Chuck Larsen

The genealogies in Genesis chapters 5 and 11 present two intriguing contrasts. The first is the recurring theme of mortality, and the second is the significant difference in lifespan. But, back in Genesis chapter five, every birth recorded is followed by a recorded death. Remember? “And he died… and he died…and he died, ” over and over! It was a dramatic reminder to us all of our mortality. This was even more remarkable in the fact that these men who all died lived to be hundreds of years old. Shem lived for nearly 700 years. Eber lived nearly 500 years, and, of course, Methuselah lived nearly 1000 years. But they all ended with the refrain, “and he died.” The length of their lives didn’t matter. I remember my dad telling me that the most frequent phrase in the Bible is “And it came to pass.” I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know that it’s true. All things will come to pass!

Notice that in the genealogy of chapter 11, no mention of death is made. Why? How strange is it that Shem’s son Arphachsad’s life is only 2/3rds the length of his father’s? Peleg’s 239 years is about half of his father Eber’s life. In the end, Hathor’s life span is only 138 years. You would think death would be even more prominent in this genealogy, but it is completely absent. Why? This genealogy is moving towards great hope for mankind. It’s introducing us to Abraham. The genealogy of chapter five ended with Noah, the man with three sons. All life died. The genealogy of Genesis 11 ends with Terah, the father of three sons. One being Abraham, through whom everyone who trusts God will live.

The man who teaches us how to trust God did so by obeying God’s command to sacrifice his son. The Angel stopped this sacrifice, and in keeping with Abraham’s prophetic answer to his son’s question, “Here is the wood, here is the fire, but where is the sacrifice,” God, himself, “provided the sacrifice.” God took death in the person of his son Jesus Christ and destroyed death itself for everyone who believes. Thus, even though our lifespans are so much shorter than even the shortest (138), to us, death has been destroyed. God so loved the world that he sent his only son, so that whoever believes in him, will not perish (read “die”), but will have everlasting life.

In Genesis 6:16, we learn that there was only one door: “…and set the door of the ark in its side.” I’ve been on many Navy ships and can tell you they are full of doors: fore and aft, amidships, athwartship, and on every deck. The Ark was constructed with three decks, yet it appears that the Ark only had a door on one deck. I’d guess it was the middle deck. Aircraft carriers have their main door on the deck below the flight deck, and when you see it, it’s perfectly obvious that that’s the perfect place for it. Now, getting back to the ark and Noah, there were two groups of people during the time of the flood – those who survived and those who didn’t. The ark was the only means of salvation. Those who survived walked into the ark through the one door.

One author writes, “Although it isn’t a popular teaching, there are two types of people in God’s eyes – those who will be judged and those who are forgiven. Jesus is the only means of salvation and the only door into heaven. ‘I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.’ (John 10:9) Is there another way to heaven? The Bible answers clearly: ‘Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ (John 14:6) ‘There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:12).”

Another observation about the one door is that it was secured by God Himself. Genesis 7:16 says, “And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.” There are two things we must know about this closed door. God secures our salvation once we come into “Christ” by faith, as Noah came into the ark. As the “door” of the sheepfold, Jesus protects His sheep. When the sheep in Jesus’ day entered into the sheepfold, there was only one way in, but it usually didn’t have a door. The Shepherd would lie across the opening. No one could go in or out except over His body. We are safe in Christ! Secondly, judgment falls on all those outside once God closes the door. This was what Christ meant in Luke 13:25: “When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’” Don’t be like the older brother of the prodigal son, who refused to go in and celebrate his brother’s return. Luke 15:28 says, “But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him…” I hear the father say to his older son, “please come in, please come in…”  Inside, we’re safe and secure from all alarms, as the hymns says. Outside is the place of God’s judgment. Jesus stands at the door and knocks.

The ark, the object of Noah’s deliverance, was designed by God in advance. Before a tree was cut down or a rope was tied, the total design of the ark was explained to Noah. There was a lot of detail. Notice Genesis chapter 6:14-16: “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark is 300 cubits, its breadth is 50 cubits, and its height is 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark on its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.” Noah could never have designed this object of His salvation by himself. He most likely didn’t even know what an ark was! Or a cubit! Or a flood, or even rain, for that matter. Just check with Bill Cosby! According to Bill, after these instructions, Noah asked God, “What’s an Ark?” He also asked, “What’s a cubit.” (It was a popular comedy routine in the 1960s).

God gave Noah very specific instructions as to how the ark was to be built. He gave the world very specific details about Jesus’ life and mission through the Old Testament. We refer to these details as Messianic Prophecies. For example, the Old Testament tells us that Jesus would be the Son of God (Psalm 2:7), that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), He would be an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10), He would be raised from the grave (Psalm 16:10), and there are dozens and dozens more.

We could never have designed the instrument of our salvation; if we had, it surely wouldn’t have been a cross cut from a tree. The scriptures teach us in the Old and New Testament that anyone hung on a tree is cursed. The instrument of salvation for Noah came from a tree. It was a gopher wood tree. I don’t think we know what kind of a tree the cross was made of, but we do know it came from a tree. As Noah was saved from God’s judgment through an object made from a tree, so too, we are saved from God’s judgment through an object made from a tree. It was God’s design! God’s means of salvation have always been completely and solely at His design. Isaiah teaches this clearly. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible explains it: “According to Isaiah’s gospel, it is God alone who saves, and there is no explanation for his saving action except in his own nature. Israel’s deliverance is undeserved; she is no more worthy of the divine love now (after the Babylonian captivity) than when she went into captivity. It is only by God’s grace that she is saved (55:1–7). By God’s design, Israel’s salvation depends not upon her own righteousness but upon his (41:10; 45:24; 46:13; 51:5, 6). There being no righteousness to reward, the Lord acts to create righteousness in Israel (45:8; 61:3, 10, 11).” Through the instrument of the cross God acts to create righteousness in us as well.

Cain’s life is marked by God’s grace everywhere you look. Even though he offered an inferior sacrifice to God, God did not abandon him. That’s grace. God approached Cain in a fatherly manner, giving advice and counsel concerning Cain’s attitude. That’s grace. God exhorted Cain to resist temptation and live honorably in His presence. That’s grace. After he murdered Abel, the Lord confronted him with his sin and offered him an opportunity to repent. That’s grace. Cain resisted God’s grace and failed to repent. Even so, God placed a sign on Cain that would protect him throughout his natural life (Genesis 4:15). Now that’s amazing Grace.

What that mark was has been the subject of debate for millenniums. Some argue that it’s a tattoo of some kind. There’s a website, www.bodyart.com, which has a blog on “Cain’s Mark.” Some suggest it was a special hairstyle. That’s funny. Others have suggested it was his color, i.e., he was made black. An Eastern Christian writing says, “The Lord was wroth with Cain. . . He beat Cain’s face with hail, which blackened like coal, and thus he remained with a black face.” Until recently, the Mormons taught this and refused admittance of any black man to the priesthood. (How strange is that?) It’s not possible. One ancient Rabbi suggests that God gave Cain a dog that went with him everywhere he was and protected him. I can imagine a huge Doberman with a spiked collar and a surly disposition. Some Renaissance painters put a horn in the middle of Cain’s head. I don’t think so! Some argue that the word “mark” should be translated as “sign.” God gave Cain a sign that assured him of his protection from vengeance. Maybe! Who knows?

But whatever the mark was, it is certainly an indication of God’s grace for one of his created beings, even a murderer. God offered Cain His Amazing Grace of forgiveness and restoration. But Cain refused.  No one wants to identify with Cain. Yet, the scriptures make it clear that we are all like sheep that have gone astray. We’ve all turned away from God. In His marvelous grace, God offers all of us sinners the same thing he offered Cain. And Like Cain, we all need it. Horatius Bonar wrote in 1861:

Not what these hands have done
Can save this guilty soul.
Not what this toiling flesh has borne,
Can make me whole.

Thy Grace alone, O God;
To me can pardon speak;
Thy power alone, O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.