METHUSELAH, THE MAN WHOSE NAME WAS PROPHETIC

Gen. 5:22-27

Morning Meditation 3/10/17

Genesis 5:22-27 say, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died."

Methuselah's father was Enoch. The birth of Methuselah marks a change in the life of Enoch. Enoch was sixty-five years of age when this event took place. We are told in the book of Jude about Enoch: Jude 1:14-15 says, "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." We learn that Enoch was the seventh from Adam. We learn that he was a prophet. We learn that He prophesied the Second Coming. I am sure He understood the first coming because without His first coming there is no hope in His second coming.

There was something about the birth of Methuselah that changed Enoch's life forever. When he named Methuselah it was prophetic. Methuselah means when he dies it (speaking of the flood) shall come. Now the death of Methuselah was a sign to those who believed the Bible (God's revealed Word whatever form it came in). They knew by his death it was time to load the Ark. But to those who were not Bible believers, the death of Methuselah mean nothing. I ask you, did the unbelief of the world of that day alter God's determined judgment? Man's unbelief does not alter God's revealed Word. When God says something, it is true whether it is believed by the world or not.

Enoch was raptured and taken to heaven without experiencing death. I believe he is a type of the saints who will be raptured BEFORE the judgment in the last days (Rev. 6-19). There are four things about the judgment of the flood in the days of Methuselah that I want to mention.

THE JUDGMENT WAITS A TIME

There is a time for Judgment. I do not understand this. Only God does. There is a time when sinners become ripe for judgment. The very fact that Methuselah's name speaks of the time of judgment authenticates this statement, i.e., there is a time for judgment. God loved the people of that day. He gave them every opportunity to repent but they didn't.

Romans 2:4-6,16: "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds . . . In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." It is clear here that there is a day of reckoning for all men.

Peter gives the reason for the seeming delay in 2 Pet. 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." God's delay is not an indication that He has changed His mind, it only indicates His willingness to give man the ultimate opportunity to change his mind (repentance) before it is too late.

Judgment waits a time. God works according to schedule. There is nothing hap hazzard in the universe. Then next,

JUDGMENT WAITS A SIGN

Methuselah's death was the sign of imminent judgment. The world of that day did not know that. It was not that they could not know. They made a choice when they rejected God. This choice sealed them to judgment. Could they have repented? Oh yes. Did any? No. They had rejected God and He was the only source of warning. If they did not believe in God, then His Word would have no influence in their lives. The same is true today. For instance, one has to reject God's Word as unreliable if he accepts the theory of evolution as to how things all began. One cannot hold to evolution and hold to the inerrancy of the Scriptures. That is just one illustration.

Noah was the grandson of Methuselah. Enoch was a preacher of the second coming. Noah was a preacher of righteousness: 2 Pet. 2:5 says, "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." The righteousness that Noah preached was grace righteousness (Gen. 6:8). So God had given a sign and that sign was the death of Methuselah. When Noah put his grandfather to rest, he knew the time was at hand.

God is so good to those of us who believe. We like Enoch are to walk with God and not look for a sign. The sign is for Israel and the sign will not happen until after we are raptured like Enoch! There is a sign. We can talk about it like Enoch did. But we won't live to see it. Thank the Lord for that. Judgment waits a sign (Antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews for seven years; Dan. 9:27-28). Then,

JUDGMENT WAITS TO EXTEND A FINAL OPPORTUNITY

Why did Methuselah live to be the oldest man who ever lived on the face of this earth? It was because God loved the world of that day and gave them every opportunity to repent.

In our modern society the news people would definitely interview Methuselah and ask him what the secret of his longevity is? Most of the people I have heard interviewed gave God a very little credit. Most of the time they speak of how they lived their lives. Of course what they are saying is that "I am a good example of how to live to be old." Listen, Methuselah could have been a chain smoker and done all the wrong things and he would not have died until he was 969 years of age. You can take that to the bank! I'm not saying you should not take care of your body. I am not saying that you cannot live longer as a result of taking care of yourself. I try to practice taking care of my self. But in the case of Methuselah, his life kept the judgment of God in remission until he got out of its way! His name means, "When he dies it shall come." (Lange's Commentary). Then finally,

JUDGMENT WAITS NO LONGER

Methuselah knew Adam. Adam lived about 113 years after the birth of Methuselah and Methuselah could not have been more than 369 years of age when his grandson Noah was born (Information taken form Herbert Lockyear's book on All The Men of The Bible). So Methuselah held Adam's hand with one of his and the hand of Noah with the other.

There is a time we know not when that God will say, "It is enough." When that time comes, repentance will be too late. There is a Scripture that I want to close out this meditation with.

2 Thess. 2:11 says, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:" I will let you turn to and read all the verses that go before in this chapter. There are some who teach that those who have heard the gospel in our day, if the rapture takes place, they can know what has happened and repent and be saved. This verse teaches that if one has heard the gospel and rejected it, he will be "sent a strong delusion" to keep him from believing. Now you can read it in the Greek, you can read it in the commentaries, and when you have done your thorough research, this verse will still say the same thing. The rapture terminates the opportunity of salvation for those who have heard the truth before the rapture. Genesis 6:3 says, "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."

The judgment waits a time, a sign, gives an opportunity, and will finally wait no longer. Are you ready? That is a solemn question that each of us has to answer in his own heart.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White