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Genesis Chapter Five
Preface
The first four chapters of Genesis are concerned with beginnings . . . and an end. In them the Bible student reads of the creation of the universe and the earth, the creation of all animal life and mankind. He reads of an ideal environment in which man freely communicates with God on a very personal level. Here man and woman are in partnership with God to populate and oversee the earth and its creatures. All such events are beginnings and there is no death, that is, until man’s disobedience introduced sin and death, which is usually referred to as the Fall. The Fall introduced into the bloodline of man an “end” of life, both spiritually (an immediate event) and physically (a progressive and eventual event)—events affecting the entire human race (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Here in chapter five the Bible student is immersed in the reality of physical death, a partial fulfillment of Genesis 2:17. It is a chapter of the genealogies or bloodline of Adam and reflects the bloodline from which the promised Messiah (the Seed that will crush the serpent’s head) will come. The next chapter in the Bible that begins with a genealogy is the first chapter of the New Testament, the first words being, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ . . . .” A companion passage of the genealogy of Christ which should be studied is found in Luke 3:23-38.
The life span of those mentioned in this chapter is still vastly long when compared to today’s average life span. Seven of the patriarchs lived more than nine hundred years. This is in contrast with the much shorter life span in Genesis 11:10-32, an average span of about two hundred years. From man’s ideal state at creation, in which he could live forever, the Fall mandated that his life span became increasingly briefer as time went on until today it is a rarity for a person to live past 100 years.
Chuck Missler in his book, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002, offers the following insight into this chapter:
This section will begin with a riddle: Methuselah is well known as the oldest man in the Bible; yet he died before his father. How can that be?
Enoch, Methuselah’s father, didn’t die; he was transferred directly to heaven without passing through death (“raptured,” as some would say). It is interesting that the oldest prophecy in the bible was uttered by Enoch before the flood of Noah and concerned the Second Coming of Christ. (It is not found here in Genesis but in the next-to-last book of the Bible, Jude.)
Another fact about Enoch is that at age sixty-five, something very special happened in his life. From that day on, for over three hundred years, he “walked with God.” It seems that when his son was born, he was told that as long as his son was alive, the forthcoming judgment of the flood (the flood of Noah) would be withheld.
Enoch thus named his son using two Hebrew roots: “muth,” which means “his death,” and “shellac,” which is a verb form that means “bring,” or “sent forth.” So the name Methuselah means, “his death shall bring.” The flood of Noah did not come as a surprise; it had been predicted for four generations.
This significance behind the name Methuselah also hints that a message might be hidden behind these other names found in chapter 5. Adam had a son named Seth, Seth had a son named Enoch, and so on. The problem with Genesis 5 is that these proper names are not translated for the reader from their Hebrew meanings, so you have to unravel these by digging into the meaning of the Hebrew roots that make up the names.
· Adam: (adomah) “man” · Seth: “appointed” (Genesis 4:25) · Enosh: (from root “anash,” “to be incurable”) “mortal,” “frail,” “miserable” · Kenan: “sorrow,” “dirge,” “elegy” · Mahalaleel: “the Blessed God”—(mahalal) “blessed”; (El) the name of God · Jared: (from the verb “yaradh”) “shall come down” · Enoch: “commencement” or “teaching” · Methuselah: “his death shall bring”—“muth,” a root that means “death”; “shalach” means “bring” or “send forth” · Lamech: “despairing” (from which we get “lament” or “lamentation”) · Noah: (derived from “nacham”) “comfort” or “rest” (Genesis 5:29)
We now can look at the genealogy with more insight. The sequence—Adam—Seth—Enosh—Kenan—Mahalaleel—Jared—Enoch—Methuselah—Lamech—Noah—reads, in English, “Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow; [but] the blessed God shall come down teaching [that His] death shall bring [the] despairing rest.”
There are several profound lessons here. First, here is a summary of the New Testament Gospel tucked away in a genealogy in the Torah. This demonstrates something we will encounter throughout all the Scripture: “every detail is there by design.” It also tells us that God’s plan of redemption was not a knee-jerk reaction to chapter 3. God had ordained it before the foundation of the world.
Yet, there are hidden messages in the Bible, and I don’t mean just the equidistant letter sequences that have caused such controversies in recent years. There are dozens of other kinds of codes that don’t require a computer to decipher; they are there if you know how to look. The Scripture is inexhaustible—you can never get to the bottom of its depth. And that’s what you would expect from the Word of God.
Let me remind you: the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed. Many things in the Old Testament do not seem to make sense until you illuminate them with the New Testament.
Genesis 5:1-5 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
God created man in His likeness, that is, He made man a sentient (self-conscious) and triune being (body, spirit and soul—1 Thessalonians 5:23) with a free will or, in other words, with the ability to decide his own actions. This was God’s blessing to mankind. But since the Fall man’s “image” or “likeness” (which patterned God) is marred. He no longer embodied an eternal spirit; now it was dead. The spirit’s only hope from this time forward was to be “born again” (or “from above”) and restored back to its eternal state. And instead of having a nature of innocence, man now had a “sinful nature,” a bent toward evil.
God’s creation of man included the creation of Eve, his helpmeet. Both the creation of man and woman were of equal importance. Mankind, consisting of man and woman, at this junction of earth’s history was seen as a cooperative whole—as one. This is understood by the phrase, “He created them male and female . . . .” The phrase, “called them Mankind,” is translated “called them Adam” in the King James Version of the Bible. This is the generic use of adam, which contrasts with Adam as a proper name in the same context (vs. 3).
The Bible contains several lists of ancestors, called “genealogies.” There are two basic views concerning these lists: (1) they are complete, recording the entire history of a family, tribe, or nation; or (2) they are not intended to be exhaustive and may include only famous people or the heads of families. “Became the father of” could also mean “was the ancestor of.”
Why are genealogies included in the Bible? The Hebrews passed on their beliefs through oral tradition. For many years in many places, writing was primitive or nonexistent. Stories were told to children who passed them on their children. Genealogies gave a skeletal outline that helped people remember the stories. For centuries these genealogies were added to and passed down from family to family. Even more important than preserving family tradition, genealogies were included to confirm the Bible’s promise that the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be born into the line of Abraham.
Genealogies point out an interesting characteristic of God. People are important to Him as individuals, not just as races or nations. . . . remember that the focus of God’s attention and love is on the individual—and on you!
All human beings are related, going back to Adam and Eve. Mankind is a family that shares one flesh and one blood. Remember this when prejudice enters your mind or hatred invades your feelings. Each person is a valuable and unique creation of God. (Life Application Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1991)
God does not reveal what “apparent” age He bestowed upon Adam and Eve at their creation, but here it is seen that Adam lived 130 years prior and up to the time his son Seth was born. After Seth’s birth, Adam lived another 800 years, making his total life span upon earth a total 930 years. During this time other sons and daughters were born from Adam’s seed. How many? The Bible doesn’t say, but one could venture a prodigious speculation.
Whereas Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, every person that followed this creation is a procreation of their image. This is best expressed by Clarence Larkin in his masterful work (book), The Greatest Book on “Dispensational Truth” in the World, Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1918, as follows:
The title “Son of God” has not the same meaning in the Old Testament that it has in the New. In the New Testament it applies to those who have become the “Sons of God” by the New Birth (John 1:12; Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:6; 1 John 3:1, 2). In the Old Testament it applies to the angels, and is so used five times—twice in Genesis (Gen. 6:2-4) and three times in Job (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). A “Son of God” denotes a being brought into existence by a “creative act” of God. Such were the angels, and such was Adam, and he is so called in Luke 3:38. But Adam’s natural descendants are not the special creation of God. Adam was created in the “likeness of God” (Gen. 5:1), but his descendants were born in “his likeness,” for we read in Gen. 5:3, that Adam “BEGAT a son in “his own likeness, after his image.” Therefore all men born of Adam and his descendants by “natural generation” are the “SONS OF MEN,” and it is only being “BORN AGAIN” (John 3:3-7), which is a “NEW CREATION,” that they can become the “SONS OF GOD” in the New Testament sense.
Genesis 5:6-32 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died. Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan. After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died. Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died. Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died. Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died. Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 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." After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died. And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And then, “he died.” The account of death to an individual is mentioned some seven times in this chapter—the chapter that introduces the first accounts of physical death relative to mankind.
The longevity of the patriarchs (averaging 912 years, not including Enoch who did not die) may have been due to the vapor canopy . . . . which was not dispersed until the Flood, or simply, to the fact that it took some time for the effects of sin to shorten man’s life span. If there are no gaps in this chronology, then 1,656 years elapsed between the creation and the Flood. It is likely, however, that the genealogy is selective, resulting in gaps in the list and pushing the date of creation farther back.
The Ages of the Patriarchs
Adam 930 years Jared 962 years Seth 912 years Enoch 365 years Enosh 905 years Methuselah 969 years Kenan 910 years Lamech 777 years Mahalalel 895 years Noah 950 years
(Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition, Moody Press, Chicago, 1994) But the most important two verses in this chapter, at least as far as this commentator is concerned, are verses 22 and 24, “After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters . . . And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Enoch was one of two individuals mentioned in the Old Testament of which it is said, “walked with God.” The other one is Noah in Genesis 6:9. And in addition to “walking with God,” Enoch was one of two Old Testament saints who did not experience physical death, the other one being Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). It is believed by many scholars of God’s Word that Enoch and Elijah (or Moses) will be the two witnesses in Revelation 11.
It should first be noted that Enoch’s walk with God may have only been a total of 300 years; because verses 21 & 22 state that at the age of 65 Enoch’s son, Methuselah, was born and after this birth he walked with God. His total years on earth were 365 (vs. 23). But the important issue, which is of paramount importance and for which God exempted Enoch from physical death, is that for an extended period of time he walked with God.
To be clear as to what it means to walk with God one must review the New Testament comments regarding Enoch in Hebrews 11:5 & 6:
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. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
It is clear by this account that to walk with God is to please God, which is to have faith in God; so, the equation is as follows:
Walking with God = Pleasing God = Faith in God Or Faith in God = Pleasing God = Walking with God
The principle of faith is a cornerstone (the Chief Cornerstone being Jesus Christ) of Christianity. It is by genuine faith (an act of will) in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary that one apprehends salvation and it is by the same genuine faith that one is enabled to walk with God, also expressed with the phrase walk in Christ (Colossians 2:6; Hebrews 13:21).
In the King James Version of the Bible Revelation 4:11 reads, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Although other translations may translate this verse something to the effect that it is by God’s will all things were created and exist, the KJV at a minimum expresses the truth that all creation is for God’s pleasure, which is evident when one studies the entire Word of God. A companion verse is Colossians 1:16. Jesus Christ was the supreme example of a Person who pleased God (Matthew 3:17; John 8:29). This, of course, was in major part due to the fact that God’s true and ultimate pleasure was the sacrifice of His Son on the cross of Calvary (Isaiah 53:10; Ephesians 1:5), thereby making it possible for the restoration of fellowship between God and man.
But also in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, the chapter of the New Testament that chronicles the great Old Testament saints of faith, Enoch is honored because by his faith he pleased God. For “without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Enoch was a person of great faith and therefore it is said that he pleased God, which is the only principle that can enable a person to walk with God.
Every Christian is exhorted to so walk as to please God (1 Thessalonians 4:1). Just as one’s self-efforts cannot achieve salvation, one’s self-efforts cannot achieve a proper walk with God. Only faith (confidence in God, his Person and His Word) is able to achieve this—a faith-walk pleasing to God. The outgrowth of a faith-walk are works and deeds which then please God, because it is then God working in and through the person (Hebrews 13:21). When a Christian walks by faith, he avoids a walk in the “flesh,” which is most displeasing to God (Romans 8:8). The crux of the issue, to repeat for emphasis, is faith.
The need for faith. The key that unlocks the door of salvation is faith. Without faith, we cannot please God. Try establishing any sort of friendship without faith. Walk up to a woman and introduce yourself. When she tells you her name, say, I don’t believe you. Watch her reaction. When she tells you where she works, say that you don’t believe that either. Carry on like that for a while, and before long you may be nursing a black eye. Your lack of faith in her is a strong insinuation that she is a liar.
If she, a mere mortal, feels insulted by your lack of faith in her word, how much more do unbelievers insult Almighty God by refusing to believe His Word. In doing so, they are saying that God isn’t worth trusting and that He is a liar and deceiver. The Bible says, He that believes not God has made Him a liar (1 John 5:10). It also says, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you with an ‘evil heart of unbelief’. . . . (Hebrews 3:12, emphasis added). The command of the Scriptures is, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). If a meaningful human relationship can’t be established without faith, what sort of relationship could we expect to have with God, if by our unbelief we continue to call Him a liar? (The Evidence Bible, Compiled by Ray Comfort, Bridge-Logos, 2003)
One of the greatest, if not the greatest, problem in Christianity is the adherence to religiosity. Religion is man’s self-efforts (thoughts, works, deeds, etc.) to achieve the approbation (approval) of God. And in so doing man can never be saved. But even in the Church (the Body of Christ) today it is through religiosity, Christians attempting to serve God through self-effort, that Christians experience spiritual defeat and depression. So few Christians understand that it is by the same principle by which they were saved (faith), that they are also to live the sanctified life (Colossians 2:6). Remember:
Walking with God = Pleasing God = Faith in God Or Faith in God = Pleasing God = Walking with God |