Last time in Genesis 4, we saw the result of Cain attempting to come to God on his own terms rather than the way the Lord had prescribed. The Lord accepted his brother’s offering but not his, and as a result Cain became angry and depressed, and eventually murdered his brother Abel out of envy and hatred. Rather than taking responsibility for his actions, Cain lied and made excuses. This resulted in him being cursed from the earth, and separated from the presence of the Lord. It was a tragic end to an already sad story that could have turned out differently if Cain would have humbled himself before the Lord and repented. Adam and Eve had a son after Abel’s death whom they named Seth. The name Seth means appointed, and from the text we can see that they believed through his seed would come the bruising of the serpent’s head. “…For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. In the days of Seth’s son, Enos, Enos called on the name of the Lord. However, in spite of the string of violence started by Cain, the Lord preserved a godly seed for Himself through Enos and his descendants. In this study we will look at Genesis chapter 5.

In chapter 5, we see the recording of the genealogies beginning with Adam and Eve, and going all the way through Noah. When we get to sections in the Bible that are recording genealogies, the temptation is to skip over them, thinking them less important and somewhat boring. To the diligent student however, in this case, we will make some fascinating discoveries.

We are told this is the book of the genealogy of Adam, and many scholars believe this is the end of Adam’s account that started back in chapter 2. Adam and Eve were created in God’s likeness as we discussed previously, and they were without sin. After the Fall, their children were born in their likeness, inheriting their parents’ fallen nature that affected everything, even down to their DNA.

We don’t know how old Adam and Eve were when they had Cain and Abel, but Adam was 130 when they had Seth. Adam lived another 800 years after the birth of Seth, and then he died. In this time, he had other sons and daughters. There are those who like to read into the text that Adam could have lived a long time (thousands of years) before the Fall, but the text itself does not indicate so. The same language is used to describe Adam’s age at the time of Seth’s birth, as well as the age that he died, as it does for his descendants. For a few reasons, it is reasonable to assume Adam and Eve were in the garden a relatively short time before the Fall, for which you can read here. As I mentioned in an earlier study, people often attempt to insert large time gaps into the text in order to reconcile the Bible with modern Science, but this is a mistake. The best thing we can do is simply take the Scriptures at face value, and conform our scientific understanding to them.

One question that often comes up is where did Adam’s sons and descendants get their wives. The only plausible answer is that the text tells us Adam had daughters, and so it is reasonable to presume they married their sisters or close relatives. At this point, there would have been a lot purer gene pool, so the genetic problems that often arise f rom inbreeding would not have been present. Later, God would forbid close inner marriages.

We are not told a lot about the other descendants with the exception of Enoch. When Enoch was 65, he begot Methuselah. Methuselah means, “when he is dead, it shall come” (a reference to the world-wide flood). We know from Jude that Enoch was a prophet, and it is thought that Enoch had special revelation from God that judgment was coming and named his son accordingly. This seemed to have a profound effect on Enoch, because after Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God 300 years, and then he was not, because God took him. The author of Hebrews writes, “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.” (Heb 11:5) Enoch had such a close walk with the Lord that the Lord took him from planet Earth without seeing death. So too, God has spared us from His coming judgment on this world, and we should want to walk with Him as Enoch did. If we walk with Him, we too will be removed from this coming judgment unless the Lord allows us to go via the grave first. Many, including myself, believe this taking to be the rapture, an event in which God miraculously removes the Church from planet Earth before He pours out His wrath on this Christ rejecting sinful world.

The last man in the line-up is Noah. His name means rest or comfort, and his father, Lamech, believed he would comfort them concerning the work and toil of their hands because of the ground that the Lord had cursed. We are told he was 500 years old when he had or began having his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. It would be through Noah and his sons that the Lord would repopulate the earth after the Flood.

There are a couple of things worth pointing out here. First, is the length of life these men had before the flood. They lived hundreds of years, with the oldest being Methuselah who lived 969 years. In a previous study, we talked about a vaporous water canopy shielding the earth from many of the sun’s harmful rays that has been thought to have slowed down the aging process significantly, but in my study several years ago I was disappointed to learn that many creation scientists have abandoned the canopy theory. One of the reasons for this is that the waters above the heavens mentioned in Genesis 1 are still mentioned in Psalm 148:4, which was written in a post-flood era. If this is correct, then those waters did not actually surround Earth’s atmosphere and did not disappear after the Flood. Consequently, they cannot be attributed to the longevity of man prior to it.

The best alternate theory I have encountered is that prior to the Flood, the atmospheric pressure may have been 1.5/2 times greater than today, and due to the catastrophic events that transpired during the flood, some of the gases were pushed upwards and pulled away from Earth’s gravitational pull by solar winds (hopefully more on this in a later study). This greater atmospheric pressure would have done a couple of things: first, the increased atmospheric pressure would have allowed more oxygen to enter the bloodstream. We see the results of this today in hyperbaric oxygen therapy. A person is placed in a pressurized chamber, and the air pressure is increased one to two times that of normal sea level atmospheric pressure. This is thought to accelerate wound healing, promote tissue repair, and positively affect metabolic rates and the performance of the hormonal systems. Another possible benefit of this increased atmospheric pressure prior to the Flood is that it would have blocked much of the harmful solar radiation that is attributed to aging. Whatever the cause, antediluvian man lived much longer than man does today, and his life decreased exponentially after the Flood.

As a result of mankind living much longer, there was a large overlap of generations. There were 10 generations from Adam to Noah, and Adam living 930 years would have still been alive when Lamech was born. Lamech, the father of Noah, would have been approximately 56 when Adam died. The Flood happened 726 years after Adam’s death (approximately 2348 BC). Since written letters did not come until later, history and traditions would have been passed down orally. This significant overlap in generations meant that oral tradition would have been easily passed down from one generation to the next, and as a result the story of creation, the fall of man, and God’s promise of redemption would have been easily preserved.

The second thing I would like to point out is that there appears to be a message in the names of these 10 men listed. The names along with their meaning in English are as follows:

Hebrew	English
Adam	Man
Seth	Appointed
Enosh	Mortal
Kenan	Sorrow
Mahalalel	The Blessed God
Jared	Shall come down
Enoch	Teaching
Methuselah	His death shall bring
Lamech	The Despairing
Noah	Rest, or comfort

When put altogether, it reads: Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

So, there you have it, the Gospel message hidden in the genealogies of Genesis 5. This is the kind of stuff you don’t just make up, folks! The Lord knew all along that man would fall into sin, and He knew all along that He would send His only begotten Son to save man from his own fallen state. We do not always find gems like this listed in the genealogies of the Bible, but in this case we certainly do. In the next chapter we will see the culmination of man’s wickedness, and how the Lord brings a world-wide judgment as a result. However, one man and his family will find grace in the eyes of the Lord and be spared.

In application, are we walking with God like Enoch did? As David Guzek points out, walking with the Lord is marked by certain characteristics. First, we walk by faith as we discussed earlier (2 Co 5:7 and Heb 11:5). Second, we walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:5-7). This means we are turning from our sins. Third, we are walking in agreement with God (Amos 3:3). In order to obey the Lord, we have to be in agreement with Him. As we do these things, we can have that sweet fellowship with Him as Enoch did.

Second, there is a rest for the people of God. Just as Lamech believed Noah would comfort them concerning their work and toil, God has provided us rest and comfort through Jesus Christ. As the author of Hebrews points out, we do not have to work and toil to enter into the Kingdom, but to cease from our efforts and rest in Christ by faith.