THE DAYS OF NOAH
GENESIS 5:1-32
37
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days which were before the
flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39
and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so
shall the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:37-39).
Jesus said that, if you want to
know what the earth will be like at the time of His return, then study the days
of Noah in the time before the coming of the flood. The conditions will be of
a similar nature. There will be eating
and drinking. There will be marrying
and giving in marriage. In other words,
it will be business as usual. The
coming of Christ will be as unexpected as was the coming of the flood.
Everything we know about the days
before the flood are given to us in Genesis 4-6. These three chapters form a subset of the larger narrative in
which they are found. They give us the
condition of the world prior to the flood. [1]
|
Genesis 4 |
Genesis 5 |
Genesis 6 |
|
The descendants of Cain |
The descendants of Seth |
The intermarriage of sons of God and daughters of men |
|
A picture of those following in the way of Cain |
A picture of those descended through Seth |
A picture of moral wickedness |
The Biblical picture of life prior to the flood as seen in
these three chapters is one of a growing apostasy as pictured in the
descendants of Cain, or a believing remnant as seen in the persons of Enoch and
Noah and a polluting influence that is pictured in the intermarriage described
in the first several verses of chapter 6.
In particular, there is a contrast that is set up between
the two genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5.
These two genealogies, presented as they are in parallel, are meant to
be seen in contrast to one another.
|
The Line of Cain |
The Line of Seth |
|
We can theorize that Eve named Cain as she says, "I
have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD" (4:1). |
We are told that Adam called his name Seth (5:3). |
|
Cain murdered his brother Abel (4:8). |
Seth was appointed to take Abel’s place (4:25). |
|
Cain’s son was named Enoch -- “Dedicated” (4:17). |
Seth’s son was named Enosh -- “Mortal” (5:6). |
|
Lamech was the seventh from Adam through Cain; he killed a
young man. |
Enoch was the seventh from Adam through Seth; he walked
with God and did not die. |
As we come to Genesis 5, our
focus shifts from the line of Cain and the rebellious attitudes to the line of
Seth and the godly remnant that was preserved amidst the growing apostasy. Each reference to a patriarch follows a
specific pattern.
• His name.
• His age at the birth of his first son.
• The length of his remaining life (along
with a statement that he begot other sons and daughters).
• His age at his death.
There are only three variations
from this formula. They take place when
we speak of three of the patriarchs:
Adam (5:3), Enoch (5:22-24) and Lamech (5:28-29).
THE
GENEALOGY OF ADAM
1
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man,
He made him in the likeness of God. 2
He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the
day when they were created.
3
When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son
in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. 4 Then the days of Adam after he became the
father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine
hundred and thirty years, and he died. (Genesis 5:1-5).
We have already seen in Genesis
2:4 the introduction of that section described as the generations of the
heavens and the earth. This time we
are introduced to the BOOK of the generations of Adam. This suggests that these records had long
since been reduced to writing and passed from father to son until they came
into the hands of Moses. While these
might have originally been made up of oral traditions, they were now known as a
book.
Just as the generations of the
heavens and earth were given in chapters 2-4, so now we read of the generations
of Adam. These will be the “histories”
of Adam and what came as a result of his legacy. [2]
1. Adam’s Age: When Adam had lived one hundred and
thirty years... (5:3).
When we read
through the creations narratives of both Genesis 1 and 2, we get the sense that
creation took place with an appearance of age.
Plants were created yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit. In a similar manner, Adam himself seems to
be fully formed as an adult rather than as a baby. This would indicate that he was created in such a way as to
appear as though he had gone through the natural maturing process.
Adam and Eve
were apparently in the garden only a short time prior to the temptation and
fall. After their expulsion from the
garden, Eve gives birth to both Cain and Abel and perhaps a number of
daughters, one of which will ultimately become Cain’s wife. It is only after the murder of Abel and the
departure of Cain that we read of Adam and Eve having a son to replace the
fallen Abel.
Thus by the time
Adam was 130 years old (marking time from his creation), his first two sons had
already grown to adulthood, the murder of one had taken place and Cain had been
banished to the land of Nod where he was engaged in building a city.
2. Adam’s Likeness
and Image: He became the father of a
son in his own likeness, according to his image (5:3).
Adam had been
created after the image and likeness of God.
We do not read here that his sons were born in the image and likeness of
God, although we understand from other passages of Scripture that this
relationship continues today.[3] Instead we are told that they were born in
the likeness and image of Adam. Is this
significant? Perhaps it is. This might indicate that Adam’s son was born
with the fallen image and likeness of his father and that he was born as a
sinner.
What is involved
in being in the likeness and according to the image of Adam? We have already noted the context of Genesis
1:26-27 points in the following verse to the aspect of rulership. Man was created to exercise dominion over
the animal and the plant kingdom. He
served as the representative of God to the rest of creation. There is a sense in which this same pattern
continues in Adam’s descendants.
At the same
time, we must admit there may be additional aspects to being in the likeness
and image of both Adam and in the likeness and image of God. We are in God’s likeness and His image as...
• We are thinking and rational beings.
• We are self aware.
• We have a sense of that which is beyond
the physical; we are spiritual beings.
• We have an immortal aspect to us that
shall transcend this mortal body.
Christ came, not
only to restore us to the previous image, but more specifically, to conform us
to His own image. Romans 8:29 describes
how we have been predestined by God to become conformed to the image of His Son.
3. Adam’s Sons and
Daughters: And he had other sons and
daughters (5:4).
This chapter
records some extraordinarily long life spans.
If we take this report at face value (and it is difficult to take it any
other way), then this would suggest that both Adam and Eve and their
descendants were able to have a great many children, leading to an extensive
population explosion.
SETH
TO JARED
6
And Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. 7 Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years
after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and
twelve years, and he died.
9
And Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10 Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen
years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters.
11 So all the days of Enosh were
nine hundred and five years, and he died.
12
And Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty
years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and
daughters. 14 So all the days of
Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
15
And Mahalalel lived sixty‑five years, and became the father of Jared. 16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty
years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters.
17 So all the days of Mahalalel
were eight hundred and ninety‑five years, and he died.
18
And Jared lived one hundred and sixty‑two years, and became the father of
Enoch. 19 Then Jared lived eight
hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and
daughters. 20 So all the days of
Jared were nine hundred and sixty‑two years, and he died. (Genesis
5:6-20).
What are we to make of this list
of names? It brings up a number of
questions and poses a number of problems for the Bible student.
1. The Age of
Humanity.
If we treat this
genealogy as a strict history by which we are to derive the dates of our
ancestors, then we could count backwards from Abraham (around 2000 B.C.) to
arrive at a date for the creation of around 4000 B.C.
It was by the
use of such methods that James Ussher (1581‑1656), Archbishop of Armagh,
Primate of All Ireland, and Vice‑Chancellor of Trinity College in Dublin
published his chronology establishing the first day of creation as Sunday,
October 23, 4004 BC.
The problem with
such a chronology is that it is flatly contradicted by archaeological finds,
not to mention those of geologists and biologists. One would be hard pressed to postulate a creation in 4004 B.C.
and a subsequent flood in 2348 B.C. when we can date the beginnings of the
Egyptian monarchy to around 3100 B.C.
Fortunately, the
Scriptures themselves bear testimony that such genealogies are understood to be
stylized so that they contain deliberate omissions. This is seen in the genealogy of Matthew 1 where a number of kings
are omitted. [4]
2. Antediluvian Longevity.
Even a cursory
look at the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 indicate a great difference in the
average life span of mankind before the flood to what it is today. For example, Noah lived to be a total of 951
years old. Neither is he an isolated
case. The patriarchs living prior to
the flood are all typically presented as living up to eight or nine hundred
years. A notable and dramatic change
takes place after Noah. Was this one of
the judgments of God upon the postdiluvian world? Was it the result of different ecological conditions? We do not know. The Bible does not tell us.
There are some
who have suggested that this reflects only a different means of measuring
time. For example, it has been
suggested that each of these years actually represents only a month. This presents its own set of problems, since
this would mean that Enoch was only five years old at the birth of his
son. Other views that see these numbers
as either symbolic or else as a literary device fail to account for the
variations and for the extensive attention to detail.
It is perhaps
significant that the oldest names from the Sumerian King lists also reflect
very lengthy ages among those kings (some of these kings were said to have
lived for over 20,000 years). This can
be seen as an independent testimony to this same phenomenon of an extended
longevity in mankind’s past.
3. A Repetitious
Requiem.
One of the
striking things about these series of names is the repeating refrain with which
each account closes: “And he died.” It
is a droning drumbeat of death. It is a
reminder that the effects of sin continued to be felt throughout history. A great fall had taken place and death is
now seen to be reigning throughout these genealogies.
4. A Listing of a
Godly Line.
|
You might be the only one in your family who
believes. You can be the beginning of
such a godly line in your family.
Determine today that every generation coming from you will be a part
of a godly line. Make this your
life’s priority. |
This genealogy
lists only the Godly line of Seth. We
do not read here of any that followed in the way of Cain or Lamech. These are the men who stood for God in the
midst of a generation that was so bad that God would rather remove them from
the earth than to allow them to remain.
It is a listing of faithful men.
The people in
this line were a minority. They stood
up against the people of the day and they held to their faith. They are a reminder that you need not be
discouraged when you are alone.
The marvelous
thing is that these men are listed by name.
God has the names of His book recorded in a book.
Then those who feared the LORD
spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of
remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem
His name. 17 "And they will be
Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own
possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves
him." (Malachi 3:16-17).
Have you ever
met a VIP who called you by your name?
It would be a man who meets hundreds and thousands of people each day,
but who knows you by name. The God that
we worship is greater than any VIP and yet He knows your name and He tells you
to call Him “Father.”
Just as Genesis 4 spotlights the
rebellious nature of the seventh from Adam through the line of Cain in the
person of Lamech, so now Genesis 5 spotlights the seventh from Adam through the
line of Seth by focusing on the person of Enoch.
|
Lamech |
Enoch |
|
Seventh from Adam through Cain |
Seventh from Adam through Seth |
|
He killed a man and wrote a boastful song of his deed. |
He walked with God and did not die. |
These two men stand in contrast
to one another and they serve to exemplify the two lines of mankind that were
living upon the earth in the days before the flood.
1. Enoch Walked
with God.
21
And Enoch lived sixty‑five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred
years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and
daughters. 23 So all the days of
Enoch were three hundred and sixty‑five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not,
for God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24).
Twice in this
passage we are told that Enoch “walked with God.” This suggests an ongoing relationship with God. The same will be said of Noah in Genesis 6:9
-- He walked with God. We are reminded
that our relationship with God can serve as a family legacy to be passed on
from father to son to grandson.
|
Hebrews 9:27 tell us it is
appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, but this is a
general principle and has some notable exceptions. |
At the end of
Enoch’s life, we read that he was not, for God took him. This is a deviation from the normal pattern
of this genealogy that regularly ends with the death of the patriarch whose
history is given. Instead of reading,
“And he died,” we read that he was not.
We understand this to mean that Enoch did not die and that he was taken
in a manner that did not involve death.
This is not a
unique circumstance, for the New Testament teaches that we shall not all
sleep (1 Corinthians 15:51). Those
who are alive when the Lord returns shall not die. Instead they shall be changed and shall be caught up to meet the
Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
The Enoch
narrative reminds us of two things.
First, it reminds us that death is an enemy. There are some who maintain that death is merely a natural part
of existence and that it is nothing more than the end of life and that it is to
be embraced and cherished. This is not
true. Death is unnatural. We look at death and something within us
tells us, “That is not the way it is supposed to be.” Death is an enemy.
The Enoch
narrative also reminds us that death is an enemy that shall be destroyed. There is One who has overcome death and
there is coming a day when the experience of Enoch will be shared by all who
are alive and remain at the Lord’s coming.
2. Enoch
Proclaimed God: And about these also
Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold,
the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict
all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly
way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against
Him." (Jude 1:14-15).
This isolated
reference to Enoch seems to be derived from the apocryphal book of Enoch. That does not mean we must take everything
in the book of Enoch to be authoritative, for the New Testament even quotes
pagan philosophers on occasion and even a stopped clock can be right twice a
day.
This passage
contains a prophecy of the second coming of Christ. Enoch was evidently given this prophecy in his day and he
preached it to the people of his generation.
Already at this early date in history, mankind was being warned of God’s
coming judgment.
3. Enoch was
Pleasing to God: By faith Enoch was
taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took
him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was
pleasing to God. (Hebrews 11:5).
The writer to
the Hebrews indicates that the characteristic about Enoch that was pleasing to
the Lord was his faith. This is not
exclusive to Enoch. Anyone who is
pleasing to God will be a person of faith, for without faith it is
impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).
This does not
mean there is something particularly meritorious about faith. Instead, faith is the empty hand that admits
its emptiness. It is the confession of
personal helplessness. It is the admission
that we need One greater than ourselves to save us.
METHUSELAH
25
And Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty‑seven years, and became the
father of Lamech. 26 Then
Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty‑two years after he became the
father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine
hundred and sixty‑nine years, and he died. (Genesis 5:25-27).
We have already noted that Enoch
had a prophetic ministry and that he gave a prophecy regarding the coming of
the Lord. A further aspect of Enoch’s
prophetic ministry may have been indicated in the name he gave to his son.
Scholars have wrestled with the
meaning of the name Methuselah. Several
suggestions have been presented.
• “Man of the weapon” – from math
(“man”) and shelah,
(“weapon”).
• “He shall be send” – from math; (“man”) and shalah' (“to send”).
• “Sending forth of death” – from methe (“death”) and shalah' (“to send”).
If we assume the absence of gaps
in the genealogy between Methuselah and Noah and then calculate the years of
their lives, we find that the death of Methuselah corresponds to the exact year
as the coming of the flood. He name may
have been prophetic, indicating that at his passing, the deadly weapon of God
would be sent to judge the earth.
If this is true, then the
interesting fact that Methuselah is the oldest of all the patriarchs is a sign
of God’s grace in withholding judgment and giving men every possible
opportunity to repent before the coming judgment.
LAMECH
AND NOAH
28
And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty‑two years, and became the father
of a son. 29 Now he called his name
Noah, saying, "This one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil
of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed." 30 Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety‑five
years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred
and seventy‑seven years, and he died. 32
And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham,
and Japheth. (Genesis 5:28-32).
We have already seen that Enoch
was a prophet and we have suggested the possibility that he gave his son a name
with prophetic significance. Now we
learn that Enoch’s grandson, Lamech, also was a prophet. His prophecy regards his own son, Noah. The name Noah means “rest.” He was given this name because "this
one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising
from the ground which the LORD has cursed."
To what sort of rest did this refer? It was a promise to the restlessness of the soul that had been seen in Cain and which was passed down to Lamech and which was now making itself known to an entire generation.
[1] There has been a great deal of speculation on what were the conditions upon the earth prior to the flood. Speculations have been set forth with a wide degree of imagination. Immanuel Velikovsky’s World’s In Collision, penned in the 1950's, suggested the year was once only 360 days long and cited Babylonian and Hindu calendars that referenced a 360 day year. While these are interesting observations, they can be explained in a variety of ways and are more likely the result of the use of a numerical base 6 being rounded off. Velikovsky has long since been dismissed as having very little in the way of scientific observation to support his outlandish theories.
[2] There is a subtle difference between the Hebrew spelling of tAdl.At in Genesis 2:4 versus the tdol.AT of Genesis 5:1. This does not reflect a different meaning, but perhaps it does reflect an archaic spelling (it also appears in Ruth 4:10).
[3] James 3:9 speaks about how men in general have been made in the likeness of God. This is seen again in Genesis 9:6 where capital punishment is mandated for murder because human life is in the image of God.
[4] In Matthew 1:8, the names of Ahaziah, Athaliah, Jehoash and Amaziah are left out between the kings Joram and Uzziah. This deliberate manipulation of the text to achieve 14 names in each of the three sections of this chapter is done because the Hebrew language used letters as numerical equivalents beginning with the Hebrew a (1), b (2), g (3), etc. The name “David” in Hebrew consists of only three letters: dwd. Jesus is being shown to be the son of David.