Genesis 5:1-32 "The Family of Adam"

Good Evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 5. Gen 5:1-32 this evening. We are going to cover the entire chapter tonight as this chapter is a genealogy…

Last time in Genesis 4… we also looked at that time from Fall leading up to Flood in two Genealogies:

First, beginning in V16: The genealogy of Cain:

Cain: heads east… away from God.

To the Land of Nod (wandering)

God declared Cain would wander, so he builds a city and names his son Enoch and names the city Enoch… meaning “dedicated or consecrated.”

And, between these two acts… it appears Cain is thumbing his nose at God… rebelling against God’s words that Cain would wander…

As Cain seeks to settle down… heading east away from Eden… and dedicating his son and city to a way without God.

This is the Way of Cain. And, many today still walk that path of rebellion and life without God.

Cain’s family and descendants were industrious in agriculture, and music, and metallurgy.

This once strong antediluvian society… this “before the deluge” meaning “flood”… society… thrived by the worlds standards, but would not last… the deluge… the flood would come and wash away their wickedness and record from history.

In Psalm 49, the Psalmist reflects upon the Confidence of the Foolish… who trust in wealth and not God… and writes in…

Psalm 49:5–10 “Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— 8 For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever— 9 That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit. 10 For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others.”

I love how the Psalmist calms his heart in his days of evil… by centering his mind on an eternal perspective.

Which is a relevant word for today.

The societies before the flood made great worldly progress, but it was without God… and would not last… not temporally… not eternally.

We saw their wickedness through the proclamation of Lamech … the first poem in the Bible… who boasted about his vengeance being far more severe than what God laid upon Cain.

And, men… left to their own… without restraint of law…

“everyone did what was right in his own eyes”…

Which is actually quoted in Deut 12:8; Judges 17:6, 21:25… because mankind is drawn to wickedness and lawlessness.

Societies quickly degrade morally… we have witnessed how quickly that can occur… even in our own lifetimes.

By Gen 6… the analysis of the anti-diluvian society is this “… the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)

BUT, there remains hope. And, at the end of Gen 4… we were introduced to the Sethites.

Seth names his son “Enosh” meaning “mortal frailty”… a recognition of the condition of mankind and our deep spiritual need.

The genealogy of Seth, and Chapter 4 ends with the hopeful words, “Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.”

Tonight, we pick up in Genesis 5 which is not just Adam‘s genealogy but it’s truly ALL of our genealogy… for we all are descendants of Adam…

This is our family tree… we all trace back to Adam.

When we read Luke 3… Jesus’ genealogy… we know that we share common ancestry with Jesus (at least from Noah to Adam).

Interesting perspective.

So, again here in Genesis 5… this Genealogy stretches from Adam to Noah and his sons…

Then from Noah’s sons… diverse Nations would again begin to form on the earth.

If you connect the Genealogy in Genesis 11 portraying Shem’s descendants… you can extend the genealogy from Shem (Noah’s son) to Abram… (which Luke 3:36 confirms is Jesus’ ancestry).

And, as a reminder… a key purpose for genealogies in the Bible… are so that we can see the genealogy of Jesus who stretches through David and Abraham…

… which was important to fulfill biblical prophecy and the covenants that God made with Abraham and David that through their seed would come the Messiah.

Genesis 5 is also a transitional chapter to introduce Noah who will become the central character in Genesis chapters 6-10.

Well… let’s take a look at Chapter 5 of Genesis in a message titled, “The Family of Adam.”

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read through the first five verses of our passage tonight… the first five verses as a representative of the whole… and then we will circle back to the remaining verses as we expound.

Genesis 5 “This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Genesis 5 is the genealogy… genealogy meaning “generations”… toledot in Hebrew.

Sometimes this same Hebrew word is translated as “history” or “generations” and some scholars outline Genesis following this word since there are noticeable shifts in the Book when a new toledot is introduced.

The first toledot section is from 2:4-4:26… Here we are introduced to the second toledot section 5:1-6:8… to link the generations from Adam to Noah.

It’s recorded in V1 that God made man in His own likeness.

Mankind was made in God’s image and likeness in Eden…

And in V2 we are reminded God made them male and female… two genders… not gender fluidity as the world promotes… which is a delusion and a lie.

On Sunday, we enter Romans 12 where Paul exhorts, “… do not be conformed to this world...”

The world today, and the world in Genesis was under the sway of the evil one… Satan… who continuously whispers in the ears of mankind, “Did God really say?”

But in the beginning it was not so. When God made man in His image and likeness… this was during the Age of Innocence… and V2 reflects that time… God blessed them… created them… named them.

But, then as Adam transgressed and Eve was deceived by Satan… they disobeyed the command of God… ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil… and the curse fell upon mankind.

Which is reflected in V3… at the age of 130 Adam begot a son (Seth)… and note Seth was in the likeness of and image of Adam.

V1 said Adam was in the likeness of God. Seth in V3 in in the likeness of Adam.

And, what this reflects is the fallen nature of mankind.

Romans 5:12 speaking about Adam states, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—”

Romans 5:14 reads, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

Seth was born after the fall… and Seth… and every person throughout history knows that they are a descendant of Adam IF they die.

If you die, you are a physical descendant of the first Adam because as Romans 5 states death entered the world through Adam.

Heb 9:27 states, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment...”

Every person has an appointment with death… and then we meet our Creator.

In fact, as we read through the genealogy of Adam… 8x we will read “and he died.”

No where else in the bible is that phrase repeated so often… and it stands as a testimony of the fallen nature of mankind… and the connection to Adam.

If you are only a physical descendant of Adam… the appointment with death and Creator God… will be the worst appointment you’ve ever had.

All people upon closing their eyes for the last… have one of two epitaphs…

“And he died and went to heaven.”

Or, “And he died and went to hell.”

There’s only two realities for eternity.

Fortunately, there is hope… there is a one whom we can trust in… who lands us in heaven… the Second Adam.

1 Corinthians 15:47–49 declares, “The first man was of the earth, made of dust [Adam]; the second Man [the Second Adam- Jesus Christ ] is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

Now… this heavenly promise is not automatic… not all people shall bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Paul was writing to believers who he assumed had trusted in the second Man. Jesus Christ.

In John 3… Jesus instructed one of the most prominent religious leaders of Israel (Nicodemus)… in John 3:3 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus was confused what “born again” meant… and Jesus clarified that this is a spiritual birth. All mankind is born physically… so too must they be born spiritually.

And, how does that happen… Jesus said to Nicodemus… John 3:14–15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus would be lifted up at the cross… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world… and ‘whoever believes in Him should not perish [in hell] but have eternal life [in heaven].”

This is spiritual birth… born again… bearing the image of the heavenly man… being judged as faithful… hearing “Well done good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Lord.”

Since the fall… we have no choice but to born in the image and likeness of our father Adam… fallen.

But, praise God for Jesus… “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

There is hope. He is the second Man… the second Adam… and faith in Him saves.

Well back in Genesis… Adam names his son Seth… who his third son… Cain… Abel, then Seth.

Seth means “appointed.” And, he was named this as stated in Genesis 4:25 “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”

And, the thought of Adam and Eve here seems to reflect the seed promise in Genesis 3:15… the Protoevangelium… the first Gospel… where God promised “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

The seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent. A promise of a Messiah… a Savior to come.

So… it seems clear that Adam and Eve lived in expectation of that promised Seed to come (which is called the Doctrine of Imminency)… and many people have lived in every generation with a similar expectation.

We have every reason to live that way now. With Israel founded as a nation in 1948… with signs of the times… there is nothing prophetically more that needs to happen for Jesus to return.

Eyes and heart up Christian… our Salvation draws neigh.

Well back in Genesis… we see in V4 that Adam had other sons and daughters… how many we don’t know… their genealogies we don’t know…

Because the Bible records history… or perhaps we can pronounce that same word HIS story.

The Bible is a book about Jesus Christ and the History of Redemption. HIS story of Redemption.

So, the other sons and daughters need not have their records recorded, because it is through the line of Seth that our Savior came.

In V5, we observe Adam lived 930 years…

We hear of someone living to 93 years and we think, “Wow… that’s a good long life!” Adam lived 10x as long.

Just imagine how long it took to blow out all their birthday candles?

And, the amount of spit spray… all over the cake… it just disgusting. Who would eat cake after that?

People would! I guarantee it.

When we were departing the Philippines, we bought cake and ice cream… and I observed about 10 kids… including my own… mopping up the melted ice cream and licking their hands… and going back for more…

It was a double dipping disgusting mess.

Made me want to vomit.

Critics scoff at these old ages of Genesis 5 in disbelief. Or try to explain away “years” as months… though the Hebrew word for years/ “shanah” means “annual” and always is translated as years… never as months.

Yet… skeptics develop theories because they cannot just believe the Bible at face value.

I am well pleased to not understand all that there is about the Bible and God.

I don’t feel inclined to doubt the eternal things of God that I read about in the Bible just because I can’t explain them…

And if I could explain all that there is in the Bible… that would be sad.

How can the finite explain the infinite?

How can the creation explain the creator?

How can we who are in time adequately explain eternity?

Read God’s conversation with Job in Job 38-41 when God answers Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?”

And then God lays for a series of rhetorical questions to Job like “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

And God asks Job about 66 like questions to Job.

And Job is humbled replying, “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.”

We may not understand all the ways of God… or all the reasons why… but we know His ways and thoughts are higher than ours…

On Sunday, we just read Paul bursting forth in praise of God proclaiming “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” (Rom 11:33-34)

God’s plans and purposes throughout time… in the history of redemption… stretch far beyond the capacity of our understanding.

But… even the things we do understand… should cause our hearts to praise God like Paul.

So, as we come to this reality in Gen 5… where numerous people lived long lives… and average age of 857.5 years (thank you Grok AI).

We can doubt and try to explain that away… or consider that something must have been different in the gene pool… or environment where long life was sustained then… but through time… now life expectancy has declined to 73 years globally and 78.4 years in the U.S.

So, what was different about the world between the fall and the flood?

Well… to answer that question, we must look to the key reliable record we have of that time… and that is the Bible.

Though, Answers in Genesis notes that there are similar claims of long life spans found in the secular literature of several ancient cultures (Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Indians, Chinese).

And, these cultures also have a flood record as well.

The details are different from the Bible, but the big picture of long lives and a flood are testified of even in secular cultures.

But, for a Biblical explanation… Henry Morris writes, “… much of the earth’s waters were stored “above the firmament” in the form of a vast blanket of invisible water vapor, which produced a marvelous “greenhouse effect” over the earth’s entire surface. This, in turn, produced a uniformly mild, warm climate everywhere all year long, with no wind and rain storms. There were extensive land surfaces, covered with lush vegetation and an abundant animal life, all over the world.”

In the history of the heavens and the earth… in Genesis 2:5–6 we read, “For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”

… giving us some sense of the difference in climate during those early days.

Morris goes on to discuss higher atmospheric pressures… and the radiation-filtering effect of the vapor canopy to extend life.

Morris goes on to say, “In addition, of course, the pristine purity of the human genetic system and its bloodstream, with so few accumulated mutant genes, together with the primeval absence of disease-producing organisms (which only gradually developed, through the outworking of the curse) from the originally created beneficent microorganisms, served also to maintain life through great age-spans.”

The depth of this topic is far greater than this mile high fly over… Answers in Genesis goes much deeper and presents alternate theories… so check out their website for deeper digging.

One chart I saw on their website definitely linked the decline in ages with the flood.

Long life dramatically decreases when rain first falls at the time of the flood.

And… ultimately God’s word is upheld… for He told Adam “… of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

Let’s read through vv 6-20 to get a sense of the flow of this genealogy and then discuss a few more observations:

Gen 5:6-20 “Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. 7 After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had 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 begot Cainan. 10 After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died. 12 Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13 After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died. 15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. 16 After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had 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 begot Enoch. 19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.”

Notice that this genealogy is not just a list of names, but also a list of ages. The genealogy here in Gen 5 (From Adam to Noah) and the Genealogy in Gen 11 (From Noah to Abram)… are unique in that they include a long list of ages and names.

If you look at Jesus’ genealogy in Matt or Luke… only names are listed… no ages.

So, what is the purpose of including ages?

Well… one thought is that by listing the ages, it gives us the ability to calculate the age of the earth.

Young Earth Bible Scholars for a long time have taken this data and using this data have calculated the earth to be about 6000 years old.… not 4.5 billion years old.

Also, take a look at this Table of Antediluvian Patriarchs…

Which is a summary by Morris of the names of the patriarchs in Genesis 5… their year of birth and year of death and when they birthed the next patriarch.

Of particular interest… is Adam lived from the year 1 to 930… not B.C. which counts backwards from Christ, but the first 930 years of existence!

And, he wasn’t a caveman murmuring “Oingo Boingo”… or “Me Adam… You Eve.” He was intelligent and gave names to all the animals. Names we still use today.

And, Adam was still alive when Lamech (the Father of Noah) was born in 874.

In fact Lamech was 56 years old when Adam died.

So, Adam… in his great intelligence… could have communicated to Lamech a first hand account of creation, Eden, the fall, Cain & Abel.

And, Lamech being Noah’s father could have passed this information to him…

Astonishingly, there was only one person between Adam and Noah for the oral tradition to be passed down.

Of course, some time later God inspired Moses (after 1500 B.C.) to write the Torah… the first five books of the Bible.

And, Moses did not need to fully rely on Oral Tradition… Moses had a pretty good uplink with God directly… so what we have recorded in our Bibles… truly is the most reliable account of the beginning.

More than science which keeps changing methods and what’s accurate… and the age of the earth keeps getting older and older.

Actually in the Late 1700s, scientist held the earth was indefinitely old based upon Hutton’s geological observations.

Then in the 1860s–1890s, the earth got younger… just 20–400 million years based upon Kelvin’s cooling model.

Then in the Early 1900s, the earth got older… about 1.6 billion years old based upon early radiometric dating.

Then in the 1930s–1950s the earth got older… about 4–4.5 billion years based on refined radiometric dating.

Which is criticized as inaccurate by creation scientists.

Currently, the modern scientific consensus from the 1950s–Present is the earth is 4.54 billion years.

So, scientists had shifted the age of the earth at least 5 times.

But they will be set straight… Jesus is coming on the clouds… He will set all things in order.

vv 21-24 are of particular interest in the genealogy as they mention Enoch… we read in vv 21-24 “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

As we read about many of the fathers of this age… we read the basic information about name, age, etc., but Enoch has a footnote that Enoch walked with God a good long time… and then “he was not, for God took him.”

And, Jude, records this of Enoch: Jude 14–15 “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men [contextually “Apostates”] also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.””

Enoch was a preacher and a prophet… observing the apostates of his age… those living by the Way of Cain… and he prophesied against them…

AND… amazingly prophesied about the Second Coming of Christ, where the Lord would return with ten thousands… which is not 10,000, but much larger… even incalculable…

Revelation 1:7 of Jesus declares, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

Speaking about His second coming Revelation 19:14 declares “And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.”

That’s you and I and all believers throughout the generations.

Count them… ten thousands of saints! It will be glorious.

Have you thought of a name for your horse?

I’m thinking “Triumphator” for mine… reflecting victory… the conquering of evil… and one who carries a divine warrior.

So, I’ve claimed that name… don’t steal it.

You can have Fidelis, Veritas, Zion, Gloriam… all good names.

I’ll be disappointed if you land on a name like “Homer”, “Bucky”, “Sparkles”, or “Gizmo.”

Don’t do that. There’s nothing glorious in those names.

Anyhow… back to Enoch… Enoch had a glimpse of this somewhere in the first 622-987th years of the world being formed. Way back in the beginning… prophets knew of the Second Coming of Christ!

Enoch lived a short life of just 365 years compared to his contemporaries, but this was because “God took him.”

God “took him” not in death, but in life.

Hebrews 11:5 declares, “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

God took him… or transported Enoch to heaven… raptured him… and did so because Enoch was a man of faith… and so Enoch could stand as a type for future times.

Three key people of faith during this age and reflected in the Heb 11 passage were Abel, Enoch, and Noah.

Abel for his worship… Enoch for his walk… and Noah for his witness.

Pink said, “Enoch’s walk of faith must precede Noah’s witnessing by faith; and this, in turn, must be preceded by Abel’s worship of faith.”

MacDonald wrote, “The word walk [V24] implies a steady, progressive relationship and not just a casual acquaintance. To walk with God is the business of a lifetime, and not just the performance of an hour.”

Hebrews 11:6 declares, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

The greatest recorded act in any of our lifetimes is the act of faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith in Jesus Christ is what allows us to come to God. This is what pleases God… more than any other thing.

To believe in the love of God… that He sent His Son for us… to redeem us back into relationship with Him.

God rewards those who trust in Jesus with eternal life… and without faith… “it is impossible to please [God].”

The word of God is clear. It’s black and white. It’s narrow thinking and easy to understand… even for a child.

You must decide what to do with Jesus. Trust and believe… or reject… and inaction is rejection.

Enoch was a man of faith… and very interesting… he did not die as a result.

Which raises two very interesting types or typologies.

One… Enoch is a type for the church… taken, transported… we’d say “raptured” before the coming Judgment.

The flood in his time… the tribulation in our time.

Jesus exhorted the faithful church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

A clear rapture reference.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up [Gk. harpazo, Latin rapio… in verb form rapturo… in English Rapture] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. [We meet Him in the air… He doesn’t touch down on earth and split the Mount of Olives in two as He does in the Second Coming] And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

It’s not comforting to go through the tribulation of God.

1 Thes 5:9 declares “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ...”

Believers do not have an appointment with the wrath of God.

Trials in life… persecution from man… fiery darts from the enemy… sure.

But, not God’s wrath.

Enoch stands as a type for the church for he was taken prior to the worldwide judgment of God.

Noah is a type for Israel who was preserved through the flood… just as Israel will be preserved through the tribulation.

Great typologies here for the pre-tribulation rapture eschatological position.

The other type is that of the Two Witnesses of Rev 11.

Enoch and Elijah did not die, both were taken and all men have an appointment with death once.

As we read in Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”

Less is known about Enoch, but we’ve already seen he had a prophetic ministry and was in tune with the Second Coming… and prophesied against evil doers of his day.

Other Scholars like the Moses and Elijah as the Two Witnesses…

Moses portraying the Law, and Elijah the Prophets.

Both had ministries with marvelous signs and wonders.

Both were at the Transfiguration (Matt 17; Mark 9; Luke 9)

In Jude 9 “Michael the archangel… [contended] with the devil… [disputing] about the body of Moses...”

Why was that? Was this because that body would be raised again in Rev 11 as a Witness?

I don’t know.

I just know the arguments… and I go back and forth.

Today, I’m on team Enoch and Elijah. Who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow.

God has it. He knows who His Two Witnesses are, and He made the right choice.

Let’s finish this chapter reading vv 25-32 “Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 26 After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

Making him the oldest recorded person in the Bible.

Also notice that he had sons and daughters who were the Uncles and Aunts of Noah… family members who did not get into the Ark. They rejected Noah’s message and perished in the flood. Very sad.

Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” (Matt 13:57)

Jesus marveled at the unbelief of His countrymen in Nazareth.

Familiarity so often breeds contempt…

It’s not easy to witness to one’s close friends and family.

But, don’t lose heart… God opens doors when the timing in right.

I’ve been blessed to share the gospel with my parents, one of my brothers, and my best friend growing up.

And, all of them agreed that they believe in Jesus.

My best friend growing up, received the gospel… and died 9 months later at age 41.

That was a divine appointment indeed.

V28 “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.” 30 After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” [whom we will study in the chapter ahead and will see diverging nations springing from them.]

But, as we go through all the names in the Family of Adam… and look at the meanings behind their names, there is a message conveyed to us… which is the Gospel message hidden in the meaning of the names.

Perhaps you have heard this before and maybe not?

You’re going to hear it now… but let me first say, not all people agree with this, because names can have more than one meaning…

… and the meanings behind names and even the spelling can be a bit elusive… Cainan especially is tricky. Some prefer the spelling “K.e.n.a.n.” And the meaning is debated.

So, I won’t die on this hill, but I can see the gospel here. I personally looked up all these names in “The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names” and looked at Chuck Missler’s interpretations as well… and here’s what we get:

Adam… means “man.”

Seth… means “appointed.”

Enosh… means “mortal, feeble, or man in his frailty”

Kenan… means “one acquired”… Missler states the name can mean “sorrow, dirge, or elegy”.

Mahalalel… means “praise of God” or “God is splendor” or “Blessed God”

Jared… means “descent, descending or shall come down.”

Enoch… means “teacher, teaching or initiated”

Methuselah means “when he is dead it shall be sent”… Missler in looking at the root words translates his name, “his death shall bring”.

And, his name may indicate that Enoch was given a prophecy of the coming flood and when Methuselah died the flood would be sent.

Just a theory… debatable.

Lamech- as I look it up means “powerful; one who overthrows.” Swindoll has root of the name meaning “Lament” or “despairing.”

This is another debatable name.

Finally, Noah… meaning “rest or comfort.”

So… let’s pull up our slide of all these names and see how if we weave the meanings of the names of Adam to Noah together we can read the Gospel in the names of Genesis 5…

“Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.”

I read that and it just gives me goose bumps every time.

A hidden Gospel message in the genealogy of Genesis 5.

Again, not a hill I would die on, but very interesting indeed.

Notice in V29 that Lamech names his son Noah, and says, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”

Noah’s name implies one who would give rest… and again we are reminded of the doctrine of imminency…

Lamech reflected upon the curse… and it would appear his hope was that his son would fulfill Gen 3:15.

The reality that Adam could have directly told Lamech about the Gen 3:15 prophecy further supports this thought.

If that hope was in your heart, why would you not name your son reflecting this hope?

Every generation hopes for a Savior… a Messiah to come who will bring comfort or rest.

Lamech seems as though his heart was postured to be ready and waiting for the coming One…

His soul longed for rest and comfort from the cursed world around him.

(worship team please come)

Today, many of us feel the same.

Some people look for a savior in the wrong things… they look to the world… and that’s the broad path that leads to destruction.

Let’s close with this familiar exhortation from Jesus as He taught is the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7:13–14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Blessed are you if you have trusted in Jesus… for you have found life… and comfort… and rest.

In this life now… and for all eternity.

Amen? Let’s pray!

If you need prayer for anything, please see us before you go.

“The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.” ’

God bless you as you close out this week.