The Testimony of the Genealogies

The authorial intent in providing a genealogy of Cain in Genesis 4:16-24 right after he “went out from the presence of the LORD” isn’t a hotly debated topic. It’s the genealogies of the righteous that are controversial. Nevertheless, the absence of any coherent law in the reckoning up of the genealogy of Cain is a message in and of itself. No age of any Patriarch is provided, not even Cain’s! There is no record of anyone’s death. No amount of years between each newborn Patriarch is detailed. Furthermore, the genealogy of Cain is remarkably shorter than the one provided for the godly line of Seth. This comes out to a difference of 3 generations, amounting to a contrast of 7 generations to 10 generations from Adam. Lastly, just how many children each Patriarch had, with however many wives, and for however many years, appears to be totally irrelevant in the reckoning up of this genealogy. Unsurprisingly, the so-called Law of the Primogenitor is totally irrelevant as well.

Nevertheless, we have no reason to doubt why Cain, Lamech, Tubalcain, Jubal, and Jabal made it into the genealogy. The popular abuses of human genetics in a world filled with violence makes sense of their presence in how they contributed to the moral catastrophe that made the world ripe for judgment in Genesis 6. There is no greater tragedy than a sick Church in a dying world! However, what about Enoch? How did he make it into the genealogy? Perhaps he was a foremost student of Cain who was thoroughly “initiated” into his ways. What about Irad? Perhaps he was some renowned “fugitive” who wreaked havoc and wrought violence in the earth. What about Mehujael? Perhaps he championed more of the same until he was suddenly “smitten of God”. What about Methusael? Perhaps he was some great false prophet who blasphemously claimed to be a “man who is of God”. It seems we will never know for sure. One thing is for sure: these men were Sinners of influence and consequence, and therefore they were reckoned up as historically significant Patriarchs of wickedness descending directly from Cain, just like Lamech, Tubalcain, Jubal, and Jabal.

Not so much could be said of the genealogy of Seth. The unspoken details of the genealogy of Cain are spelled out in the genealogy of Seth. The age of each Patriarch in life and in death is provided. The amount of years in between each newborn Patriarch is detailed for 10 generations descending from Adam. However, the other details that are provided are complex enough to allow for opinionated interpreters to sharply disagree while appearing to be intelligent. Therefore, the testimony of the genealogy has become hotly debated.

Paying close attention to what happened with Cain, Abel, Seth, and Enos is key to understanding the divine message in the genealogy of Seth. When Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Gen. 4:1), in respect to Cain, it is evident that she was seeking a godly seed that would live righteously at spiritual enmity to the Devil’s Seed in fulfillment of the promise (Gen. 3:15, Prov. 29:9-10). Her earnest pursuit of the divine promise delivered in Genesis 3:15 continued in the birth of Abel (Gen. 4:2). She wanted assurance from God that both Cain and Abel were going to become the spiritual Children of God through conversion to follow the LORD no matter what the cost. We can be sure that Eve wasn’t desiring to conceive the Devil’s Children in her womb when she made her supplications to the LORD for a man of God.

Then, “in the process of time” (Gen. 4:3), Cain and Able grew to adulthood and undertook separate vocations of work. Abel became a “keeper of sheep”, and Cain became a “tiller of the ground” (Gen. 4:2). Meanwhile, as a result of the divine blessing bestowed upon Adam and Eve, when God said, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…” (Gen. 1:28), Adam and Eve went on to have more children “in the process of time” as Cain and Abel grew from infancy to adulthood (Gen. 4:3). Why else would Cain be immediately afraid of “every one” that would happen to find “him” and “kill him” after his excommunication (Gen. 4:14-15)? This impulse of fear would make no sense if there wasn’t anyone else alive on earth but Adam and Eve, now that Abel was dead.

Furthermore, upon Cain’s departure (“And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD…” – Gen. 4:16), who did he marry and how did he procreate? The historical account states, “And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare Enoch…” (Gen. 4:17). Apparently, Adam and Eve had more children “in the process of time” as Cain and Abel grew from infancy to adulthood (Gen. 4:3). Cain had already married one of the unnamed daughters of Adam and Eve before he fell into sin on the day of his reprobation (Gen. 4:8-16), and then she went with him when Cain departed from the Church. Suffice it to say, Adam and Eve were very fruitful! An untold vast quantity of unnamed children sprung from them to populate the whole world.

Adam and Eve went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 800 years after Seth (Gen. 5:4).

Seth went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 807 years after Enos (Gen. 5:7).

Enos went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 815 years after Cainan (Gen. 5:10).

Cainan went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 840 years after Mahalaleel (Gen. 5:13).

Mahalaleel went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 830 years after Jared (Gen. 5:16).

Jared went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 800 years after Enoch (Gen. 5:19).

Enoch went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 300 years after Methuselah (Gen. 5:22).

Methuselah went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 782 years after Lamech (Gen. 5:26).

Lamech went on to have many unnamed sons and daughters for 595 years after Noah (Gen. 5:30).

Obviously, the purpose of these biblical genealogies was not to keep a record of all the names and numbers of all the sons and daughters of each Patriarch from the beginning. All these children were born as direct decedents for hundreds of years after the Patriarch of each generation was born, and most of these Patriarchs continued procreating contemporaneously for hundreds of years. Nevertheless, no genealogical record was kept for all these children. Even so, the same could be said of all the unnamed children that were born before the Patriarchs made it into the genealogy.

It took 130 years for Adam to acquire Seth (Gen. 5:3)! And in the providence of God’s blessing, many years invariably meant many children. That’s why it goes without saying that Adam and Eve had more unnamed children “in the process of time” while Cain and Abel grew to adulthood (Gen. 4:3). It’s implied in the narrative. Remember? Cain acknowledged this much (Gen. 4:14-15) and one from among them became his wife (Gen. 5:17). So, why didn’t any of these mysteriously unnamed children make it into the genealogy instead of Cain and Abel? Or, why didn’t any of the other unnamed children after Seth make it into the genealogy? The answer is hidden in plain sight. A biblical precedent is set in the storyline of Scripture. The authorial intent in the reckoning of biblical genealogies is made abundantly clear.

The authorial intent of Genesis is different than that of a history book. Attention is not given to the raw numbers and names of the people, and such like details, but rather the formation of two Kingdoms made up of two distinct peoples that were at spiritual enmity with one another. Eve wasn’t seeking a firstborn son of mere flesh and blood in Genesis 4; she said she was seeking “a man from the LORD” (Gen. 4:1; Jn. 1:12-13), or in other words a Son of God (Lk. 3:38), rather than a man from the Devil (1 Jn. 3:7-10), which means that she was desiring prophetic assurance that her son Cain would live unto God and stand against the spiritual “seed” of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15). Her hope was originally put upon Cain, because at his birth Eve affirmatively stated, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Gen. 4:1). However, when Eve was forced to seek after yet another son after Cain slew Abel, and she conceived and gave birth to Seth, the Scripture gave the specific clarification that Seth was born to replace Abel not Cain.

“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” – Genesis 4:25-26

Remarkably, Eve believed Seth was given by God to replace Abel, even though her original hope was placed upon Cain. Of course, she lost hope for Cain after he became a reprobate and was excommunicated from the Church (Gen. 4:6-16). But the tokens of Cain’s divine rejection were visible to Adam and Eve for some time before he murdered Abel his brother (Gen. 4:3-5, Heb. 11:4). In other words, they knew that God was preferring Abel above Cain, and that by all appearances Cain was turning out to be “of that wicked One” (1 Jn. 3:12; 1 Jn. 2:18-19) – the “seed” of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15). Therefore, at this point, it became obvious to Eve that Abel was replacing Cain, and thus her hope transitioned from Cain to Abel. Therefore, when Cain slew Abel, and God gave her Seth “instead of Abel”, she knew that he was “appointed” as a replacement of Abel rather than Cain even though her hope was originally placed upon Cain (Gen. 4:1, 25-26). This disproves the possibility that biblical genealogies were reckoned up according to the Law of the Primogenitor.

The genealogies that follow Genesis 4:1-16 and Genesis 4:25-5:5 must be interpreted within the context of these passages of Scripture. Therein lies the key to understanding how these biblical genealogies were reckoned up. For, if these genealogies were formed according to the primogenitor, then the firstborn son of every father would invariably descend down the genealogy. However, obviously, this interpretation isn’t coherent with Genesis 4:1-16 and Genesis 4:25-5:5. Eve’s hope would have been steadfastly placed upon Cain without deviation because presumably he was her firstborn son in the flesh. That is, if the reckoning up of biblical genealogies followed the Law of the Primogenitor; but apparently Eve’s hope for Cain was thwarted even before the death of Abel, so that when Abel died and Seth was given as a replacement, in her mind Seth was given “instead of Abel” – demonstrating that Eve’s hope had already transitioned from Cain to Abel even before he was murdered, likely because of the tokens of divine acceptance demonstrated in Genesis 4:4-5.

Apparently, the biblical genealogies aren’t reckoned up by each man’s firstborn son in the flesh. What happened with Cain, Abel, and Seth is a precedent. According to Genesis 3:15, the heart of the righteous was fixed upon spiritually acquiring the Sons of God at birth, while Adam and Eve knew that a portion of their fleshly sons and daughters would inevitably and unchangeably be the “seed” of the Serpent according to the divine curse. Even more than seeking spiritual Sons, the Patriarchs were looking for spiritual Sons that would become spiritual Fathers. For, there was a real danger that many true Sons of God would be allured into sin and eventually become reprobate, like Cain, which is why Jude was compelled to warn the saints of the Church not to go “in the way of Cain” (Jude 1:11; Gen. 6:1-7).

Furthermore, it appears that Adam and Eve had quite a few other male children other than Cain and Abel at the time of Cain’s reprobation, which is why Cain was fearing being found by any “one” of them (Gen. 4:14-15). I don’t think he was fearing being found by one of the ladies while wandering across the sprawling countryside as a vagabond! Adam and Eve must have had an unknown number of sons and daughters before having Seth, and after having Cain and Abel, or possibly even before Cain and Abel, namely because as Adam and Eve were procreating they were seeking prophetic assurance of God’s promise to raise up a godly seed.

How did Seth make it into the genealogy? Or, what about Enos? They were looking for men who would “call upon the name of the LORD” acceptably, like Abel (Gen. 4:4), instead of irreverently like Cain (Gen. 4:5), therefore at the birth of Seth and Enos it was written: “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:25-26). In other words, they were looking for the foretold Sons of God, who would be born “in [Adam’s] own likeness, after his image” (Gen. 5:3), even as Adam was called “the Son of God” (Lk. 3:38), and it took Adam a total of 235 years to get Seth and Enos (Gen. 4:25-26, 5:3, 6)! That’s a total of 235 years until the Church was flourishing in righteousness after a striking upset very early on at the murder of Abel and the reprobation of Cain.

Those of the contrary opinion need some time to prayerfully reflect upon the coherency of their beliefs according to Scripture. Do you really think Adam and Eve gave birth to only 3 sons in a total of 130 years? Or, what about Seth? Do you think Seth only gave birth to 1 son in a total of 105 years? The sense of the text, “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26), implies that all the other men weren’t calling upon the name of the LORD! Therefore, the search for Patriarchs continued. We know that 1 man was indeed calling upon the name of the LORD. Adam! But there had to be more than 1 for the company to become “men”. All the men prior to or after Cain and Abel, leading up to Seth (which would make 2), and then Enos (which would make 3), warranted this remarkable turning of the tide: “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26)! By God’s grace, Adam and Eve persevered through the struggle foretold in Genesis 3:15 while trying to establish the Church in the aftermath of the fall. However, lo and behold, the struggle persisted for 10 generations (1 Pet. 4:17-18)!

It took Adam 130 years to acquire Seth (Gen. 5:3).

It took Seth 105 years to acquire Enos (Gen. 5:6).

It took Enos 90 years to acquire Cainan (Gen. 5:9).

It took Cainan 70 years to acquire Mahalaleel (Gen. 5:12).

It took Mahalaleel 65 years to acquire Jared (Gen. 5:15).

It took Jared 162 years to acquire Enoch (Gen. 5:18).

It took Enoch 65 years to acquire Methuselah (Gen. 5:21).

It took Methuselah 187 years to acquire Lamech (Gen. 5:25).

It took Lamech 182 years to acquire Noah (Gen. 5:28).

It took Noah 500 years to acquire Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen. 5:32).

Can you read between the lines and see the struggle (1 Pet. 4:17-18)? Or, perhaps you are deluded to think that this genealogy is reckoned up according to each Patriarch’s firstborn son in the flesh? Ah! My reader, it’s normal for barren women to go childless year by year and decade by decade. Right? If a woman does not have any children for 65 years, it is safe to say that she is barren. Correct? So, what about all the wives of these men for 10 generations? Were they barren? After going so long a time without children, why did they miraculously and suddenly conceive children at such an old age? If the genealogy is reckoned up after the primogenitor, then the youngest aged Patriarch among the bunch was 65 years old when they finally had a son. It only goes up in years from there: from 65 to 70 to 90 to 105 to 130 to 162 to 182 to 187 to 500 years. Do you think it took Methuselah and Lamech nearly 200 years to have a son? Do you think it took Noah a total of 500 years to have 3 sons?

Meanwhile, according to Scripture, everyone knew that Abram’s wife, Sarai, was most certainly barren because she went 65 years without any children. More specifically, she was found to be barren at a much younger age when Abram and her were first married in the land of their nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 11:24-30). Terah lived for 70 years and acquired Abram, Nahor, and Haran in Ur of the Chaldees, and they took wives. As youthful men, Haran and Nahor took wives and they both had children in Ur. However, after Haran begat Lot (Gen. 11:27) he then died somehow in Ur.

Like his brothers, Abram also took a wife, Sarai by name, only to find that she was barren while still in Ur (Gen. 11:30). Evidently, it didn’t take long for them to discover that Sarai was barren. Then, decades passed after this until Terah, Abram, Lot, and Sarai moved to Haran on their way to Canaan, and then Terah died in Haran some 135 years after acquiring his three sons in Ur (Gen. 11:31-32). Only then did Abram, Lot, and Sarai move from Haran to Canaan, and upon arrival Abram was 75 years old and Sarai was ≈65 years old. Remember, she was known to be barren all the way back in Ur of the Chaldees, shortly after these three youthful men took wives (Gen. 11:26-30).

According to the Law of the Primogenitor, all this begs for answers because if we let Scripture interpret Scripture, it stands to reason that all the wives of the Patriarchs in the line of Seth were barren. Ah! But we know that this isn’t the case. The blessing of the LORD made them fruitful to multiply and fill the earth with people (Gen. 1:28)! Therefore, there were many unnamed children born before the Patriarchs, namely because the genealogy isn’t reckoned up by the firstborn son. The genealogy is reckoned up according to children of promise who became Sons of God, especially focusing on the sons who became spiritual Fathers of consequence as they begat other Sons of God as the Patriarchs of the Early Church. Remember, ever since Eve was forced to accept the fact that some of her children would become the Seed of the Serpent according to Genesis 3:15, the biblical narrative follows the activity of the Holy Spirit as the LORD prophetically guided and enabled Adam and Eve, and the following Patriarchs, to see a performance of what was foretold to raise up children of promise (Rom. 9:6-8, Gal. 4:28-29).

Nevertheless, what became of the promises of the Adamic Covenant when the seed of Adam was carried away by a deluge of divine wrath in a worldwide flood (Gen. 1:26-31)? Evidently, the covenantal blessings given to Adam were conditional based upon the obedience of the Church. Heaven will not bless or establish the dominion of the Sons of God who assimilate into the godless societies of sinners in the corruption of the world (Deut. 32:5-6, 15-20; Gen. 6:11-13, 2 Pet. 1:4, 2:20-21)! Therefore, the promised blessings of the Covenant were withheld from the spiritual sons of Adam, “the Sons of God” (Lk. 3:38, Gen. 6:2, 4), inasmuch as the promised people became perverted when they turned away from God (Ex. 34:15-16, Deut. 31:16). The genealogies bear witness. The divine testimony of Scripture is clear and indisputable. The genealogy of Seth begins in Genesis 5:6 and ends in Genesis 5:32, and without any explanation, Genesis 6:1-7 opens up with the End of the World. Why? Something about the genealogy seamlessly leads into the End of the World.

With so many backslidden and generally reprobate “Sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-7, it stands to reason that their spiritual Fathers, the Patriarchs, weren’t doing well for some time. Certainly, the struggle for new Patriarchal leaders of the Early Church continued from generation to generation starting with Adam, but the earliest signs of a declension in the Church after Enos (when men began to call upon the name of the LORD – Gen. 4:26), are manifest in the appearance of Enoch in the genealogy (Gen. 5:21-24, Heb. 11:5). Even though the original book of Enoch was not preserved for us in the Cannon of Scripture nowadays, Jude’s treatment of Enoch’s words provides clarity on the burden of the hour only 7 generations from Adam. Jude spoke of only 1 thing from start to finish in the book of Jude. He called the remnant to earnestly contend for the faith amidst the fallout of rampant apostasy in his day because the apostolic faith of the 1st century was almost forgotten (Jude 1:3-4, 17-19). Therefore, he spoke against the wickedness and compromise of the fallen apostates from start to finish (Jude 1:3-25).

Considering the circumstances of the late 60’s A.D., and the onset of declension from Adam to Enoch, who better for Jude to quote than the prophet Enoch! For, Enoch was speaking about the very people whom Jude was describing (“Enoch…prophesied of these…” – Jude 1:14). As one of the last men standing for righteousness in the apostasy of his day, Jude quoted the very words that Enoch prophesied against the rampant apostates of the Early Church.

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” - Jude 1:14-15

The declension of the Early Church had already begun only 7 generations from Adam. Therefore, not only did Enoch oppose the backsliders of his day, but he also prophetically warned them about the coming of a divine judgment through which God would punish them if they didn’t repent. Nobody could have imagined that this would come in the form of a worldwide flood that would annihilate all but 8 souls from the earth! Nevertheless, Enoch was clear in the prophecy of “Methuselah” à “at his death the end shall come”. Methuselah then became a figure of preservation similar to how the LORD pushed back the divine judgment of Babylon until Hezekiah and Josiah died (Isa. 39:1-8, 2 Chron. 36:1-23, Jer. 15:1-9). Amazingly, Adam saw the onset of this great falling away in the Early Church, but not even his intercession could prevail (Jer. 15:1)! Then, only 57 years after Adam died, Enoch was taken (Heb. 11:5).

Nevertheless, Enoch’s prophecies lived on. Literally. Methuselah became the oldest man to ever live as a testament to the longsuffering of God. Surpassing Adam, he lived a total of 969 years! Why? Because Peter said, “the longsuffering of God waited” (1 Pet. 3:20). Similarly, consider how God waited to baptize Sodom and Gomorrah with fire until Lot was out of danger (Gen. 19:22). It was not God’s will that any of the Sons of God in the Early Church would perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9)! We know that the Almighty would not wait forever, but somehow or someway Methuselah’s days inched onward until he miraculously outlived every man before him! The declension was strong in those days. As a sign of the times, it took Methuselah and Lamech 187 & 182 years respectively to find another Patriarch, and Lamech named Noah as a prophecy because he knew that the end was hastening upon them.

“And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” - Genesis 5:29

The curse was strong upon the earth in the societies and settlements of the Church. Lamech and other contemporary Patriarchs were feeling it. It was a special judgment that befell the backslidden Church as a whole (1 Pet. 4:17-18; Lev. 26:3-46). Not unlike how Cain, as an individual, was chased by divine curses because he fell into sin and was banished from the Kingdom of God (Gen. 4:11-14). Both Cain and Lamech suffered a curse that radically affected the fertility of “the ground” (Gen. 4:12, 5:29). The blessing of God was preserved within because Cain was forced outside, and therefore Cain became envious of the blessings enjoyed by the righteous (Gen. 4:11-14; Deut. 28:2). Remember? However, Lamech lamented the fact that the Church in general, corporately speaking, was overrun by sin – the sin outside came inside! – and therefore the Church was overtaken by divine curses when it should have been a haven of divine blessing (Deut. 28:15; Rev. 2:5).

In other words, the Church deserved these curses as a corporate chastisement for the mass departure of sinning saints who were forsaking the ways of God (Gen. 6:1-7; Deut. 28:15-19, 23-24, Lev. 26:19-20, Isa. 24:5-6, Mal. 4:6). The testimony of the Church was lost (Matt. 5:31-16)! “The Sons of God” were increasingly influenced by blasphemous sinners waxing stronger and stronger round about them.

“Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?” - Job 21:14-15

The backsliders became envious of the wicked because of their prosperity (Job 21:7-15), not remembering that it was doomed to be short-lived (Ps. 73:1-28). Meanwhile, as divine judgment tarried, the sinners waxed louder and louder to speak blasphemously to God and men, as described in Job 21:14-15 & Job 22:17. The Church became restless and was increasingly allured by the rebellion to wit even the Sons of God, who truly knew the Almighty, joined the chorus of blasphemers in pursuit of prosperity and fleshly glory (Gen. 25:32, Ps. 74:22-23).

“Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.” - Job 22:15-18

God didn’t let them get away with it! The Almighty wouldn’t allow the Sons of God to corrupt “His way” in the earth (Gen. 6:12-13; Deut. 32:5-6). In other words, the Almighty wouldn’t allow the Sons of God to profane the Name of the LORD before heathen without divine intervention (Ezek. 36:20-23)! Nevertheless, in the longsuffering of God, the remnant of saints like Noah and his family suffered long. It took Noah a staggering 500 years to acquire Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and they were the only ones left of all mankind who were willing to stand for righteousness in the great falling away! The genealogical record clearly states,

“And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” - Gen. 5:32

Can you believe it? That’s 500 long years of rampant apostasy from generation to generation until some semblance of hope was provided in a godly seed. The final line of the genealogy of Seth wasn’t reckoned up according to the Law of the Primogenitor either. Japheth, the eldest (Gen. 10:21), was mentioned last while Ham, the youngest (Gen. 9:24), was mentioned in the middle. Nevertheless, in retrospect, it’s no surprise why Shem, Ham, and Japheth were mentioned first, second, and third. Shem and Ham were the most consequential, as Shem became the blessed Patriarch of a new era of redemption, while Ham became the cursed Patriarch of the flesh that fathered the rebellion of sinners in a new era of the Seed of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15, 9:24-27). Then, of course, Japheth was put last because he was the least consequential of the three.

It’s truly amazing that Noah even survived as long as he did in the Old World! Perhaps some of the former Patriarchs like Methuselah and Lamech were martyred (Isa. 57:1). With such violence filling the earth, the circumstances were dire (Gen. 6:12-13). Noah and his family were brought very “low” (Job 5:11). They were “poor” and needy before the encroaching presence of sinners promoting violence on every side (Job 5:15-16). Nevertheless, according to the “great” and “marvelous” works of the Almighty (Job 5:9-16), the LORD accomplished a divine reversal through the most unlikely circumstances: Rain (Job 5:10-11). It had never rained before (Gen. 2:5-6, 7:4, 12, Heb. 11:7, Job 38:8-11)!

“Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.” - Job 27:20-22

This became a signature work of divine judgment that immortalized the fearful and glorious name of the Almighty (Job 27:20-22, 28:1-28; Deut. 28:58). God had a plan to save the Church from being overrun by sinners! And this would reignite hope for the future of the earth! What was God’s plan? A Baptism. A total submersion under water – the first ever baptism in biblical Church History (1 Pet. 3:18-22)! Why? Because a Baptism of Water would effectually bury the wicked and exalt the righteous, and this would restore the badly hurt and enfeebled Church of Noah’s day (1 Pet. 3:18-22; Job 5:10-11)! You know, like the Israelites of the Exodus Generation were Water Baptized in the Red Sea, and therethrough God buried the Egyptians under water while delivering the Jews through the water (1 Cor. 10:1-2, Heb. 11:29)! Remember?

Who could forget how songs of praise and worship echoed down the watery corridor as Israel worshipped God in the beauty of holiness while passing through the Red Sea (Ex. 15)! Even as the same melodious sounds of worship rang through the walls and corridors of Noah’s Ark at the end of the Old World and the beginning of the New World, as Noah and his family narrowly escaped death at the hands of violent sinners who thirsted for their blood. The Watery Baptism of Noah’s day was the first ever precedent of this divine act of majestic glory (1 Pet. 3:18-22).

Hereafter, in a post-flood world, the Church of the New World knew with absolute certainty that the Almighty was determined to suddenly destroy the prosperity of the wicked in a highly unexpected and unstoppable fashion that staggered the survivors and forced subjection to God in the setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth (The Prosperity of the Wicked because of a Delayed Sudden Destruction: Job 5:3-5, 9:24, 12:6, 15:21, 20:5, 21:5-16, 22:10, 24:1-25, 27:8, 16-17 (Ps. 73:11-12, 17:14, 37:35, Jer. 5:27, Mal. 3:14-15, 1 Thess. 5:3).