Seth: When Men Turned to God

This chapter is based on Genesis 4:25 to 6:2. 

Another son was given to Adam to be the heir of the spiritual birthright. The name Seth, given to this son, signified “appointed,” or “compensation,” because, said the mother, “God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” Seth resembled Adam more closely than did his other sons, a worthy character following in the steps of Abel. Yet he inherited no more natural goodness than did Cain. Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature of his parents, but he also received the knowledge of the Redeemer and instruction in righteousness. He worked hard, as Abel would have done, to turn the minds of sinners to honor and obey their Creator. 1TC 41.2

“As for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.” The distinction between the two classes became more marked—an open profession of loyalty to God on the part of one, contempt and disobedience on the part of the other. 1TC 42.1

Before the Fall our first parents had kept the Sabbath, which was instituted in Eden, and after their expulsion from Paradise they continued to observe it. They had learned what everyone will sooner or later learn, that the divine laws are sacred and unchangeable and that the penalty of transgression will surely follow. The Sabbath was honored by all who remained loyal to God, but Cain and his descendants did not respect the day upon which God had rested. 1TC 42.2

Cain now founded a city and called it by the name of his eldest son. He had gone out from the presence of the Lord to seek possessions and enjoyment in the earth, standing at the head of that great class of people who worship the god of this world. His descendants became distinguished in things were relate to mere earthly and material progress, but they were against the purposes of God for the human race. To the crime of murder, Lamech, the fifth generation from Cain, added polygamy. Abel had led a pastoral life, and the descendants of Seth followed the same course, counting themselves “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” seeking “a better, that is, a heavenly country” (Hebrews 11:13, 16). 1TC 42.3

For some time the two classes remained separate. The race of Cain, spreading from their first settlement, scattered over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt. The latter, in order to escape their contaminating influence, withdrew to the mountains and there continued the worship of God in its purity. But after some time they began to mingle with those living in the valleys. “The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful” and the children of Seth displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the worshipers of God were drawn into sin by the temptations constantly before them, and they lost their holy character. Mingling with the depraved, they became like them. The restrictions of the seventh commandment were disregarded, “and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.” The children of Seth went “in the way of Cain” (Jude 11). They fixed their minds on worldly prosperity and enjoyment and neglected the commandments of the Lord, so sin spread widely in the earth. 1TC 42.4

Length of Adam’s Life

For nearly a thousand years Adam tried to stop the spread of evil. He had been commanded to instruct his descendants in the way of the Lord, and he carefully treasured what God had revealed to him and repeated it to succeeding generations. For nine generations he described the holy and happy conditions in Paradise and repeated the history of his fall. He told them of the sufferings by which God had taught him the necessity of strict obedience to His law and explained to them the merciful provisions for their salvation, yet often he was met with bitter reproach for the sin that had brought such woe upon his descendants. 1TC 43.1

When he left Eden, the thought that he must die filled Adam with horror. Full of sorrow for his own sin and mourning a double loss in the death of Abel and the rejection of Cain, Adam was bowed down with anguish. Though the sentence of death had appeared terrible at first, yet after beholding the results of sin for nearly a thousand years, he felt that it was merciful for God to bring to an end a life of suffering and sorrow. 1TC 43.2

The age before the Flood was not an era of ignorance and barbarism, as has often been supposed. The people possessed great physical and mental strength, and their advantages were unrivaled. Their mental powers developed early, and those who cherished the fear of God continued to increase in knowledge and wisdom throughout their lives. Compared to them, famous scholars of our time would appear greatly inferior in mental and physical strength. As people’s lifespan has decreased and their physical strength has diminished, so their mental capacities have lessened. 1TC 43.3

It is true that the people of modern times have the benefit of the accomplishments of others before them. Masterly minds have left their work for those who follow. But how much greater the advantages of the people of that time! For hundreds of years they had among them him who was formed in God’s image. Adam had learned from the Creator the history of creation; he himself witnessed the events of nine centuries. The pre-Flood people had strong memories to retain what was communicated to them and to transmit it accurately to their descendants. For hundreds of years there were seven generations living on the earth at the same time, profiting by the knowledge and experience of all. 1TC 43.4

Far from being an era of religious darkness, that was an age of great light. All the world had opportunity to receive instruction from Adam, and those who feared the Lord also had Christ and angels for their teachers. And they had a silent witness to the truth, in the garden of God, which for many centuries remained on earth. Eden stood just in sight, its entrance barred by watching angels. The purpose of the garden and the history of its two trees were undisputed facts, and the existence and supreme authority of God were truths that people were slow to question while Adam was among them. 1TC 44.1

Despite the prevailing iniquity, a holy line of God’s followers lived as in the companionship of heaven—people of massive intellect, of wonderful attainments. They had a great mission—to develop a character of righteousness, to teach a lesson of godliness, not only to the people of their time, but for future generations. Only a few are mentioned in the Scriptures, but all through the ages God had faithful witnesses, true-hearted worshipers. 1TC 44.2

Enoch—The First Man Never to Die

Enoch lived sixty-five years and fathered a son. After that he walked with God three hundred years. He was one of the preservers of the true faith, the ancestors of the promised Seed. From the lips of Adam he had learned the story of the fall and of God’s grace as seen in the promise, and he relied upon the Redeemer to come. 1TC 44.3

But after the birth of his first son, Enoch reached a higher experience. As he saw the child’s love for its father, its simple trust in his protection, as he felt the deep tenderness of his own heart for that firstborn son, he learned a precious lesson of the wonderful love of God in the gift of His Son. The boundless love of God through Christ became the subject of his meditations day and night, and he tried to reveal that love to the people around him. 1TC 44.4

Enoch’s walk with God was not in a trance or vision, but in all the duties of daily life. As a husband and father, a friend, a citizen, he was the unwavering servant of the Lord. 1TC 45.1

His heart was in harmony with God’s will; for “can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). And this holy walk continued for three hundred years. Enoch’s faith grew stronger, his love more ardent, with the passing of centuries. 1TC 45.2

Enoch was a man of vast knowledge, honored with special revelations from God, yet he was one of the humblest of men. He spent time with the Lord, waiting to learn His will. To him prayer was like breathing for his soul; he lived in the very atmosphere of heaven. 1TC 45.3

Through holy angels God revealed to Enoch His purpose to destroy the world by a flood. He also opened the plan of redemption more fully to him and showed him the great events connected with the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. 1TC 45.4

Enoch had been troubled in regard to the dead. It had seemed to him that the righteous and the wicked would go to the dust together and that this would be their end. He could not see the life of the just beyond the grave. In prophetic vision he was instructed concerning the death of Christ and His coming in glory, attended by all the holy angels, to raise His people from the grave. He also saw the corrupt state of the world when Christ would appear the second time—that there would be a boastful, self-willed generation trampling upon the law and despising the atonement. He saw the righteous crowned with glory and honor and the wicked destroyed by fire. 1TC 45.5

Enoch became a preacher of righteousness, making known God’s messages to all who would hear. In the land where Cain had tried to flee from the divine presence, the prophet made known the wonderful scenes that he had been shown. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judg ment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds” (Jude 14, 15). 1TC 45.6

While he preached the love of God in Christ, he rebuked the prevailing sins and warned that judgment would surely come upon the transgressor. Holy men do not only speak smooth things. Sometimes God puts into the lips of His messengers truths that are sharp and as cutting as a two-edged sword. 1TC 46.1

Some paid attention to the warning, but the crowds went on more boldly in their evil ways, just as the last generation will belittle the warnings of the Lord’s messengers. 1TC 46.2

In the midst of a life of active work, Enoch steadfastly maintained his fellowship with God. After remaining for a time among the people, he would spend time alone, deeply longing for divine knowledge. Communing with God, Enoch came to reflect the divine image more and more. His face was radiant with the light that shines in the face of Jesus. 1TC 46.3

As year after year passed, deeper and deeper grew the tide of human guilt, darker and darker gathered the clouds of divine judgment. Yet Enoch kept on his way, warning, pleading, working to turn back the tide of guilt. Though his warnings were ignored by a sinful, pleasure-loving people, he had the assurance that God approved. He continued to battle against evil until God removed him from a world of sin to the pure joys of heaven. 1TC 46.4

Enoch Is Translated to Heaven

The people of that generation had laughed at Enoch because he did not seek to build up possessions here, but his heart was upon eternal treasures. He had seen the King in His glory in the midst of Heaven, and his mind and his way of living were in heaven. The greater the existing iniquity, the more earnest was his longing for the home of God. 1TC 46.5

For three hundred years Enoch had walked with God. Day by day he had longed for a closer union; nearer and nearer had grown the relationship, until God took him to Himself. Now the walk with God, which he had so long pursued on earth, continued, and he passed through the gates of the Holy City—the first from among earth’s inhabitants to enter there. 1TC 46.6

His loss was felt on earth. Some, both righteous and wicked, had witnessed his departure. Those who loved him searched diligently for him, but without success. They reported that he “was not,” for God had taken him. 1TC 47.1

By the translation of Enoch the Lord designed to teach an important lesson. There was danger that men and women would yield to discouragement because of the fearful results of Adam’s sin. Many were ready to exclaim, “What good is it that we have feared the Lord and have kept His laws, since a heavy curse is resting upon the race, and death is the reward of us all?” Satan was urging the belief that there was no reward for the righteous or punishment of the wicked, and that it was impossible for human beings to obey the divine statutes. But in the case of Enoch, God shows what He will do for those who keep His commandments. People were taught that it is possible to obey the law of God, that they were able by grace to resist temptation and become pure and holy. His being taken to heaven was an evidence of the truth of his prophecy concerning the hereafter, with its award of immortal life to the obedient and of condemnation and death to the transgressor. 1TC 47.2

By faith Enoch “was taken away so that he did not see death, ... for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). The godly character of this prophet represents the state of holiness that must be attained by those who shall be “redeemed from the earth” (Revelation 14:3) at Christ’s second advent. Then, as before the Flood, sin will prevail. Many will rebel against the authority of Heaven. But, like Enoch, God’s people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will until they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch they will warn the world of the Lord’s second coming and by their holy example will condemn the sins of the ungodly. As Enoch was translated to heaven, so the living righteous will be translated from the earth before its destruction by fire (see 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). 1TC 47.3