What can we learn from Genesis 5? What if…?
From Adam to Noah
5 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and
female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” [a] when they were created.
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him
Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam
lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father [b] of Enosh. 7 After he became the father of Enosh,
Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and
then he died.
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 After he became the father of Kenan,
Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years,
and then he died.
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 After he became the father of
Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived a total of
910 years, and then he died.
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 16 After he became the father of
Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total
of 895 years, and then he died.
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 After he became the father of
Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962
years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of
Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and
daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he
was no more, because God took him away.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After he became the father
of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah
lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah [c] and said, “He will comfort us
in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” 30 After Noah was
born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived a total of
777 years, and then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
1. Why pause and study this chapter?
- Our message series are based on a Book of the Bible and not current events or Life Skills 101,
starring Jesus. Genesis 5 is the next passage…it’s in the Bible, so it’s important.
- Our messages are exegetical, not eisegetical…or exegesis vs. eisegesis.
Exegesis - objective interpretation of the text to discover it’s original meaning
Eisegesis - Involves reading one's own ideas into the text, and is not concerned with the
original context.
2. What can we learn from Gensis 5?
- Genesis 5 is the beginning of the next major section of Genesis
- It documents the faithfulness of God as He preserves what would be the bloodline of Jesus, through
Noah’s son, Shem. In that, Genesis 5 presents an early genealogy of the people of God.
- Consider the possibility that this genealogy exists for the sake of the Gospel.
- For those in Christ, it’s an early family tree
- It’s a wide-angle view of redemptive history after the fall
- Genesis 5 connects God’s faithfulness from Adam through Noah and ultimately to all of us who
belong to Him through our faith in Jesus.
- That’s a pretty legit reason for us take a closer look, right?
3. Genesis 5 opens by echoing Chapter 1:
Genesis 5:1-2
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and
female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” [a] when they were created.
- Mankind = the human race
- Just a reminder that God created mankind – in His own likeness – male and female and He
blessed them.
4. A unique inclusion in this genealogy is verse 3:
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him
Seth.
- So just as God fathers Adam and makes humanity in His likeness, so Adam reflects the image
of God by fathering a son who embodies his own likeness and image.
o It seems to really emphasize the importance of this bloodline – which we know now
leads us to Jesus
5. The most shocking aspect of Genesis 5 is that it bluntly documents a series of deaths – reminding us
that things were not the way they were originally designed to be prior to the fall.
Genesis 5:4-5
4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived
a total of 930 years, and then he died.
- So in this chapter, right at the start, we get a heads up to the God-inspired redemption offered
through this bloodline – knowing that this genealogy leads to Jesus, while simultaneously
receiving a sobering reminder of the fall – the reason why redemption through Jesus was
necessary.
It may be a stretch, but I believe the genealogy in Genesis 5 is a very early reminder – in retrospect, of
the reality of Romans 6:23
Romans 6:23
“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in [a] Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- those “…and then he died” statements are chilling compared to the life God intended for Adam
and Eve…and all of us.
- from the fall forward, humanity is held in slavery…
Hebrews 2:14-15
“14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he
might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who
all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
-As Adam tastes death as a judgement for sin, Jesus comes as a second Adam, who not only tastes
death, but overcomes it and reverses the curse. “crushes the head of the serpent” from Genesis 3:13
Romans 5:12-17
“12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s
account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of
Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the
one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much
more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the
many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed
one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought
justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much
more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in
life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
This genealogy shows us the very beginning of God’s redemptive plan for humanity.
5. There are 25 genealogies in the Bible
- They recount deaths and births
- But uncommon elements seem to stand out – those included people or asides that break from
the typical script – This should catch our attention because it happens for a reason.
- Everyone’s family tree has folks who stand out a little more than others – there’s
something distinct about them.
- Even in Amy’s and my family trees, there are folks that got a bronze metal in the
Olympics (Amy’s), busted Al Capone (also Amy’s), a former president (naturally Amy’s)
and a gangster - former Public Enemy Number 1 (OK…my tree)
6. Adam’s descendent Enoch, born of the line of Seth, was one of those uncommon people…
Genesis 5:21-24
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of
Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and
daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he
was no more, because God took him away.
- Up to this point, for each generation, we have a man living a certain number of years,
fathers at least the son mentioned, lives longer, then dies.
- Yet – we have a pause, or disruption with Enoch – why?
- Obviously, Enoch had a close relationship with God. How do we know? Because the text
takes a break from the pattern to tell us that Enoch walked faithfully with God
o It suggests an intimacy unseen since before the Fall
o This “walking with God” suggests a righteousness that comes by faith, and shows us
the intimate relationship we, as Christians, should have with God as described
throughout the New Testament.
- Enoch shows us the difference between being welcomed by God instead of facing death –
rather than die like Adam’s other descendants, Enoch gets taken by God. Hebrews 11:5
shines a little more light on what happened with Enoch:
Hebrews 11:5
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found,
because God had taken him away.” [a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased
God.
- One could say that the faith of Enoch led to the favor of God…for Christians, this might
mean:
- One could say that the Believer’s future is not based on his or her work, but his or her walk
which of course, does include works prepared in advance by God)
- A believer’s future is not based on credentials, but based on character
- It’s defined not by pleasing others, but by pleasing God.
- In fact, Hebrews 11:6 follows saying:
Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
- God is pleased with those who wholly believe what His word says about Him.
- Also, God rewards those who seek Him
- Enoch also believed that God judges those who reject Him…How do we know this?
Jude 14-15
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon
thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they
have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against
him.”
- What we see in Enoch’s walk was that it was rooted in deepest intimacy with God: he knew
God.
- His walk rested on great faith – he believed in God with his whole heart
- He believed that God would judge and reward all who live
- This doesn’t describe the high point of his life, but his entire life – over 300 years of a
progressively closer walk with God.
- Then “God took him away”
When Enoch was just a young man…365 years old…” he was no more, because God took him away.”
- What are they saying here? How did God just take him?
- Maybe it was similar to how God took Elijah…in a chariot of fire. It DOES sound a little
familiar when 2 Kings 2:11-12 says “…and Elisha saw him no more”
2 Kings 2:11-12
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared
and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried
out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he
took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
- What we can surmise by this, is that Enoch was taken from earthly life to eternal life.
- God will do the same for us…probably not the same way, but certainly for the same reason
and the same goal…through Jesus
So how does Enoch relate to or inform us as Christians?
- What if what happened to Enoch was to encourage all of us to walk with God.
- What if what happened to Enoch is intended to awaken all of us to the hope of life after
death.
- I would think it awakened something in his contemporaries…hey had a LOT of time to think
about it.
- His son, Methuselah had 969 years to mull this over!
- Even as we discuss Chapter 5 as the beginning of the genealogy of Jesus, before Jesus was
born, we see this hope manifested in some of the greats of the Old Testament:
Job 19:25-27
- 25 I know that my redeemer [a] lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth. [b]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet [c] in [d] my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
Daniel 12:2-3
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to
shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise [a] will shine like the brightness of the
heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
- Don’t these verses foreshadow the New Testament promises of Christ’s return?
SO – How do we walk faithfully with God?
1. Pray – always
a. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
- You cannot have a flourishing relationship with someone you don’t talk to.
- Prayer is a time to tell God what is going on in our lives, to ask for guidance and wisdom, to
repent of our sin and to enjoy His presence. It is a time to admit that God is greater than we
are and to trust Him
-
2. Surrender to His will and way of life
a. Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me.
b. Surrendering your life requires an eternal perspective
- Prayer of Darren’s friend –
o Thank you God for one more day, and thank you God for one less day.
- c. This means surrendering everything you are
- your job
- your family
- your money – your security
- your past, present and future
-
3. Read the Bible
- The inspired word of God
- Psalm 119:105
- “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
- You can’t walk with God in the dark.
4. Live like Jesus
a. Obey His commands
b. 1 John 2:6
“6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
- “My dad is my hero”
5. Confession ad Repentance
a. Recognizing and confessing sin
i. The world doesn’t determine what sin is – God does
ii. If you pray, surrender your life to Him, read His word, and live like Jesus, you’ll
recognize the sin in your life, you’ll know what to give Him
iii. He’s already died for it – give it to Him
1 John 1:9
“9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
iv. How many of us are sitting in a prison cell with door already opened?
v. Walk out of the cell that Jesus opened, and walk with God.
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