Slices
Prepare
Who are the most elderly Christians you know? What is one thing you might learn from them?
Bible passage
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’ 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 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 and said, ‘He will comfort us in the labour 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.
Explore
In today’s chapter lots of people live to a (very) ripe old age, have children, and then die (usually). I always hope that Methuselah had invested in birthday-cake candles…
Anyway, this would have all sounded very odd to ancient readers, for two reasons. First, because these were ordinary men (involved with ordinary women, noting verse 2). They were ‘sons of Adam’, which meant ‘human’ as we saw before. In other words, this is not a list of kings. In the ancient world every culture had its list of kings who were descended from the gods. But not Israel. Their holy book started with Adam and human sons. God’s story is for everyone, not just royalty.
Secondly, this list emphasises that each man died. Their ages may look huge to us, but compared to the semi-divine kings of other stories, who lived for 30,000 or 40,000 years, ‘969’ was a remarkably small number. So again, God’s story was for mortal human beings, just like us.
The seventh in line, Enoch, did not die. He walked with God, then and perhaps for ever (v 24). Maybe that was a picture of what we all hope for in life. I’m not sure. One day I intend to ask him about it.
Respond
Genesis 5 was meant to surprise its readers, and remind them that God cared for everyone. Ask God to surprise you today by showing you someone unexpected who he cares for.
Deeper Bible study
‘You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.’1
If death dominates chapter 4, then life is the focus of chapter 5. Verse 1 reminds us that humans are created in the likeness of God, a somewhat ironic reminder given the events of the previous chapter. It is as though the story is starting again with the creation of humans and God’s blessing of them, but with no mention of Cain: here, Adam’s children begin with Seth. Abel is implicit in Seth for Eve considered that Seth replaced Abel.2 God had told them to be fruitful and multiply3 and this chapter is confirmation that, despite Adam and Eve’s disobedience and Cain’s (not to mention Lamech’s) murdering, God had not withdrawn his blessing. His plan for humans will continue. It is easy to miss God’s grace in this genealogy of names and ages. Jonah knew that God was gracious and had never given up on humanity. Humanity went very wrong at the start and we, too, go wrong – yet God continues to bless.
There are no personal stories in this chapter until we get to Noah, other than that Enoch walked with God (we are not told that of anyone else in this chapter) and that God took him before he died (vs 22,24). Lamech, who came through Seth’s lineage, named Noah with the intention that he should give people rest (v 29, NASB) from the work caused by the cursing of the ground. How he thought Noah would achieve this is another question and perhaps it simply expresses a desire. Thus we are reminded at the close of the chapter that we live in a world where God has cursed the ground. God’s blessing and his cursing, human procreation and death are all part of life and we live constantly with the tension of that.
Father, thank you for the blessing of life amidst the problems of the world. Thank you for your patience and for your faithful love. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 22,23; Psalms 5,6
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that as the movement continues to discuss what we understand by mission we will gain a better understanding of what it requires in our world; pray that this will make us more effective in communicating with those who do not know Jesus.
