Genesis 5 is a list – a genealogy – of Adam’s descendants down to Noah. One is immediately struck by how long these people lived. (What could you do if you had the strength and health to live 900 years?) These numbers are incredible. To some they are incredible to the point that they toss out Genesis 5 and say that this is proof that these events did not truly take place. I would remind us though that life spans have changed – not this radically! But they have changed – even in the last 100 years. More and more people are reaching the centennial mark. We will also read in chapter 6 that God is going to limit the length of human life.
Obviously this list is not inclusive of all the children these men and their wives had . . . and each could have had plural wives. We read that Lamech practiced bigamy, and there are other examples of that life style in the Bible. These men were chosen out of many children either because they were the first born, or because they are the ones that get us to the destination we need to arrive at – the birth of Noah. I am inclined to think the latter is the case.
Why do we need to get to Noah? The easiest answer is the magnitude of what happened in his life. Genesis is going to focus on Noah from chapter 6 through chapter 9. But as interesting as those events will be as we read them, they are part of a larger story, and that is where God (who inspired Moses to write these verses) wants to get us. That larger story has to do with what God did to keep the promise He made in Genesis 3 to bring a savior, and how he interacted with His people as He worked from generation to generation until Jesus was born.
This is important for us because, much as the promise of Genesis 3:15 was passed forward from generation to generation in the days of the Old Testament, we also seek to pass God’s promise forward from generation to generation. The promise we have received is not the same as what Seth, Enosh, Kenan, and the gang held on to. Indeed, the promise we cling to is rooted in the fulfillment of the promise made to them. The savior has come. He has bruised the serpent’s head. He is Jesus, a descendant of Adam (along with the others listed here), who was crucified for our sins, buried for three days, risen and seen by many after He was raised from the dead. He has ascended into heaven and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And we who have faith in Him already know the judgment that will be pronounced on us: Forgiven! Innocent for Jesus’ sake!
This genealogy might not have been the most exciting reading (and it may not be the most boring . . . there are other genealogies to come!) but it gives us a picture of God working patiently in people’s lives to draw us back to Him. As it says in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
He’s still working. He’s still patient. He still calls people to repentance. And He still gives forgiveness.
Father in Heaven, when I consider your patience and determination to save your people (including me!) I am amazed. I don’t always think about or appreciate your patience, help me to rejoice in how You work in me, and help me to share Jesus’ salvation with other in the years You give me. Amen.
Obviously this list is not inclusive of all the children these men and their wives had . . . and each could have had plural wives. We read that Lamech practiced bigamy, and there are other examples of that life style in the Bible. These men were chosen out of many children either because they were the first born, or because they are the ones that get us to the destination we need to arrive at – the birth of Noah. I am inclined to think the latter is the case.
Why do we need to get to Noah? The easiest answer is the magnitude of what happened in his life. Genesis is going to focus on Noah from chapter 6 through chapter 9. But as interesting as those events will be as we read them, they are part of a larger story, and that is where God (who inspired Moses to write these verses) wants to get us. That larger story has to do with what God did to keep the promise He made in Genesis 3 to bring a savior, and how he interacted with His people as He worked from generation to generation until Jesus was born.
This is important for us because, much as the promise of Genesis 3:15 was passed forward from generation to generation in the days of the Old Testament, we also seek to pass God’s promise forward from generation to generation. The promise we have received is not the same as what Seth, Enosh, Kenan, and the gang held on to. Indeed, the promise we cling to is rooted in the fulfillment of the promise made to them. The savior has come. He has bruised the serpent’s head. He is Jesus, a descendant of Adam (along with the others listed here), who was crucified for our sins, buried for three days, risen and seen by many after He was raised from the dead. He has ascended into heaven and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And we who have faith in Him already know the judgment that will be pronounced on us: Forgiven! Innocent for Jesus’ sake!
This genealogy might not have been the most exciting reading (and it may not be the most boring . . . there are other genealogies to come!) but it gives us a picture of God working patiently in people’s lives to draw us back to Him. As it says in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
He’s still working. He’s still patient. He still calls people to repentance. And He still gives forgiveness.
Father in Heaven, when I consider your patience and determination to save your people (including me!) I am amazed. I don’t always think about or appreciate your patience, help me to rejoice in how You work in me, and help me to share Jesus’ salvation with other in the years You give me. Amen.
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