Genesis 5:1-32

Background

Last week we saw the first humans born naturally, Cain and Abel, and the first murder, which is Cain’s legacy. Genesis was given to show us the past, the beginning, and to show us the God who created it all. History is His story.

Gen. 5:1-5

Chapter 4 ended with tragedy, but also with a glimmer of hope for mankind’s future. It was through Seth and his progeny that “men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”

This is the first written account of genealogy indicated in Scripture. The English “book” is used, but the more accurate translation is “writing,” since this was before books.

Notice again the indication that when God made man, he was made in the “likeness of God.” As a refresher, this was not a physical likeness, since God has no body, but was rather qualities that reflected God’s nature, such as personhood, morality, love, and relationship.

He also created them male and female and, as we saw in chapter 1, the first command God gave them was to be fruitful and multiply. Adam was created fully formed and his body was fully functional, but he was incapable of reproduction without his wife, Eve.

ADAMAH

God named Adam after the earth that He formed him from.

After living for 130 years, Adam begat Seth, as we saw last week. While we don’t have exact figures and the information given is sparse, it is assumed based on what we saw in chapter 4 that Seth was their 3rd son.

Just as God had created Adam in his own likeness, Adam’s son Seth bore his image and likeness. The words used are the same as when God created man in His image and likeness.

This doesn’t mean that Adam became God, but rather fulfilled the function he was designed to fulfill: multiply.

Life begets life, and just like the animals that God made, mankind reproduces after its own kind. Each child conceived and born is a living person, bearing the image of both God and their parents.

Because of the Fall, the corruption of the flesh is also inherited from the parents (Job 25:4).

Eph. 2:1-3.

Notice that Adam was 130 years old, and after having Seth he lived another 800 years, while having other children. He lived a total of 930 years.

There’s lots of speculation as to why the first humans lived so long. Most scholars attribute this to the pre-Flood climate, the purity of the gene pool coming from Adam, and the newness of sin in the affects of the body.

What needs to be remembered is that Adam was created to live forever. Though his flesh began to undergo decay due to the Fall and the Curse, the original intent was that there would be no death. Sin now causes us to return to the dust from which Adam was made.

Adam may not have been the first man to die (it is assumed that Abel was), he is listed as being the first man to die from old age. Again, this was never intended by God in creating man

Now we look at the generations of Adam.

Gen. 5:6-20

One may wonder why these records are so important. The simplest answer is because it gives us an account of humanity building up to the Flood.

Of note, most of the ages begin to decrease slowly, particularly when naming their firstborn.

With the Israelites keeping track of genealogy so well, we are able to ascertain the ancestry of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:23-38).

Jesus coming into the earth to save mankind is always the main focus of the Bible.

Remember this is God’s story with humanity. God’s plan all along was to accomplish the redemption of man through the sending His Son, Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:4-5; 1 Pet. 1:17-25).

Gen. 5:21-24

Here is a curious account: the life of Enoch. Enoch became the father of the longest-living human being recorded in the Bible (as we will see shortly), was the first man listed as having walked with God since Adam, and was the first man to live and not experience death.

Enoch was a righteous man in his day, and he was a prophet (Jude 14-15). He walked with God in the same way that God walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden, as seen in Genesis 3 when he and Eve hid from God. Enoch did not hide, but rather sought after God. It was because of his faith and his seeking of God that he did not taste death (Heb. 11:5-6).

Enoch was taken before Noah was born. He is the only one listed in this record who did not see his progeny beyond his grandchild.

Gen. 5:25-32

Methuselah lived to be a total of 969 years, the longest recording lifespan in the Bible.

Lamech (same name as Cain’s record, who took 2 wives) was the father of Noah.

Noah means “quiet; rest(ing place).” Lamech, of whom his faith in God and righteousness is not known, made a claim over the life of his son Noah, that he would bring about rest from the work that man must endure because of the curse.

It is not known if that was actually fulfilled or not in the coming of the Flood.

Noah’s account differs from the rest of his ancestors. It indicates that he arrived at 500 years old, and had become the father of 3 sons.

At this point this is all of the information we have on Noah, but it leaves the reader at a cliffhanger because there is no conclusion like those who came before him.

APPLICATION

Jesus coming to earth to save humanity was always part of the plan and is the main focus of the Bible.

We have biblical examples of men who walked with God, and can imitate them, just as we can imitate the Apostles and Jesus Himself.

Next week, we will have guest speakers, and the following week we will be in the book of Jude.