The time of Enosh was the third generation of mankind. Here we see a further advance in vision. The fallen man discovered that he was a frail being, that he was nothing, could do nothing, and had nothing. He was as vain, frail, and empty as a puff of air. He needed reality, and reality is only God Himself. Hence, Enosh began to call on the name of Jehovah in hope of receiving reality from Him. In Exodus 3:15 God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial from generation to generation.” This indicates that the name of Jehovah is the name of the Triune God. Therefore, for man to call on the name of Jehovah means to receive the Triune God into him to be his enjoyment and supply. For Enosh to call on the name of Jehovah means that he saw a greater vision. He realized that not only must the fallen man seek covering in God’s righteousness through the shedding of the sacrificial blood, and not only must he trust in the coming One for the destruction of the enemy according to His revealed way, but this same fallen man must call on the name of Jehovah out of his vanity, nothingness, destitution, and impotence and live by the enjoyment of God’s riches and supply. This indeed is a further advance in vision.
Then came Enoch. He inherited Adam’s vision, Abel’s vision, and Enosh’s vision, but he went on to see that he could not be separated from God. He needed to walk with God moment by moment. This is another vision. Enoch walked with God and did not see death (Heb. 11:5). He not only escaped the punishment of sin and the snare of transgressions but was spared of death itself. In other words, by walking with God he was walking with the tree of life and was able to enjoy the tree of life because God is the very tree of life. Hence, we see a further progression of vision in the case of Enoch.
We have to believe that Noah at his time inherited Adam’s vision, Abel’s vision, Enosh’s vision, and Enoch’s vision. In addition, he received a further vision himself. In Genesis 6, God showed him clearly that the age was altogether evil. God wanted to give up and destroy that generation, and He wanted Noah to build an ark. Noah was living not only under the visions of Adam, Abel, Enosh, and Enoch; he was not only the heir of all these visions but was living, working, and serving under a greater vision which he saw with his own eyes. For this reason, we can say that Noah’s life, work, and service were totally governed by the vision.
We can believe that at the time of Noah, there were more than his family of eight people who were fearing God. Although the Bible does not say anything about this, we can deduce it from history. Surely there were other people who were worshipping God and serving Him. However, no matter how many people were worshipping God at that time, according to the record of the Bible, they were worshipping and serving apart from any vision. Only Noah and his family of eight were serving under a vision. This is very clear.
At the time of Abraham, we see a more expansive and far-reaching vision. Abraham saw that one of his descendants would rise up and become a blessing to the nations. We can believe that Abraham did not drop the visions of Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, and Noah. He inherited all these visions and was living under them. Yet he went on and saw a more expansive and far-reaching vision. After Abraham, we have Isaac. In Isaac we see a person who fully inherited Abraham’s vision. Jacob was also an heir. After these three persons we have Joseph. In Joseph we have another vision. Through Egypt the entire earth was blessed. Joseph was a type of Christ. He was a descendant of Abraham, yet he became the chief minister who managed all the food supply in Egypt. During the seven years of famine over the whole world, everyone came to Egypt and to Joseph for food. Hence, in Joseph we see a person through whom the entire earth was blessed. This is a picture of Christ ministering to and blessing the whole earth.
Moses also saw a vision. He saw the tabernacle and the ordinances regarding the offerings and other matters, which we cannot describe here in detail. Joshua inherited from Moses and saw something further in the way of a vision. He led the Israelites into Canaan and inherited the good land. During the time of the judges, there were visions after visions, until the time of Samuel. Samuel was also a man of vision, and he served according to the vision that he saw. Through him the age was changed from the confused age of the judges to the age of the kingdom. At the same time that Samuel was on earth, another person appeared on the scene—Saul. He was a king anointed by Samuel, yet he was not living by the vision. Another person who inherited from Samuel was David. He was a man living under the vision.
Beginning from the time of his reign, Solomon and his descendants gradually departed from all the visions. Nearly none of the kings during the age of the kings served according to a vision. Instead, they followed the custom of the nations. Under such circumstances God raised up the prophets. These prophets were not only living under a vision; they actually received visions. For this reason, the prophets were also called seers. Not only did they prophesy and speak for God; they saw vision after vision in a definite way and served according to these visions. At that time the kings had all departed from the visions that God had imparted to His people; as a result, the prophets were raised up to correct and adjust them. They turned the kings back from the things contrary to the visions to a service that was once again under the visions. This is the story of the kings in the age of the kings.
The last two books of the Old Testament are Zechariah and Malachi. Both have certain rich utterances concerning Christ. They are the conclusion of the revelation concerning Christ in the Old Testament. There are three ways by which the Old Testament speaks about Christ—clear declarations, types, and prophecies. All these revelations concerning Christ come to a conclusion in the books of Zechariah and Malachi. They conclude everything. These two books speak much concerning Christ. This is the conclusion of the Old Testament.