Suffering and Deliverance (Part 11) – Enoch, Noah, Abraham

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I.       An examination of Biblical examples of God either delivering a people for the righteous among them or delivering the righteous alone.

1.      Enoch

1. Enoch lived only three generations prior to the great flood in the days of Noah (Gen 5:21, 25, 28-29).
2. The earth was corrupt and filled with violence in Noah’s day (Gen 6:11).
   1. The earth likely did not turn wicked overnight.
   2. It was likely an evil place when Enoch walked the earth a few generations prior.
   3. Enoch prophesied against the ungodly which he probably personally witnessed in action (Jud 1:14-15).
3. Enoch walked with God (Gen 5:22).
4. Because of this God took him to heaven to be with him (Gen 5:24 c/w Heb 11:5).
   1. Translate v. – 1. a. trans. To bear, convey, or remove from one person, place or condition to another; to transfer, transport; spec. to remove a bishop from one see to another, or a bishop’s seat from one place to another, and, in Scotland, a minister from one pastoral charge to another; also, to remove the dead body or remains of a saint, or, by extension, a hero or great man, from one place to another.  b. To carry or convey to heaven without death; also, in later use, said of the death of the righteous.
   2. He was one of only two people in human history who was taken to heaven without dying first (2Ki 2:11).
5. Enoch was delivered from the evil to come that he would have witnessed in his lifetime (Isa 57:1-2).
6. There are some lessons we can learn from this.
   1. Godly men throughout history have lived in evil times, so we are not experiencing something new (Ecc 1:9-10).
   2. Godly men condemn the wickedness around them, not conform to it.
   3. We can and should walk with God, even when living in an evil generation.
   4. Those who walk not in the counsel of ungodly, but delight in the LORD, are blessed (Psa 1:1-2).
   5. If we walk closely with God like Enoch, God may likewise deliver us from this evil world by taking us out of it early by death.

2.      Noah and his family

1. Noah lived in an exceedingly wicked generation (Gen 6:5, 11-12).
2. The cup of the world’s iniquity was full, and the LORD had determined to destroy it (Gen 6:6-7).
3. Noah was a just man who found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Gen 6:8-9).
4. Noah obeyed God and built the ark by faith (Heb 11:7).
5. God saved Noah and his seven other family members from death (2Pe 2:5).
6. There are some lessons we can learn from this.
   1. Truth doesn’t lie in numbers.
   2. It pays to hold fast to the LORD even if the entire world is against you.
   3. Going along with the crowd will bring you destruction.
   4. It pays to do what God says, even if it seems like a gargantuan task.
   5. It would have seemed impossible by human reasoning for God to destroy the earth and the entire human population while simultaneously saving eight faithful people, but God did it.
   6. God can easily deliver the faithful while destroying those around them.
   7. Take comfort, brethren, because God is a well able to do the same for us.

3.      Abraham

1. Abraham grew up as an idolater (Jos 24:2).
2. The LORD delivered him from his false religion by calling him out of Ur away from his family where he grew up (Gen 12:1).
3. God called Abraham alone (Isa 51:2).
4. In his case, some of his family came with him and they were delivered from their idolatry as well (Gen 12:4-5).
5. Abraham obeyed God by faith and was blessed for it (Heb 11:8-10).
6. Abraham was not delivered from physical death or suffering, but being delivered from false religion is far more important than those things.
7. There are some lessons we can learn from this.
   1. Where you came from is not nearly as important as where you’re going and where you will end up.
   2. Our past is no excuse for not following God in the present.
   3. God often calls people to follow Him as individuals, not as families or groups.
   4. God can use one faithful man to save his family from false religion.
   5. God will richly bless those who will forsake all and follow Him (Mar 10:28-30).
   6. Never forget how incredibly blessed you are to have been delivered from the lies and bondage of false religion.