Violence in Noah's Days and Divine Vengeance

For decades it's been going on, and there's not really a lot of media that's really pointing that out for a lot of different reasons that I won't go into tonight. But again, there's a lot of bad things going on with violence all over the world, and it reminds me personally of the days of Noah. If we all know the story of Noah, then we're going to recognize that the days of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah, and that means every single thing of Noah's story, we will be dealing with as well. And on this conversation, we're going to, tonight, it's about violence. And again, you're going to find a very cool understanding from the living Torah, Yeshua, Jesus, on what He explained about the heart position that we have to have when we look at violence. Most of us understand this, of course, but sometimes our brethren, they do get caught up in violence with the wars and with some of these things that are going on in the Middle East.

They get caught up into these things. And I just personally don't think we should be getting caught up into these things if we listen to what Yeshua said. The Word of God said to all of us. Remember, Yeshua is the Word made flesh. So He is the living Torah who came to explain the Torah to all of us in a deeper understanding. Just like adultery, just like murder. You know, we all know what Yeshua said. It's not just about the physical act of murder or adultery. It's about the mindset and the heart posture as well. So again, this is a very important topic because I do believe that all of us need to check ourselves whenever we see a lot of violence going on and make sure that we're not being caught up in that on any kind of site, so to speak. So, the topic is violence in the Holy Scriptures, from violence to forgiveness and everlasting peace, from Cain and Lamech, to the days of Noah, to Yeshua and Peter, to the return of the Messiah and the millennial kingdom.

The central theme that we're going to discuss is the Holy Scriptures reveal a remarkable progression. Violence enters the world through Cain. Vengeance intensifies through Lamech. The earth becomes filled with violence in Noah's generation. And Yeshua calls His followers to a different way, one of forgiveness, mercy, and righteousness. Ultimately, the Messiah returns to judge the nations with a sword and fire to establish His kingdom where the nations will no longer learn war or terror. This teaching follows the biblical narrative, then the prophetic sequence, bringing together Genesis, the Prophets, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the book of Revelation. In Part One, we're going to discuss the origin of violence. I think we're all familiar with this with Cain and Abel. This is the first recorded murder that we do find in the Holy Scriptures. You can find that in Genesis 4:1-15. So, following Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden, sin begins to manifest itself in the next generation.

Cain and Abel both bring offerings before the Lord. God respects Abel and his offering, but He does not respect Cain and his offering. So, Cain becomes angry, fleshly, in the flesh. And in Genesis 4:6-7, God warns Cain about the danger of sin and tells him that he must rule over his sin, just like we must rule over the temptations that we have as well, just like Yeshua says to overcome. We must overcome these things, and that is one of them: violence. But Cain does not master his fleshly anger. Instead, he murders his brother Abel. In Genesis 4:10, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." So, this is the first recorded murder in the Holy Scriptures. Notice that innocent blood is now crying out from the ground. And just think about today, when we look at the promised land that was in the promised land that was in the Garden of Eden. Ezekiel 36 will tell you that it is the Garden of Eden.

So again, there was innocent blood shed in the promised land, and God hates that. He hates innocent blood being shed in His land. So please remember that as we look at today, what's going on with the inhabitants of the Middle East over in the promised land. We're seeing a lot of violence and a lot of innocent blood being shed over in the promised land, even in the tribe of Judah, which is where Gaza is. So, we've got to really look at this from God's angle and how He looks at these things, and look at it from His holy land. He does not want blood crying from the ground, innocent blood crying from the ground, whether it's murdering another person or whether it's abortion, or whatever it may be, that's still murder, and He does not want blood crying from the ground of the promised land. God's judgment and His mercy. After Cain murders Abel, God promises judgment upon Cain. Cain fears that someone will find him and kill him.

Then God declares in Genesis 4:15, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." So, God places a mark upon Cain to prevent others from killing him, murdering him. Here we find an important principle. God judges Cain for murder, yet He also restrains further bloodshed. The number seven frequently represents completeness and fullness in the Holy Scriptures. Sevenfold vengeance communicates the seriousness of God's warning. Although the passage does not specify exactly how such vengeance would be carried out, the teaching principle that we have is God does not permit Cain's murder to become an excuse for unrestricted retaliation and revenge. Very important. God does not permit Cain's murder to become an excuse for mankind for unrestricted retaliation and revenge. This introduces the distinction between divine judgment and personal vengeance. The supporting scriptures that we have, this is in the Torah, Deuteronomy 32:35.

This is what God told Moses to tell the people of Israel: "Vengeance is His. Vengeance is Mine and recompense." So, whose vengeance is His? He's the one who gives vengeance on our behalf. In Romans 12:17-21, this is what Paul says as well: "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men." Not some men, not just Jews or Christians, all men. That means all of mankind. "If it is possible, as much as it depends on all of us, live peacefully with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." So, this is the Lord's vengeance that He gets for us. Paul is quoting Moses, as you can see. And that's very important for our Christian friends to understand that Paul is going to quote Moses. He's not going to go against Moses; he would be a false prophet. He's going to quote Moses on every single topic because again, that is the Word of God that Moses wrote down.

And Paul was just plagiarizing and giving more wisdom to what Moses, excuse me, what God told Moses in the Torah, that vengeance is His and He will repay on our behalf if we're patient. If we don't take personal vengeance on our personal account and go do our own thing, He will get revenge for every one of us. I've seen this many ways in my life, and I'm sure you guys have as well. I've seen it go for me and against me. If I've done wrong, I've seen it come back on me. I've been done wrong, and I've seen it come back on them. I'm sure you have as well. So again, it's called the Golden Rule, and it doesn't matter who's doing it. Even the characters in the Bible, the kings, the judges, whoever it may be, if they messed up, they got dealt with because God is a God of righteousness and judgment, a righteous judge. So, we've got to make sure our principles and our values and our standards with vengeance, with revenge, go in alignment with Him.

And He says in Deuteronomy, "Vengeance is His, and recompense is His." And Paul concludes that or confirms that in Romans 12 to repay no one for evil for evil. Overcome evil with good. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on all of us, the believers, live peacefully with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. By Him, vengeance is His, and He will repay on our account. So, the principle is consistent. Humanity is accountable to God for wrongdoing, including violence, but individuals must not assume unlimited authority to retaliate or get revenge. Now, let's go to some cool tie-ins here with the characters of the Bible, and it's going to go to Yeshua as well. So, this is very important as we go through Lamech and also we go on forward to Yeshua. Lamech, from sevenfold to 77-fold vengeance. Primary scripture is Genesis 4:19-24.

Several generations after Cain, the scripture introduces Lamech, a descendant of Cain. This is not the Lamech who fathers Noah in Genesis 5; it's a different Lamech. So, Lamech takes two wives, Adah and Zillah. Genesis 4 also records developments in music and metalwork among his descendants. Then, Lamech makes a remarkable declaration to his two wives. In Genesis 4:23, he describes killing a man for wounding him and a young man for hurting him. Lamech was wounded by a young man and was hurt, and he killed him. And then Lamech declares this in Genesis 4:24: "Lamech said, 'If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.'" So, what does 77-fold mean? The Hebrew expression is *shimm Shabbah*. It means 77. So, why does Lamech use this number? Cain had received a declaration of sevenfold vengeance from God. Lamech now takes that language and magnifies it. The most natural interpretation of his poetic speech is that he is boasting of his extraordinary retaliation.

Consider the distinction between Cain and Lamech. Cain, he murdered Abel. Lamech describes killing a man who wounded him. Cain, God pronounced sevenfold vengeance for whoever kills Cain. And Lamech claims, not God, Lamech claims 77-fold vengeance for himself. And for Cain, God established protection. And Lamech, he speaks on his own behalf, not from the Most High. For Cain, further bloodshed was restrained. And in Lamech, retaliation is magnified. So, do you see the difference in what God told Cain and also what Lamech said about himself? There's a huge difference in the heart posture towards mankind. So, Lamech's statement suggests that humanity has progressed beyond the initial act of murder into the glorification of violence and vengeance. He does not merely commit violence; he speaks proudly of his capacity to retaliate. The contrast between Cain's protection and Lamech's apparent boast provides the clearest connection to the later words of Yeshua.

The teaching principle that we have is what began as murder in Cain's generation develops into escalating violence and revenge in Lamech's generation. So, the two seventh generations, Lamech and Enoch. This is just pretty interesting to note. The primary scriptures are Genesis 4 and also Genesis 5. There's another interesting pattern in the genealogies of what we're about to see. Counting Adam as the first generation, Lamech is the seventh generation through Cain. Enoch is the seventh generation through Seth. So, in Cain's line, we have Adam, Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, and then Methuselah, and then Lamech. And then Lamech speaks of the 77-fold vengeance. And then in Seth's line, we have, because Abel was murdered, and we had Seth's line after that, we have Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, and Enoch. And Enoch walks with God. So, in Genesis 5:24, it tells us that Enoch walked with God, and God took him.

So, one seventh-generation figure is associated with a declaration of vengeance. The other is associated with extraordinary fellowship with the Creator, with Elohim. Although scripture does not explicitly interpret this contrast for us, it provides a meaningful illustration of two very different responses to life in a fallen world. One reflects the multiplication of violence, which is Lamech, and then the other reflects walking in relationship with the Creator of the universe. Now, Part Two, we'll look at the earth becomes filled with violence from that point forward, and this goes into the days of Noah, and it's violence fills the earth. The primary scriptures are Genesis 6:5-13 and also Genesis 7. So, now we arrive at one of the most important connections in the entire teaching. In Genesis 4, Cain murders Abel. Several generations later, Lamech magnifies vengeance. Then Genesis 6 describes the moral condition of the world before the flood.