The Foundation: Study in Genesis Part 8

Genesis 5 (Adam to Noah)

Begin with Prayer

An entire chapter on geneologies would seem boring at first glance. We might even be tempted to pass over it. However, I think that we will find tonight that there are many interesting things to be found in this chapter. In fact, it is an absolutely crucial chapter in the Bible. Through it, we will be able to trace the line of Christ all the way back to Adam. I would also mention that there is a longer span of history in this one chapter than any chapter in the whole Bible.

Genesis 5:1–2 NASB95

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

This is the second “account of the generations...” section (or “Toledot” in Hebrew). The first one we found was back in 2:4 which started “This is the account of the heavens and the earth...” This will begin a section tracing Adam’s lineage through Seth...his third-born son but the son who would in effect have the first born status. This is because Abel was killed by Cain, who forfeited his status as firstborn by the murder of his brother.

So in these two verses we have a summary going back to chapters 1 and 2. We have once again that God made Adam in the “likeness” or “image” of God. Verse 2 tells us that he created them male and female and he blessed them. Notice that there is no mention of the events of chapter 3 in this summary...that is the Fall of Man in the garden. Instead, it simply says that God blessed them. This is beautiful to me. Though man fell from the place of intimacy with God in the garden, there is still a blessing upon mankind. That blessing was marred but not eradicated by the Fall. Even today, no matter what man or woman we are talking about, no matter how marred by the effects of the fall, we should look at them as one who is made in the image of God.

Finally, it says that he called them Man in the day they were created. Now this might fly against some of our 21-century linguistic hang-ups. I’m glad that this version of NASB uses the word “Man” here. Most versions use “mankind”, “humanity”, or something like that. Even the “updated” 2020 version of NASB uses “mankind”. (One reason I prefer the earlier 1995 edition.) The Hebrew word here is “Adam.” Adam was both the name of the man and the name of the race. I personally think the de-genderization of the English language in the last 20-30 years is quite unnecessary.

Genesis 5:3–5 NASB95

3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. 4 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

Let’s talk about these fantastically long lifespans. It an era in which a very long lifespan is 100 years, it is hard for us to imagine that there was a time when men could live eight or nine hundred years or more.

It’s interesting to me that in ancient lore from other civilizations, these would be quite short lifespans. In the Sumerian King List, the shortest reign of a king was over 18,000 years! Obviously, I don’t think that record is true, but it does give us a glimpse of the fact that there exists in other cultures besides the Hebrew culture the memory of ancient men who lived very long lives. (There also exists records of a global flood btw)

So what accounts for these long lifespans? Some have tried to make this out as figurative language, but it doesn’t appear that way to me at all. These seem to be quite detailed geneological records. They are laid down here as matter-of-fact records, and I don’t see any reason to doubt them.

Here are a couple of ideas that may account for the very long lifespans of these human beings.

One is, that the effects of sin on the human gene pool had not yet had it’s full effect yet. Another reason could be that the world before the flood was very different from the world after the flood. It was more conducive to long lifespans. We have several clues about this. One is that there seemed to have been a blanket of water vapor surrounding the earth (we talked about this back in our talk on Genesis 1.) According to this theory, there would have been a world-wide greenhouse effect, where the temperature remained roughly the same no matter where you lived. God would not institute the seasons until after the flood, which makes me believe that there were no seasons before. This canopy could have filtered out harmful rays from the sun that certainly diminish our lifespans.

One other thing...I think these very long lifespans were necessary to populate the world quickly.

Something else interesting about this. Notice that Adam was 130 years old when he fathered Seth. How old was Eve at this time? 130! And you thought Sarah was old when she had Isaac! She was only 90! I wonder how many children Adam and Eve had together. Certainly it would have been in the dozens. Possibly even a hundred or more!

Let’s read on...

Genesis 5:6–20 NASB95

6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. 7 Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. 9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10 Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died. 12 Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. 15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. 16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. 18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. 19 Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

This seems very monotonous, but I think that is for a purpose. The script is the same for every one of these men. So and so lived so many lived, became the father of (whoever), and he had other sons and daughters. So his days were so-and-so..and he died.

Perhaps the most arresting words in each of the geneological records are these last three...”and he died.” Though to us, these men (and of course their wives...we have to assume the women were living similarly long lives) had extremely long lives, they still all ended up in the same place...the ground.

However, the script turns completely in the next record.

Genesis 5:21–24 NASB95

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Suddenly, the monotony is broken! Enoch just didn’t live as a mere man. He walked with God...for over 300 years!

Now we don’t know what the relationship of the other men in this chapter was to God. Perhaps they worshipped him in some ancient way. Adam would have actually still been around through much of this time (see the timeline). Adam could have reported to his descendants what it was to walk with God. Though they may have worshipped God, they did not walk with God. It is speculation, but it is not hard to imagine that Enoch talked with his 7th grandfather Adam. Adam could have told him what it had been like to walk with God in the garden before the Fall.

Somehow, Enoch had faith to believe that he too, though part of the fallen race, could also walk with God...And he did!

David Guzik in his Enduring Word commentary quotes Charles Spurgeon:

“If men walk contrary to God, he will not walk with them, but contrary to them. Walking together implies amity, friendship, intimacy, love, and these cannot exist between God and the soul unless the man is acceptable unto the Lord.” (Spurgeon)

“Enoch’s life has no adventures; is it not adventure enough for a man to walk with God? What ambition can crave a nobler existence than abiding in fellowship with the Eternal?” (Spurgeon)

Hebrews 11 inscribes Enoch in it’s Faith Hall of Fame. Let’s read what it has to say:

Hebrews 11:5 NASB95

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

Enoch’s walk with God was so close to God that it seems that God couldn’t stand to be without him. So he took him up. This scripture tells us the reason that he was taken up. He pleased God. He was a man of faith. This scripture leaves no doubt that Enoch didn’t die. Do you remember the other person in scripture that didn’t see death? God sent a chariot of fire to come get Elijah. Perhaps he did for Enoch as well. In some way, it was made known to everyone that Enoch was caught up to be with the Lord. There was one other Man who was caught up to heaven, btw. Who was that? Jesus was taken up to heaven in a cloud at his ascension. Though he did see death, he didn’t remain dead, did He?

There will be other men and women who won’t see death either. Who am I talking about?

1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 NASB95

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

This could be you and me!

Discussion...What do you think it means to walk with God? Any thoughts about Enoch?

A couple of other things about Enoch...We look at his lifespan of over 300 years and we would say that that was an incredibly long lifespan. Almost three times longer than the oldest man or woman alive today! Yet, compared to his peers, his life ended (at least here on earth) much sooner than anyone around him. It was only about 1/3 the lifespan of his father or of his son. We might be quick to wonder...What did he do wrong that he didn’t live as long as everyone else? Or we might say...How unfair of God to take him when he was so young?

We do this, you know. When someone we love dies as we say “before their time”, we have a tendency to question God about this. Now, this is not true of everyone, but it was true of Enoch that he was taken when he was taken because of his closeness to God. God wanted him with Him!

We have such a myopic view of life, don’t we? When we look at it from a human standpoint, someone who leaves this world “early”, has “gone too soon.” But have they? Let me ask you, what did Enoch miss? Heartache, struggle, sickness, etc. What did he gain? Listen, from Enoch’s standpoint, this was a deal of a lifetime! Can you see that we can be quite selfish about our loved ones when they leave us. If they are in Christ, they are immensely better off! Shouldn’t we be rejoicing instead of weeping! If they were in Christ, and we are in Christ, we will see them again...and our relationship with them over there will be infinitely better than our relationship here ever was!

One other things about Enoch. In Jude, we are told that he was a prophet. He fathered a son named Methuselah. As far as we know, the man who lived longer than any other man in history! One of the possible meanings of Methusaleh is “When He is Dead It Shall Be Sent.” What was sent the year that Methusaleh died? (Look at the timeline). Methusaleh would die in the year of the flood! If this meaning is accurate, then it is possible that Enoch had a vision of the worldwide flood over 900 years before it happened. He prophesied that the year that his son died, a flood would be sent over the entire world.

Let’s read the rest of the chapter:

Genesis 5:25–32 NASB95

25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. 26 Then Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. 28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. 29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.” 30 Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. 32 Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

So now we have another break from the “formula.” Enoch’s grandson Lamech (not the Lamech in Cain’s line), sired a son named Noah. The name Noah means “rest” or “comfort.” So in some way Noah was to provide rest to the ground...to the earth. This would be fulfilled in the world-wide flood we’ll be reading about next.

It’s interesting to note when we look at our timeline would have been well acquainted with his grandfather Methusaleh. Certainly, Methuselah would have told Noah about his great-grandfather Enoch, who walked with God. Perhaps, this would have put it in Noah’s heart that he too could walk with God. Even more astounding, look on the timeline at how recently Adam had died before Noah was born. I googled this and it said it there was only 126 years between Adam’s death and Noah’s birth. How about this...Adam’s son Seth was still alive when Noah was born! Noah could have actually talked with Seth about Adam’s walk with God.

One more thing...

What do these genealogies tell us? What is the purpose? Let us understand that for every person listed in this genealogy, there were many thousands...probably millions that weren’t listed. Why did God choose to list these men? It was to trace the line of Seth all the way to Noah. Ultimately though, it was to trace the ancestry of Jesus Christ. In Luke 3, we have a geneology of Jesus Christ that goes all the way back to Adam. It uses this genealogy from Genesis 5.

In a sense, Genesis is a story of separating light from darkness...This in fact is one of the great themes of the Bible. We have this in Genesis 1 in which God separated the light from the darkness on the first day of creation. We have in the line of Cain and the line of Seth two representative lines. There were many others. The line of Cain represented darkness. Though Cain’s descendants performed many impressive acts, in the end they were a people of the darkness. We see this in Lamech’s boast that he killed a boy, which we read about last week. The line of Seth represents light. Ultimately, it represents the great descendant of Seth, Enoch, and Noah, Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the World!

End with prayer