Walking with God in a dying world

Genesis 5:1–2 KJV 1900

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Genesis 5:21–24 KJV 1900

21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Genesis 5:28–29 KJV 1900

28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29 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.

Introduction

Genesis 5 is part of the 'primeval history' section (Genesis 1-11), which sets the stage for God's covenant with Israel. While it describes events from the earliest periods of human history, its final compilation and significance derive from a later context, likely during the time of Moses (15th-13th century BCE) or perhaps refined during the exilic/post-exilic periods.

At the time of its composition for the Israelites, they were either newly freed from Egyptian bondage, wandering in the wilderness, or later settling in Canaan. Politically, they were forming a distinct nation under God's direct leadership, contrasting sharply with the powerful, polytheistic empires surrounding them like Egypt and Mesopotamia. Socially, the emphasis was on establishing their identity, their lineage, and their unique relationship with the one true God.

Genealogies were not merely dry lists of names in the ancient Near East; they were foundational documents. For the original audience, understanding one's ancestry was crucial for establishing identity, social standing, land rights, and tribal affiliation.

This chapter, explicitly titled 'The Book of the Generations of Adam,' underscored its authoritative and foundational nature. It served to validate the lineage of humanity from creation and, more importantly for the Israelite audience, traced the line through which God's promises would eventually be fulfilled, leading to Abraham and ultimately to their own nation. This meticulous record-keeping demonstrated a cultural valuing of heritage and historical continuity.

The original audience would have immediately grasped the critical importance of this genealogy. Far from being a boring list, it authenticated their origins, tracing humanity's roots directly to Adam, created by God. This provided a foundational narrative for their identity as a people descended from those whom God had created and sustained. The repetitive phrase 'and he died' would have resonated powerfully, serving as a stark, constant reminder of the consequences of sin introduced in Genesis 3 and the universal dominion of death over humanity, highlighting the fallen nature of the world. In a culture acutely aware of mortality, this refrain underscored a profound theological truth about the human condition.

Genesis 4 ended by telling us:

“Then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Gen 4:26)

Now Genesis 5 traces the line of those people.

The line of Seth.

This is the family line that will lead eventually to:

Noah

Abraham

David

and ultimately Jesus Christ.

But Genesis 5 emphasizes something else. It is the story of death spreading through humanity.

But right in the middle of this chapter about death, there is a story about life.

A man who walked with God.

I. THE REALITY OF HUMAN MORTALITY (vv.1–20)

The Sethite genealogy is introduced in verses 1, 2 with the dazzling retrospect that recalls that the descendants of Adam and Seth have been created in the image of God and blessed by him. His image. The opening line (“This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God,” v. 1) references the Bible’s first poem in Genesis 1:27

Genesis 1:27 KJV 1900

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

This retrospect reminded the descendants of Seth that the fall had not obliterated the image of God in them (cf. 9:6). And because they were image-bearers, they had unparalleled privilege and potential. First, as image-bearers they had the capacity to hear God’s word, which is something no other creature, except angels, could do. Second, as image-bearers they were charged to rule the earth in God’s stead (cf. 1:26, 28). And third, the image of God in them suggested the possibility of an intimate spiritual relationship as children of God.

Arthur Pink, in Gleanings in Genesis, would likely point out that

“Even after the Fall, the imago Dei (image of God) was not utterly obliterated, though marred.” - Arthur Pink

This introductory statement affirms that Adam, and by extension all humanity, was originally created with moral, intellectual, and spiritual capacities that reflected aspects of the Creator. This high calling stands in profound contrast to the subsequent record of death, foreshadowing the tragedy of humanity's fallen condition.

Verse 3 says Adam now fathers a son:

“in his own likeness.” Even as Seth was in Adam’s fallen image and likeness, so also is every one of us. We are all sons and daughters of Adam, born fallen even as Adam was fallen. It would be redundant to say it, but every other person has been born in Adam’s image and likeness except Jesus…

The image of God remains, but now humanity carries the consequences of the Fall.

(Vs. 3-20)

And the chapter repeats a pattern again and again.

Adam lived… and he died.

Seth lived… and he died.

Enos lived… and he died.

Kenan lived… and he died.

Mahalaleel lived… and he died.

Jared lived… and he died.

The drumbeat of Genesis 5 is death.

God said in Genesis 3:19

Genesis 3:19 KJV 1900

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 5 shows that word being fulfilled.

No matter how long they lived — and some lived more than 900 years — death still came.

Hebrews 9:27 KJV 1900

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

“Death is the “grim reaper” and “grand leveler” of all humanity.” - Arthur Pink

We may differ in:

wealth

status

influence

power

But we all share one appointment.

Genesis 5 reminds us that sin’s consequences are real and while we may look at a long list of genealogies as of little factor. Genealogies can be very instructive. They speak to us of both the absolutely historical character of the Scriptures and are a powerful testimony to the end of every person on this earth.

“Have you never heard of one who heard read, as the lesson for the Sabbath-day, that long chapter of names, wherein it is written that each patriarch lived so many hundred years, ‘and he died’? Thus it ends the notice of the long life of Methuselah with ‘and he died,’ The repetition of the words, ‘and he died,’ woke the thoughtless hearer to a sense of his mortality, and led to his coming to the Savior.” - C.H. Spurgeon

The Sethites’ optimism was always clouded because the genealogy continually repeats the depressing phrase, “and he died.” The Sethites lived under the double-edged sword of human experience. “Life produces hope only to see it dashed by the all too real finality of death.”

Death spread its dark cloud over the patriarchs’ bright hopes, and the cycle went on and on and on—“and he died”—“and he died”—“and he died.”

II. THE EXCEPTION OF FAITH (vv.21–24)

Right in the middle of this chapter, the pattern breaks.

Evil Lamech, the man who worshiped his sword, was number seven in the Cainite genealogy, while here, Enoch, the man who “walked with God,” is number seven in the Sethite genealogy. These two are placed in eternal antithesis. They are Hell and Heaven—exponential death and unbounded life. There is wisdom for all in the life of Enoch.

Walked with God. This phrase “walked with God” is only applied to Enoch and Noah (cf. 6:9) and describes the closest personal communion with God—as if walking at the side of God.

It must be distinguished from other Old Testament phrases such as walking before God (cf. 17:1; 24:40) and walking after God (cf. Deuteronomy 13:4), which describe blameless moral and ethical conduct. Walking with God is far more intimate.

The minor prophets use this phrase, in fact, to describe the intimate walk of priests who entered the Holy of Holies to speak directly with God. The phrase also indicates the deepest obedience, for the metaphor of walking suggests walking along God’s path, in the same direction.

As Allen Ross says, “The expression became a common description of the life of fellowship and obedience with the Lord, as if to say that walking with the Lord was a step above mere living.”

Enoch appears.

“And Enoch walked with God…”

Not once.

Twice the text says it.

“Enoch walked with God.”

Enoch lived in the same fallen world. He experienced the same broken culture.

But he chose a different path.

He walked with God.

“J. Vernon McGee warmly describes this as “A "wonderful testimony of true communion.” - J. Vernon McGee

To walk with God means:

fellowship with Him

obedience to Him

dependence on Him

Amos 3:3 asks:

Amos 3:3 KJV 1900

3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Enoch aligned his life with God.

“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)

And then something remarkable happens.

“And he was not; for God took him.”

Enoch did not die.

God simply took him into His presence.

Hebrews 11:5 KJV 1900

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

In a chapter filled with death, Enoch reminds us of something powerful:

Death does not have the final word for those who walk with God.

The greatest legacy of a life is not how long you live.

It is whether you walk with God.

III. THE HOPE OF A PROMISED REST (vv.25–32)

The genealogy ends with Noah.

But before Noah is introduced, his father Lamech says something interesting.

Genesis 5:28 introduces Lamech, the son of Methuselah, living 182 years before he "begat" (יָלַד - yalad) a son. Lamech stands in the preserving lineage of Seth, a critical line through which God's redemptive plan is meticulously traced. Despite his place in this chosen lineage, Lamech, like all his forebears save Enoch, remains subject to the pervasive curse of death that marks this entire chapter.

Lamech's prolonged "lived" (חָיָה - chayah) existence, detailed in verses 28 and 30, only serves to highlight the eventual inevitability of his death, which verse 31 records, underscoring this grim reality for all "Adam" (אָדָם - adam)—humanity.

The Prophetic Naming of Noah: A Glimmer of Hope Amidst Toil: The birth of Lamech's son, Noah, recorded in Genesis 5:29, is notably distinct due to Lamech's accompanying prophetic utterance. Lamech names his son Noah (נֹחַ - Noach, a name intimately connected to the Hebrew word for comfort, נחם - nakham), declaring, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed."

This statement is profoundly significant, representing the first explicitly named expression of hope for relief from the Adamic curse within the entire genealogical record, thereby breaking the otherwise somber litany of births and deaths. J

ohn Phillips, in Exploring Genesis, captures this tension, noting that “Lamech's words "carry the burden of a world groaning under the curse of sin," yet simultaneously reveal "a divinely inspired hope."

Lamech recognizes the curse placed on the ground in Genesis 3.

Life has become difficult.

Work has become exhausting.

Humanity longs for relief.

Noah’s birth sparks hope.

Though Noah will not fully remove the curse, his story will bring deliverance through the Flood.

But even Noah ultimately points forward to someone greater.

Jesus Christ.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:28 KJV 1900

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The rest humanity longs for is ultimately found in Christ.

Conclusion - TWO WAYS TO LIVE

Genesis 5 presents two ways of life.

One way is the pattern repeated throughout the chapter:

Live. Grow. Build a life. Die.

The other way is represented by Enoch:

Walk with God.

Every person in this room will experience the first pattern.

The question for us is, how do we walk with God today? And the answer is this: The image of God has been passed on to us through natural birth, so that it is possible for us to hear and obey God’s Word and to live as his children. We may have further marred the image by our sin, but the likeness persists.

But only those who walk with God experience the second promise.

The promise that death is not the end.

Genesis 5 may look like a list of names, but it teaches profound truths.

It reminds us that:

Sin brings death.

Life is short.

But faith changes everything.

One man walked with God, and death could not hold him.

The same hope belongs to every person who trusts the Lord.

FINAL CALL

The question Genesis 5 asks us is simple:

Are you merely living your life, or are you walking with God?

Life passes quickly.

Generations come and go.

But the person who walks with God has a hope that reaches beyond the grave.

Jesus said:

“I am the resurrection, and the life.”

Those who walk with Him will live forever.