An Advent Journey
by Jeff Anderson
FOLLOWING THE SEED FROM EDEN TO BETHLEHEM
Day 5 - An Advent Journey
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RELIEF FOR THE SEED
Noah (10)
Genesis 5:28-32
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 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.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Let’s review the big picture.
A battle was being waged between good and evil... between God and Satan.
After God created man, Satan tempted man with sin. Because of sin, death was introduced to the world.
But the repetitive cycle of life and death was not a good long-term plan. God’s solution was a special Seed to break the death cycle (remember Genesis 3:15).
This seed was a 2nd Adam. A sinless Adam. Jesus.
God took His time working out this plan. It had been just over one thousand years from Adam’s placement in the garden to Noah’s birth.
Meanwhile, wickedness was reaching intolerable levels. Enoch likely sensed it. Methuselah and Lamech sensed it as well.
How intolerable? The Bible says God regretted that He made man on earth. He was grieved in his heart. (It’s hard to fathom these emotions from God - see Genesis 6:6).
God was ready to wipe the earth clear of all life (6:7).
But what about the Seed? Would God abandon His plan from Genesis 3:15?
Never! God’s covenants always stand.
God sent a global flood to destroy life on earth, but He spared one family. His start-over plan consisted of Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Eight people.
The Seed journey will continue.
After the flood, Noah un-boarded the ark and offered sacrifices of some of the clean animals to God.
Something about this blood-shedding event pleased God. So God put a rainbow in the sky and covenanted to never destroy the earth with water again.
But something deeper was going on in God’s mind – something Noah could not see.
Noah’s sacrifice was a foreshadowing of a future sacrifice God had planned for us.
Jesus, the eventual Seed, would one day offer himself as a living sacrifice, as final atonement for the sins of the world.
Lamech (Noah’s father) was right. God did have something special planned for Noah (the one who “shall bring us relief.”)
God used Noah to keep the Seed alive... and on track for the journey to Bethlehem.
Instead of an ark to save Noah’s family, God could have destroyed everyone (including Noah) and started over with a new garden and a new Adam... or something different.
How does the Genesis 3:15 promise impact God’s decision to continue with the seed of Adam?
We look forward to your comments and questions below!
If you want to share this Bible reading plan with friends and family, here is the link:
https://bttb.org/An-Advent-Journey
Noah (10)
Genesis 5:28-32
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 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.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Let’s review the big picture.
A battle was being waged between good and evil... between God and Satan.
After God created man, Satan tempted man with sin. Because of sin, death was introduced to the world.
But the repetitive cycle of life and death was not a good long-term plan. God’s solution was a special Seed to break the death cycle (remember Genesis 3:15).
This seed was a 2nd Adam. A sinless Adam. Jesus.
God took His time working out this plan. It had been just over one thousand years from Adam’s placement in the garden to Noah’s birth.
Meanwhile, wickedness was reaching intolerable levels. Enoch likely sensed it. Methuselah and Lamech sensed it as well.
How intolerable? The Bible says God regretted that He made man on earth. He was grieved in his heart. (It’s hard to fathom these emotions from God - see Genesis 6:6).
God was ready to wipe the earth clear of all life (6:7).
But what about the Seed? Would God abandon His plan from Genesis 3:15?
Never! God’s covenants always stand.
God sent a global flood to destroy life on earth, but He spared one family. His start-over plan consisted of Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Eight people.
The Seed journey will continue.
After the flood, Noah un-boarded the ark and offered sacrifices of some of the clean animals to God.
Something about this blood-shedding event pleased God. So God put a rainbow in the sky and covenanted to never destroy the earth with water again.
But something deeper was going on in God’s mind – something Noah could not see.
Noah’s sacrifice was a foreshadowing of a future sacrifice God had planned for us.
Jesus, the eventual Seed, would one day offer himself as a living sacrifice, as final atonement for the sins of the world.
Lamech (Noah’s father) was right. God did have something special planned for Noah (the one who “shall bring us relief.”)
God used Noah to keep the Seed alive... and on track for the journey to Bethlehem.
Instead of an ark to save Noah’s family, God could have destroyed everyone (including Noah) and started over with a new garden and a new Adam... or something different.
How does the Genesis 3:15 promise impact God’s decision to continue with the seed of Adam?
We look forward to your comments and questions below!
If you want to share this Bible reading plan with friends and family, here is the link:
https://bttb.org/An-Advent-Journey
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Looking at the longevity of the forefathers of Noah, I am wondering how it happened that none of his parents or grandparents were on the ark. Perhaps it is an inconsequential question, but in retrospect, I think it says something about how our salvation is not dependent upon our forefathers, but on our personal relationship with Jesus, the Seed. As a parent, I need to be sure that I impress upon my children that they are not saved because their parents believe, but because they have an opportunity to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength."
1 reply
God's plan for the ages is just that - it is a plan for the ages. A god who would make promises or declarations and not fulfill them is not the kind of double-mindedness I would expect from the Almighty or follow in any sense. Consistency is an attribute of the only true God. Simply put, God would use a bad situation to work righteousness.