How old is the gospel? (ii)

Enoch prophesied saying 

"Behold the Lord comes"

Adam and Enoch lived 308 years together, but Adam did not witness Enoch’s transfiguration because he died 57 years before the transfiguration. However, Adam probably taught Enoch what he knew about Lord God and the gospel message of salvation. 

Enoch knew a lot about the coming of the Lord, of the coming of the "seed of the woman," of "Coma," the "desired one." He not only knew that the Lord was coming, via an incarnation, but knew that there would be two comings of the Lord. The coming spoken of in the above text in Jude describes his second coming. Though it is true, as many bible teachers have said, that the idea of two comings of Messiah was not clearly understood by many in ancient times, or in the old testament period, yet they nevertheless should perhaps have understood it as Enoch. 

Enoch did understand, as did Abel, that the promised seed would come first to suffer as a sacrificial lamb, and that he would suffer the penalty, as a substitute, for the sins of all who put their faith in that illustrious seed of the virgin. But he also understood that the promised Redeemer would also destroy the wicked and all who refused to place faith in God's Messiah. All of this information about the promised Redeemer was pictorially represented in the Zodiac's twelve major constellations with their Decans or side pieces. Frances Rolleston in "MAZZAROTH; or, the CONSTELLATIONS," observed:

"It has been observed that the names of the antediluvian patriarchs, as enumerated in Genesis 5 and 1 Chronicles 1, contain the whole scheme of the Gospel. The assertion has been differently explained by different expositors; all however agree in referring it to the meanings of the names in Hebrew." (See here)

This is true, and I have written on it before. (See here) The days of the week in ancient Hebrew also carry the message of the gospel. 

The question then is this - how extensive was the preaching of Enoch and the dissemination of the first gospel? Certainly the first Zodiac, with its pictures, star names, and message was widely circulated by the antediluvian peoples, who were all star gazers and astronomers. Of course, as the prophets and the apostle Paul taught in Romans chapter one, the Gentiles corrupted the true meaning of the Zodiacal signs, and the message handed down to them about the protoevangelium. 

The questions we must also ask are this - "did Enoch preach about the coming of the seed of the woman?" And, "did he preach the gospel of salvation through that promised Redeemer?" The answer of course is yes; And, it was the preaching of that gospel that was the means of salvation for those in his day, or in the days preceding the deluge. Keep in mind that Adam and Seth, because they lived long lives, lived many years during the life of Enoch. Further, the dissemination of that gospel revelation was mostly by word of mouth, or what was orally communicated throughout the world. It is possible that it was written down also, with some of what was written down being incorporated by Moses into the Genesis record, where he acted more as an editor than as a writer of his own thoughts. 

The Preaching Of Noah

"And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed." (Gen. 5: 28-29)

"Noah" means "rest." It also involves the idea of comfort, and of deliverance from toil, a toil which was part of the curse pronounced upon the human race as a result of the sin of its head Adam. Perhaps Lamech, Noah's father, thought that his son would be the Redeemer in much the same way that Eve perhaps thought of Cain, her firstborn. When Cain was born, Eve said - "I have gotten a man from the Lord," which may mean "I have gotten a man, the Lord." Of course, she was wrong, for Cain, rather than being the promised Savior turned out to be "of that wicked one." (I John 3: 12) 

Nevertheless, it is obvious that Eve, and every godly woman in the old testament time period, looked to be the mother of the promised Savior, "the desire of women." (Dan. 11: 37) But, in the case of Lamech, he too desired to see the Redeemer come, thinking perhaps that Noah would be the one. Certainly the prophetic language "the same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the LORD cursed," well applies to the Christ. Noah no doubt offered comfort to the antediluvian sinners in his preaching the gospel message of salvation by grace through faith. Lamech, had he understood the fact of the virgin birth (as he should have from the sign of Virgo) would not have thought that Noah was the desired one, seeing he was not virgin born.

It is probably the case that the Zodiac (or Mazzaroth) was completed prior to the days of Noah. Whatever gospel revelation was written in the constellations would have been known by him. He no doubt preached, like Enoch, his great grandfather, about the coming promised Redeemer, and about how all hope of salvation was through him, and how all who placed their faith in him would be redeemed. Says the apostle Peter:

"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." (II Peter 2: 5)

Like his great grandfather Enoch, Noah preached about a coming judgment, which first occurred through the global flood that destroyed all but the saved, and which will occur finally, the second time, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time. Again, however, the question is - "how extensively spread was the message of Noah?" I firmly believe that all, or nearly all, of the antediluvian peoples had heard the message of the protoevangelium, of Enoch and Noah. Why would we think that they had not? Of course, as we will see later in this series, the nations soon corrupted the message or else suppressed it, so that some peoples no longer had the pure revelation. 

The Abrahamic Revelation

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Gen. 22: 18)

"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ...What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made..." (Gal. 3: 16, 19)

This revelation made to Abraham was not a secret that Abraham kept to himself. The fact that the one who would save the world would bless all the nations with salvation, would be the seed of Abraham, was no doubt a prophecy that was reported far and wide, both in the days of Abraham and those following. Abraham became the father of many nations and this promise that the Redeemer of man would be born of his seed no doubt was orally communicated to his posterity. Those who believed in that promise were the ones who were given title to that promise. Again, however, as we have stated, many of his descendants did not believe the revelation, or else altered it by incorporating myth with it. 

In the same chapter in which the above promise was made to Abraham we have the story of God's tempting or testing of Abraham, wherein he told him to sacrifice his "only begotten son" Isaac upon the altar. We know that one of the purposes of this test was to reveal something about the promised seed, and the way in which that seed would effect redemption. It would be through his dying as a sacrifice, a truth that Abel also understood. It was also a picture of the fact that the promised Redeemer would be God's only begotten Son. 

"Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you...So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.” (22: 1-2, 6-8)

The picture of Isaac, the one born miraculously, and the only begotten son of Abraham, carrying the wood up Mt. Moriah to the place where he was to be sacrificed is a picture of Christ carrying his cross to the place of his crucifixion. Also in the story, the ram caught in the thicket was a picture of Christ. The ram was sacrificed in the place of Isaac. Isaac becomes both a picture of Christ being sacrificed and a picture of the redeemed being spared by the substitution of the ram. 

"Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son." (vs. 13)

This story with its prophetic significance would have been believed and understood by believers in Abraham's day and later. In that story the gospel was being told. 

The Prophecies of Moses

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear...I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. " (Deut. 18: 15, 18-19)

Our Lord said to those who were refusing to believe in his messiahship - "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." (John 5: 46)

Those who heard the words of Moses would have the means to believe in Christ. Did some exist in Moses' day who did not hear the words of Moses? Or did not know of the protoevangelium? Or the teachings of Enoch? Or the revelation God made to Abraham? Yes, no doubt. But, does that mean it could not be found by the seeker? No. 

How far and wide did the knowledge of the prophets, from Abel to Moses, concerning the coming of the promised Savior, reach among the inhabitants of the world? I think far more heard it than many realize. Did some not hear it in its purity? Yes. Did they then die without a chance or opportunity of being saved? Well, yes and no. But, we will deal with that in the next chapters. 

In concluding this chapter, let us consider some of the leading prophecies that came after Moses. Recall how I cited these words in the preceding chapter.

“Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days." (Acts 3: 24)

Let us then look at some of the leading prophecies of the Messiah following the days of Samuel.

The Prophecies of Later Prophets

First, David the prophet and king had much to say about the coming Messiah. Several of his Psalms are called "Messianic," such as Psalm 2, 22, etc. Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, says:

"For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ 29“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2: 25-32)

Surely the prophecies of David were added to the prophecies of the Messiah that we have already mentioned, beginning with the protoevangelium. Surely these prophecies were taught to the people of Israel by king David, as well as to his son Solomon. Further, in the days of Solomon the queen of Sheba (Ethiopia) came "from the uttermost part of the earth" to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Surely that wisdom included the various prophecies of the coming of the seed of the woman. In fact many nations learned of the wisdom of Solomon, which we can presume included Israel's sacred writings, and the prophecies of a coming Messiah. Notice these texts:

"And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom." (I Kings 4: 34)

"Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions." ( Kings 10: 1)

"And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart." (I Kings 10: 24)

“The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." (Matt. 12: 42)

Notice that the wisdom of Solomon, along with the sacred writings then available, were sought after by all the nations. As we will see in the next chapters, this was not uncommon, and so many more people were familiar with the word of God in those times than many think. 

The later prophets also spoke of the gospel message of a coming Messiah. There are many such prophecies, and we have no need to cite all of them. However, let us note just a few of the leading prophecies, or gospel messages, delivered by Isaiah. Isaiah is so full of gospel revelation that many bible teachers have called the writings of the prophet "the gospel of Isaiah."  

Isaiah the prophet gave the world several prophecies of the coming of the virgin's seed. Notice these:

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel." (Isa. 7: 14)

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (9: 6)

"Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors." (chapter 53)

Thus, we see how the old testament peoples had much gospel revelation available to them. Wrote Paul in Hebrews:

"For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them (the Hebrews who came out of Egyptian slavery); but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." (Heb. 4: 2)

The apostle Peter wrote:

"For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." (I Peter 4: 6)

On this verse Dr. Gill commented in his commentary (emphasis mine):

"the word "dead" is used in the same sense as in the preceding verse, where it manifestly signifies such who had been alive, but were now dead in a natural sense, whom Christ would judge as well as those that will be found alive when he comes; wherefore the Gospel has been preached also to them that are already dead, as well as to those who are now alive. And by these are meant, not the dead, whose souls are in hell, for to them, there, the Gospel never was, nor never will be preached, nor they saved, as Origen, and his followers, have vainly thought...for though the Gospel had been preached from the beginning, from the fall of Adam, to certain persons, and at certain periods of time, yet not to all the individuals of mankind who were then dead, especially in the Gentile world; nor the Old Testament saints in general, who were now dead, though they had the Gospel preached to them in types and figures, in promises and prophesies; nor the men in the times of Noah, to whom the Gospel was preached by him, and who, some of them, as supposed, though they were judged and punished in their bodies in the view of men, being drowned in the waters of the flood, yet repenting and believing, upon Noah's preaching to them, they live in their spirits in eternal life, according to the free mercy and grace of God; but though the Gospel was preached to them, yet they remained disobedient to it, even all of them, but Noah's family, for anything that appears; and are styled the world of the ungodly, and are now spirits in the prison of hell, and therefore cannot be said to live according to God in the Spirit..."

So, how old is the gospel? As old as the world itself. How far was it disseminated? Very far as we have seen and will yet see further in the next chapters.