angels falling (Jude 1:6) and cities falling (Jude 1:7) we are commended "unto Him that is able to KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, and to present you before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24).