“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” 1 John 3:10-12.
In chapter four we examined the murder of Abel by his brother Cain and Cain’s banishment from the presence of the Lord. We have also seen a brief coverage of Cain’s descendants who were as follows.
Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methushael, and Lamech; Lamech took two wives Adah and Zillah. From there it branched off into Adah’s children, Jabal and Jubal; an expert in livestock and an expert in the harp and the flute. Zillah was the mother of Tubal-Cain an instructor to every craftsman in bronze and iron.
From this we can conceive of a civilization which was advanced, industrious, artistic, and godless; and possibly well beyond the Greeks or the Romans in their civilization.
Chapter five gives us the godly line of Adam; ten generations, giving us the name of the father, his age when the son was born, and how much longer he lived along with his age at death.
The sons who were born to these patriarchs do not necessarily need to be their firstborn sons. A good example would be Adam, his sons were Cain and Abel, and he had many other sons and daughters, but these two were singled out.
Then Cain killed Abel, and was banished, depriving them of both sons when Adam was about 130 years old. Then when Adam was 130 years old, Eve conceived again and gave birth to Seth, of whom she said, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” None of the other children of Adam and Eve are mentioned by name.
One conclusion which may be drawn from this is that, since Abel was a prophet, he may also have been the priest of this godly family. This is a very good reason to believe that the men named in the genealogy of Adam in chapter five were all the succeeding priests for Adam’s godly family line.
More importantly, the line of Adam extends all the way from Adam to Mary, the mother of the Christ the promised Seed of the woman, see Luke 3:23-38.
There are those who say that the lineage given in chapter five and in the Luke chapter three accounts may have missing names.
This is erroneous the account is a full and complete lineage; because it is important that the line of the Messiah/Christ be directly from Adam to Abraham to David the King, to Mary Jesus’ mother to verify Messiah’s right and title.
There is one possible problem in this lineage in chapter five that has nothing to do with missing persons, and that is that there is a difference between the ages of the fathers when their sons were born in the three different texts which give them.
These are the Hebrew text, the Samaritan text, and the Septuagint or LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The Hebrew text is the most relied upon of these. The Samaritan text is pretty shaky and generally seems to be good for confirming some Hebrew passages and little more.
The Greek translation has been quoted by both the Lord Jesus and some New Testament writers. This would raise its reliability factor considerably.
Here is how this works; the age of Enoch when he had a son is in the Hebrew text 65 years, yet it is given in the Greek translation as 165 years old.
Six of these ten patriarchs are shown to be a hundred years older in the Greek version than they are in the Hebrew when they had their sons.
This changes chronology considerably; if you count them up, you would find that in the Hebrew translation of chapter five there would be 1656 years from the creation of Adam to the flood, as opposed to 2242 years from Adam to the flood in the Greek translation.
According to the Greek translation then Adam would have been created 586 years earlier than in the Hebrew version.
For the Christian these dates and those of the flood are not important enough to argue over, it happened, the Scriptures recorded it, and Jesus confirmed it.
“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37-39.
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17.
“This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” Genesis 5:1-3.
God is quite meticulous in giving names and ages, there is no reason for this if He were to leave some of the names out. God has a purpose for everything He does, and it does not matter whether we understand what it is or not. However I believe He wants us to know the age of the earth whether we are a few hundred years off or not.
It was about 2,000 years from the creation of Adam to the birth of Abraham and about 2,000 years from Abraham to the birth of Christ and it has been about 2,000 years from the birth of Christ to this present age, a total of approximately 6,000 years. Do you believe in coincidences?
Because evil is reaching its zenith, all indications are that the tribulation of seven years is coming, after which Jesus Christ will return to rule this earth for a thousand years.
Bringing mankind’s sojourn on earth to 7,000 years, after which there will be a new heavens and a new earth as this earth finishes its run in man’s 8,000th year.
The number two introduces the idea of division particularly by evil. In a good sense it is the number of witness:
“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15.
For two thousand years we see the rise of evil, and the witnesses against it from Adam to Abraham.
For two thousand years we see the witness against evil in Abraham and through his descendants the Israelites up to the birth of Christ.
For two thousand years we have seen the witness of Christians against evil and to the saving sacrifice of Christ on the cross, vindicating God and His promises.
These three time periods are witness to the grace of God in the midst of evil. Three is the number symbolizing cubic measure; length, times width, times height gives you the measure of capacity, fullness, the fullness of God’s grace, His mercy, and His longsuffering, not wanting anyone to perish, but that all should come to repentance.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.
These three numbers of two thousand years each adds up to 6,000 years. The number six is the number of man’s workday week; it is the number of man:
“For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful, and his work grievous; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 2:22-23.
When Jesus Christ returns after the tribulation to rule the world He will usher in the 7,000th year of man on earth, bringing in the end of man’s rebellion by the end of His thousand year reign (known as the millennium).
Seven is the number of completion and of rest. Man will rest from war and rampant sin, Satan will be chained in a bottomless pit and his evil angels will be locked up, there will be peace from his constant haranguing in the ears of mankind for a thousand years.
As the world enters its 8,000th year all will be brought to an end and there will be a new heavens and a new earth. The number eight is the number of new beginnings, all of the righteous will enter eternity, and Satan, his angels and all who chose to follow him will be cast into the lake of fire forever.
The interpretation of numbers is taken from F.W. Grant’s annotated “Numerical Bible”; the dates are from the Scriptures, other information from “Morrish’s New and Concise Bible Dictionary”.
Adam was 130 years old when he begot Seth, who replaced the murdered Abel.
Seth was 105 years old when he had a son, Enosh.
Enosh was 90 years when he begot a son, Cainan.
Cainan was 70 when he begot a son, Mahalaleel.
Mahalaleel was 65 when he begot a son, Jared.
Jared was 162 when he begot a son, Enoch.
Enoch was 65 when he begot a son. There is a significant difference between Enoch here and all the residents in this graveyard. While the average longevity for all of these men was about 912 years Enoch lived only another 300 years. Here is the explanation.
“After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:22-24.
What this verse means is that Enoch was so close to God and he lived a life so pleasing to God that God took him away without dying.
There are only two men in the Bible who did not die, Enoch is the first and Elijah who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire was the other.
“Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:11.
When you get a chance, read 2 Kings Chapter two; it is fascinating. By the way if you have trouble remembering which of these two prophets came first, just remember that they are in alphabetical order, Elijah then Elisha.
Returning to Enoch, here is the point I am trying to make; Enoch is quoted in Jude as prophesying about Christ’s return at the end of the tribulation.
“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’” Jude 14-15.
By saying that Enoch was the seventh from Adam, which he is in this genealogy, we can assume that there are no missing patriarchs in the list shown above.
This verse also tells us that Enoch was a prophet, further indicating that the rest of the men on this list were indeed priests or prophets to the godly line.
Finally, if Enoch is speaking to his generation as well as prophesying it would mean that evil had become epidemic among the population within a period of between 622 years and 987 years of the creation of man, depending on when Enoch spoke these words to the population.
Enoch’s son Methuselah was 187 when he begot a son, Lamech.
Lamech was 182 when he begot a son, Noah.
Noah was 500 years old when he begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah entered the ark with his wife, three sons, and their wives when he was 600 years old.
If you total these ages taken from the Hebrew translation they add up to 1,656 years, the number of years from the creation of Adam to the universal flood of Noah’s day.
If you are curious, here is the longevity of these men: Adam lived 930 years, Seth lived 912 years, Enosh lived 905 years, Cainan lived 910 years, Mahalaleel lived 895 years, Jared lived 962 years, Enoch lived 365 years, Methuselah lived 969 years, Lamech lived 777 years, Noah lived 600 years until the flood and afterwards another 350 years for a total of 950 years.
Noah died 350 years after the flood so it may be possible that he held Abram (Abraham) in his arms depending on Abram’s order of birth among three brothers, Abram, Nahor, and Haran, Genesis 11:26.
Noah’s son Shem (who lived 500 more years after the flood) could very well have bounced Abram on his knee and told him all about the flood and the world before it.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life – the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us – that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:1-4.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31.
“…for [Jesus Christ] the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10.
Descendant’s Descent, Genesis 5 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 8-26-14, updated on 11-4-21.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.