And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of Jehovah (Genesis 4:26). At first glance, this verse doesn’t seem like all that much. But in fact, there are at least two great truths in this verse.
The first is the name Enosh. In Hebrew, Enosh means frail, mortal man.
This is not the most positive name you could give your child, but the significance is understood by context. By this time in man’s declining history, man fell to the serpent’s temptation to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-13) thereby receiving the element of sin and falling under God’s condemnation (Romans 5:16-19). Man was alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18), and Satan entered into man and indwelt man as sin (Romans 7:8, 11, 17, 20). Man was constituted a sinner (5:19) and became a victim of death (Romans 5:12, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:22). But man’s fall did not stop there. In Genesis 4, Cain, provoked by religious jealousy, murdered his brother Abel. After departing from the presence of Jehovah, Cain and his descendants fell into a life characterized by violence and independence from God.
And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh.
Now, it’s a little easier to see why Seth would call his son frail, mortal man. Those who feared Jehovah and believed God’s promise (Genesis 3:15) realized that man could not save himself. Man in himself was without hope (Ephesians 4:12), trapped and ensnared by the overpowering indwelling sin without a way to escape (Romans 7).
At that time men began to call upon the name of Jehovah. O Jehovah! O Jehovah!
This calling means to “call out to,” “to cry unto,” that is, to cry out audibly (Hebrew). The frailty of human existence caused a spontaneous calling upon the name of Jehovah.
Are we not Enosh? Are we not weak? Are we not in a world filled with violence and rebellion against God? Are we not in need of salvation and deliverance?
Romans 10:13 says, For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. When we call, we are saved. We are saved from sin. We are saved from our self. We are saved from the world. We are saved from our anxiety. We are saved from our stress. We are saved by calling on His name! O Lord! O Lord!
In Matthew 1:21, we find that the Lord’s name is also Jesus: and you shall His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. Jesus means Jehovah the Savior. The Jehovah that Enosh called on is Jesus! O Jesus! O Lord Jesus!
Romans 10:12 says that the Lord is rich to all who call upon Him. How rich is the Lord to those who call upon Him? In Ephesians 3:8, Paul mentions the unsearchably rich Christ. When we call on Him, we get everything that He is. Matthew 1:23 mentions that they shall call His name Emmanuel (which is translated, God with us). Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us! When we call on Him, we get God with us!
O Jehovah! O Lord! O Lord Jesus! O Emmanuel!
Have you called upon the name of the Lord today?
Truth and Experience 