The Genealogy from Adam to Noah
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain to others what it means to call on the name of the Lord. In this topic, we will see that the consequences God had promised to Adam if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil continued. We will see that physical death, as well as spiritual death, came on all men except one of those mentioned in Genesis 5.
We begin this chapter by being given a summary of the life of Adam. Genesis 5:1-5 says, “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.” We begin with the reminder that God is the One who created man.
These verses also remind us of several things about Adam and Eve. First, we see that God made Adam in His likeness. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” In this verse, we are reminded of the fact that mankind is made in the image of God. By that statement, God shows that mankind is different than any other living creature on the earth. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The use of “Us” and “Our” is a reminder of the fact that we are made in the image of the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created us with a body, soul, and spirit. This made it possible for mankind to have spiritual life as well as physical life. None of the animals God created can have spiritual life.
Second, we are reminded that God created mankind, male and female. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Third, we see that God blessed Adam and Eve. Fourth, we see that God called them Mankind in the day they were created. Then, we see that Adam had lived for one hundred and thirty years before Seth was born. The word translated “likeness” in verses 1 and 3 is the same word that is used in Genesis 1:27. The word translated “image” is also used in Genesis 1:26-27. The fact that both words are mentioned in Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 5:1-3 point to the fact that mankind has the same sense of right and wrong that God has. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” Mankind is the only creation of God that is able to understand the eternal purpose of God, and this understanding was not lost when mankind sinned. This is shown by the fact that Adam was able to pass on to Seth his likeness and image. We also see that Adam had other sons and daughters, and died physically at nine hundred and thirty years of age.
Genesis 5:6-20 give part of the genealogy of Seth. Those verses say, “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.”
We see that all of these descendants had some things in common. They all had sons and daughters and they all died. God had told Adam, in Genesis 2:16-17, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but 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.’” We saw in Genesis 3:7-8 that Adam experienced immediate spiritual death the day he sinned, as we saw that spiritual death is separation of man from God. In the previous verses, we also saw that Adam experienced physical death. In these verses, we see that the descendants of Adam continued to experience physical death. This is a reminder that the sin of Adam caused both spiritual and physical death.
However, we go on to read about a person who did not experience physical death. Genesis 5:21-27 says, “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.” In these verses, we see that Enoch did not experience physical death. We are also given the reason.
We read that Enoch walked with God. Hebrews 11:5 gives us a more complete explanation about why Enoch did not die. That verse says, “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.” The word translated “taken” means to change or transfer from one place to another. God chose to transfer him from the earth to heaven, just as He did with Elijah at a later time. The word translated “pleased” means to be well pleased or happy with a person or thing. Hebrews 11:6 goes on to explain what pleases God. That verse says, “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.” This would indicate that Enoch was a man of great faith and God chose to reward him for his faith.
The New Testament also teaches us one other thing about Enoch. Jude 14-15 says, “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 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.’” In these verses, we see that Enoch looked forward to the coming of the Lord. However, he also knew that the Lord would come to bring judgment on all those who did not believe. This means that before any books of the Bible were written, there was already an understanding by those who were Godly that there would be a future with the Lord for the saints and a judgment for all those who rejected the Lord.
We are also introduced to the line of Christ following Enoch. The son of Enoch was Methuselah. He is the individual who lived the longest number of years of any whose age is recorded in the Bible, even though he died before his father, since his father did not die but was taken to heaven by God. Methuselah had a son named Lamech. Genesis 5:28-32 tells us about the son of Lamech. Those verses say, “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. And he called his name Noah, saying, ‘This 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.” The name “Noah” means rest. We will see that rest was desperately needed in the world because of all of the evil that developed.
Lamech explained that Noah would bring comfort. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” In this verse, we see why Noah was able to bring comfort. He was a Godly man who listened when God told him about the judgment that would come on all those who were living in rebellion and sin. He listened to God and acted with Godly fear. That Godly fear caused him to build the ark which preserved his family and saved them from the world that had been condemned by God.
This comfort was needed because of the fact that the ground had been cursed twice. In Genesis 3:17b, God had told Adam, “‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.’” God also told Cain in Genesis 4:12a, “‘When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you.’” Most of the descendants of Adam followed the ungodly line of Cain, instead of the Godly line of Seth. As a result, the two curses together meant that the people experienced much pain and hard work in order to even have food for their families. The earth needed to be relieved from the second curse that had been placed on Cain. Lamech said Noah would bring this comfort to the earth. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain why Lamech said Noah would bring comfort to the earth so the people after Noah would have an opportunity for a better life and a new beginning. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain this important lesson to others.
