How to Enjoy the Bible Camp '70 (Session 3 part 1)
Gen 6:1-14; 4:26
Gen 6:15-20; 7:16; (Gen 7:2)
Right now in this camp of how to enjoy the Bible, I would like to take you into the sixth chapter of Genesis. And show you some of the things that I have worked out of here, simply because I enjoy the Bible and I enjoy working it. And I enjoy the greatness of the light that’s in the Word of God.
Genesis 6:1
And it came to pass, [verse 1] when men…
The word “men” here is the man. And whenever the Bible talks about THE man, it’s always talking about Adam.
Genesis 6:1b
[When THE man Adam, his progeny, his offspring] began to multiply on the face of the earth,…[Genesis 4:26 tells what happened.]
Genesis 4:26
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.
This verse bothered me for years, I wanted to who Adam was calling on before this. But the in depth text reads, the accuracy of it: “Then began men to call upon their gods by the name of Jehovah.” They began to call upon the name of the Lord. They began to call their gods, their pagan gods, their devil gods, they called them by the name of Jehovah. And the word “Enos” means the weak one. When Enos was born, he was the weak one and at that time is when they started to call their devil things that they were worshipping, their pagan gods, they called those gods the true God Jehovah. And this came to pass in verse 1 of chapter 6 when they began to multiply in wickedness under Enos. Verse 2 says:
Genesis 6:2
…the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair,…
And I’ve worked this in a text in one of the booklets showing you that the sons of God represented the believers, the believers line; and the daughters of men, the un-believers. That they took them wives of all which they chose and the LORD sayeth in other words the believers got married to the unbelievers. And whenever a believer marries an unbeliever, I guarantee you nine chances out of ten the unbeliever is going to win the ball game. Because you can try as much as you want to, to put a rotten apple into a bushel and keep the bushel good and it’s almost impossible to do so. And the Word of God instructs us that if a Christian boy wants to get married he marries a Christian chick and vice versa. (Cats and chicks or whatever you want to call them [laughter]. That’s right.)
Genesis 6:3
[Now the LORD says], my spirit, [my breath of life] shall not always strive…
The word “strive” is remain or dwell.
Genesis 6:3 continued (not KJV)
…my spirit, my breath of life will not always remain with man, [Man who? Adam. …will not always remain with Adam] for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
The reason I bring this up is because people teach that back in those days the span of life that you could believe for was a hundred and twenty. Later on they got it shortened to threescore years and ten, seventy. That’s not true. But if you teach people they can only live to seventy, when are they going to die? That’s right. You see, you can see by the logic of the Word there has to be something wrong because there is no place indicating in God’s Word that a person believing ever stops him from receiving. So we live just as long as we believe. When we quit believing we die, that’s why people die at 35, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90. Sometimes the people who live the longest are the meanest devils you ever did see. You know why they live so long? They’re so mean; they believe to continue to be mean and to beat everybody so their believing big to live long. I could document this to you from fields of business, government and every other field. It’s all conditioned upon believing. But this 120 is beautifully set because it tells us that God said to Adam, you are not going to live forever. Because Adam, when he was originally formed, made, and created in Genesis, the first part, he knew what he had and he knew that if he just could move ahead he’d just live, live, live, live, live. But old Adam blew it. He tripped out and he lost that spirit and finally God said to old Adam, look you’ve lived, you’ve lived 810 years, I’ll give you just another 120 and that’s it. That’s why it’s written like it is. Yet his days, Adam’s days, shall be a hundred and twenty years. The reason I knew the 810 is because the Bible said he was 930 when he died. 120 less 930 gives me 810. But isn’t that beautiful? Now verse 4.
Genesis 6:4
There were giants in the earth in those days;…
Just reading what King James [Version] says here without the understanding of what it said previously in Genesis and what follows. You just get the picture because of what you have been taught that these were 10 foot men, or 8 foot men, weighing 500 or something. That’s not at all it. We are talking about when men, the people, the progeny of Adam began to multiply in wickedness upon the face of the earth. Then in those days there were giants, giants of wickedness in the earth. That’s the giants that were here. Men who were just wickeder than hell, that’s right. Just like we’re living today, great men of wickedness living today who continuously think evil in their hearts.
Genesis 6:4b, 5
…and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same [this offspring from the believers and the unbelievers] became mighty men [of wickedness] which were of old, men of renown [for their evil, for their wickedness in that time.]
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
How to Enjoy the Bible—LESSON THREE 29
They really had moved, hadn’t they? All they thought about is that which was evil. Now, here you will have all of these figures of speech that we talk about in the Foundational class, anthropoptheia, the condecensio, and so forth.
Genesis 6:6, 7
And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, [the man whom I have created]…
When he created him he created him body, soul and what? Spirit. Right.
Genesis 6:7 continued
…and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have [what?] made them.
How did he make them? He made them body and soul.
Genesis 6:8
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Hallelujah, somebody found grace in the sight of the Lord. Do you know why he found grace? Well the next verse tells you.
Genesis 6:9
…Noah was a [what?] just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with [who?] God.
Boy that takes something. If you put yourself in Noah’s shoes and think that thing through. All the people round about him, what did they do? Nothing but thinking evil constantly. All of the imagination of their hearts and right in the midst of that cesspool of baloney sat Noah and his wife; and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord for he walked with God. People, that’s why you and I can walk with God right in the midst of hell, in your community, in your city, in your town. It doesn’t make any difference whether it’s Wichita, Timbuktu, Mill Valley, San Francisco, or New Knoxville. That’s right. In the midst of this we can still walk with whom? By golly Noah did. If old Noah could do it, we could do it too, because we got something better in Christ than he had in his day, right? You bet your life it’s right. Well, look the reason he was a just man and perfect – the word “perfect” is without blemish. And the reason he was without blemish was because he was a pure blood line. He hadn’t married himself off to a chick who was one of those daughters of men, an unbeliever. He had been married to a believer. That’s why the word “perfect” is used in verse 9. Perfect in his generation is that he was perfect in blood line in purity, without blemish. He didn’t get himself hitched up to an unbeliever. He got himself married to a believer and he laid the Word on the line. Well…
Genesis 6:10-14
And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark [nests; rooms], and shalt pitch it…
It’s not a ball game: “Now pitch it.” He was to seal it; not with pitch but with resin. Entirely different word used for pitch, you know. But he was to seal it.
Genesis 6:14 continued
…within and [what?] without with pitch.
I wish I could think of the Hebrew word. I can’t think of the Hebrew or Aramaic word for this. It’s a real tremendous word, if I could think of it I would tell you, but I can’t right now. The greatness of the word simply means…what did it say?
Oh, kaphar, it’s transliterated over into our word “coffin.” He was to seal it tight that nothing could get out or in, and he was to do this. And it reminds me of a tremendous truth as you will see later on that the water never got to him. And it’s the only thing that protected him inside from the elements on the outside. And when we have this protection of Christ within us, boy, are we protected inside and outside? You bet your life. We can really walk. Well, see what else he says.
Genesis 6:15-18
And this is the fashion [this is the way you are supposed to build it] which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
At some place it says the LORD shut the door. Oh, that’s way up in the seventh chapter in verse 16. Noah finishes everything God commanded him and the LORD did what? Shut him in. Got a tender heart and if the LORD sometime didn’t shut the door you would take every nincompoop along that you could. The LORD shut the door and I guess he put the key in his pocket or something. That’s right.
I’m going to tell you a little bit about the ark because everybody’s interested in the ark. I’ve read two or three articles in recent publication, where they are up there this summer looking for the ark. And if they find the clues, it’s sixty, seventy feet below the ice, I guess. And they have the greatest scientists up there this summer looking for it; and if they find it next summer they are supposed to dig it up according to the archeological works that I read. Well, whether they find it or not, I don’t know much about it but I know what the Word says and I can tell you a little bit about this. The length of that ark was five hundred and twenty six feet and six inches. That was a pretty good size little boat; 526 feet and 6 inches. The breadth of it was 98 feet and 6 inches. 98 feet wide is as wide as the Wierwille Hilton is long, because that’s a hundred feet. The height of it was 56 feet and 3 inches high. I think the barn, the Wierwille Hilton, out there is that 50 feet?
It’s about two sections of 20 foot boards and then there is a stretch up above it. So, it was higher than that. And it’s interesting to note that the great battleship Oregon is built according to this scale, only it’s 1/6 smaller.
Inside of this ark, there were three million seven hundred and fifty cubic feet of space. It would carry as much cargo as a freight train 13 ½ miles in length. And then the people wondered, the critics say how in the world could he have gotten all of those animals on there? Well, first of all it doesn’t say he took all of the animals. He only took two of a kind, to promote the species or the genus and species, two of a kind. Of the clean animals which were used for sacrifice while he was afloat, he took seven. Now, I think in 13 ½ miles of freight cars you could put a few little animals, right? And I imagine a flea could ride along on an animal’s ear and not take up too much room. But isn’t it remarkable how the critics always come to the Bible to belittle it. According to the reports of the United States Navy, every ship which is manufactured and which brings forth the best that the United States Navy has to this day, 1970, is built according to the scale of Noah’s ark. Would you expect God to be wrong on his proportions?
Now, Noah worked for years and years and years. I think if I remember correctly he worked about 120 years (or some) building the ark (had it all figured out once). And all the while he was working he was preaching the word, but he didn’t get one person to believe him. I tell you, sometimes people get discouraged. They witness to somebody and they get no results tomorrow and they say, “Well we might as well trip out on this one.” Doesn’t work. The Word is the Word if nobody believes it so you just keep speaking the word. And Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD because he stood for the Word, and he kept preaching the Word. And can’t you just remember, just picture in your mind what the neighbors said? What’s that silly fellow Noah up to now, again? You know he sort of freaked out all the time anyway. Now, he’s really gone off. Look what he’s doing? He’s building something up here on a hill. There’s not even any water around the place, mind you. There’s not even a pond. No, water whatsoever and he’s setting something up on a hill and it’s called a boat, or a ship, no water. That guy’s really off. And they would come up to him, “Hey Noah, how are you going to get a bucket full of water up here and get that thing down.” See. And they were just all the time, just needling him and yet Noah kept right on working away at it. And he kept teaching the Word best he could; nobody believed him but he would share it.
One day that old, little ark was finished and God said, Noah get yourself in there. And do you know who traveled with Noah? His wife, his three sons and their wives. And I want to tell you something those sons and those kids would have gone along if they hadn’t amounted to hill of beans in a hail storm because one man was righteous. And the family went with the man. Boy, when I think of Corinthians, “else were your children,” what? [Unclean – I Corinthians 7:14]. You see how back even then, and if you read the record in Genesis after they get off, it isn’t too long after that, old Ham really dogs his dad. Yet, to begin with Shem, Ham, and Japheth, their three wives and Noah’s wife all went in the ark. Because it doesn’t say in the Word of God that Shem, Ham and Japheth were the ones who were righteous and perfect in their generation, it says Noah was. And they went along in the ark because their seed in them, seed in them. Well bless God if we’re born again of God’s spirit having Christ in us, we’re going to go along with him. Because of what God wrought in Christ, not because of what you are or I am but because
of what he has made us what he is in us. You could really take this section and put the spiritual emphasis in it if you brought Christ into it. Which I told you this morning that Christ is the red thread; he is THE one all the way through the scriptures that you have to look for.
Well, it says in verse 19: he took two of every sort, two of every kind [Genesis 6:19]. And he brought all of these into the ark. And then finally the seven were brought in, so he’d have something to sacrifice and in that 16th verse it says: the LORD shut the door [Genesis 7:16]. And I told you why he shut the door is because man is tender hearted. We run into this all the time, so do you people who minister and unless you get revelation from God, you always trip out. For the tenderheartedness of man is usually influenced by the society of our times and the society is controlled by the devil. Therefore, we need to walk by revelation and when Father says, open the door, we open it. And if Father doesn’t say anything, we just leave the door closed. That is love; the love of the greatness of God’s Word and the accuracy of it. So no matter how much they laughed at Noah, no matter how much they laugh at the Way Ministry and this community or any other community, we are doing what the men said here tonight, holding forth the Word. And that Word of God is God’s will. That Word fits; that Word works. And there is a day coming when the Lord is coming back just like at that time, he closed old Noah in and shut the door and it started to rain. The neighbors had said it can’t rain, we’ve never had any, it’s impossible but it still rained. That’s right. They said everything else, they laughed at him, but when the pressure was on and the time was there, God was still right and Noah, the one man who shad believed God, was still right and he and his wife and household were saved because they believed God.
But I just get so blessed when I see the joy of the Word and this camp on How to Enjoy the Bible. You see, we enjoy this Word because it’s so wholesome and it relates to our day and our time. And it’s so perfect in all of its pattern and the way in which it fits, that the greatness of this Word just makes it possible for us. Because we found grace in the sight of the LORD to so walk as sons of God, to be perfect in our generation, to be perfect in our believing before Him and just stay put on God’s Word because the LORD always shuts us in. He closes the door. Scripture says: a thousand can die as one hand and ten thousand on another but it shall not come nigh you. He forgives all of thine iniquities and heals all of thy diseases. I will never leave thee or forsake thee. Lo I am with you always.
There are just precious promises by the barrel full, all given to us. And surely, if God did that for Noah in his day and time, how much more He will do for us, his sons through Christ Jesus, right? Shall we pray.
[Prayer]—Our Heavenly Father, how we enjoy Your Word and the greatness of that Word and the power of it. And how we thank You tonight Father, that this Word lives and abides forever. How we thank You for our people everywhere across the nations of the world who are holding forth that Word. We just thank You Father for the great goodness of the wonderful presence and power unto us again this night, through Your lovely Word, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.