"THE FATAL DAYS OF NOAH"
GENESIS 6 1/3.
Although it appears to be a contradiction, it is true to say that
society lives both in dread and in Utopia! Today there is in man a
strong intuition that something is about to happen that will be
unprecedented in the history of the human race. He cannot
analyse the presage, but like animals whether domestic or
dwelling in the wild, they instinctively feel a motion in the air, or a
tremor on the ground, that is conveyed from one to the other
until there is a general agitation among them all. Amid the
intellectual species the human race is not immune from these
harbingers, and although the most enlightened of nations - as
they imagine - decidedly do have a high measure of acquaintance
of superstitious inclinations belonging to human nature, they are,
nevertheless, often moved to action when rumour is rampant of
probable peril. Brave men do not like these premonitions, for they
cannot entertain the thought of not being able to cope with
something they discover is beyond all their ingenuity or strength.
Our planet is full of dangers, seen and unseen. Science is the
victim of it's own success. Courage of our Victorian fathers has
given way to a trepidation over science because sensible men
have concluded, that withal the evidences of gigantic advances in
civilized society, they may have been laying the foundations for
human annihilation! With one profound leap of ingenuity with
incalculable implications, the 1945 debacle within the cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which atomic destruction was brought
before the eyes of all existing nations for the first time, the world
changed abruptly overnight, and it has never been the same
since. Despair settled upon the consciousness of old and young,
and to this day the knowledge that homo sapiens have the power
to exterminate their own breed, and life belonging to every
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category is too much for the mind of man to bear indefinitely. It
is true, and our first statement is valid though the world has no
candour to confess this state of affairs.
And what of the second deposition, namely, that the world is now
living a hedonistic programme? Can it sincerely be maintained we
are still a society who has pride in our vocations? - that we are
working because it is our natural disposition to work? - that our
former "work ethic" is the reason why we exist, and our bounden
duty is to provide for our families with all the fibre within our
mortal bodies? Surely it must be acknowledged that these
motives have gone forever! Having it's roots in the European
Reformation of the sixteenth century, it has almost vanished from
the face of the earth, or at least in the western world. What has
the reality of 1945 done to the human subconscious, that the
2Oth.century man has now one thing before his eyes from the
moment he valuates the horizons and aspirations before him? The
pleasures of life! But why then does he work so assiduously as his
ancestors have worked before him? For money - and for the love
of it! However, even a fool knows well enough that money of
itself can provide no peace or security, and even the greatest
dunce belonging to elementary education is well aware that the
custody of paper money adds no personal value to our individual
selves. Money is cherished only because of what it can buy, and
that is property, products, and a time of pleasure, depending
upon the amount one possesses. When a man's heart fails him
for fear Luke 21/25 it is on account of personal loss that he may
sustain. He fears to lose all that has been accumulated over a
period of time and especially the dreaded prospect of losing his
family. Particularly he dreads the thought of losing his own life,
for "all that a man has he will give for his life" Job 2/4. Now, by
reason of the fact that fear reigns continuously within the deepest
recesses of most sober thinking men of today - though to be sure
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he will in no way openly confess that this is so - he therefore
finds no outlet whereby he may escape. He will not resort to His
Maker in spite of an overwhelming claim that God has upon him the One that he has infinitely offended - because he has neither
faith in God, Judgment, Heaven, or Hell. So, what he thinks he
needs by way of making his own life contented and happy, is
pleasure. Money is just a means to an end and for this modern
society it happens to be pleasure in all it's forms.
A materialistic community was to be found in the days of Noah
and his family. We read, "As it was in the days of Noah. They did
eat, they drank, they married wives, they were give in marriage,
until the day Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and
destroyed them all" Luke 17 26/27. Another construction may be
placed upon this to the effect that these events mentioned
belonged to a normal society and practiced elementary things
that are just part of everyday occurrences. But the flood took
them all by surprise! Yet another and better interpretation is, that
all these ordinary and necessary routine incidentals were not only
without reference to God, but were performed excessively. In
other words, they were indeed quite normal procedures, except
that they all lived as do the beasts of the field - only for eating,
drinking, and marrying as though life consisted in these things
alone. So then, what our Saviour was saying in this place was
that Noah's contemporaries - and Lot's too - were actually
gluttons, drunkards, and lustfully promiscuous! If this were not
so, where is that guilt which was the cause of the flood? Noah's
flood was sent because his age was a godless, idolatrous,
materialistic, and pleasure-seeking period that was to be a
prophesy, or forerunner, or forewarning, of the age that would
exist before then end of the world. Scarcely would God Almighty
judge a world for doing what he had created them for - to eat,
drink, and marry! Our day is uncannily like theirs and therefore
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we must be warned of swimming with the tide, or chasing with
the hounds! To allow ourselves to be counted with Noah and his
family is the greatest wisdom that ever we can receive. It is the
divine wisdom Prov. 1 2O/23. Noah was laughed at by his own
relatives behind his back, others scoffed openly, and intimidated
Noah’s immediate family, while others were hostile, and thought
Noah was setting himself up as a paragon of virtue by behaving
as a Judge in his self-righteousness Heb.11/7. Probably they even
suffered from those who vandalised the ark in process of building!
INCREASED POPULATION:1.
From the beginning the Creator commanded an increase of
humans in the world Gen.1/28. There were no restrictions. The
legislation for the birth of babies was boundless. Nor has this
statute ever been rescinded. In our times we have heard of
countries ruling in a despotic manner by proscribing a restriction
within the family of just two children. China has done so within
the last twenty or so years! In our western world no such
proscriptions have been at all necessary, for here you have a
philosophy of unparalleled indifference to children! Love and
marriage was once looked upon as being indispensable, and the
western countries have soaked up all the corrupt romanticism of
this century as displayed in Hollywood films. A forsaking of
biblical fidelity has led to a logical conclusion - when eroticism
captures the human intellect, all moral judgment weakens, then
dies. And when all human appetites plead a right to sexual
libertarianism, the denigration of marriage and the divine purpose
of family life degenerates, until a society of "free love" something the world has been striving for over the last two
hundred years to inaugurate - demoralises the heart and soul of
all civilisation. Babies then become obsolete. Babies are an
interruption, an incidental part of sexual intercourse, and an
accident that brings misery upon those who wanted the pleasure
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of the senses but not the responsibility. Babies are now
nuisances!
The human race fell into two groups. With the crime of fratricide
on his head, Cain was excommunicated by God from the true
church. He was under the divine interdict and therefore Adam
and Eve had no choice in the matter, and though the separation
must have been heartbreaking, they were constrained to send
their firstborn into exile. Cain objected, believing that such a
punishment would lead to his own demise, for his crime must
have been known to all the family of Adam, which was probably
by now dispersed over a mighty province. To protect him from
those who would track him down and attempt to take vengeance
on him for his heinous murder of Abel, the Lord placed a mark
upon him, which to this day is speculated upon without reaching
a trustworthy result. Jehovah specified in no variable terms, that
Cain must never settle in one place, that he must always be a
vagabond for the rest of his life. However it so happened that the
true spirit of Cain - of impenitence for his black deed before God
and his haughty defiance of His Word - maybe seen in the way he
exchanged his vagrant style of life for the safety of walls, and so
he built himself a city in a land called Nod. Having married his
sister - the children of Adam were now so plentiful it was utterly
normal to marry close relations in those early days - there was a
son born to them and they called him by the name of Enoch,
meaning "Dedication." He then built a city and called it after his
son, dedicating it to him as a great enduring memorial of his
travels and adventures, so that it would be great in the earth, and
the capitol that would enclose the Dictator who would rule
universally, without endangering his own life in open warfare. The
false Cainite church had commenced with architecture and even
military might! Acting against the express will of his God he
deliberately raised his fist before the face of God and he proudly
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defied His law from the arrogance of his malignant heart.
Cain can be seen as the first Dictator and one who became a type
for all who followed. Nimrod was the next notable despot who
knew how to exploit vast numbers of people to enhance his
power, fame, and majesty Gen.8 9/1O. The world has not wanted
for men whose sole purpose for living has been to tyrannise the
weak and poor, to subjugate, and then to conform each and
everyone to their will and good pleasure. These tyrants are
prepared to use every single device that will disseminate terror
into the minds of all people who belong to their dominions, for
they well know that fear is an important sensation that
guarantees prompt obedience. Already we have stated the chief
cause of Cain's malevolent murder, which at the base of his
character was insidious pride. We have pointed to his flat refusal
to remain a nomad and live under canvas, and his mighty feats of
architecture that would ensure posthumous fame to him and to
his family, but pride was the motivating impulse. And so it is, that
pride rules with demonic power within every heart that projects
the human "Ego," for it is the primary sin by which sin entered
the universe. Since Cain exalted himself and became a King over
all his own brood, the children of pride that surrender themselves
to their primal patriarch out of vanity or fear, begin to worship
him as though he was a god! Witness the evolution of the Roman
Empire! First, there was a republic, and the empire was ruled by
senators. After five centuries, and after much surmising,
assuming, and disputing, the senators were quite willing to allow
the Caesars the title of "Emperor," but when Julius Caesar
seemed inclined to wear a crown and adopt the title "King," he
forfeited his life and a civil war ensued. However, such were the
ambitions of the Caesars that when Domitian began to reign he
persuaded the priests to deify him, and so it became a custom for
the reigning Caesars to be worshipped, and prayed to when dead.
Human beings, creatures of dust, who dwell under canvas that rot
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and homes that decay, aspire to compete with the only true God,
because they are inflated with windy haughtiness and infused
with personal vanity.
Notice the expressions, “men" and "daughters" found in this text,
for they refer to the families descended from Cain! You will gain
some knowledge of their characters if you read the relevant
passage in Genesis 4 19/23. After verse eighteen where you have
Enoch and his pedigree, it closes with a man called Lamech. Now
Lamech - as his ancestor Cain - cared nothing for the Lord God
Almighty or His commandments, for we are told that he
possessed two wives! He was a bigamist. From the beginning
when God created Eve, Adam was expected to retain one wife
and one only, otherwise the union of male and female would be
destroyed. When the Pharisees tempted the Saviour about
divorce, His reply makes it transparently clear that this was never
intended by God when He made male and female. One living wife
was the purpose in order to reveal the true image of God in the
union of male and female, and this can only be expressed
between one man and one woman Gen.1/27: Matt.19/8. But
Lamech had no respect either for God or His image, and though
he was probably the first bigamist on record, he manifests all
those proud traits that can be traced back to his original forbear
even Cain. To be satisfied with one wife is to reduce the dangers
that are potentially confined to indomitable concupiscence which
is an especially dominant factor in the male. Marital fidelity places
a great restraint upon the eruptions of lustful desires and curbs
the temptations that beset the average husband. To increase
wives is to increase the disease of lust, and Lamech was not
satisfied with just one wife but made himself a role model for all
the race to follow - and follow him they did Gen.6/2. Their names
were Adah and Zillah. Lamech reveals all those traits once
belonging to Cain - meanness, ugliness, coldness, fierceness,
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heartlessness. There are commentators who state that Lamech
was one of the most ferocious men in the Bible. We find it very
difficult to disagree with such a conclusion. He commands his
wives into his presence, and then proceeds to intimidate them
with language that would do justice to Genghis Kahn, Caligula,
Duke of Alva, or Adolph Hitler.
There are those who suggest it was either a popular song that he
sung, or a recitation of poetry, for there appears to be a metre
within the words, but if so, then we have a prime example of vile
Cainite cruelty. "Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech; hearken to
my speech," he demands imperiously - as though he is for all the
world one of those mythical husbands for which the Victorians are
renowned! He appears to be a brute, a despot, a bitter monster
of gigantic proportions, who suppresses his wives as though they
are no better than chattels, an arrant bestial lout who has all
those marks of being a crude bully, who is yet to meet his
Waterloo! He rubs their noses in the dust by reminding them of
his legitimate authority over them. Without the slightest sign of
affection, but with a will to make them cower in his presence, he
wants to tell them a tale that will terrify them both just in case
they will be insubordinate at some future time. He intends to fire
a shot over their boughs to warn them of possible
misdemeanours, and so he will proceed after the audience is
settled and waiting for this royal decree. The performance begins
with this fanfare and flourish. He gallantly boasts of his prowess
with the weapons the sons of Cain have learnt to produce by their
craftsmanship Gen.4/22. "I have slain a man to my wounding,"
that is, "I have killed a young man though I be aged, and
therefore you should know that I am still a man in my prime. But
he injured me in the skirmish, and I want to make it quite clear to
you, my wives, lest you make an attempt to dissuade me of my
resolution that when they come looking for your husband to
revenge themselves of their loss, I will not spare any of them in
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my wrath. After all, it was said to our bold leader by the Lord God
Himself, after Cain had bravely sought justice from his sly brother,
that he would be avenged seven times! But as for me, I demand
vengeance to a far greater degree, and therefore no less than
seventy times seven will be my estimate." Diverse have been the
many interpretations of this passage, and no one appears to have
finally determined the matter, yet the sentiments seem to be
patent at least. One thing is sure from this passage - that a
primitive beastly nature that accompanies violence is also allied to
torrid lust. We have exhibited Lamech especially because he is
the epitome of those who became responsible for the flood of
Noah and the destruction of all living things. Nevertheless one or
two more references ought to be taken notice of before we enter
upon the task of expounding the two following verses. We must
never be under any illusion concerning the children of this world
and all their enterprises, for they are often more wise and
resourceful!
Those who investigate this Cainite line will observe the talents
that they possessed. For all the earthiness, carnality, secularism
and gross bestiality, that shackles the worldlings to this present
world, the Lord God is no respecter of persons, and having made
them in his image, He will endow them with many a physical and
mental gift that often astonishes all mankind. The difference
between a spiritually minded individual - who places God at the
very centre of their whole being - who has forsaken all hopes in
this present earthly existence - who look with confidence to that
everlasting glory promised to him by God Himself, and all other
human beings who exists solely for present gratifications, the
satisfaction of his achievements or his pleasures, and is
ambivalent or sceptical about existence beyond the grave is this whereas the celestial-minded person will recognise their abilities
as having descended from heaven as pure gifts from God, and
glorify Him for His grace, the worldly person will glory in
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themselves and imagine they had no need of divine help, nor
consider for a moment that their own gifts are not really their
own, but given freely from heaven!
Our own dismal age is so full of it's massive achievements, that
the generality of men now firmly believe - as the Victorians once
did - that the human species is on the upward trend. In spite of
two world wars during this century that have exploded the myth
of a future Utopia for our future offspring, Politicians, Statesmen,
Philosophers, Theologians, and School Teachers all over the globe
still continue to hold on to this idea of universal happiness for a
generation still to come. Though too, Scientists in the western
hemisphere are turning away from the laughable theory of
"Natural Selection," whereby each organ of thousands upon
thousands of our human, animal, and insect, species, have all
been developed by a painfully slow progress over millions of years
- the more likely the prospects of Evolution becoming a fact, the
more millions they add to their preposterous number - the most
of them still imagine that homo sapiens began as a savage, and
so only time and progress has taught him to look and behave as a
gentleman! One day in the not too distant future this theory will
explode like thunder over the whole earth, and intellectuals of
every nation, belonging to the past, present, and future, will be
ashamed of their ignorance and poverty-stricken minds. They
have laughed at special creation and so will they be mocked
throughout all eternity. For a little time they have derided the
Bible, and ridiculed the finest of men and women for believing in
myths, fables, and primitive fantasies, but in perpetual ages everlasting aeons - this fable called the "Origin of Species," above
all other fables, will reduce them to veritable idiots. From the
beginning of the human race humans are civilised!
Each of Lamech’s wives had two children according to the
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records, though it must ever be bourn in mind that the sacred
record never registers every male or female born into this world.
Examples are presented to us here as giving a sample of human
ingenuity and an illustration of human industry. Adah bore Jabal
and Jubal whereas Zillah bore Tubalcain and Naamah. The first
three were male while the fourth was female. Do note carefully
their cultured fashion, and the mode or life-style that cannot be
equated with primitive or brutish conditions. Firstly, Jabal was a
tentmaker and for a trade of this nature he must needs have by
consequence a creative intelligence with all essential tools and
apply them, such as the pegs, cords, needles, scissors, and
canvas. Undoubtedly, Jabal is a craftsmen endowed from heaven
with godlike qualities, and must never be associated with slime,
sludge, or a "one cell" creature!
Secondly, Jubal was the first to make a living producing musical
instruments. We may assume he was as proficient in the playing
of them as he was in originating them. The instruments
mentioned are the harp and the organ, so we see his great
intelligence very clearly inasmuch as he discovered that music can
be produced from both string and wind instruments! Strange
indeed that spermatozoa could so develop from something hidden
from the naked eye, to the full stature of the human species, and
in addition, become father to something that elevates a man
beyond the animal level, raising him to angelic proportions
through music! Where can we find any music academies within
the world of chimpanzees? Where do we find orchestras of apes?
Where do we find highly gifted Gorillas with a parchment in one
hand and a pen in the other, composing a score that will generate
a "Harp Concerto" of Mozart, or an "Organ Concerto" of Handel or
Bach? From everlasting to everlasting it is simply impossible, and
yet this is the garbage that so-called intellectual men in realms of
botany, geology, biology, physiology, etc, have heaped upon the
human intelligence for over one hundred and fifty years!! Surely
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we have the right to protest in the name of common sense that
this is the figment of all figments of human imagination, and
therefore do pronounce it to be the very peak of madness. For
their part they ascribe to us a huge mental blockage having the
degenerate fanaticism of a mountebank, or at best, the retarded
brain of a country yokel. What is the most overt answer to these
scatterbrains? Homer! Plato! Copernicus! Shakespeare! Angelo!
Newton! Beethoven! Einstein! Evolution cannot account for a
genius. Thirdly, Tubalcain, was a metal worker of prodigious but
dangerous skills. His repertoire must have been extraordinary yet
frightening. Impressive as an artificer in brass and iron, we may
believe his output greatly enhanced the reputation of the Cainite
section, but also fortified this tribe immensely against possible
incursions, for we have good reason to believe that together with
every convenient utensil produced, weapons of war also
originated from this source! Knowing the murderous spirit of Cain,
plus the introduction to the ten commandments - "visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth
generation" - also the homicidal disposition of Lamech, would it
surprise any reasonably minded person that the Cainites would
store an armoury of innumerable weapons and with a
considerable variety?
DIVIDED POPULATION:2.
This was the state of things which prevailed during all the long
centuries following the terrible death of Abel. But before we can
leave this fragment of the human race we must first return to the
Sethite portion and discover their progress and characteristics
until the times of Noah. As the Cainites spent their existence on
agriculture, industry, commerce, armaments, and upon
extravagant pleasures belonging to the theatre and sporting
activities, so it was a style of existence contrasting radically with
the Cainites that we meet with among the Sethites Gen.4 25/26.
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By the words, "Adam knew his wife again," does not mean that
since the death of Abel, Adam remained in a celibate condition
without a relationship with Eve his wife. Celibates themselves,
who are always seeking for examples of celibacy for the purpose
of giving it absolute priority in the league of virtues, think
otherwise. A moments reflection will help us see that many
generations belonging to Cain are now in existence, but we are
not to suppose that Adam renewed his marital relations with his
wife after the shrill outburst of Lamech in the previous verse.
When it says that "ADAM KNEW HIS WIFE AGAIN,” it is patently
in the past tense and is reflective in character, as though he could
easily say "again after the death of Able,” therefore giving the
sense that for Adam and Eve there was no interval in which
sexual relations were suspended. But why did the writer return to
the line of Seth immediately after disclosing to posterity the
inevitable precipitations which belonged to the genealogy of Cain
for violence and destruction? Because of the all-important "Seed"
that is mentioned by Jehovah in Gen.3/15! What must always be
kept well in mind by those who would understand the first book
of the Bible is this - it is the history of salvation which gradually
unfolds from one generation to another. Indeed the book of
Genesis could well have been "The History of Redemption!” And if
there be anyone who retorts, "But then, the whole Bible may well
be called the same,” we have not the slightest objection to such a
title, for such it is!
The human race had divided through the condemnation and
excommunication of Cain the elder brother by reason of the fact
that Able his brother was intended to be the primal ancestor of
the Christ of God Luke 3/38. Abel was destroyed in his prime and
may well have been unmarried. Most certainly he bore no heirs.
Cain by his iniquitous heart disqualified himself entirely from the
right of progenitor, though he was the firstborn. Now, Moses
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undertakes to explain the way in which this breach in the
genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ is repaired. Adam and his wife
knew, either from a divine revelation from heaven or by an
intense faith in the Word of God in Gen.3/15 probably and
preferentially the latter - the need to substitute Able. It is highly
probable that Adam, being a prophet himself, would know that
the promised Seed could never be the consequence of Cainite
descent. Whatever be the motive during the times of intercourse
between Adam and Eve, you may be quite sure their eyes were
always focused upon the Great Deliverer of the human race; the
Anointed of the Lord; the One destined to save mankind from
their sins Matt.1/21 and to purify every spiritual Levite by His own
blood Mal.3/3. And so it continues, "AND SHE BARE A SON"
because it was a preordained event and there was nothing in
heaven or earth that could alter this divine plan. Notwithstanding
this single and unique event, the matter of Able took a mighty toll
from the delicate constitutions of both Adam and his wife, for
they must have known that they were responsible for the miseries
imposed upon the human race by a God who had no alternative
but to reduce mankind to suffering and death. However it must
be stressed that both of them were already saved by Jesus Christ
the Lord of glory even though He would not appear for some four
thousand years! The cross and resurrection of Christ embrace
both the past and future existence of the human races at the time
when He was crucified, and we have biblical evidence to prove
the salvation of our first parents. We must remember the good
news of the gospel was first preached to them by the Lord God
Almighty in the Garden of Eden. It was the first promise of
human redemption. It mainly confines itself to these words, "The
seed of the woman shall bruise thy head - the serpents! - and
thou shalt bruise His heel", which means that the ancestry of
Christ Jesus belonging to the female line - though never without
the male except Joseph who was the husband of Mary -
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combined together to destroy this head that was filled with
cunning and hatred for human beings. But the serpent was only a
tool of Satanic power, and so these words were intended by God
to be directed against him the celestial being. A bruising of the
"heel" is a reference to the Saviours sufferings, grief, and death
by crucifixion, which become clearer as the O.T. develops. Based
upon this universal promise our Father and Mother of the human
family were undoubtedly saved in spite of the great sorrows they
brought with them from out of Eden. And both of them were
saved by faith as we shall easily discover.
Adam was saved by faith alone in Christ, as all the other saints
had been, both in the O.T. and N.T. We know that Paul adduces
the righteousness of faith to Abraham, and presents him as an
example to the Gentiles as one who was acceptable to God albeit, he had not yet been circumcised! From this we know that
Abraham is the prime example of the only way whereby souls are
saved before God, namely, through faith alone in Christ. Adam we
are told, "called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother
of all living", giving us to understand that his faith was based
upon the promise uttered before relating to the "Seed" - which is
Christ the Lord. The application of this name to Eve on the part of
Adam was truly a venture of faith in the promise, and a testimony
to evangelical faith. Likewise, the faith of Eve is discovered in
Genesis chapter five of Genesis and in the first verse, "I have
gotten a man from the Lord". Certainly Eve was mistaken when
she made the imprudent statement - if the margin is to be seen
as being more authentic -- "I have gotten THE MAN from the
Lord," with Cain now viewed as being the promised Seed in
Gen.3/15! When it was she discovered her error we cannot say,
but from these very words, Eve must have had faith in the
promise. Indeed, even though Cain would develop into a
deplorable son, Eve still believed Cain had come from the Lord,
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and therefore was justified before God even as her husband. She
manifested by these few words a faith in a salvation that was to
come four millenniums later through her "Seed.”
The narrative proceeds with the words, "AND CALLED HIS NAME
SETH" and so Cain was replaced by a more worthier seed. Much
comfort is now given to our original parents who would never
pretend that it could remove the bitterness and disillusionment
that accompanied the grief over their second son Abel. But you
may be sure of one important factor in those earliest of years never would they be so presumptuous again as to assume they
would see the true "Seed" from their own wedlock. Neither did
they lodge such hopes in Seth, even though it was perfectly
obvious that God Himself had made a substitute for Cain.
However, inasmuch as Moses here inserts this small genealogy in
order to highlight the contrast between Cain's more worldly, yet
gifted posterity, and the piety and sanctity of Seth's minority
community, it is to be noticed that the author of Genesis in the
following chapter likewise correlates the creation of Adam from
the birth of Seth! In Genesis chapter five, we read in verse one
"In the day that God created man, IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD
MADE HE HIM," agreeing with those words in Gen.1/26, "LET US
MAKE MAN IN OUR OWN IMAGE AFTER OUR LIKENESS".
Notwithstanding, a remarkable change is announced in Gen.5/3,
for it states, "ADAM.. BEGAT A SON AFTER HIS OWN LIKENESS,
AFTER HIS IMAGE, AND CALLED HIS NAME SETH!!” we are given
to understand that here a profound difference is to be noted
between the creation of Adam, which was after the image and
likeness of God, and Seth who was born in the image and
likeness of Adam his father! What do we learn from such an
astonishing variation in the wording? Actually, it is a somewhat
difficult problem to solve, and there are those commentators and
theologians who are quite prepared to make light of the whole
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thing, who say, "Well, there is no need to be excited about this
inconsistency, for all biologists are acquainted with the genetic
structure of the human form and with family similarity. And so it is
a very simple matter, for the phraseology has to do with each
individual born into this world, who bare the image of their real
parents, both of whom are physical human beings!” We do
earnestly dispute this exposition, and call it puerile to say the
least. It is very similar to saying, "My father was a human, and
once I was born I was human also.” In literary circles this would
have been called a "tautology," for the thing is obvious in itself
and thus a waste of words. No. Such an expression could never
have been as superfluous as these experts make out, for the Holy
Spirit never can be charged with tautology. Here is the difference
- Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, and
therefore we understand that this also includes his innocence, his
freedom from all moral and spiritual flaws, his habitual rectitude
before God, and all his inclinations free from selfishness and
pride. Here we are now to suppose there is a radical change.
Adam lost his innocence and from being a spiritual being much
more than an earthly being, he was now in the reverse, and now
possessed much more of a fleshly nature than a heavenly one.
Hence, Adam could not propagate an original nature which he
had before his Fall, but only that which proceeded from it, and
that was a nature bereft of all celestial and spiritual properties.
Earthy Adam 1 Cor.15 47/49 produced only an earthy son whose
name was Seth. In other words, all that Adam was in his fallen
condition, he must, as a consequence, pass over from himself to
his sons - Cain, Able, Seth - a condition of transgression and
revolt Psm.51/5. Moreover, by the judgment of God, not only to
his immediate progeny but to the whole family of Adamites
throughout the globe from the tragic fall, even to Cain, Able, and
Seth. Our image is now the image of Adam because he it was
who lost it for the human race of mortals. The original image has
17
become disfigured, marred, and destitute of all value before the
living God, and thus is virtually non-existent. For that very reason
another Image is necessary, and that Image is the One and Only
Image, Jesus Christ our Lord Rom.8/29: 2 Cor.3/18. As far as the
justice of this penalty is concerned faith alone is gifted to
reconcile it with human reason, for the simple reason that the
human intellect is also fallen from the height of unity with God.
The name of "Seth" is highly significant in the passage. There is
now an interpretation of his name, "For God hath appointed me
another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” Seth means
"placed", or "settled", according to Matthew Henry, and from this
we surely must see the comparison with the nomadic tribe of
Cain. Not withstanding the command of God that Cain must be a
wanderer upon the face of the earth, he endeavoured to build a
city and to become a stationary society, with his metropolitan city
"Enoch" planted so solidly in the land of Nod. But Seth had no
such ambitions and it would appear that his offspring had taken
good heed to the adventurous spirit of Cain and the
characteristics of that tribe, that was strife-ridden, discontented,
violent, and insatiable for gain and fame. Sethites were
unpretentious, simple, contented, peace- loving, and cultivated all
the virtues belonging unto poor murdered Able. They always
seemed to be at the mercy of the Cainites, but inasmuch as they
believed the name of their father "Seth" was divinely given, they
trusted in the God who had appointed Seth to be their father, and
to defend them against all their foes. They were not disappointed.
As long as they distanced themselves from their separated
cousins, and practiced the godly piety of Able, copying the
stringent rules of moral and spiritual discipline of Seth, then God
prevented any incursions coming from the land of Nod. Their
settlement was secure and their future one of peace - with this
one proviso! But the word "APPOINTED" is an important one, for
it is associated with a difficult subject!
18
For God to appoint is to elect. Moreover, for God to elect is to
elect before the world began Rom.9/11. Nor is it possible while in
this world to comprehend a mystery that has baffled the human
mind of man since the beginning of time. Theologically speaking
a statement on the subject of predestination is easily compiled. It
is also quite logical upon the surface. All one has to do, is to
direct an antagonist of the doctrine to the nature of God supposing the adversary is no atheist - and ask the individual if
God is able to know the future. At once they will recognise that
for God to be God, he must know the future, for without
foreknowledge God could not be God! Ask further, that if God
knows the future, does He ordain the future in every detail, and
there will be one great pause. This seems too much to expect for
immediately we are confronted with the possibility of being solely
in the hands of a God who may be a capricious despot.
Nevertheless, the statement must again be asserted, that if God
knows the future without any control over future events, then He
must be a spectator only, and the future is left to a series of
sheer accidents! Furthermore if God has no control over these
numberless sequences then again He cannot be God. For God to
know the future He must inevitably have ordained everything
down to the smallest incident, because otherwise He would be
bereft of His omnipotence, which is impossible. Besides, once we
understand that the Almighty can have no future, we are able to
recognise that He can have no past either, and so we face an
insuperable problem. If God does not know the future, then He
has lost His omniscience! If He has not predestinated the future,
He has lost His omnipotence! But, if He has no past or a future,
He has lost His omnipresence! Therefore God must exist in His
own eternal presence. All things must be predestinated by Him!
Concerning the responsibility of angelic and human beings we
have no wish to enter, for we only desire to stress the importance
of Seth and his "appointed" role.
19
We have seen how that Eve and not Adam was the one
responsible in giving to Seth his name. We have also noted that
her faith in the Messiah was recorded by the statement which she
made relating to Cain, though mistaken by his identity and
character. Here we must likewise see her faith, which is still
victorious though buffeted by the profound disappointment - not
to say horror - felt within her heart over the blood lust of Cain.
Here, in the name she gave unto Seth, her faith is renewed, and
though she does not call him Cain as his brother - meaning
"Gotten,” believing him to be the Messiah who would reverse the
"Fall" - but only Seth or Appointed yet she trusted that he was
somehow associated with her "Seed" in Gen.3/15 who would
finally repair all the damage incurred by Adam and herself!
"APPOINTED" has to do with the words "ordained,” or
"delegated,” or "destined,” and so the words spoken are identical
with those of the Messiah - the "seed of the woman", of dear
Mary and the Holy Spirit Matt.1/18. He was the One who can be
called the Elect of the Elect, the First of His chosen, the Adam of
his race, and all this by His resurrection from the dead according
to the words, "and declared to be the Son of God...by the
resurrection from the dead" Rom.1/3. And what can all this mean
for the human race? It means the resurrection of Christ has
overturned all the preceding evil, chaos, devastation, destruction,
sorrow, helplessness and hopelessness, of all the former
generations, and blotted out forever the iniquities accumulated by
His elect since the Fall of Man. No one else could perform such a
miraculous feat except the One who was "appointed" for this
task, and He only was "worthy" Rev.5/12. God appointed Him
before the foundations of the world were laid - before the womb
of providence gave birth to the vast multitudes of angelic beings
at one single stroke of the divine hand - before the appointed
cherub covered the mountain of God Ezk.28/14 and before the
20
original suggestion of pride had entered into his mind and finally
stole away his heart from God. Christ Jesus was the product of
divine love, for though he existed in a divine mode and lay in the
bosom of the Father throughout all eternity - from which place He
never could remove Himself for it is an eternal state - he could, at
the same time, become human like ourselves, yet without sin.
Without leaving the Father He is able to become Man at one and
the same time - John 1/18: 3/13. He was appointed for this
purpose, because only the nature of divine love, power, wisdom,
and righteousness, could suffice to ransom a lost and sinful race
of men and women. No one else qualified. Not even the purest or
most obedient angel in heaven contained within himself the
qualifications necessary to reconcile every particle of creation
unto the Creator. Christ, in harmony with His Father, alone
determined this arrangement. There were no negotiations. No
adjustments on either side were needed. Eternal predestination is
the beginning and the end of all things, and Christ Jesus was the
"Elect" or "Appointed" seed Is.42/1 of whom Seth was a type 1
Pet.2/6. Seth was "INSTEAD OF ABEL,” Eve continues, and so
may we observe from these words that as the lamb on Moriah
was in the "stead" of Isaac Gen.22/13 so our "Seth" was instead
of Able!
Here now is the disparity made manifest between the sons of
Cain and the sons of Seth. Two distinct features are to be
recognised in both camps, and they have been distinguished in
the world ever since. Sometimes the true church has been very
distinct and great gulf’s have separated the true church from the
false. Sometimes a great gulf has been virtually closed because
the true church has lost her testimony, and her character has
been diminished through a tendency to conform to the style and
practices of the false and worldly church. Sometimes there is no
gulf at all, and only God knows the difference between the true
and the false church. Today there appears to be such a blend
21
between them both that Christian life and practice seem nonexistent, and Christians appear to be as needles in haystacks. It
seems the false church has swallowed up the true church - as the
cows and ears of corn though lean and undernourished in the
dreams of Joseph, had devoured those which were fat and
flourishing, yet remained thin and withered notwithstanding. At
the beginning of the history belonging unto the two great
companies, the division was sharp and clear, so that no one could
doubt in the slightest to what assembly each individual belonged.
Scripture gives to us in crisp and concise terms in what way they
differed from each other. We will notice first of all in what way
they differed in the outward appearance. Seth is the one who is
moved to name his firstborn, and he called him "ENOS!” God
wanted His people to learn this important lesson - that by might
of human strength or human wisdom no multitude or individual
will ever triumph Zech.4/9. As we already saw, the families of
Cain were impressive in all their enterprises. Their men were
renowned for abilities, so much so that the poor sons of Seth
could never hope to compete with their energy, inventiveness,
industry, zest, or knowledge. From an external point of view the
rational judgement would instantly conclude that God was with
them by reason of the magnificent architecture, engineering, and
scientific feats, that were reported of almost on a daily basis. To
be sure, it has to be confessed, for general skills, all-round
genius, social and political vision, the Cainites towered over the
Sethites, as once Goliath looked down upon David and laughed
uncontrollably at the impossible task that David expected Jehovah
to perform. Thus, the population in Enoch and the land of Nod
despised the Sethites and deliberately intimidated them by their
great worldly prowess. The main temperament among the
Cainites was undoubtedly a "Choleric" one, aggressive, selfconfident, presumptuous, competitive, without reserve or
backwardness. They manifested a grave disposition, and took life
22
very seriously, with very little sympathy for those who were
retarded, reserved in their judgments, timid before any who had
the advantage over them, daunted with any task that they were
confronted with, or paid undue attention to those who became
the victims of cruel circumstances. They were Stoical by nature,
and hence gloried in superior strength, courage, and
achievements beyond the ordinary. It would be true to say they
found little or no sympathy for those virtues that they considered
effeminate, as gentleness, modesty, pity, compromise,
compassion, for these were seen as calculated to endanger the
state, and stultify hardiness, courage, and the need to gain the
mastery of the adversary. Tears were despised, especially the
tears of young men, and so the race can justly be compared to
"German Socialism" or the "Third Reich.” It was no wonder that
when Seth produced his firstborn he called him "Enos,” for his
name meant exactly the opposite to all that a Cainite was and
did. Enos, means to be "weak,” "frail,” "feeble,” or "delicate,” and
although he may have been given the name after the nature of
Able, it might have been in contrast to the overpowering might
contained within the Cainite sovereignty. And yet here is the
significance of his name - the necessity of a deliberate rejection
of all human greatness and glory. And this seemingly insignificant
gesture of Seth in naming him Enos, meant that he abominated
all competition that would display a challenge to the false church.
He scorned almost to the point of contempt a desire to threaten
the Cainites by prophesying as Cain did by the name of Enoch
that his Sethite church was in this world to bring worldly
greatness, prosperity, and prestige, into that part of a world
population known as "Sethite!”
At this point stress must be laid upon a crucial teaching that is
always being overlooked within Christendom. So many times does
it appear, but only to those with spiritual eyes can it be detected.
23
Alas!, the vast majority in their ignorance overlook a spiritual
principle that is the central feature of the Christian faith. The
gospel of the grace of God is always the manifestation of His own
deliberate policy to overcome in weakness! God is omnipotent
and He remains unchallengeable. One word could annihilate
creation in a fraction of a second. Why then does He not reconcile
all things to Himself and extinguish the fires of Hell for all time
and for eternity? Because he respects His creatures that He has
made with volitional freedom, and so will never exercise force to
overthrow creatures who are bent upon destroying themselves.
We were never meant for Hell Matt.25/41 but through our
perseverance in sin and ungodliness we are therefore left to
ourselves. God will not interfere with our choice of destiny by
omnipotent power, but He will demonstrate His love and
compassion through weakness!! Thus, inasmuch as there could
be no honour reflected upon the Almighty if His divine will were
imposed upon humanity, the real, absolute and intrinsic nature of
the Godhead was displayed to every single creature in heaven
and on earth. Now His own heart is one of love, compassion,
meekness, humility, and this He evinced to the depths of
weakness - the weakness of His humanity! And this is what the
Great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ desires all His
children to display, even the weakness of Him who is the perfect
Image of His Father. To be a Christian is to imitate Him.
Here the world and worldly Christians make the most prominent
and the most elementary of blunders. They think in terms of size
and power, wealth and beauty, zeal and influence, appearance
and form, legalism and righteousness. All this belongs to the very
concepts that Christ came to destroy. Man-masculine and
feminine gender-is basically proud, and at the very root of his
being he aspires to be great in the earth. He will do anything,
legitimate as well as illegitimate, in order to achieve his object of
24
exalting himself before his fellowmen. He is never satisfied, and
covets all that he cannot possess and the consequence of this his
insatiable appetite for fame and glory, is that he becomes
discontented and entertains secretly jealous thoughts of all those
who are greater than he is, or hatred towards all whom he thinks
may be plotting against his domain, so that he harbours
suspicions of everyone who is applauded, congratulated,
honoured, or praised in his company or by hearsay. He is always
unhappy because he is always insecure, for pride holds sway
within his soul, and the very idea of losing his reputation for
knowledge, power, wealth, justice or charity, is anathema to him
and he clings desperately to unspoken hopes of carrying them
over his own grave and exercising all his greatness before the
Lord God Almighty, the Angelic hosts, and a vast multitude
belonging to the Redeemed! Each imagines that the God of
heaven and earth has an irresistible admiration for them, and will
entitle them to deploy all their great powers and superb talents
for the advantage of the ordinary citizen, over whom they stupidly
think will be their mindless serfs in His kingdom. They have never
read, or have forgotten entirely, that the greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven is the one who is most like a little child!
Seth and his small kingdom on earth was held in contempt by
that which was grander, larger, cleverer, and brisker, than his little
flock of sheep. Numbers increased daily, and the population grew
to such a degree that more and more midwives had to be trained
to cope with a tremendous explosion that could rightly be termed
"a baby boom". Buildings were erected with such speed that
"wonders of the world" were gradually becoming commonplace.
With mercuric velocity the invention of facilities concerning
latrines, drains, cooking and eating utensils, writing materials,
sanitary precautions, sporting equipment, etc. etc. were
conveniences that Seth and his company gave very little heed to.
To the stranger Sethite habitations were behind the times. Their
25
homes were smaller, with very few devices to make life easier,
such as private bedrooms or segregated bathrooms, or even the
luxury of soap, mirror, or some musical instrument. Moreover, the
people were dull in appearance, and their clothes were drab and
dreary, without the sparkling and cheerful colours that adorned
the Cainite breed. They were grave and severe people, and unless
you were fully acquainted with them the impression left upon
your mind would be to regard them as too dour for anyone to
take them seriously. Those who would aspire to leadership
underwent a tight schedule of discipline in order that they learn
first of all how to obey the orders of a superior. Any who gained
distinction for any singular vocation were obliged to serve the
family they were born into before engaging in their own pursuit.
Flirting with the opposite sex was discouraged among the young
people of the Sethites. Chaperons always accompanied those who
were beginning to court seriously. Modern promiscuity, and a
sexual relationship before marriage was unknown for the socalled "liberty" of our secular society would be seen by these
Sethites as being a course which would result only in misery.
Chastisement was never the ridiculous "violence" imagined by this
our present humanistic and sentimental society. In spite of the
hypocritical Cainites, who shouted from the roof tops of their
developments in the fields of religion and science, and the
liberating process of their permissive society, they paid no heed to
the growing lists of aborted victims in the wombs of woman
having lost all sense of maternal responsibility. No one took any
notice of those who saw the outcome of Sodomite behaviour
among the old and young, though fatal diseases were rampant
and daily the cemeteries were visited by those who had been
hoodwinked into believing it was according to nature. Very little
was heard among the Sethites of these forlorn tragedies. They
were content to be the scorn of Cainite propaganda, because
they knew that a society without religious and moral training was
26
doomed to suffer by reason of that natural decline of the human
soul towards corruption. To put up with their declamations of
"religious hypocrisy," their hatred of all virtue and morality which
they regarded as "Puritan" and boring, was indeed well worth it,
for they were conscious of a nobility of soul and a dignity of
deportment, and knew without a testimony to this fact from
elsewhere, that by comparison with the Cainites, their own
society was the happiest and the most secure. To be sure, the
results were obvious to the naked eye - the Cainites were the
result of a "yobbish" and "loutish" culture that would finally bury
them all, as it was with Sodom and Gomorrah.
The secret of God, the everlasting God, is the subject of human
weakness. The Sethite community was the true church, but one
that was poor, feeble, and almost at the point of languishing.
Christ Jesus and His sufferings; His trials; His reproach; His grief;
and in a word, His cross, all have to do with "weakness" 2 Cor.
13/4. By His feebleness God triumphed, and through His
submission He rose from the dead. Without this weakness for our
sakes there would be no redemption for the human race. God
must become as we are, namely, poor, derelict, charged with guilt
that belonged to His enemies but which He did not deny for He
must bear the sin of the whole world - John 1/29. He must go
down to the lowest point of degradation, and suffer ignominiously
the sly, caustic, brutal assaults of wicked men in order to raise the
wicked to the height of heavenly glory by His resurrection
Eph.2/6. But before such a procedure takes place in the lives of
His people, they too must descend to a level of humiliation and
recognise they have nothing in which to trust except the One who
died and rose again for them.
His process must become our process, descent and ascent, or
cross and resurrection, for this is vital so that we may become
reborn Gal.2/2O. Our weakness is to be seen in the fact that in
view of His humiliation and torment, He took upon Himself the
27
complete responsibility of our everlasting salvation! Everything
that was needed to be done He did Himself, completely, totally,
and for an eternity - John 19/3O. In the face of this we must
realise that a demonstration of our justice, our sincerity, our
honesty, or our religion, whatever that may be, cannot deliver us
from the pride of self-righteousness, the chief of all our
multifarious sins. We shall never discover how weak we are while
we continue to pretend that we are decent, and respectable and
at bottom good people, who will pass muster together with all the
saints of God when we all stand before the Judgment Seat of our
Saviour and Judge. To start bragging about your own
righteousness is to think you are strong, and that means to
expose yourself before God as an impostor. Our blessed
Redeemer will not accept you unless you plead your weakness,
and confess you have nothing at all to offer Him to make an
atonement for your transgressions. Appalling weakness and
genuine hopelessness is what you must feel if you are to receive
a pardon and gain strength by His Spirit. Only then will you leap
for joy! From the time that Seth called the name of his son "Enos"
we read of their colony coming together on public occasions "TO
CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD." Though smaller in
numbers than the thriving settlement of Cain, yet they were
entirely free from the vile practice of idolatry, and the primitive
paganism that had slowly crept into the life of Cain the son of
Adam and his posterity. It was the mercy of God towards the
Sethite establishment that made them a strong witness against
the degrading rituals then observed by over half the world's
population. Sethites had resolved to be faithful unto the God of
Adam and Seth, and to resist with every ounce of breath in their
bodies, the debauchery and slavery of a series of rituals that were
the products of priest craft, and for the material advancement
and opulence of the priesthood. Thus, a great wave of devotion
overtook the Sethites in order to compete with the fanaticism of
28
the Cainites. There was much that was just simply wild emotion,
yet withal the fleshly instincts invading a religious revival, there
was a world of difference between these two foremost companies
upon the face of the earth. Nevertheless a battle had begun!
The Sethites were the healthiest of those branches that stemmed
from their common root, Adam. Adam, you may be sure, had
seen the sharp decline in the human race, especially since the
excommunication of Cain the murderer. There is a very early
tradition among the Hebrews that Adam finally separated himself
from every tribe in the earth and settled in India to mourn for
over three hundred years on account of the calamities that he
considered himself to be responsible for. Adam took some delight
in the awakening that had occurred among the Sethites, but he
often suffered remorse and wondered what quality of life would
have existed on the earth had he never hearkened to the voice of
Eve his wife. Still, Adam, who clung powerfully to the promise
given to him in Eden, would often preach to his descendents and
the joy of this ministry gave much relief to his soul. He deplored
the apostasy of those who departed into the camp of Cain, wept
when his discourses failed to make any impact upon the
consciences of those assembled, and consulted Seth and other
Elders when he saw any decline in their outward conduct. Seth
himself heartily believed that the central feature of their
assemblies was the one solitary promise that God had
bequeathed to them, and was grieved whenever their preachers
seemed to lose the sense of its paramount importance. Seth
knew that his very existence depended upon this prophesy. He
knew it was easily lost and for this reason - there were those who
were continually reconstructing it and altering the true sense.
Especially was it true of those who seemed to think it was to be
accomplished long after the lifetime of those who then existed in
the world. Others lectured with too refinement and desired to
exhibit their superb scholastic qualities for the sake of applause.
29
Others too, readily gave way to the abounding scepticism which
came over from Cainite territory, but in a very subtle manner
introduced them to Sethite teachers. Adam and Seth were
mystified by the rapid growth that doctrinal error could produce,
and sought with all their powerful eloquence to quench the flame
of controversy and disputation. But it seemed they were fighting
a losing battle, for long before the first century of human
existence Adam saw apostasy before he died.
However, they continued to "CALL UPON THE LORD" and
maintained a testimony though the darkness of revolt within their
ranks became very disconcerting to their authorities. Even the
initial promise was beginning to fade from the hearts and minds
of the Sethites. Rationalism with its cold logic and absence of
faith asserted itself with vigour and although the Sethites were
always scorning a religion of superstition and idolatry that still
remained as yet unchallenged by their own discontented
theologians, the outward worship of the Sethites diminished with
ever increasing speed. It is easily seen by the verse under
discussion. All decay within a religious society that has been
instituted by God for the benefit of the world around them is
never the fault of the world it seeks to influence and convert.
Without exception the dilapidation is a product of its own
infidelity. Hence, when error is propagated by those who are
privileged to have management over congregations, God will
allow in His longsuffering some space for the heresy to be
overthrown. But when it continues unabated, His judgment falls
upon that religious institution by allowing a free circulation of this
false teaching - though He knows only too well that it will
eventually corrupt the whole! Judgment begins where the
brightest light shines, and the greater the light the greater the
rebellion against it 1Pet.4/17. "The gospel is like a moving
shower" the great Saxon Reformer, Martin Luther, said, and he
was quite right for once ingratitude for His Son begins to be
30
manifest, then the Ark begins to move away from the Israel of
God. Is it not a fact that the Candlestick of the gospel of Light
was removed from all those apostolic churches in Asia Minor
when the Turks came by the secret judgment of God to judge the
growing superstitions and the increasing idolatry adopted from
the dying ceremonials of a pagan background? An imbibed false
notion that the heathen would embrace the Christian faith as
though it was a genus developed from their own religions fooled
them. Did not God give evangelical truth in potent measure to
North Africa, especially in raising up a mighty gospel duo as
Cyprian of Carthage and Augustine of Hippo? But for all that, was
not the terrible scourge of God manifestly clear in the marauding
ventures of the Goths and the Vandals, until almost the whole of
this territory was decimated of Catholics, and later almost extinct
before the two-edged sword of Islam? It is with no exaggeration
when we say that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ travelled
from east to west as the course of the sun Psm.1 91/6: Mal.4/2
and it slowed down or hovered over the continent of Europe for
many centuries, but now appears to be disappearing below the
western sky. And so it was with the children of Seth, for now their
glorious sun was about to be eclipsed by the slow amalgamation
of the two groupings belonging to the human race, and thus, a
steady decline towards the almost entire destruction of these two
families, the Sethites and the Cainites!
This terrible decline that resulted in total decadence began with
idolatry - the religious sin that drives God away from human
societies. But it never ends at that particular point. Invariably it is
associated with immorality, as will be seen by the way Paul in his
Roman epistle places them one after the other - "Ungodliness”
then "unrighteousness!" First of all he expounds ungodliness then
continues to detail the depths of immorality Rom.1 18/27. First let
us discover in the second verse of Genesis six what the term
31
"SONS OF GOD" mean. We touched slightly upon these words
earlier and then went on to expound Gen.4 16/26 but we delayed
a discussion on a subject which rose early in the Christian Church.
To be sure, the conclusion of some early father's is so
preposterous as to make some of us almost ashamed of the
writers that we hold in such great esteem, such as Tertullian,
Clement, etc. Their common view is that these "Sons of God" are
not really humans at all but fallen angels from heaven!!
Amazingly, our conservative evangelicals have somehow fallen
into the same exegetical impossibility, and have trifled with this
sensational absurdity. It is true the same expression is used of
angels in Job - Job 1/6; 2/1; 38/7 but when you examine the
scriptures relating to angels you are at once struck with the
difference between the nature of angels and humans. They have
no physical bodies. They are called "spirits" Psm.1O4/4. They can
be seen as men but only in their outward form and appearance
Acts 1/1O etc. They are sexless because they do not marry, nor
can they reproduce themselves Matt.22 29/3O. To say that angels
have the power to become incarnate, and capable of producing
little demons through profligate women, is a fallacy of extreme
idiocy. You will find these reckless fantasies within the coteries of
witches, and reaches the height of wickedness when the Devil
himself is supposed to implant human seed into the womb of
poor enslaved virgins! We say it reverently, that if Satan is able to
gain permission from God to tempt humans, as he did with Job
and Peter, there is no record of Satan ever seeking the will of God
to allow either himself or his fellow demons to receive a power to
become incarnate, and we are bold to state that Almighty God
would never allow such a combination of demonic-humans! We
do not consider that anything more needs be said on this
incredulous impossibility.
In succinct terms contained in one single verse, the holy record
32
makes crystal clear the degradation of the human race. Sethites,
having allowed the Cainites to infiltrate into their domains, are
now under their influence. The seduction of idolatrous myths and
fantasies by which they themselves had been duped had now
spread widely throughout the Sethite province, and their hearts
were now effectively drawn away from the true God. Once they
had exchanged their God for the gods of heathenism, it followed
irrevocably and with astonishing speed, that their behaviour
would also change. A prime example is to be seen in the
experience of Israel very soon after their titanic deliverance from
Egyptian bondage. When Moses had disappeared and his
influence removed, Israel lapsed with incredible ingratitude into
idolatry. But when Moses descended the slopes of Sinai with the
tablets of the law in both hands, he was quick to see that they
had removed their clothing, and broken all moral restraints, and
freely indulged in gratifying the physical senses and fleshly
appetites. Families that had bravely withstood the gradual
transition were few in number and as the centuries of moral and
spiritual decay passed away the Sethites finally became swamped
by coarse, crude, gaudy, and fanatical paganism, and all their
protests were listened to with ferocious threats, impudent
laughter, and vile obscenities. A remnant remained to be a faint
witness, for although the witness of the few is exceedingly vital in
order to leave the complete society without excuse, it had to be
admitted the remnant never increased. There were very few
converted from the Cainites and even within the remnant who
remained more or less faithful. To be sure, there was a slow
leakage that drained the godly of all hope of revival. On the other
hand, from time to time voices were raised in the midst of this
ailing community warning the Sethites of evil discouragement
through lack of faith, and urging for more prayer, vigilance, oneto-one encounters with the teeming Cainite aliens, and for a while
the remnant took courage and laboured diligently. But alas! the
33
tide of evil was so powerful, an attempt to resist it seemed an
impossible undertaking, and the usual sighing, groaning,
complaining, accusing of brethren, followed the same old
programme of blaming each and everyone involved, until there
was a subsidence to the same level of apathy as before.
Everything was tried within the realm of all human endeavours
known to religious institutions. Holy parchments were revised so
that the godless would appreciate modern language and begin to
read the ancient manuscripts. Prayer books were also thought to
be obsolete in view of changing idioms and so new ones were
published and distributed. Instead of boring sermons it was
thought the height of wisdom to project rites and ceremonies, for
it was noted that the temples of the Cainites were always full to
overflowing. Moreover, professors of theology, with an impressive
display of degrees after their names, began to teach students of
the necessity to eliminate all emotion in their preaching, and to
cultivate the dignity of a written manuscript for the sake of all
learned people who would despise rabble rousing mountebanks.
Many were for importing evangelists from alien parts who were
still of the Sethite persuasion, so that by their dynamic
personalities, plus their peculiar gift for advertising, the Cainites
would see the excitement of massed gatherings, attend the
meetings, and so would respond to the preachers pleasant voice
promising everlasting life by assembling at the podium to be
counselled. There were those who advocated debates, dialogues,
discussions, instruments with modern sounds, and music with
modern rhythms, Sethite films with dramatic conversions true or
fictional, obtaining the recent "born again" hoodlums or stage
star or statesman, and place them where all the world can see
and hear them so that every monstrous Cainite will become
converted. But that which was the greatest of all the notions to
float among the Sethites, and yet proved to be the deadliest of
all, was the strong and plausible inducement to recover the lost
34
gifts which once belonged to the ancient fathers and preachers!
Now here was the cleverest stroke imaginable, for they were to
be seen and examined in the old and holy parchments, and who
would be so shameless as to deny the entire veracity and
complete validity of those who are held in such high esteem
among the Sethites and endorsed so clearly by heaven itself?
They were quite right, they did cause profound sensations, and it
seemed as though all the Sethites were imbued with newly
discovered revelations, together with bodily healings, prophetic
and alien tongue speaking in public and in private, and
captivating tales of weird levitations, ubiquitous experiences - and
of course - the raising of dead corpses! One or two raised their
voices in protest but so in love were they with these sensational
exhibitions that within a brief space of time their voices were
reduced to a mere whisper. They were looked upon as
reactionaries and faithless Sethites who deserved to be liquidated
as false prophets. Those who attempted a search to investigate
their proud claims of miraculous gifts at once were castigated as
outlaws and brigands who must be excommunicated in the same
way as Cain himself! Consequently the poor remnant, knowing
they could never compromise with the Cainites in their blatant
heathen existence, nor dare to be flirtatious with those who were
Semi-Cainites and Semi-Sethites, simply considered themselves to
be the people of God patiently waiting for the true identity of the
church to be recognised and honoured. They waited for Enoch,
Noah, and the gigantic Flood, but most of all for the One
promised long before - the "Seed of the Woman!".
One more subject must be mentioned before we proceed to our
third and last division in the first three verses of chapter six. It is
abundantly clear what that subject is for the words speak
trenchantly for themselves. These "SONS OF GOD" observed the
"DAUGHTERS OF MEN THAT THEY WERE FAIR; AND THEY TOOK
35
THEM WIVES OF ALL WHICH THEY CHOSE." On the face of it one
would think that this was just a normal process with nothing
reprehensible contained in it whatsoever. However, when we
compare this verse with the commentary of our Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew 24 37/39, and with those many references to this era
in the letters of Peter and Jude 1 Pet.3 19/2O: 2 Pet.2/5: Jude
14/15 an impression is rightly formed of a society that must have
been a society having gone well beyond a point of recall. In other
words, the text that is before us must contain a greater depth
below the surface than we first realised. And so, it presents to us
as in a mirror a grotesque picture that resembles uncannily the
state of things existing in our promiscuous society. The
"DAUGHTERS OF MEN" indicate the daughters that have been
derived from Cain and who amalgamated with those called "THE
SONS OF GOD". The first speak of the earthly pedigree from a
murderous ancestor, even Cain, and thus we have called his
family "the Cainites.” The second phrase, "THE SONS OF GOD,"
refers to a heavenly origin beginning with Seth who was
substituted for that glorious proto-martyr - even his brother Abel and these we have called "the Sethites." As we have already
stated before with much assurance by history and observation,
that idolatry is always the precursor to immorality. After many
centuries, within the Sethite establishment, the rivers of spiritual
nourishment and replenishment had begun to run feebly through
a once vigorous and fertile tribe. From being a hive of religious
activity, the land they had possessed since their father Seth, had
been the object of jealous neighbours, who from the beginning
had been plotting their downfall. Though separated by a great
distance from each other, they communicated with each other
and both were under the necessity of trading between the only
existing human societies upon the earth. But the Cainites, by
laying stress upon the birthright belonging unto Cain, in addition
to derogating from the character of Able, - though without
36
evidence - they exonerated Cain and loathed all the descendants
of Seth. Therefore, as the centuries passed away, the enmity
towards Sethites only magnified as they beheld Sethite vigilance
against all forms of idolatry condemn their own follies.
Unfortunately, this situation did not last, and the subtlety of a
religious form to be able to substitute itself for the simplicity of
spiritual worship, is always the danger lurking within religion.
To worship God as being invisible is no easy thing, for this very
reason, that man craves for the realisation of the senses. Sooner
or later, he begins to grow restless, and faith, that neither has
sense nor feeling yet demanded by the Almighty more than
anything else within the human soul, is despised and finally
rejected. He has now ripened and ready to be plucked from the
Sethite tree of faith. Idols now begin to enchant him. He reasons
within himself that they are only representatives of God in His
many attributes, and when he bends his knees and bows his head
to this figure, all he does is reflect his worship through this image
to the One and only true God. God, he argues, understands our
constitutional weaknesses, and therefore knows we are creatures
of sense and of feeling, and so He perfectly understands when we
use the effigy to convey our honour and supplications. But the
poor man deceives himself, for the loss of spiritual worship of the
invisible deity means the opening of every door to every
conceivable vice. Once a door of idolatry is opened, it leads to an
inward craving for all physical satisfaction. Now this amounts to a
gradual passion for nature, and the human mind is especially
adroit in being able to account for those excesses that are done
contrary to nature, by a blatant accusation against nature! In
other words the mad passion known as lust is easily brushed
aside by an injured conscience on the ground that the force of
nature impels to sexual impulses. It is even outraged when it is
suggested that what they term nature is a nature, forced,
assaulted, and abused. Idolatry, whether it includes the open and
37
naked image worship of old heathenism, or a modern day
grasping, longing, yearning, and demanding, character, that
shamelessly displays itself in a feverish lust for international
renown, social and commercial success, financial security, political
power, domestic comforts, addictive pleasure, including that
predominant sign of gross idolatry, namely, promiscuity, you may
be sure it parades itself before people as just old-fashioned
licentiousness. But it encroaches upon society slowly and Sethite
descendents for many decades gradually accommodated
themselves to the new changes that were advocated under the
name
of
"Modernity,"
"Freedom,"
"Civilisation,"
and
"Permissiveness."
Cainite women in Nod were "FAIR." They had been educated for
many years in the arts of captivating men. A long strife for
equality with men had slowly intimidated the male gender, so that
without realising it, all males were gradually subjugated by a sex
whose wiles they had learnt to secretly fear. Now and again men
folk in the land broke out into brutal violence against their women
whose charms no longer mesmerised them, and a shudder would
travel fast through Cainite seminaries for women, yet it was only
momentary. Men had lost their divine right to rule for they had
taken a lead in private and public idolatry. Now this feminine
revolt shook to the very foundations the land of Nod, and this
modern revolution for equality of the sexes began to produce
effeminate men who aspired to be females. Sodomites now
asserted the right to exist!
Having abdicated their role according to divine law and nature
Gen.3/16 the women of Nod became saturated with the subject
of "Romance." Being "in love" and seeking men became the chief
point of existence, and though, to be sure, it is a rudiment that
works potently in every female breast, now it became a fixation
without a rival. To be in love with love was the dominant principle
38
within Cainite society, and the "daughters of men" never ceased
to be addicted to this compound until they had safely secured for
their personal satisfaction and security a man they could safely
rule. All the novels published concentrated upon this subject of
love, and though for many centuries they dealt with that most
beguiling subject of Eros, there had always been a measure of
decorum which maintained a measure of decency within the
story. However, as the mighty force of idolatry is always
concealed before breaking out in unmitigated profligacy, so the
leaven worked irrevocably within the dough until the whole was
leavened. Having devoured everything published by Hardy, Elliot,
Bronte, Thackeray, Dickens, and the Victorians, this generation,
having learnt the skills and the strategies of their day, now
prepared the way for those novelists who came a little later. As
the years rolled on idolatry became a more sophisticated religion,
and with the help of latitudinarian clerics, humanistic agnostics,
and scatterbrained philosophers, not to speak of inept and
incompetent parliamentarians, the whole of Cainite society
became permeated with a demonic assumption of human
"Progress." Consequently no one wanted to learn anything of the
ancients! All great and good men and women in the past were
not worth consulting, for they were ignoramuses, and knew
nothing whatsoever about natural selection, equality of the sexes,
space exploration, abortion on demand, morning pills for
contraception, and the charity of ecclesiastical ecumenism. They
debunked their national heroes in church and state, and Aquinas,
Luther, Calvin, Elizabeth 1st, Cromwell, Gladstone, Nightingale,
Whitehouse, etc. were unceremoniously pilloried as subverting
the realm, and positively dangerous to public freedom. Inevitably
others now take their place of a more liberal and compassionate
disposition, who advocated the freedom for all women to have
daily employment, to leave their children with whom they like,
and freely enjoy the liberty of having as many boy friends as they
39
considered expedient with their circumstances. Now all the ways
of their forefathers they considered dull and unexciting. These
"daughters" had become the heirs of the "Romantic" age, and
being in love was the all-important activity that life had to offer.
Purity, chastity, modesty, dignity, nobility, innocence, refinement,
and all those old-fashioned values that stirred men to admire,
esteem, and love in women, disappeared without trace.
Contrasting features manifested themselves clearly in female
society throughout Cainite society, and especially in the
metropolitan city of Enoch. The men folk who attained to
eminence even with university education were far from the
statesmen of former years, and were anxious to see themselves
as "one of the boys," with their vile language and coarse attire,
having no reservations about their atrocious morality, so much so
that one of their number had the courage to charge the
government with being "a house full of drunkards and
adulterers," and he hit the nail flush on the head with great
vigour. But the women were no better, and over the generations
in Enoch and the land of Nod, they deteriorated fast, spiritually,
morally, and socially. This quest for equality with men and the
desire for independence began with those who were either jilted
by men, or led embittered lives with husbands who were bullies.
For the most part they were those who detested men and saw
them as demons. They were without doubt the cause of all evil
that existed in the world, and these women were convinced they
entertained no good motive and were incapable of loving in a
disinterested manner. If the female could conceive without the
cooperation of males they would go wild with joy and become an
ardent devotee of God Almighty from the moment they had
evidence of such a miracle! But what these women never
bargained for was a male backlash by those men who saw no
reason for living as gentlemen. The demure, weak, modest,
gentle, and affectionate, women, appealed to the masculinity in
40
men, and in a very profound way, and though women have often
taken advantage of this feature, those who were strident for
equality and brazen in their demands, forgot that men are the
stronger sex ultimately. Losing all sense of the power of
femininity a generation arose in Enoch and in the land of Nod, in
which their womenfolk degenerated swiftly even to wearing the
clothes of males, talking coarsely and using the most obscene of
expressions, and going beyond the ordinary male to the point of
sharing with them pornographic tales of such filthiness as never
entered into the mind of a woman centuries before. Moreover
boasting of their liberation from the human male she began a
quest for losing all modesty that was given her at birth, and for
destroying all vestiges of womanly charm by parading naked
before a gathered company of men prepared to watch her gyrate
as a cheap prostitute while they laughed, winked, made lewd
remarks, and all the time feeling triumphant that she exercised
power over each of them and knowing only too well that she had
bound them all to the lusts and passions of their own hearts. She
entered into the male province of writing explicit stories of sexual
intimacy even outstripping them with the most vilest of
descriptions that ever pen put down upon paper or arose within
the imagination of the female mind. They are all unaware that
they copy all the foul deeds and exploits of the debauched gods
and goddesses of old Grecian and Roman myths, discredited by
their philosophers because they were too depraved to be
believed. Today goodness and virtue is flouted to such a degree
that stage and screen actresses make it publicly known their
disgust when offered a part of morality and chastity, for they
consider the nastier and more morally destitute a person is the
more attractive they are to the public who watch them. All they
want is fame and money for these are the two pronged motives
that make them act seductively and talk suggestively, so debasing
themselves as low as they dare, until the boundaries are
41
widened, and they have the licence to take part before the
cameras in real sexual encounters. People dwelling in the Sethite
community have been convinced for a long time that this is the
foremost object, and the excuse offered will be the old fraudulent
one - REALITY!! When men do their utmost to degrade women in
public by the media, and by threats prostitute her in private,
while the law is slackened to allow such proceedings, then divine
judgment will strike with unerring precision sooner or later. That
day has now arrived we do believe. Sethites intermingled with
Cainites and lost their witness that had been the salt of the earth.
The floods gathered! Held in check by a compassionate Jehovah,
there was now only one great universal vacuum where
righteousness and truth once existed.
We read "THEY TOOK THEM WIVES OF ALL WHICH THEY
CHOSE," but this appears quite mild when compared with the
verses that follow. For this reason perhaps it is best if we may
render the word "women" for "wives," as some translations do,
and then we will deduce the extraordinary situation that prevailed
before the flood descended. It cannot be doubted that these
women were the daughters of "MEN" in the sense of being
contrary to the daughters belonging to the "Sethites," and
therefore the children of Cain. Time and again in Holy Scripture,
women were the downfall of Israel, notably when a failure
occurred with the prophesies of Balaam against Israel. In
desperation the King of Moab took the advice of Balaam and
sought to introduce the women of Moab to Israel and as a result
promoted idolatry within Israel for which they were chastised
severely. In spite of a great recovery made by Judah after the
exile so that a revival of true religion brought great hope to all
inhabitants of the land after the exile, excruciating horror came
upon Ezra when word came to him that the Judaic people, with
all the children of Israel that returned from Assyrian lands, had
begun to intermarry women belonging to heathen tribes.
42
Moreover, it was remembered as a mighty scandal when Solomon
began to multiply his harem and was not content with women
from Israel, but collected multitudes from the surrounding nations
who seduced him with so much success that he became a
proponent of their gods and their temples.
As already stated, the sin of idolatry is always followed by that of
immorality, and now the Sethites are fast on their way to find that
the way of the transgressor is a hard one. Growing tired of the
beauty belonging to their own tribal associations, the men of this
half of the human race became intoxicated with the beauty of
those women belonging to the other half, in spite of the strong
legislation published for centuries on the danger of holding any
strong affiliations with those regarded as cursed and blighted in
each of their generations. Now the women that resided within all
the compounds of Seth began to look drab, colourless, unexciting,
listless, and positively boring, to the male Sethites, and hence,
began to allow their feet to wander for miles across country on
account of the fame associated with the women of the east. At
one time it seemed as though the whole male population had
evacuated the western section of the world in order to taste what
had been prohibited by the Sethite authorities, namely, forming
relationships with Cainite women. The authorities began to be
alarmed but had no methods of preventing so many leaving at
the same time. In time it was an accepted exodus and all penal
codes were rescinded.
What was so attractive about women from the city of Enoch?
Having a more notorious history behind them, all the arts
belonging unto female allurements had descended from age to
age until the latest of generations had perfected them. Sethite
womenfolk were still a generation behind the times, and believed
that women should still retain the mystery of their sex by
remaining in the background and allowing their men folk to take
43
the lead in conversation and all local enterprises. They were
influenced by a more disciplined age when women were always
veiled in public, and no woman engaged in conversations with a
strange man. On no account were women seen on the streets at
night and parties even for general conversation were discouraged
unless elderly women were present. Dressing in a gaudy attire, or
a flimsy garment, or even to expose the least of her limbs, was
something the Cainites found ludicrous, and great was their mirth
when they designated them "relics," "antiquated," or "repressed"
females, and so on. And yet by comparison with the Cainite
community there was far less coerced marriages, very few
abortions, almost no divorces, while contraception was altogether
a practice that never entered the heads of married people, for it
was a booming community and babies were wanted and loved. A
young women was always escorted by a chaperon, but instead of
a feeling of tyranny, that our modern era always accuses bygone
ages of exercising, it is astonishing how false the charge was for
she knew instinctively what nature had endowed her with,
namely, an acute premonition when she is in danger, a strange
modesty when having to meet strangers, especially men. Withal
she was someone in need who required to be sheltered by older
and wiser people. But never did they fail to attract most males of
Sethite country, for they looked for female virtue, modesty, and
fidelity. All those things that are loathed today by those who are
conformed to the image of a Sethite society were once admired
and sought after so ardently. But now, having embraced idolatry,
they began embarking upon the wild and frenzied career of
womanising!
Whenever laxity encroaches upon a disciplined society in the
name of "Social," "Religious," or "Political,” freedom, all foregoing
experience teaches, that those who bawl the loudest for the rules
to change, are normally those who are already defective socially,
44
morally, religiously, or politically! Strong drinkers demand the
freedom to extend longer drinking hours. Those who are slothful
in business will advocate shorter hours. Those who are adulterers
or fornicators - not to speak of prostitutes, pornographers, and
Sodomites - will scream for what they consider to be a liberty for
corrupting themselves and others. So long were they in appealing
for freedom, and so earnest in their plausible demands, that all
the younger element in the Cainite section of the human race had
never considered that with animal appetites there must be a vital
regard paid to excess. Having accommodated themselves to soft
and affluent ways of living, they never considered that an
exorbitant desire for anything is due to what their fathers called
Lust! An ignorance of what was once known as "concupiscence"
meant simply the combination of inordinate desire - which is lust with those human affections - known as love! To the Cainites, and
eventually to the Sethites also, love was associated with lust, and
though a subconscious instinct told them that they were distinct,
it was a more convenient practice to keep them married together!
To grant them a divorce would spoil the pleasure of lust for the
lusty man and the pleasure of love for the loving woman. But
while there is no one to reveal the difference the man and the
woman are able to enjoy each other in lust! Dishonesty in the
exegesis of words is a common item in a fallen society as it was
with both Cainite and Sethite communities. What happened to the
women was just this - a slow erosion of her infatuation with
"romance," which attracts a woman as the light of a candle to a
moth. Romance that stirred up within her mind fantasies of
chivalry, heroism, glamour, and all those things that appeal to her
maternal instincts, had now been so thoroughly expurgated by
men who had no other motive except to exploit the female by
killing her natural desires. Women are slow to lose those modest
exhibitions, such as the blush and the lowering of her eyes, and
even more slow to lose a desire to be loved for herself and not
45
just for her body. Here is the one pre-eminent difference between
the prostitute and the chaste woman - the prostitute cannot love
the man who only wants to satisfy lust! Within a permissive
society the two principles of lust and love have been cleverly
merged by lecherous men and lascivious women, and a pagan
society emerges. Cainite women were "fair," but not with a
natural simplicity and innocence that projected from the Sethite
families when they were separated from every influence
belonging to the land of Nod and it's proud capitol Enoch. Cainite
beauty was one of sensuality, and it savoured of that which
always leads to sexual inebriation and lustful enslavement, even
eroticism!
Sethite bondage began when the males began to make their
journeys to the east where the second population of the human
race were to be located. Most were activated through curiosity,
but multitudes of rumours spread rapidly like a plague and all the
urgent voices warning of spiritual and moral pollution were
powerless to check the deplorable exodus. What did they discover
when they arrived? A positive cesspool of vice and wickedness. A
veritable Sodom and Gomorrah environment before the time. A
modern scene that anyone may find today in London, New York,
Paris, Amsterdam, Shanghai or Tokyo! First, shoals of women
could be seen parading outside the walls of Enoch the moment
these men caught sight of the city. By reason of the distance the
nature of their strutting and pouting was not clear, except that
previous visitors had already informed them what could be
expected. Long before reaching the outskirts they found
themselves literally besieged by females demanding all their
attention and even squabbling between themselves concerning
particular men they felt had priority for entertainment - special
notice was taken of those who had the appearance of affluence.
By their attire it was easily seen that they were prostitutes, hired
46
either by pimps who provided a twenty four hour service at
regular intervals and controlled them by the usual threats and
warnings, or by professional priests who regulated temple whores
in precisely the same way, except the rewards were not monitory,
but religious, with a promise of future bliss contained in sacred
oracles of their gods - the greater the fee the greater the bliss!
These hired females ranged from youngsters in their teens who
had been driven into the trade by parents disappointed with their
sex, to aged matrons who had no other means whereby to keep
both body and soul together, and all were in iron cages with no
possibility of any escape. Each had their own stories of course,
but of those men who obtained their services, very few knew of
the tragedies, the sorrows, or the cruelties, that they had suffered
from wicked panders who exploited naivety, weakness, loneliness,
beauty, and age, for the sake of tainted money! But what a sight
met the eyes of these Sethite renegades when they ventured into
Enoch! Massive walls encircling the city of around five miles in
diameter, truly were very impressive indeed, but even this
monument was in no way calculated to introduce sightseers to
the glories of architecture that met the eyes of these poor
Sethites who were content to live in tents. Buildings formidable
and beautiful towered above them, so that they seemed to be
insignificant pigmies as they gazed up and down those gigantic
stones, with hieroglyphics of prodigious details that defied all
human intelligence. Walk were they would, wonders of wonders
met their incredulous stares as they tried to comprehend sports
stadiums, bathing pools, public conveniences, a palace for
patriarchs, and countless institutes for the sciences and the arts.
Citizens of Enoch were justly proud of their mighty success over
their poor despised neighbouring Sethites. There was a spirit of
industry everywhere and every one they saw possessed a sense
of urgency as though tomorrow would be too late to finish what
they were engaged in performing! A military character was to be
47
seen by the observant. Their heroes had been remembered. Their
streets, avenues, drives, and walks, were named after celebrated
warriors that had fought with distinction for the safety of Enoch
and the land of Nod. Training sessions with spear, bow, and sword
never seemed to cease, either by day nor night. Wrestling bouts
also were in abundance, and in both these academies multitudes
of youngsters were either practicing their skills or receiving their
instructions. There was the common cliques of the elderly. Young
people were also to be seen in their groups with the usual
amount of flirtatious encounters, both sexes doing extraordinary
things to impress each other, and often concluding their displays
with a fatal argument. What was also startling to these
newcomers was an evident freedom accorded to the younger
generation. Back in their western habitat loitering gangs were
unknown. Here it seemed that Enoch was a city given over to
frolicsome juveniles dressed in a different style common to the
adult population. Their attire was a voice of protest, a shout of
defiance, together with a loutish manner that was quite obviously
rebellious which spoke to all who demanded conformity to the
status quo, saying, "You have now had your day, and you must
give way to a generation with new ideas. A great deal we owe
you, but now we have come and we will rule this world far better
when you retire. Your ideals have failed but now they fossilise and
soon they will dissolve. Your gods we renounce and your temples
we will destroy. Your priests we abhor and look upon them as
ancient witchdoctors that must be replaced. We will purge the
minds of a new generation and man will be the ultimate end and
object of all praise. Rationalism will be our guide and a new
enlightenment will prepare the way for the worship of man. A
new religion will deify the human reason, and our sole purpose is
to make man supreme above all the gods." And so the Sethites
had their first sample of Cainite philosophy and theology, and
deadly fumes entered into their lungs with each breath, and so
48
began the mortifying process that finally infected the Sethite
federation.
But if daytime customs amazed these pleasure seeking Sethites,
at the fall of dusk Enoch arose almost as one man and sought
rapture in every physical delight. At precisely the time when these
alien males thought of retirement and rest, the city erupted with
great exotic displays of animal abandonment. They were aroused
first by strange cacophonous music that was only synchronized by
a single beat in the drum section of their orchestras. No melody
could be discerned at any point. Although Jubal had bequeathed
to them the rules for instruments and orchestration Gen.4/21
they fatally abandoned these for what was known as
"syncopation." Whereas that which was enjoyed as pure music
enhanced the spirit, elevated the mind, and cheered the heart,
this element was craftily introduced to arouse the baser instincts
of the human soul, to induce every sexual emotion, and finally to
provoke in a special way romantic fantasies in females, knowing as men know only too well - that romance with women easily
leads to a yielding up of their bodies. The whole contingent of the
Sethite company began to explore this exiting prospect of "Night
Life" in Enoch, and so they strolled around captivated by all that
they saw and heard. Intrigued by a new type of music, they made
their way to those locations where the music originated from.
Mainly from market places and edifices built for the purpose,
musicians played their instruments of wind and strings, but the
music only promoted the luxurious life-style of those who
employed them, for the orchestras were expected to collect
contributions from the inhabitants of Enoch and visitors. All the
music they played was a deliberate assault upon the ears, but
was carefully composed to exploit instrumentalists and young
singers who had no talent, for as long as the males had the gift
of screeching, and the females a faculty for screaming, they were
49
told with confidence that they were artists of rare talent. It is a
fact that apart from a few present among the Sethites that knew
something about real music, the rest capitulated on the spot, and
began to sway, swing their hips, raise their hands, and cavort as
ridiculously and lasciviously as those who were citizens of Enoch.
All the city seemed to be singing, dancing, and lastly grovelling in
the dust, as though overcome with the maddening speed of those
wild dervishes, couples slowly allowed themselves to sink down
on to the floor with their partners. Suddenly and almost without
any warning - yet dwellers in Enoch knew well the programme all who had become so amorous were totally unconcerned by the
presence of witnesses, engaged in the shameless actions of those
who had now lost all sense of decency before their fellow
creatures. They did not consider that they differed from dogs, and
had lost all the power of conscience which drives men and
women into secret places and from the eyes of others - even their
children! It was an orgy of depravity but the event was so
common that no one - except the visitors - considered the
proceedings abnormal. Sethites began to feel sickened by the
shame of it all, but others felt the strange attraction of what the
Cainites called "sexual liberty." Sethites not present at these
"Music Festivals" had visited the gambling palaces, and came
away believing it had all been rigged! Others, had been lured into
houses of ill fame, and returned nauseated by the cold
unscrupulousness of women who controlled the encounter as
methodically as a robot, and charged exorbitant prices. Great
crowds were gathered outside buildings that advertised naked
and semi-naked women that would guarantee to stimulate the
libido of the most frigid of males, and many brushed aside their
guilt complexes to satisfy their hungry curiosity. However, that
which was the most astonishing exhibition of all was not to be
found in those cheaper dwellings in and around the city, such as
cabaret clubs, honky-tonk dives, dance halls, or gambling and
50
theatre residents, but in that which was reputed to be sacred
ground and consecrated houses of prayer and sacrifices!! Many of
the Sethites had been enchanted by the glamour and glitter of
their main temples but in no way were they prepared for what
follows!
Instruments of music were used to assemble the crowds at the
same time as the sound of music reached the ears of these
Sethite tourists. By reason of the wealth and influence belonging
to religion and the power of the priesthood, greater crowds were
expected to gather in places where the gods were worshipped.
Besides, why go to the grotty habitations of whores or the bawdy
parlours of lewd women when for the same price the passions are
gratified and each god of nature is honoured while the
honorarium contributes to the expansion of the cult? Thus, it was
no wonder that every temple courtyard was filled with men
waiting for the occultist religious festivities to begin. Orchestras,
choirs, and massive congregations, went through the routine
programme of hymns, chants, rites, invocations, sacrifices, and
priestly blessings. It was a breath-taking spectacle, for everything
was done with epic proportions, with priestly uniforms glistening
with bright colours, their very gestures each expressing symbolic
lessons, together with elegant deportments associated with every
movement, each conveying clever and mysterious messages
delivered to their deities and congregation. Our Sethites were
uncomfortable but such was their fascination with these
extraordinary scenes that they delayed nonetheless their exit.
After bloody sacrifices had been offered and priests of the minor
orders had collected the usual tithes and offerings for the palatial
maintenance of both priesthood and temples, the drums began to
roll like thunder, trumpets blared triumphal notes to create an
atmosphere of tense excitement, and from the sacred
compartments behind the altars, there came flooding into the
main area of the temple hundreds of young women dressed for
51
the simple purpose of seducing the men. Already they had been
prepared by an eloquent homily on the holy nature of their
practice. From their childhood most of them had been trained for
this very object, to honour the gods with their bodies, to be
unrestrained with their desires, and to be well aware that the
gods of nature would grant them a fortunate existence in this
world, but especially a blissful life in a world that was to come.
Moreover, the Enoch faction of the population of Nod generally,
had been well and truly indoctrinated from childhood with these
wicked priestly lies, thus, nature had accommodated itself to
abominable debauchery becoming a form of worship pleasing to
the gods. When a hand signal was seen from the High Priest, the
moment had now come for this dedication of human bodies to
the gods. Women undraped without any trace of shame. In fact
those men who may have displayed the slightest embarrassment
were encouraged by the manual fondling of these holy women
who never doubted their important and privileged role that
belonged to them from the gods themselves. Had they not been
told at regular intervals that they were more hallowed than the
High Priest himself? Before long these so-called sacred precincts
were scenes of foul orgies, albeit, the whole of the time the
ignorant participators really did believe they were glorifying their
very wise deities. Soon after, the temple floor was littered with
very exhausted bodies now satiated after this bout of unfettered
lust. Temple virgins - as they were called, because their virginity
had been dedicated to these lustful deities when they were
initiated - had been trained to extract as much money as possible
from the men, for the more they elicited from them the more
they were held in honour by the gods. Neither the most High
Priests, nor the great priesthood over which he presided, nor the
immense numbers employed in this great pagan religion, nor
masses of duped and forlorn women who virtually sustained the
whole show while supporting the priesthood in their magnificent
52
extravagance, never knew the iniquitous and demonic bondage in
which they were enchained. A few Sethites escaped, but very
few, yet all suffered grievously in their consciences. Shame
cannot be forgotten. None can debate with it. Negotiation is
futile. Parleys are refused.
Those who imagine in their folly that the pain of conscience can
be healed by indulging in more sensual pleasure, can only be
seen as a gigantic fool. Rakes and lechers move about society
freely, and behave as though life is one great roller coaster, but
their innermost spirit registers a disconcerted mind that is
alienated from peace. They appear to be the very image of
complacency and become role models for a younger generation,
but they utterly deceive themselves and those who follow their
playboy style. When a man or woman give themselves up entirely
to sexual encounters and even become hardened in their cheap
and tawdry relationships, the whole world openly or secretly
admires their promiscuities. Gross hypocrisy fills the entire media
over this matter, for television, radio, the daily and weekend press
each pretend some sympathy for what they call "family values".
But on one page they will print a large headline crushing the head
of a politician who has cheated on his wife, and on another, a
brazen headline will applaud with delight over those they know
the world admires, yet who reek of a vile promiscuity. But though
their lives awaken longings in would-be followers, the ignorant
disciples are unaware of the turmoil, the guilt, the invisible fears
and anxieties that haunt all their hearts and which tread in all
their footsteps. Sexual permissiveness has a sting in the tail that
no one wants to speak about. A fool is one who for a brief
moment of pleasure will gladly endure the scourge of conscience.
Because the pain lessens as time goes by, the fornicator will again
seek the brute sensations of sexual ecstasy, but as a violent itch
somewhere in the body needs to be scratched, the pleasure of
scratching suddenly vanishes, while a need to scratch remains. A
53
fool and his money are soon parted but never his conscience.
Adulterers and fornicators loathe it with a furious hatred, but
inwardly they know they cannot eradicate the guilt it generates,
and so they try to make companions of it by a stream of
humorous remarks. Of course it is just a sham. Deep in the
consciousness of the human soul they detest conscience with a
fury that they do their best to conceal. To admit the great force of
conscience would be an ignominious defeat of those who are so
clever in seducing silly females, or women who are easy, and vain
in their many conquests over squalid males. Therefore they prefer
to be dishonest and pretend they have no sense of shame at all
in their defiling partnerships. Sexual intimacies in the best of all
circumstances, namely, within a relationship of authentic, State,
or "Holy" Matrimony, will never eradicate guilt totally, for this
belongs to a concupiscence that remains in human nature since
the original fall of man. But those who have intercourse outside
this domain are bound to sow the wind, and sooner or later will
surely reap the whirlwind. Let all that remains of our Sethite
ancestry remember this indisputable and indubitable fact!
DIVINE RESTRAINT: VSE.3.
As the time went by the Sethite remnant began to lose credibility
in the eyes of the Cainite colony. To be sure those among all the
descendants of Abel and Seth, that had not bowed the knees to
the gods and shrines of Cainite extraction, nor had been
contaminated by seeking relationships with their tribes and
families, likewise felt a disgust with those who had betrayed their
predecessors and the Great God who is One and wholly separated
from the fictitious concepts of plurality and fleshly associations.
They had become a discouraged segment who deplored their
times and the depravity of both the male and the female gender,
and though some repented at the beginning of their flirtatious
dallying with the Cainites it was only for a short time. More and
54
more Sethites lost their own identity, and all the preaching in the
world could not dissuade a majority who were hardened against
the written and oral instructions of Adam and Seth. For all their
praying and believing in a God who promised never to forsake His
people, it looked for all the world as though He had done so.
Heaven seemed like brass. God appeared deaf. Lawlessness
reigned to such a degree that many had given up interceding for
their brethren. Even patriarchs who had ever been the voices of
authority, the custodians of traditions, and the rock-like figures in
society, were weakening before this onslaught of Satanic strength
and craft. Blasphemies were uttered by old and young who had
no fear of God before their eyes. Oaths and foul language were
as common in the mouths of females as with males, and the once
respectable citizens no longer felt outraged as they were when
they heard these things in former years. A most flimsy excuse
placed into the mouths of those who were admonished for using
them was typical of the plausibility whereby the guilt-ridden
conscience seeks to evade the force of truth - that words are
nothing - they do no one any harm - that a few objectionable
words are traditionally bad because every generation has thought
so. Hence, no one disputed their nature until in our modern times
certain bold individuals used them in society to prove they were
innocuous, and so few now object because the most use them
with a frequency that makes everyone feel quite comfortable with
them! A valid argument for these purveyors of vocal corruption is
the one used for adultery, abortion, illegitimacy, lying, theft,
sodomy, pornography, and every social evil one could mention given time the public will accommodate itself to their frequency,
and society will be rid once and for all of those who are always
protesting, preaching, and condemning others, in spite of their
own hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness. Sethites were now
despicable in the sight of those who were ugly, coarse, brutal,
reckless, fierce, lustful the godless. Now the inevitable event was
55
at hand. The world must perish by divine vengeance. And it was
by a universal flood!! God had shown forbearance, but now it was
impossible for Him to stand aside any longer and watch the selfdestruction of those He made for Himself. A movement of titanic
power, irresistible, infinite, and without the slightest margin for
error, gathered together in the heart of Omnipotence, and
remained ready to be unleashed when all else failed. God would
give the human race a certain space of one hundred and twenty
years. Failure to remedy their behaviour would mean catastrophic
extinction. Almighty power drenched all!
Today, we are faced with a dolorous state of affairs. The Church
of Christ that reappeared after centuries of obscurity in those
days known as the "Middle Ages," even that Reformation
testimony that God raised up in the sixteenth century, has
disappeared with great ignominy. Devoured by eighteenth century
rationalism, which began among the elite of aristocratic society,
and then attracted the wise of this world, this final idolatry
contained the potential to destroy the Church of Christ from
within. From the bowels of Protestant Europe this idol was born,
nurtured, and then moved among the scholastic hierarchy,
introducing itself with blandishments so precocious that church
dignitaries began to fall down in complete surrender to what they
considered to be "modern thought" and "progress!" These
modern "Sethites" were incapable of seeing through the facade of
idolatry when they scoffed at the inerrancy of scripture, scorned
the idea of miracles, laughed at the style of the apostles, and
later, when they became bolder in their evil criticism, vented their
anger upon the Holy Trinity, the Deity of Christ, His virgin birth,
resurrection, ascension, and especially His second advent. From
then on there was no stopping this great boulder that gathered
strength the longer it rolled for they knew the ground had been
prepared for apostasy since the Italian "renaissance" of the
fifteenth century, and so they taught guilefully about pagan
56
superstitions encroaching upon the virgin ground of a primitive
Christianity, and the way a sadly mistaken apostle Paul had
subverted Christianity with old Judaistic mythology of a need for
atonement. This fanatical man from Tarsus marred the beauty
and simplicity of those sublime teachings that came from the lips
of Jesus of Nazareth who established a code of ethics
unprecedented since the world began. Thus, faith - they called it
credulity - was undermined. Their dream world, built upon a
series of cold, authentic, and - as they hoped - well calculated
facts, continued to roll ever onwards, until our late twentieth
century. Now their idol has captured the supreme throne once
occupied by Jove and he is the one who never ceased to cast
thunderbolts from heaven upon all his enemies. The idol of
"Human Thought" is the one god that dominates all others, but
he reigns over chaos, poverty, anxiety, fear, ignorance, insecurity,
and - in a word - spiritual devastation. Rationalism has removed
the gospel from all churches, and replaced it with hopelessness,
so that now, atheism, agnosticism, infidelity, self-determination,
free-thinking, together with all the latest hedonistic decoys
imaginable become the staple diet of nations without a compass,
chart, navigator, captain, or even a breeze! Church leaders are
now "woolly", effeminate, wimps, and are never taken seriously
by anyone. Throughout the "thirties" a clergyman was presented
to the public by way of screen and novel, who was naive, simple,
harmless, stupid, friendly, and a laughing stock to all. Today they
are still held in contempt, and if they have any convictions at all and the most have none - it is the sure and settled opinion that
evangelicals are the most dangerous and pestiferous people on
the face of the earth. All they know to edify their people is
contained within these three realms - "Ethics," "Politics," or
"Social" issues, and to go beyond these is a sure sign they have
gone beyond their depth. As for the doctrines of the
"Reformation" they were disruptive and must be eschewed as you
57
would avoid the plague. Controversy is a breach of charity!
Sodomites have invaded the sanctuary but in this latter part of a
century that completes two thousand years of Christianity, it has
now been decided that they must be welcomed with open arms.
Once again it is the god of "Human Thought" that has caused the
clergy to cherish the unfortunate casualty who has been the
unfortunate victim of genetic confusion. Holy Scripture has no
authority over these cases, for though it be true all Sodomites are
condemned in scripture in no uncertain manner, it must be true to
say that men like Moses and Paul were without all the necessary
and scientific information to ascertain the real physical disability
bequeathed by parents as by inheritance! Another decadent
manoeuvre in these latter days, has been the ordination of
women which has followed the wild and restless yearnings of the
female for equality. Once more Holy Scripture has been totally
disregarded by placing this matter in the context of "progress"
and "modern thought." A woman is forbidden to exercise ministry
because she is by nature under authority, the authority of the
male. This is not "chauvinism" as though men are bigoted,
prejudiced, discriminate, partial, or the token of insecurity as
though threatened by the weaker sex. In no way is this a genuine
argument, but an accusation without proper foundations, for it is
a strict rule of the all-time relevance of Holy Scripture, that
teaches a woman to submit to authority both in the home and in
the church! Cainites have triumphed here also.
Ecumenicalism is a modern phenomena. It presents a genuine
strain upon the Protestant who values the doctrines that were
once under the auspices of the Holy Spirit in breaking down the
walls of the stronghold of all Satanic strongholds - "Religious"
institutions! All these religions ancient and modern, are used
deliberately for the purpose of ensuring salvation in this world
and the next. The rites and formulas of religion are intended to
58
do just this very thing with a minimal of responsibility on the part
of those who use them! But as we discover in the O.T. under
Moses and the O.T. prophets, and with Paul the apostle in the
N.T., the corrupt and perverse nature of the human heart simply
adheres to them in such a way as to use them in the outward
form yet without the heart. A religious person for instance applies
the rite of circumcision in externals only, so that the ceremony is
performed with no inward change in the man. The man remains a
sinner but religion comforts him as being a good work that will
atone for his sins. He is now conformed to Judaism but not
conformed to the will of God through obedience. He does not
understand that you may have one without the other! Again, with
baptism, the same process takes place with the same object in
view, namely, baptism will change the person, but it is not
necessary for the person to change! Baptism as well as
circumcision - including all other rites - are used, but simply used
for selfish purposes, to ensure salvation without repentance or
faith. Now the Bible makes it so very clear that circumcision in the
O.T. and baptism in the N.T. are only "signs" and so where there
is no repentance and faith these signs become invalid. They have
no authenticity in the sight of God unless both are accompanied
by repentance and faith. Religion will have none of this. Religious
authorities call this blasphemy and the denial of gifts from God.
They want the rituals to work on their own and they say this
enhances the glory of God when they are alone! In great contrast
to these statements we make it plain to all, that God never has,
nor ever will, bestow His grace upon anyone without there is first
a repentant heart and a lively, earnest, and dynamic faith. Indeed
unless grace has been granted so that the heart is changed and
the life converted - because penitence and faith are present - the
rites of circumcision and baptism are altogether abrogated! Our
Reformers saw this clearly, some more and some less. They too
saw the epitome of "religion" in the Church of Rome! And they
59
saw this vividly. But ecumenism is a one-way traffic. On the one
hand we are contending against liberal Protestantism that is
without a shadow of doubt the most pernicious apostasy the
Church of Christ has ever seen since the Church was formed two
thousand years ago. It is the Sadducean error of blatant unbelief,
for they believed in no spirit, angel, or resurrection of the dead.
They possessed a negative spirit and were always inclined to
assert the tendency of subtraction. The Pharisaic heresy was
exactly the opposite and their type of mind was always positively
haunted by the desire to make additions which they called
"traditions." For well over one thousand years the Pharisaic spirit
ruled the Church of Christ as one thing after another was added
to the apostolic creed, and yet in spite of reformers such as
Erasmus of Rotterdam, who earnestly pleaded with the Pope to
reduce articles of faith to the original number, no one listened to
him. Since the sixteenth century, and after the Reformers had
gone to their rest, the Sadducean spirit rose mightily after the
years of "Orthodoxy," and the Cainites embraced "Enlightenment"
theories as though they had descended in glory from heaven
itself. Today, everything is in confusion, for the two antagonistic
spirits can find no comfort in the same bed, yet each have the
same deep conviction that they really cannot be happy existing in
some separate dwelling. Both sects loathed each other but knew
they must stay together, especially when it had to do with Christ
their own rejected Messiah! What the outcome will be during the
next millennium if the Lord should tarry is a guess anyone can
make. But as for the present time the Roman Catholic Church is
in danger of being swallowed up by a infidel Protestant
Sadducean spirit. Having imbibed a quota of gospel truth from
our Reformers after four centuries of obstinacy, the gospel of
Christ is being heard in the ancient Roman institution as never
before. But alas, she has also absorbed the Sadducean principles
that are bound to destroy her even as they have destroyed
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Protestantism. A bowing down to the great god "Human Thought"
has lead to a belief in "Evolution" to the dishonour of Holy
Scripture. Rationalism is now applied to biblical interpretation in
the Roman communion and before long she may capitulate to the
deadly embrace of Sadducean unbelief. Superstition cannot stand
before fatal rationalism!
Now what do we see as our modern religious scenario? A
phenomena has burst upon the stage that nobody could have
foreseen or even imagined! Charismata, or the apostolic gifts,
including prophesy, tongue-speaking, and miraculous healings,
have now reappeared on a programme in modern dress, that was
considered by all churches obsolete since the days of the
apostles. However, the great western societies have not changed
one iota either morally or spiritally since they began over thirty
five years ago. They all belong to the realm of counterfeit, for to
possess apostolic gifts it is imperative we have apostolic hands.
They have gone - and so have the gifts. Close examination proves
again and again that they are not apostolic signs though
multitudes of foolish people are quite willing to be deceived by
claimants and beneficiaries. Again, the churches have been
invaded by hoards of rock groups who seek a name among the
great popular artists by imitating their style, and yet protest
vigorously that they are not entertainers, but do their level best
to assist congregations in their worship. We are not impressed by
their honesty if they are sincere, neither their wisdom if they
consider themselves to be wise. Their motive is to impress the
world with their artistry and then impress them with the gospel,
but God never honours worldly talents and despises an art form
that is calculated only to stimulate an appeal made to a basic
instinct belonging to the lower appetites. Go into most of the
Bible stores today and you will find that the music played on their
High Fidelity music centres are indistinguishable from that sensual
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music played by the ancient tribes of Africa and the beat music of
Red Indian tribes in North America. Whether the tempo is fast or
slow, the result is the same, and it is pagan.
Another blasphemy that indicates the synchronistic nature of the
modern Cainite and Sethite groupings, is the ministry of women
in the pulpits reserved by God for males only! Outraged these
women may be, but had they a firm, steady, loyal, and implicit
faith in Holy Scripture, they would gladly have yielded a servitude
to His Word with no questions asked. Instead, they prevaricate
stubbornly by saying the New Testament is out of date on this
matter! Meanwhile, it is highly significant that the Protestant
churches are so disgustingly mute over the question of abortion.
To be sure, it cannot be doubted that the Roman Catholic Church
is the church which has replaced the "Nonconformists
Conscience." Apart from an unassailable fact with respect to the
silence that greets almost all negative moral and spiritual
propaganda in the secular press, why does it come to pass that
on most occasions, only authorities in the Roman communion
appear to speak against the tidal wave of pagan and secular laws
that proceed from a Parliament which is an establishment of all
moral and spiritual destitution? How does it come about that
these voices seem to be voices in a wilderness of both moral and
spiritual bankruptcy? From what has been observed in particular
since the nineteen fifties, the British Parliament has become a
den of thieves, a male brothel, and a resort for all those who are
liars, wife-cheaters, drunkards, and money-grabbers who sit
perched upon their seats in the House of Commons waiting like
vultures for their counterparts to expire. Most of them are
"Humanists" who are rightly termed "Do-gooders," for they
believe they are the custodians of all that is humanly good,
decent, just and dignified. They plume themselves upon the way
they uphold all the rights belonging to the elevated human
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species, but when they are faced with crimes of violence with
bestial and brutish features which make the observer turn away in
horror and disgust, they feign an outrageous visage and pretend
to be on the side of those who are victims. But they are liars, for
all their sympathies are towards the murderous instigators of
these wicked crimes, because all they cogitate about in their
hardened craniums is the method best employed to rehabilitate
them. All their wrath and indignation is reserved for those they
consider even worse than the one who has perpetrated the
foulest of inhuman murders, even the ones who cry for justice
and conclude that the greatest of injustices is that which allows
the cold-blooded murderer to escape with his life. Ah no! In the
eyes of all humanists - who are by profession God-haters and
therefore believe themselves wiser and better than He - those
who demand capital punishment are themselves possessed with a
murderous spirit, and those who call themselves Christians are
downright hypocrites, and deserve to be reprobated by all who
love the criminal as they do - for you see they regard themselves
in the stupidity of their own misguided hearts as being the real
followers of Christ!! Soft-hearted parliamentarians have no place
in governments, and for that reason the most of women are
unsuited to rule. Cainites and subverted Sethites make
exceedingly rare bed-fellows, but when they do all human
depravity is displayed.
Alas! what can we say about the sorry condition of those
churches called "Evangelical" in the light of our great
compromises with a foe that knows no bending or yielding under
any circumstances? A Cainite ploy is often to persuade the
Sethites to emphasise creedal statements. Yet "Creeds" have
seldom been repeated in worship services among us, though
emphasised in constitutions when there have been requests for
membership. True enough, but have you ever noticed a biblical
doctrine coming, as it were, into fashion once again, as though it
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was the prime reason of our declension during this century? For
instance, the doctrine of the "Sovereignty of God" has come into
the foreground of Reformed teaching and seems to have replaced
every other doctrinal aspect in Holy Scripture. Doubtless, the
doctrine has pre-eminence, yet preached in such a manner that
you would imagine it was the heart and soul of gospel preaching.
But it is not! However true this doctrine is - and it applies to many
another doctrine besides - not one single article of doctrine is the
centrality of the gospel. For this very reason there are far too
many preachers who stress to the point of being wearisome one
or two facets of biblical truth, and think in their folly that these
will convert souls and revive the church. Church doctrines may
often degenerate into Pharisaic legalism, and down the centuries
prove to be the cause of narrow-minded bigotry even though the
doctrines in themselves are true. Emil Brunner was the one who
described it better than others when he said that Lutheranism
had become so formal within a hundred years existence that it
resembled "a gigantic waterfall having all shapes and sizes, but
frozen and without movement." Doctrinaire Christians can be a
running sore to those who have "hearts bigger than their heads,"
while they themselves have "heads bigger than their hearts!"
What Christians do you think the Lord prefers? Beware of "Heresy
Hunters!" In the fallacy of their understanding they often
resemble a Pharisee who is only punctilious over correct words
and phrases.
Still, it would be true to say among evangelical fellowships that
for the most part doctrinal teaching is conspicuous for it's very
absence. Pastors and Elders are often perplexed when a visiting
preacher expounds some doctrinal feature of Holy Scripture.
Again and again they resolve to prevent "theoretical" preachers
gaining access to their pulpit again. And for what reason? They
remain in ignorance concerning the importance of doctrine and
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consider that the "practical" character of the gospel is much more
important. A moments reflection will prove that they have no
taste for heavier teaching because they do not study their Bibles,
and if they say they do, then they do not understand it, and
should never ascend to the dignity of a teaching office in the
Church of Christ! Our dear brethren and sisters in evangelicalism
no longer read their Bibles as their grandfathers and
grandmothers used to do. They go through a routine day by day
without the Bible taking precedence over one single chore, or
duty, or pleasure. Consequently, when a preacher announces a
reading from Chronicles, Zephaniah, or Jude, the prolonged
rustling of pages betrays the fact that they do not know where to
find them. On the other hand if there be no noise in the pew you
may be sure they have left their Bibles at home! A preacher worth
his salt in our sad times is often nonplussed when he gains the
distinct impression in the middle of his exposition that his
audience simply do not understand what he is saying!
John Chrysostom preaching on Romans in the fifth century has
this choice comment in his introduction.
"FOR FROM THIS ( lack of hearing! ) IT IS THAT OUR
COUNTLESS EVILS HAVE ARISEN - FROM IGNORANCE OF THE
SCRIPTURES; FROM THIS IT IS THAT THE PLAGUE OF HERESIES
HAS BROKEN OUT; FROM THIS THAT THERE ARE NEGLIGENT
LIVES; FROM THIS LABOURS WITHOUT ADVANTAGE. FOR AS
MEN DEPRIVED OF THIS DAYLIGHT WOULD NOT WALK ARIGHT,
SO THEY THAT LOOK NOT TO THE GLEAMING OF SCRIPTURE
MUST NEEDS BE FREQUENTLY AND CONSTANTLY SINNING, IN
THAT THEY ARE WALKING IN THE WORST DARKNESS."
Never were words so apt for the day in which we are now living the days of a Post-Christian society, in which the daughters that
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belong to this present world have sought unholy alliances with a
race of sons who are heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Naturally it
is literal in Genesis 6/2, and the "days of Noah" Matt.24/37 in the
latter times can only be figurative, in the sense that now no
countries, families, or physical relationships are intended. The
distinction now is spiritual between the Church universal and the
enormous flood of worldliness that is pouring into these once
mighty movements of God's Holy Spirit. A union between the two
is always a great temptation, for the church always appears
vulnerable before a world that considers itself to be much more
wise by comparison with the gullible innocents that belong to
hierarchies of denominational structures. Unfortunately, belonging
to these hierarchies, there are worldly authorities who are
characters of the stamp of Judas Iscariot, and they are expert
plotters who are only too glad to see the spiritual mode of the
church downgraded, and reduced to the level of a secular
institution. Moreover, it must be confessed to our shame that the
Church of Jesus Christ in it's earthly pilgrimage through this world
has brought forth many who for tyranny, simony, gluttony,
adultery, bestiality, infamy, and perfidy, have never seen their
peers in this world. But it is a fact which no one can deny, that
with respect to outward forms, the Church of Rome has not been
in contention with one single bad Pope since the sixteenth
century! In this work we are discussing the effect of the world
upon those Churches that owe their existence to the Protestant
Reformation. And here, without individuals who were monsters of
wickedness, charlatans who blotted copybooks of ecclesiastical
history almost daily, despots who had inhumane instincts that
brought thousands of poor souls to endure unimaginable
suffering, the Protestant family of Europe and the west, are now
suffering from the earthquakes of worldly secularism, and in a
form most subtle in character.
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These words, "MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT ALWAYS STRIVE WITH
MAN," reveal the deplorable state into which human nature had
fallen. So deep was his fall that every single individual had lost
the knowledge of that depth. No one - not even the regenerate
who know to a far greater degree than those who are without the
Spirit - can fathom this unfathomable abyss except God Jer.17
9/1O. We all contain within the vastness of our souls deep
caverns, long corridors, an almost infinite series of labyrinths,
innumerable rooms of boundless space, and all as black as night,
except the vivacity of our thoughts cast shadows continually upon
the walls of our minds. In vain our reason tries to interpret them,
because instantly we are then beset with an imagination that can
only produce false scenes that are inevitably distorted and
ghostly. Our sense of right and wrong through conscience is only
vague at best, and even though a clear act of virtue or crime is to
be seen with our eyes, we have no power of discernment to
judge it. Only God can judge it in all aspects and judge it
righteously, that is, perfectly! But what is the meaning of our
verse that threatens the whole of mankind even the Cainites and
Sethites? This word "STRIVE" is the same as the Hebrew word
"JUDGE." It would appear that God has been favourable to the
two tribes up to this point, exercising forbearance with all the
divine compassions. But now the patience of God is exhausted,
and He will cease to judge man favourably. By His Spirit the God
who is capable of being "grieved" Eph.4/3O has reached a
verdict, and He will now refrain from wrestling with consciences
to restrain their exorbitant appetites and ungovernable passions.
Nevertheless the Lord God is determined to grant these two
unruly and amalgamated races a space in which to repent. The
text "SHALL NOT ALWAYS" indicates the time factor mentioned
more specifically in the words, "HIS DAYS SHALL BE A HUNDRED
AND TWENTY YEARS," but this does not mean - as many imagine
- that the antediluvian ages of men prior to the flood will never
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reach beyond one hundred and twenty years. It refers to the time
granted by a gracious God in order to spare the population before
the destruction of the world by water. This time was intended by
God to enable Noah and family to build the ark - though there is
every possibility that others may have helped them despite their
unbelief in the Word spoken to Noah - and to spare the human
species. However, in this our text we also have the words, "FOR
THAT HE ALSO IS FLESH," and thus God gives the reason why He
had come to the end of the road with man. By his disobedience
he refused to agree with his "Adversary" on this journey
Matt.5/25. Now the price must be paid in full. Because the Lord
God speaks of the duration of all those who are living within
Noah's generation it is supposed that "Flesh" could only mean
"mortal." But when scripture mentions the word "flesh" it usually
comprehends the inward personality also, including the heart,
mind, and will. Undoubtedly it often stands alone with the limited
interpretation confined to mortality or death Gen.6/13: Gen.37/27
but here we understand the word as indicating a human revolt
against the Godhead through the intermingling of Sethites and
Cainites. Thus, the ungodly coalition came about through that
which attacked human nature at the very root of Adam's being,
and which poisoned the root throughout all his generations,
namely, a corrupt element called by scripture "Sin!" To read the
whole of our chapter Gen.6 is to read a story of horror, and
although the description of Noah's age is confined only to
immorality and violence, yet you may be sure the brevity is a
sufficient sign to all readers that other crimes of lawlessness
including violations of every moral code, are also to be
understood as prevailing. God became nauseated with the scene,
and was indeed and in truth very grieved with this cesspool of
vice and this abattoir of violence.
Today, we have an age who know not the God of our forefathers
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and generally remain utterly indifferent to Him or manifest a
cynical humour or anger for the One they conceive in their foolish
minds as non-existent. For centuries God has striven by His Holy
Spirit to grapple with the inner consciences of multitudes, as He
did so long ago with His earthly people Is.65/2. It would appear
that the very luminaries in space are more likely to hear the Word
of the living God, or even the brute beasts of the field, than those
human beings who have ears but hear not, or have eyes but see
not Is.1 2/3. Nature easily hardens as the soil under the midday
sun or even as the iceberg when the sun removes itself. Of
course, it is not to suggest that God was so weak that he was
defeated by a obdurate heart, an infertile mind, or a will of iron.
If God had been without omnipotence we would indeed be
inclined to agree but omnipotence is the very attribute that
Almighty God will never in all eternity exercise to make His
creatures obedient. He respects human beings because He
created them with a special faculty known as volition, and no
matter how fallen mankind is, and whatsoever the amount of
bitter enmity man has for His Creator, force is out of the question.
If God used His omnipotent strength the creature would feel
terrorised, cowed down, crushed, pulverised, and would fall down
prostrate before the throne of God - but there would be no
worship, no adoration, and no love! No. It must be by another
means, or else the creation of man had been futile and he be
dead to God forever. And this method can be seen in verse eight
of our chapter, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."
Grace is diametrically opposed to the naked power of God's
justice and yet when it works effectively in the hearts of men and
women it works in such a way as to leave them without the
slightest opportunity of boasting. Yet, in spite of the necessary
co-operation of their wills, they can only respond while grace
works from above, below, and within, the human will. Liberty is
the immediate result, for a spiritual bondage shackles the
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volitional faculty with a mighty clench until Christ releases us by a
grace which is paradoxically powerful and yet unimaginably
tender and gentle! This "Flesh" in every aspect means a revolt
against our Maker. It therefore becomes mandatory for God to
encounter the Sethites and the Cainites in His own peculiar way.
He "Strives" with them by placing around their consciences
invisible bands! These cords He tightens so that they only go so
far in their abandonment, for it is a law within providence that He
sets the boundaries of bondage and liberty, and no one else. But
it must be realised that no one belonging to either the progeny of
Seth or Cain, nor any persons belonging to all nations since their
day, have known any bondage or liberty without the will of God.
He binds in His wrath and He loosens in His mercy. And yet it is
true to say that even when we are loosened we are never totally
emancipated from our Creator. A terrible freedom is that when
people imagine that they are a free being to do whatever they
please against their own bodies in some wild abusive orgy,
drinking and spewing, drug taking and whoring, gorging and
philandering! A terrible freedom is that when God so releases the
sinner to persecute His own people and drive them to the point of
despair! A terrible freedom indeed when the Almighty releases
the ungodly to swear against heaven; to take His name in vain; to
deny with fury or complacency His existence; and to hope in the
depths of their hearts they are right! Their language is always the
same, as we gather in the second psalm, "Let us break their
bands asunder and cast away their cords from us," and this
death-defying resolution only succeeds in binding them with a far
greater slavery than before. Often have we seen on our television
screens mobs that need to be cordoned by policemen who stand
with their backs to the crowds, hands joined together, holding
back a multitude who push, pull, kick, punch, and lurch to and fro
like a turbulent ocean, until the cordon breaks and the multitudes
are free to do whatever their hearts are set upon. Again, we have
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sat and watched poor demented people in straight-jackets as they
just throw themselves in every direction against the padded walls
of their cells with an uncanny force, until each of their ties snap!
Those described here resemble that demon possessed man, who
lived in a cemetery in Gadara, of whom it was said, that "no man
could bind him, no, not with chains.... because that he had often
been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been
plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces, neither
could any man tame him" Mk.5 3/4. This poor man is an analogy
of what happens to ordinary people who break the bonds laid
upon them by the Christian Church, through the ministry of the
Word of God, or by parents, Sunday School teachers, and even by
a reading of Holy Scripture, but who rebel, having become
offended, then impatient, and finally indignant. They want their
liberty, and God releases them by allowing them to break their
bonds, though they are quite ignorant of the benefits which God
imposes upon them while those cords are encircling their
consciences. And so they wrestle with all their might to break the
ties that bind them, for they sorely complain of restrictions,
enslavement, and inequity. It obviously never occurs to them that
to break the law of God, the precepts of the gospel, the rules of
the home, together with the ordinary principles that belong to
common decency, is to embrace a bondage that becomes
altogether excruciating the longer we exist in this present world.
"Flesh" is a foundation, upon which is built every stone of pride,
envy, lust, fraud, theft, spite, revenge, etc. Today, Cainites have
infiltrated the churches and they are hardly recognised. Worldly
practices have converted our worship, and the conduct of our
lives, to an appearance indistinguishable from the Cainites who
have invaded Sethite sanctuaries. Our reliable and sacred text has
now been replaced by versions that are suspect in their treatment
of texts which set forth the full deity of Christ Jesus the Lord.
Various texts are omitted such as 1 John 5/7 plus passages found
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in Mark 16 and John 8. All such alterations betray the undeniable
fact of subterfuge among the so-called scholars of this century
who glory in scholarship, but who love the novelties they know
will shock the religious world. Music helped enormously when
General William Booth, who gave the churches a heady potion,
asked, "Why should the devil have all the best tunes," for it is
now almost the same in identity as the swinging cowboy ballads
to be heard in Nashville; the jazz syncopation developed in New
Orleans; and the crude inharmonious and riotous jungle rhythms
of the ugly strains of that which is called "Rock" music. But who is
able to deny the unquestionable fact that the world does this far
better than those who think these procedures are sanctified - and
therefore justified? All this is accompanied with groups and with
soloists who do their best to model their performances upon
those "pop artists" found in the latest "Charts." And so, what is an
appearance of Cainite music in the Sethite sanctuaries is nothing
short of pagan wailing, pagan trumpets, pagan cymbals, and
pagan guitars, deliberately calculated to move emotions - to make
them popular, dynamic, entertaining, including a desire to give
people a change of heart. With the charge levelled against us
"having an out of date mentality," that we love to dwell in the
past, as the unhappy Miss Haversham, who would have no
change, but wallowed in the dust and dirt of a time when hopes
were high and prospects of happiness knew no bounds, very few
seem to realise that when they read the N.T. they read a book
that is two thousand years old! It is a dire fallacy to conceive the
thought of putting a twentieth century dress upon the first
century Church! The word "Progress" has been the most loaded,
subtle, and fraudulent word, that ever western civilisation
adopted. Protestant Churches have fallen for a ploy that includes
"Evolutionism," "Socialism," and "Ecumenism!" What do we find
in our N.T. worship, but apostolic judgments with tragic
consequences for disobedience; believers who walked in the fear
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of the Lord and met daily for services, and who delighted in the
hearing of discourses by apostles or apostolic men! Solemnity is
now the missing factor! And why is this the case? Because we no
longer produce God-fearing characters as we find in the N.T.!
What Savonarola said in the fifteenth century is valid for these
days of spiritual famine and poverty - on a scale that Savonarola
could not contemplate - "In olden times they had wooden
chalices and golden men, but now we have golden chalices but
wooden men!”
From the N.T. we know that the prime factor in worship is prayer
for a ministry that is made effective by the Holy Ghost. The next
object is the salvation of invaluable souls Heb.2/3. The Church of
Christ triumphant is no visible and concrete reality belonging to
this present world, but the Church of Christ militant belongs to
this world and is a "Sign" of inestimable importance. Wherever
there are groups large or small gathered together in His name
who call upon Him believing that He is both God and Man, and
when the scriptures are opened, read, and faithfully expounded,
together with the two ordinances of "Baptism" and "Communion,"
there is to be found a valid fellowship that functions by His
presence. Today this simplicity has gone almost entirely. We will
not be harsh in passing judgment upon the innumerable rites and
ceremonies that Augustine complained of as being more in
number than the ancient Jewish believers, because the ritualistic
churches themselves are now discovering the insupportable
burdens that have been imposed upon poor consciences for
centuries. We are concerned about those denominations call
"Protestant" that have their roots in a common routine practice,
without pomp or ceremony, or any ecclesiastical mysteries. A
mania for innovations is now all a rage. Everything is being tried
for the purpose of attracting an indifferent world to the services.
Anything is permitted as long as it entices un-churched people,
old or young - especially teenage generations. A motive that
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appears so plausible on the surface generates immense
excitement for a while, but is exposed tragically by the results.
Time and time again, what seems to be an evangelical movement
and genuine converts, come to a disappointing end, sometimes
slowly, but often suddenly. During the last few decades of the
nineteenth century an amazing number of worldly pursuits were
introduced to the Churches for the recovery of the churchless
populations. With horror, the soundest theologians, vicars,
ministers, and pastors, objected with loud protestations from
pulpits and magazines, that to retrieve Christless souls by first
attracting them to bazaars, whist drives, "bring and buy" parties,
"musical chairs," drama groups, magic lantern shows, and even
dancing, was an offence to God, deceptive as touching motives,
and destitute of faith in the matter of prayer and the preaching of
God's Word!
Sethites have gradually developed into Cainites over at least one
hundred and fifty years. Slowly, but surely and irrevocably, the
spiritual life of Europe has been draining away, leaving churches
dry, parched, and withered. All that one has to do to prove it, is
to read apostolic and prophetical records handed down from
generation to generation for these past two millenniums 2 Tim.3
1/5. Such a catalogue belongs to a godless epoch that can only
be termed a pagan one. But just in case there will be those who
imagine this horrific description to be a portrait of a godless world
previous to the Day of Judgment, let them weigh the words,
"HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING THE POWER
THEREOF....". Most assuredly they cannot be applied to those
outside the churches, because it is evident that people outside
the churches have no "form of godliness" and make no pretence
of possessing it. "LOVERS OF THEIR OWN SELVES," speak
profoundly of that selfishness which overrules the ordinary affairs
of life, and inevitably advances into Christian society with
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devastating consequences. Notice today how our Christian
brothers and sisters manifest the spirit of discontent, becoming
"COVETOUS" and breaking the tenth commandment. You may be
sure, Noah and his family during those one hundred and twenty
years only had the flood in the forefront of their minds! Perhaps
the next sign has more to do with Church officers, and all those
who have special tasks within the community, for "BOASTERS"
dwell normally among their peers, while ordinary folk, generally
speaking, have inferiority complexes. You may be sure, there was
very little rivalry or reason for boasting within the Noah
household. Pride reigns smugly, boldly, cleverly, and deceitfully, in
every human soul, yet with most people it is deep down and kept
hidden, until circumstances provoke a desire to glory in self. One
may so easily quote multitudes of "PROUD" papal claims,
especially since Gregory the First, but Noah, you may be sure,
kept a low profile before unbelievers. To see in this list the
presence of "BLASPHEMERS," comes as a shock to those of us
who never hear blasphemy within the walls of a consecrated
house of prayer. However, it is an indubitable fact that we have
been shaken from time to time by other expressions used by
professing Christians, and so Paul the Apostle is warning us
through infallible prophesy that we must on no account be thrown
off course by the speech of others. Another, and one that has all
the hallmarks of contemporary depravity, is the disruptive
behaviour of most children who are "DISOBEDIENT TO
PARENTS," and, therefore, cannot be controlled by anyone else in
the world either!! Far and away from all other misdemeanours in
society, this is the root of all violence, immorality, treachery,
selfishness, and vengefulness. You may be sure, that Noah
earned great respect from his sons and needed not to either
threaten or bribe or thrash them, for they recognised his
authority. His own household administration was one of severity
with evil, readiness to forgive, and charity to support. One of the
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most important of the virtues is the immediate response given to
help received, and that is called gratitude. A typical attitude of the
last days is the despicable "UNTHANKFUL" character who
presumes to imagine his own self-importance to be beyond the
need to express any hint of gratitude, and therefore suffers no
guilt whatsoever. You may be perfectly sure, the children of Noah
knew they had their own dear father to thank for their
preservation. The next sign is one that all spiritually-minded
Christians will endorse if these days are indeed the days that will
precede the coming of the Lord. No time has been like our time
when Christians can be called "UNHOLY" for the word expresses
the idea of separation from the world. Nothing is so far from the
truth as the thought of a local separation. No greater mistake has
ever been made in Christendom as that which constrains men and
women to forsake families and responsibilities, believing they
have more chance of heaven than the common herd. A moments
reflection upon all the saints of the O.T. - Seth - Noah- Enoch Abraham - Isaac - Jacob - and countless others, including the
apostles, who all had the perfect liberty to take their wives with
them on their apostolic journeys 1Cor.9/5 will convince Christians
that ascetic practices are indeed pagan. No! Holiness is not
acquired by going beyond what is natural and normal, though it
impresses the uninitiated. Severe treatment of the body cannot
produce holiness as Paul warns the Colossians Col.2 2O/23. Yet
we may be quite sure that Noah without forsaking the world was
so separated unto God that his presence in the company of all
those who were unholy was a reprimand in itself, even without
talking!
Again, another sign of modern society having infiltrated into the
Church are Christians who are now "WITHOUT NATURAL
AFFECTION" and who are unaware of their hardness of heart. To
say that it is an impossibility for Christians to be unaware of their
callousness, appears to be grossly exaggerated, but it must be
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stated that the apostle is speaking about those who are
counterfeit Christians. A Christian recoils from enmity and the
slightest trait of apathy, including an unfeeling or unaffected
nature. Religious impostors have no feelings for anyone unless it
is sheer affectation. They feel nothing, and thus would deny this
state of heart even though challenged. But you may be sure it
was not so with Noah who loved even the creatures that became
his companions for a whole twelve month period. Was there ever
a time in the history of the human race when liars,
"TRUSEBREAKERS," frauds, impostors, cheats, etc. were so
plentiful? Vast numbers do not know when they are telling the
truth and when they are telling lies. Innumerable ordinary, lawabiding citizens break promises with great ease, and think no
more about a promise even when made upon oath. Perjury is
rampant even among many so-called Christians! Be sure of this,
Noah would rather have died than break a promise, and so say all
Christians!
And yet there is worse, for the state of apostasy is a far worse
condition than one not yet evangelised. More light has been given
to a false profession of Christianity and so in the midst of this
latter day Church "FALSE ACCUSERS" dare raise their lying voices
against those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. To be in
the predicament of knowing you are in the right, and your
witness for Christ is precious to you, only to discover that you are
now impeached before unbelievers though innocent, is a cruel
cross to bear. However, you can be certain of this, that although
in the family of Noah there was one capable of a lying accusation,
whose name was Ham, both Shem and Japheth were impeccable
so far as the truth is concerned. Scarcely can we hold our breath
when we read of the next characteristic, because it is so
contradictory to all that is respectable, let alone holy. Paul uses a
word "INCONTINENT" to describe those who cannot control
themselves, but whether the apostle is speaking of talking,
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eating, drinking, sleeping, or - as the celibate ascetic understand
it - marital intimacy, is quite impossible to determine. Temperance
or spiritual discipline is conspicuous for it's absence today, and
slothfulness is hardly regarded as a real sin any more. We can say
with certitude that a Noah who had one hundred and twenty
years to complete his ark, in no way would tolerate incontinence
for that duration. Next in the order arranged by the apostle
comes a type that could suggest Ham the one delinquent in
Noah's family Gen.9 18/27. The manner in which he gloated over
his father in that passage would give to a careful reader the
distinct impression that he was "FIERCE" with his shameful
jubilance. Ferocity is the mark associated with Cain and one
scarcely can comprehend the situation where bad temper is
regularly displayed where people have come together to worship.
A normal consequence of worldliness encroaching upon the
precincts belonging to the sanctuary, is the brazen animosity
manifested so demonstrably against those whose lives are better
than others who are obsessed by worldly pleasures. They are
"DESPISERS OF THOSE WHO ARE GOOD" because they are made
to be uncomfortable in their presence, for conscience never can
be happy among those who live according to the gospel. Of
course, the heavenly-minded Christian must suffer from those
who are convicted of their own loose, lax, and indolent, lifestyles, and often hear taunts such as, " those sanctimonious
hypocrites," or, "They are so heavenly minded they are of no
earthly use," but they are responses born of guilt and fear, and
must be allowed to pass over the heads of the accused.
Further, the apostle continues his prophesy in verse four with a
sin of great proportions - the double hearted, hypocritical, and
shameful sin of "TRAITORS." Christians were "double-crossed"
many times in the days of the Caesars by those who made a
pretence of Christianity and planted themselves in their
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assemblies in order to report back to the authorities all they
heard. Apparently this was the case when Communism held
Eastern Europe in the grip of an ideology that taught an unproved
theory, namely, that Christianity was so incompatible with
Communism that they could not live in the same world. Judas
Iscariot was called a "Traitor" and so, for this reason, to betray
other Christians appears to be a crime of all crimes. Certainly it
entails vile atrocity. If Christians in the last of days are forbidden
to be at ease in their own lawful gatherings, no wonder they
plead to be taken out of this world! A further word is added to the
catalogue, a word seldom heard in a private conversation, yet
"HEADY" in Greek means "to fall forward or headlong!" Paul uses
the word to illustrate those who will be headstrong or forward,
rash or presumptuous. What evils do arise when Christians are
determined to have their own way? What great and sorry results
follow decisions by those who are intoxicated by their own selfimportance. God save us from the Gadarene swine!
Another religious type the apostle calls "HIGHMINDED" but this
you may be sure, is certainly no compliment. It expresses the
idea of someone being inflated or "puffed up" and who, as a
consequence, becomes a "wind bag," or an insufferable talker of
a type that is painfully egotistical. The next two phrases bring
Timothy to the acme of a register that is positively devastating.
Here we have a terse description that focus's upon the chief sign
of godlessness in our century - "LOVERS OF PLEASURES MORE
THAN LOVERS OF GOD." Now this could be written in capitol
letters over every major and minor city in the world, including
every town, hamlet, and with a very few exceptions, over every
home. We do not speak of pleasure in the sense of what the
world calls "ordinary" pleasures. Here, we consider Paul to mean
not only excessively protracted pleasure but the kind of pleasure
that is riotous, rowdy, coarse, sensual, brutal, debilitating,
shameful, or frivolous. People belonging to every class now
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consider that life was intended to be simply one great prolonged
enjoyment. Children grow up as their parents and become
convinced that the world owes happiness to them. However,
despite what was said of "ordinary" pleasures, there must be
some qualification here. Ordinary pleasure must always be
enjoyed with resolved moderation. There must be a strict control
even upon the innocent pleasures of life because however
innocuous they seem to be with a frugal diet of delightful
indulgences, the fact remains that they can become immoderate,
and a wise person will know when to draw a line and say "So far
but no further." Drug addicts are not confined to narcotics or
tobacco but to television, holidays, houses, automobiles, clothes,
sport, hobbies, employment, novels, sex, money, etc. and all can
captivate and finally enthral to a degree that the pleasure fades
and then dies. A rose always has a thorn, to teach us that
pleasure is always next to pain. Laughter is also God given, but
who would deny the indisputable fact that it is always followed
with a sigh! Eccl.7/6. Our day is seeing a surfeit of pleasure on a
scale not seen in the world since the ancient Romans, and their
eating and drinking, their sporting and copulating, brought the
whole empire down upon their own heads. A final word brings
this prophetical witness to a conclusion with a terrible
impeachment against the church of the last generation in this
worlds history. Hypocrisy is something no one would deny as
being absolutely loathsome, except hypocrites impute this quality
to all, excluding themselves. Churches will be seen as Laodicean
before the Lord appears Rev.3 14/22 a state "HAVING A FORM OF
GODLINESS BUT DENYING THE POWER THEREOF," and ripe for
judgment! This contradiction is an abomination to the Lord of
Heaven for He regards such a condition with total abhorrence.
Evils that cannot be hidden are bad enough when they are
sadistic, brutal, pitiless and ruthless, for they become witnesses
to a decadent society. It is an undoubted fact that Christ was far
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more severe when He was denouncing the disgraceful habits of
the Pharisees than those who were obvious sinners before the
judgment of public opinion. Where did the great evil exist in the
Pharisee? Under religious cloaks and vestments! These were the
"religious" of the day and answers to the profession of all
religious orders ever since. Religion is a most objectionable word
but can only be so to those who have an experience of saving
grace that regenerates the soul. Since Cain, and the Cainites,
"religion" is associated with orderliness and organisation, ritual
and ceremony, pomp and circumstance, beauty and splendour,
rules and regulations, subjugation and tyranny. It is in fact, a
method whereby authorities may rule people - great and small exercising authority supposedly from God and assuming
legitimate powers of spiritual knowledge and administration that
proceeds from heaven. Religion is an outward form that differs in
variety throughout the world and has done so almost from the
beginning of time. God subjected Israel to this elaborate process
in His wisdom, to illustrate the evil of Gentile worship and to give
Israel all spiritual knowledge concerning the futility of external
forms, plus their uselessness in the great work of saving the soul.
Religion is "Law," whether it be that found in the O.T. or invented
and sustained by man himself. First and foremost - only observed
within the mystery of human depravity! - it is a masterly attempt
to avoid God Himself! Human nature hates God, and yet in the
recesses of the heart, it fears Him. Thus, religion is an attempt to
pacify God without actually serving Him! As the Christ of God said
long ago, "They honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far
from me," and this summarises the true principles of all religious
worship. All vessels deemed holy, all vestments called sacred, all
rituals that purport change in the individual by the use of water,
oil, salt, bread, or wine - or change in the elements themselves! through the power of a transcendental word from an elevated
priest or pastor, is a sure sign of a fraudulent religion. But all
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these ceremonials and signs are used to defend the sinner from
imminent danger - the danger of falling into the hands of God,
judged and found guilty, and sent to hell fire! All religion, no
matter what truth is contained in creedal statements, is very
much like one huge insurance society with one special day in the
week reserved for the weekly premium. It is a device which holds
God at bay and prevents Him from reaching the sinner in his
desperate need, for God will never suspend the liberty of any who
are bent upon idolatry. To worship God without the full devotion
of our hearts supposing a regular use of these external forms has
any pleasure for Him and gains His favour, is truly idolatry and
warrants His wrath. "HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS BUT
DENYING THE POWER THEREOF," is to remain in unbelief no
matter how orthodox the credentials of the religion may be. When
you consider untold millions since the first days of Christianity
having repeated the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the
Athanasian Creed, without paying heed to a life of godliness,
whose lives have been one long drawn out superstitious
existence, and yet died without hope in Christ the Redeemer, but
only in their own ecclesiastical and moral obedience, their
numbers must be legion! Moreover, when we consider the vast
multitudes who have heard the gospel during the times of those
glorious visitations since the sixteenth century, and heard it
plainly and powerfully throughout Europe, still they stumbled over
this stumbling stone - the rock of "Religion!" Even when the
churches were unadorned and simple, when the singing of Psalms
were without accompaniment, when prayers were no longer in a
wearisome chant or the sermon a boring tale of relics, saintly
marvels, and superstitious prodigies, but lively, eloquent, clear
expositions of scripture, with the bold declaration of the birth, life,
crucifixion, and resurrection, etc. of the Saviour, these
reformation ideals still included "forms" of religion, and still the
bulk of the people remained untouched by the Word! Religion and
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religious forms, even baptism, the supper, the Lord's Day, the
praying, the singing, and the hearing of the Word of God, remains
superstitious, unbelieving, formal and dead, because without real
faith and the fruits of righteousness by Jesus Christ Phil.1/11.
All this spiritual degeneration is upon a Christendom that is now
as salt having lost it's savour, cast out into the street, and is
trodden under the feet of those who pass by. Divine restraint has
been removed according to our text and all hell is celebrating in
the thought of universal human bondage. Wonder not dear
reader in the frequency of gratuitous physical violence, or
depraved sexual relationships, or disgusting religious fabrication.
Think only of the frightful and horrible judgment of God when you
consider He has disengaged Himself from human actions and
permitted the reign of every conceivable transgression within His
own creation. Think only of the predetermined cessation of all
these things when each single work will be fully and justifiably
rewarded. Think of that tremendous flood which began with a few
drops from heaven making the whole population of both the
Sethite and the Cainite races to look up with fearful hearts.
Whether there was any rain prior to this seems doubtful to many,
but one can imagine the shock which reverberated within the
souls of all as it suddenly dawned upon the two sections of
humanity that Noah had been right all along! View in your minds
eye the desperate scenes when they each discovered that they
were too late - the door having finally closed upon the family of
Noah. Now the ark had begun to rise off the ground, and teeming
multitudes of people from all parts of the area soaked by the
downpour and hardly making any real progress towards the ark
because of the intolerable deluge, became distracted with
remorse and despair. Hear the cries for mercy towards heaven,
and see the upturned arms appealing to the Almighty, forgetting
conveniently the cause of such a catastrophe, even their own
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wicked lives! As the floods increased so their cries were increased
in volume, and it must have been heart-rending to see the
trudging of thousands as they ascended hills and mountains to
escape a watery grave. It beggars description and we refrain from
making an attempt, but it would be true to say that the brief note
of the flood here is out of proportion to the detailed record of
their own infamous lives!
Our times are desperate times. Time is short - eternity is long! In
the year 79 A.D. there was a most attractive town in Italy and it
was called Pompeii. It was built close by the Bay of Naples. A
population of around fifteen to twenty thousand people resided in
and around this most salubrious spot. Within that number
numerous Greeks, Jews, and Christians were to be found, but it
seems that it had been intended for army personnel and retired
veterans. The place appears deservedly famous for all the art
treasures it had on display, and it was renowned for it's fine
pottery in the many workshops to be found there. There was also
an Amphitheatre that was regarded as the oldest in Italy and one
can imagine the pride taken in such a stadium. But in the year 62
A.D. the town shuddered violently when the mountain called
Vesuvius which overlooked the town rumbled without warning
and many buildings were damaged. Now, whether the inhabitants
made provision for the prospects of any future rumblings, we are
not told, but certain it is that no one expected the spontaneous
eruption that took place on the 24th of August 79 A.D. According
to reports the usual diversions were taking place - gambling
houses were in full swing, brothels were enjoying great profits,
and traders were taking full advantage of many visitors.
Eyewitnesses, especially Pliny the Elder, once the procurator of
Spain and favourite of Nero, reported a great cloud overhanging
the city that plunged the town in complete darkness. Indeed,
Pliny himself described this cloud as being in the shape of a "Pine
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tree." But apart from the fumes that choked so many it had been
inundated with showers of ash, rocks, and pumice. Three days
Vesuvius poured down her slopes reddish-golden lava until a
terrible silence fell upon the whole scene. Visitors were visibly
shocked, and although Pompeii is still to be located on the same
spot, it is virtually reduced now to the size of a village. As to the
numbers of those who died the figures differ between some two
thousand and the complete population! In any event the
monstrous catastrophe has gone down in history as one of the
most horrific by reason of it's suddenness.
Total surprise, shock, fear, and despair, must have entered into
the hearts of all those who never died instantaneously. Can it be
imagined by those not involved in the tragedy? Is it possible for
anyone to imagine what horrendous thoughts and emotions took
over the hearts and minds of those outside the ark, inside
Pompeii, or those who are godless when Christ comes again in
power and great glory? Noah's warnings for one hundred and
twenty years had gone unheeded by his Sethite and Cainite fellow
humans, now indistinct from one another. "Noah's days" are here
again Luke 17 26/27.
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