The Way Of The Righteous

by G. PRASHER, SR. | Category: General | Jun 1962

"The LORD knoweth the way of the righteous

But the way of the wicked shall perish " (Psalm 1. 6).

The first Psalm fittingly introduces a Book which presents from such varied aspects the fundamental theme of God's dealings with men in accordance with their attitude of heart to Him. There are those who walk with God, refusing fellowship with evil, and delighting in His revealed word. Theirs is the blessing. There are those who walk in the counsel of the wicked, who progress in evil, and who are "like the chaff which the wind driveth away." So it has been in all generations-the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. So it is today. We do well to exhort one another, so long as it is called Today, that our feet may be kept in the way of the righteous.

The Holy Spirit has remarkably compressed the history of about 1,426 years into some 80 verses between Genesis 5.8 and 5.82. In this portion of the sacred writings we are presented with God's assessment of mankind's story through a long epoch, a period about the same as from the Exodus to Christ. The method of presentation is striking. To verse 24 of chapter 4 is God's record of the way of the wicked. Then follows the record of certain men of the Seth line. It is as though God has written a brief summary of the dispensation from Eden to the Flood, calling upon us to read well the lessons as they apply in warning and encouragement to our time.

THE WAY OF THE WICKED.

"Cain went out from the presence of the LORD" (Genesis 4.16).

This fearful sentence governs all that follows in the divine view of Cain's posterity. God had entreated Cain. Refusing grace, he was hardened further in sin until in deliberate defiance and self-will he went out from God's presence. Terrible step! comparable to what we read of Judas: "He went out ... and it was night." Out from God's presence into the darkness of his own thoughts and ways! Out from God's presence to a land of wandering! So must it be for all who in this way turn their back upon God, going in the way of Cain. "Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up."

Left to their own devices, those of Cain's line find no further mention in the purposes of God. We are told of their material prosperity. In their own eyes it was doubtless a period of progress, for the word takes note of their skills in handling cattle, the forging of cutting instruments of brass and iron, the development of musical instruments. Immersed in such pursuits, their proud civilization doubtless advanced by leaps and bounds. Yet what was it all to end in? Utter destruction! "They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away." For "the wicked shall not stand in the judgement."

Today we live in an era of unprecedented material progress. In every realm of achievement, the sciences, industry, agriculture and the arts, human endeavour opens out new frontiers. The believer of the twentieth century may all too easily be infected by the spirit of the age. Yet to what is all this material " progress " leading ? Ultimately to utter destruction! "The day of the Lord will come in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the

works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3.10). Soberly let us face the truth: "The things that are seen are temporal."

Beneath the veneer of antedeluvian prosperity God's word exposes the spiritual depravity of Cain's line. It is illustrated in the words of Lamech to his wives (4.28, 24). Boasting of having murdered some and wounding others, Lamech defiantly arrogates to himself the provision which God had made for Cain after the murder of Abel. So sin found its progressive outworking from generation to generation until "God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his; way upon the earth." The process is inevitable. Abandoning a divine revelation, men soon have no fear of God before their eyes, and delude themselves that they will not be accountable in judgement. Thence flows unrestrained immorality and violence. Is the tragic pattern not all too apparent in our own generation? Is not the history of the antedeluvian era repeating itself in this era, which will culminate in that most dreadful climax of human iniquity at the time of the end? God grant us eyesalve that we may see the history of our own generation as He sees it!

THE WAY OF THE RIGIITEOUS.

Through the centuries of spiritual darkness from Adam until Noah, God preserved the feet of God-fearing men who were given grace to walk in " the way of the righteous." Their record stands imperishable (Genesis 4.25-5.82). Ten generations of men, living to advanced ages, preserved the truths of divine revelation so far imparted by God. Here the Spirit breathes not a word about material prosperity or natural achievement. The accent is on spiritual values. What moved Seth to call his son "Enosh," signifying "frail mortal man?" (4.26). Does it not reflect the chastened God-fearing spirit of one who recognizes the inherent weakness of the flesh through sin? Was there not the realization that only by divine grace in a man's life could God be glorified?

On through the generations of Kenan, Mahalalel and Jared the inspired history leads us, on until Adam had completed his sixth century. Then Enoch was born, and he shines out with the brilliance of the morning star even in this remarkable group. Four points from Enoch's experience may helpfully be referred to:

(1)He walked with God.

(2)He had witness borne to him that he had been well-pleasing to God (Hebrews 11.5).

(8)He is the first prophet of whom the Bible speaks. For not only did he by faith predict that the flood would come when his son Methuselah died, but we read in Jude 14 of his striking prediction of divine judgement.

(4)He had the distinction of being translated that he should not see death.

Here is example and inspiration for our time! We too may walk with God. This is God's simple, basic requirement for each of us (see Micah 6.8). It implies submission to His will, listening to His voice and communion in prayer. So by faith we shall be well-pleasing to Him. What more could we wish for in "that day" to come, than to find that God had received pleasure through our walk with Him? Then who more than ourselves should seek a Spirit-given awareness of prophetic truth in our time? For we live in a day of fast-ripening purposes, when modem history begins to dovetail into the pattern of things so long ago foretold in regard to the time of the end. Finally there is the hope set before us that Enoch-like we also may not taste of death if our Lord should fulfil His promised return to the air for the saints in this generation.

"Remove from me the way of falsehood " (Psalm 119. 29).

"Make Thy way plain before my face" (Psalm 5.8).

Quicken Thou me in Thy way" (Psalm i19. 87, A.V.).

"Lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139. 24).

G. PRASHER, SR. | Jun 1962
General