GENESIS LESSON 12
Today we will begin in chapter 5 of Genesis. In chapter 5, we
begin with the genealogy of the patriarches. In the last lesson, we
were looking at the evil ancestors of Adam's family. Now with Seth, we
are looking at the Godly line through whom the Saviour would come. In
the third chapter of St. Luke, you can follow right back to Adam
through his son Seth. St. Luke 3:38 "Which was [the son] of Enos,
which was [the son] of Seth, which was [the son] of Adam, which was
[the son] of God."
Genesis 5:1 "This [is] the book of the generations of Adam. In
the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;"
Genesis 5:2 "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and
called their name Adam, in the day when they were created."
We are taken back to creation day in the verses above. This line
would be carried on until the blessed Saviour would become the end to
this beginning. We are reminded here that mankind was made in the
image of God. In V-2, it explicitly said that this was not just man,
but man and woman. Adam is a plural name and is here denoted as
meaning both Adam and Eve. We touched on this Scripture in a previous
lesson.
Genesis 5:3 "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and
begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his
name Seth:"
We must take note that this was not Adam's first son. Adam had
Cain and Abel before Seth, but the lineage that would be followed
throughout the Bible would be Seth.
Genesis 5:4 "And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were
eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:"
You see, in none of these Scriptures did Moses go into detail
about how many sons and daughters. My own opinion of the longevity of
life for this early humanity was so they could populate the earth.
Genesis 5:5 "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred
and thirty years: and he died."
Genesis 5:6 "And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat
Enos:"
Genesis 5:7 "And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and
seven years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:8 "And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and
twelve years: and he died."
Genesis 5:9 "And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:"
Genesis 5:10 "And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred
and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:11 "And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five
years: and he died."
Genesis 5:12 "And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat
Mahalaleel:"
Genesis 5:13 "And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight
hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:14 "And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and
ten years: and he died."
Genesis 5:15 "And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and
begat Jared:"
Genesis 5:16 "And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight
hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:17 "And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred
ninety and five years: and he died."
It seems that these genealogies go on and on. We see that these
men were men of God and lived long lives. In V-18 below, we will see
the righteous Enoch, not the son of Cain, but rather the seventh from
Adam through the line of Seth. Keep in mind "seven" means spiritually
complete.
Genesis 5:18 "And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years,
and he begat Enoch:"
Genesis 5:19 "And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred
years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:20 "And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty
and two years: and he died."
Genesis 5:21 "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat
Methuselah:"
Genesis 5:22 "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah
three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:23 "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty
and five years:"
Genesis 5:24 "And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for
God took him."
In Jude verse 14, the Scripture says that Enoch, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied. You see, we find in these Scriptures that God not
only walked and communed with Enoch, but he showed him into the
future.
Verses 14-15-16 of Jude look right into the future to the end times.
Jude 1:14 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these,
saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,"
Jude 1:15 "To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are
ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly
committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have
spoken against him." Jude 1:16 "These are murmurers, complainers,
walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling
[words], having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."
Hebrews 11:5 tells us how we can be translated to be with God.
Enoch was the recipient of this gift.
Hebrews 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."
I like the story that says, one day when Enoch was walking with
God, that God invited Enoch to go home with him, and he did. (This
exact statement is not in the Bible, but in all essence was what really
happened.)
Do not confuse this Enoch with Enoch who was the son of Cain.
They were total opposites.
I won't write it down here, but you may read in St. Luke the 3rd
chapter, beginning with verse 37, the genealogy of Seth to Enoch.
We could go on and on about this being a firstfruit of the
rapture of the church.
V-23 of Genesis says all the days of Enoch were 365. That is an
interesting statement. For Enoch is still alive. It means his time on
earth was 365 years. Even the number of his years are a peculiarity
for there are 365 days in a year.
What a beautiful picture of the rapture of the church. When the
trumpet blows in the sky, there will be a large number of people who
will walk with God.
Genesis 5:25 "And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven
years, and begat Lamech:
Genesis 5:26 "And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven
hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:27 "And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred
sixty and nine years: and he died."
Genesis 5:28 "And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years,
and begat a son:"
This is a very interesting Scripture, as well. This Methuselah
(descendent of Seth) lived longer than anyone else upon the earth.
Some writers believe that Methuselah died the day before the flood.
This is pure conjecture taken from some writings other than the Bible.
It could easily have happened, but as far as I know, the Bible does
not substantiate this statement. We do know that it is a popular
saying about someone who is very old, that they are as old as
Methuselah.
Genesis 5:29 "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."
"Lamech" means the powerful. It seems as if Lamech looked around
him and saw a world with people not following God, but rather living for
the here and now. The people around him had so discouraged him that
he felt all was lost. Then God gave him this son Noah. Lamech
realized that Noah was going to break the chain of endless toil and sin
here on the earth. At last, there was hope.
Genesis 5:30 "And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred
ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:"
Genesis 5:31 "And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred
seventy and seven years: and he died."
You know looking at these two verses really saddens me. Noah had
sisters and brothers who did not believe and did not board the ark.
Probably Noah's father, Lamech, had died, but what about Noah's
sisters and brothers? If I truly understand the Scripture above, then
they must have gone the way of the wicked world and been lost with all
the others in the flood.
Genesis 5:32 "And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat
Shem, Ham, and Japheth."
This Scripture above does not tell us whether these boys were
triplets, or whether it meant around the time Noah was 500 years old,
or whether it means shortly after he was 500. It really doesn't matter
for our study here.
"Noah" means rest. Certainly there is a sabbath of rest for those
who enter the ark of safety through belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Shem" means shame. "Ham" means hot (from a tropical habitat).
"Japheth" means expansion. From these three young men will spring the
three types of people in the world, the Caucasian, the Oriental and
the Negroid. We will get into many interesting things about this
family in our next lesson, chapter 6 of Genesis.
Read chapter 6 several times to prepare for next week's lesson.
Questions 12
1. Chapter 5 is a genealogy of whom?
2. Did Jesus come from Seth's line or Cain's line?
3. In the day Adam and Eve were created, what did God call them?
4. When Adam was 130, what son was born to him?
5. How long did Adam live?
6. Enoch was 7th from whom?
7. Which of Enoch's sons was born when he was 65?
8. How old was Enoch when he went home with God?
9. Who lived the longest on the earth?
10. How long did he live?
11. What testimony did Enoch have?
12. What is a popular statement about someone who is old?
13. What does "Lamech" mean?
14. What probably happened to Noah's sisters and brothers?
15. What age was Noah when it is mentioned that he begat three
sons?
16. Name the three sons.
17. What does "Noah" mean?
18. What does "Shem" mean?
19. What does "Ham" mean?
20. What does "Japheth" Mean?
21. Name three types of people that came from these three sons.
Notes
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