Genesis 5:1-32--From Adam to Noah

Daily Readings for This Week

• Day 1: Genesis 5:1-32
• Day 2: Genesis 6:1–7:24
• Day 3: Genesis 8:1-22
• Day 4: Genesis 9:1-17
• Day 5: Genesis 9:18-29
• Day 6: Psalm 53 

​Genesis 5
World English Bible

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them. On the day they were created, he named them Adam. 3 Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 5 All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

6 Seth lived one hundred five years, then became the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 8 All of the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died.

9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 11 All of the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died.

12 Kenan lived seventy years, then became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters 14 and all of the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died.

15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 17 All of the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died.

18 Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, then became the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 20 All of the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died.

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Methuselah. 22 After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 23 All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.

25 Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, then became the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died.

28 Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, then became the father of a son. 29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which Yahweh has cursed.” 30 Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 31 All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died.

32 Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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Genealogies may not be that exciting to you, but in the book of Genesis they bring an end to one part of the oral narrative and begin another.  They served as logical breaking points for children and adults to memorize large sections of the story and to realize that a transition was about to take place and new main characters were about to come on scene.   However these genealogies also serve another purpose.  They show us that God's plan and His promises continue to move forward despite Satan's best attempts to derail them.  You'll note that there is a key difference between this genealogy and the one of Cain's descendants.  Why is that?  Because Cain was not the next main character that we are to follow.  We are to understand that with the amount of time and detail given to this genealogy that it is important.

For ancient Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt, they may have only understood this genealogy as part of their family tree and an answer to the question of Origins, "Where did I come from?."  Genesis is a history of people in general, but as we continue it becomes more about the story of a specific group of people, and each time God zooms the focus in on that group of people, we get one of these genealogies.  This is one of the greatest signs of God's Election in the Old Testament--He chose specific people in specific places in specific times to be a part of His specific plan (the plan to bring about the one promised in Genesis 3 that would crush the head of the serpent).

Every generation listed here hoped that it would be them or their son or grandson that would be the Child of Promise, but none of them were.  We instead see a pattern of "...and he died" and are constantly reminded of the Word of God in the Garden of Eden, "Dying, you will surely die."  People today have a hard time believing the lifespans of these first patriarchs, but the effects of sin had not yet fully taken hold , and the world was not exactly as it is today--we'll see some major changes happen in the next several chapters of the book of Genesis.

The passage begins by reminding us that Adam had no father other than God and God made Adam in His own likeness (the event that God looked at and called everything "very good").  God made them both male and female and blessed them (telling them to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth and subdue it).  God named the man Adam, but he let Adam name all the other creatures and, later, his wife who had been made for him, but kept from him until Adam realized his need for her.  For this point on, all of the descendants of Adam and Eve would be made in the broken image and likeness of Adam, bent towards sin with a heart of rebellion, and wickedness would increase.  We even see people growing away from God in their choices of names for their children (again, there is a free dictionary of Bible names in the Lifeway Reader that I have lined under the the Bible Study Resources tab).

Adam gives birth to Seth at some point after Cain has murdered Abel.  Seth's name literally means "to fix" or "to put in place."  God had given them the son He had chosen to carry out He plan, and Seth's name is a recognition of God's choice.  Adam and Eve thought that Cain was the right choice, but they were wrong--they didn't even think enough of the one we call Abel to name him until after he died, only to realize the truth that life is but a fleeting breath--a vapor that is here today, and gone tomorrow.  This is one of the great truths of Scripture.

Each generation only focuses on the next link in the chain to get from Adam to Noah.  Even if there were more branches to the family tree, we are focusing in on the one important to the story that God is telling.  God knew from the beginning exactly which people He would choose to fulfill His plans and made sure that this family was preserved, despite their brokenness and inclination to sin.

We come to Enoch, a prophet of God who is mentioned later in the Bible as being one of the first to preach about the future destruction of the world, first by water, and then by fire.  The destruction by water has already happened, but the destruction by fire is yet to come.  He called all men of his time and all times to repent while there was still time.  God chose to use him as a picture of the Rapture of the Church that is coming and how God is able to remove the righteous from the earth before the day of His wrath.  "Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him."  This is a great mystery for those who do not understand the truth of God doing the same thing for people of God before the coming Day of the LORD when His wrath will be poured out on all the earth.

​You may know the name Methuselah as a name for someone who is old, but we can see here why that is.  He is the oldest man ever recorded in human history.  If memory serves me, Methuselah and all who were born after him with the exception of Noah and his family died in the coming Flood.  Their lifespans all line up so that they share the same date of death.

The last link in the chain for now is Noah.  His name means "response" or "consolation."  He is a type of Christ and we'll zoom in on him and his family for the next several chapters.  The rest of this week, we'll look at the events leading up to the Flood, the Flood, and the events right after the Flood when God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants (since we are all descendants of Noah, this covenant is for all of us).  It will be a great picture of God's nature to both punish sin and save a people for Himself.