Walk in the Bible - Genesis 5

  Genesis 5

     Right off, I bet your wondering why this chapter should be included , right?  It just a bunch of 

"X begat Y", "A begat B" and so on, so what?  What's important about that  ?   Remember on the previous 

post I mentioned that each generation was looking for the person who would fulfill GOD's curse to satan

that an offspring of Eve would crush Satan's head .  Each generation was looking for that person and

would at least note the name of their son, just in case he WAS that person.

     

     We're reminded, in Verses 1 - 2 that GOD made us, and named us, therefore HE owns us, HE's in 

charge, not us.  We're also reminded that we're made in GOD's image.  Now , that word "image" is 

the Hebrew word "Tselem", and it doesn't mean any kind of physical image at all. The closest word 

we have to it would be "a shade" or an ethereal image. More colloquially, we'd say we were made to 

have HIS heart, HIS  point of view, HIS way of doing things, but not his physical appearance or 

image.

     

    Also notice that it never says "and GOD died" at the end of that sentence.  Look at the rest of the

line of Adam.  Their mentions all, except for Enoch, end with "and he died", showing us that GOD is

eternal, we are not. This proves what GOD said just before he expelled Adam and Eve from the garden

of Eden, that we came from dust and we'll return to dust.  This shows us that GOD is constant throughout

the generations, he won't change his mind on a whim. If he says something, that's it!

    In Verse 3 - 5 Adam is said to have become the father of a son "in his own image". Two interesting things 

occur here, first, it's Seth. Now we already know Cain and Abel came first, so why aren't they mentioned?

Abel , because he was murdered and Cain because he was exiled , so that leaves Seth as their "first born son"

(based on a technicality)!     Further note that Adam had a son in his own image, not in the image of God, 

but his image, no longer GOD's image, but man's imperfect image.

    Also, because Seth was the first born son, he was , per the culture , the one that would be sanctified

by GOD. Notice that verse 4 says he had other sons and daughters, but they're not named, because they're 

not as important, either the sons nor the daughters, only Seth was named.   Notice too, at the end

of verse 5, it says how old Adam was, "then he died". Indicating that although Adam was made in 

GOD's image, his sons and daughters would not only inherit his nature, but that would also die.

     In verses 6 - 20 it's pretty much the same formula, "When X lived Y years, he lived...he died". Notice each

one lived a bit shorter than the prior one, and this goes on for 6 generations, each generation noting the 

name of the first born male child, just in case, this child would be THE ONE that would finally fulfil the

promise GOD made back in the garden, that they would stomp Satan's head.      Verses 22-24 look a bit different

however. Instead of the same formula, we read a bit about Enoch.

     Enoch is said to have "walked with GOD" after the birth of his son Methuselah. This implies that he really

didn't before his son was born, and instead of his story ending with "...and he died", it ends with 

"Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him".  This shows that it was possible to repent,

and in order for Enoch to have pleased GOD, he would have had to know HOW  to please GOD, so it shows that 

GOD was still, at the very least speaking to us, if not directly, then indirectly, through prophets. 

Sadly the bible doesn't say which, but we at least know that Enoch started off not pleasing GOD

and ending up pleasing him, in fact, he pleased him so much that rather than end his story with "...and he died", 

his story ends with "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him".

     Verses 26 - 27 talk about Methuselah, the son of Enoch.  There are two interesting things about him, first 

his name literally means "when he is dead, it shall come", apparently, his father, Enoch knew something was 

going to happen just after his son died and named him as such.  Secondly, Methuselah is the longest-lived human 

in the Bible. According to Verse 27 he lives 969 years, but before he dies, he has a son, Lamech. This

isn't the same Lamech that's mentioned in the last chapter at all, by the way. 

     In verse 28, we're told Lamech has a son, Noah. The name "Noah" means "comfort". According to the Tanchuma Bereishit, no one knew how to plow, they literally broke the ground by hand, and it was Noah who invented the plow and trained oxen and donkeys to pull a plowshare, to the relief of many farmers after the flood. So, Lamech could have been prophesying by naming Noah the way he did!

     Also, Noah was the tenth generation after Adam, and this is significant in that culture, per Rabbineu Bachya, A Rabbi and Scholar in the 13th century.  He states that the number 10 is holy (God would command, later on, that we give one tenth of what we owned to him, after all!) Therefore, Lamech likely considered him consecrated to GOD, as he was both his first born son, and the tenth generation since Adam. However before Noah did any of these things, we're told, in verse 31 that he lived a long life, then he died, like all those before him.

     Notice verse 32, it's different than any of the other verses before it. First, it doesn't show Noah living than dying. Second it shows Noah becoming a father at 500 years old. Third, instead of just naming his first born son, it names three sons, and according to Rashi and Radak, also Jewish Scholars, Japeth is actually the first born, even though he's named last. The Bible is definetly setting the stage for something extraordinary, but we don't get to see what until the next chapter!

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     In summary, we see that people will be born and die, it's just the natural order of things here on Earth since the fall of Adam. It also shows us that GOD CAN speak through people, like Enoch, who named his son, Methuselah, meaning "when he is dead, it shall come", meaning the great flood, and Lamech, who named his son, "Noah" meaning "comfort".  It also shows us that GOD's aware of us, constantly, and, to borrow a phrase, "He knows when we've been bad or good“. That time itself is no barrier to him at all, after all, he stayed on with us, up to this point, 10 generations! 

     How about it, do you feel like GOD'S not watching over you, or that you really don't matter to him? I assure you that's not the case, reach out and I'll be happy to tell you more!