Genesis 5 highlights

From this point on, I will often reference Scripture without writing it, to save myself time and the blog unnecessary space consumption. I advise keeping your Bible handy to check out all these references. (be a Berean) Also, if anyone catches a mistake (I do sometimes make them) in a reference, let me know so I can correct it.

It is suggested at this point that you read Chapter 5 to familiarize yourself with the names of the generations from Adam to Noah, as some of these people will be briefly referenced.

Some of the names of the patriarchs are very interesting in their meanings. Seth means “appointed one“. God had promised Adam and Eve a redeemer, after they sinned - Gen. 3:15. When Cain killed Abel, they must have thought that promise was broken. When Seth was born, they knew that he was the appointed one to take the place of Abel and from whom the redeemer would come, thus the name. In fact, he was the appointed one to be the next patriarch to carry righteousness to the next generation.

Jared means “descent”. The Book of Enoch, though not in our canon, was accepted by the Jews of biblical times as a valid historical book. It is the supposed history of the world before the flood. It tells that at the time of Jared, angels came down from heaven and co-habited with mankind (which we know to be true as we will see a little later). Jared’s name meaning descent, may commemorate that event.. Methusaleh means “when he dies, judgment”. Indeed Methusalah died the year of the flood, possibly right before it. Noah means “rest”. The world definitely got a rest as did Noah and his family (and God) from the wickedness abounding in the world.

Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Heb. 11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

1) Enoch is a pattern for those who will be raptured at the end of the age. There is also speculation that he may play a part in the tribulation at the end, but more on that later.

2) Enoch, though he lived before the flood, prophesied concerning the second coming of Christ, (Jude 14-15) which is odd when you think of it. Why not the first coming? This shows how important the second coming of Christ is, for an antediluvian patriarch to be prophesying about it. This is how early on in the world (and therefore Scriptures) God started referencing it.

Genesis 5:28-29 “And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: and he called his name Noah, saying This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

1) If one looks at the genealogy and the ages each patriarch was when his son was born, it turns out that Adam died when Noah’s father Lamech was 56, and Seth, Adam’s son, died only 14 years before Noah was born. In fact, there is a space of only 126 years between Adam’s death and Noah’s birth. Noah would have known and spoken with many of the patriarchs, who would have known and spoken with Adam and Seth. Since both Enoch and Lamech were outlived by their fathers - (Gen. Chapter 5) - there were only seven patriarchal men in the line before Noah. (A man wouldn’t become a patriarch until his father died.) This explains the verse in 2 Pet. 2:5 which says that Noah was the eighth preacher of righteousness, even though Noah was the tenth generation from Adam. This closeness in proximity to the first man created makes the history that Noah would have brought beyond the flood very reliable (besides the fact that God would make sure his Word was preserved in truth). It wasn’t hundreds of years removed from the original source, even though by counting up the ages of the patriarchs, the flood happened in 1656 A.C. (after creation). Unlike today where we are far removed from the founders of our country, these people’s lives overlapped each other by centuries in some cases.

It is important now to look at what the world was like at the time of Noah. Not only does the world change drastically in a physical sense, but the spiritual and social condition of what the world was then, is repeated before Christ returns. Matt. 24:37.