Last time we were together, we saw the line of Cain, the ungodly line of Cain. Tonight, it's the genealogy of Adam through the godly line of Seth. And the genealogy here in chapter 5 does not technically end until chapter 9 with the death of Noah. Noah is the 10th one mentioned in this chapter.
And then by way of an extended excursus, there is the account of the flood. And then, as I said, Noah's death is recorded in chapter 9.
Scripture Reading: Genesis 5:1-32
I want to begin reading in verse 1 of Genesis chapter 5. 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 130 years and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were 800 years, and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. Seth lived 105 years and begot Enosh.
After he begot Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. Enosh lived 90 years and begot Canaan. After he begot Canaan, Enosh lived 815 years and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enosh were 905 years and he died. Canaan lived 70 years and begot Mahalaleel. After he begot Mahalaleel, Canaan lived 840 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Canaan were 910 years and he died.
Mahalaleel lived 65 years and begot Jared. After he begot Jared, Mahalaleel lived 830 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Mahalaleel were 895 years and he died. Jared lived 162 years and begot Enoch.
After he begot Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Methuselah lived 187 years and begot Lamech. After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. Lamech lived 182 years and had a son, and he called his name Noah, saying, This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed. After he begot Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. and Noah was 500 years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth." Amen.
Introduction
As I said, we have a contrast here between chapters 4 and 5. You have the genealogy of Adam through the ungodly line of Cain in chapter 4, and here the genealogy of Adam through the godly line of Seth. and it certainly does demonstrate the collective application of Genesis chapter 3 in verse 15. There's a seed of the woman, and then there's the seed of the serpent, or the devil, and you see that contrasted here between the Cainites and between the Sethites. Well,
The Origin of Adam (vv. 1–2)
I want to look first at the origin of Adam in verses 1 and 2. It sort of serves as a prologue before the actual genealogy, and then the genealogy of Adam in verses 3 to 32. But notice in verses 1 and 2, we are reminded of what's preceded in Genesis chapter 1, and I think there are reasons for that. Note, this is the book of the genealogy of Adam.
The idea that there was a book of the genealogy of Adam suggests that there was not only oral tradition, but probably written records prior to the time that Moses actually composed the Pentateuch. Remember that persons lived a long time and so oral things were passed on but certainly record-keeping was involved and this seems to indicate that there was a document or documents that recorded the genealogy of Adam. We're reminded basically what we find in Genesis 1, 26 to 28. In verse 1, it says, in the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
This is repeated over and over again so that we'll get the message. We're not like the animals. We are like them in the sense that we're creature, but we are not like them in the sense that we bear the image of God, or we are made in the likeness of God. Man has dignity that animals do not possess.
As a result, God has stationed man over animals, not to abuse them and not to harm them and not to misuse them. We need to be responsible in the way that we exercise dominion. But nevertheless, man exercises dominion. That's an aspect of His calling.
That's a commission that God has given Him. He is to exercise that kind of dominion, and that reflects the fact that He is made in the likeness of God. And then it goes on to say, He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them mankind in the day they were created. So again, the repetition of Genesis 1, and then the reminder that God is Creator.
That can never be stressed enough. There is a great distinction between the Creator and the creature. Everything, not God, is creature. God alone is creator.
And we need to always maintain that. We need to understand it's not the case that God is just man writ large or God is just a version of man but a whole lot better or super. God is in a different category of being altogether. He is God and there is none like Him.
It's not the case that we ascend from the lower creation up to God. No, God's over here and we're over here. He's creator, we're creature, and the Bible everywhere makes that emphasis so that we'll know our place before God, that we'll fear Him, and that we'll bring glory and honor to Him. This is one of the reasons why man ought to fear God, because He is creator.
In fact, this is one of the things sacrificed when we get rid of a literal interpretation of the creation account in the book of Genesis. Several times in the Psalter, as well in the book of Revelation, you see that the creation that God has wrought is a reason for the creature to praise and to worship and to glorify Him. If we rip that out of the Bible, we are effectively ripping out of the Bible one of the reasons why the creature brings glory and praise to God. And then the reminder here that God is creator also speaks to the difference between the way God made Adam and the way that the rest of the genealogy progresses.
God made Adam by an act of immediate creation. God made Adam in a very particular and specific way. All the rest of the names that we find here in Genesis 5, all the ones that we found in Genesis chapter 4, did not come immediately from the hand of God. They are created by God, to be sure, but it's through the agency of Adam and Eve.
Gil says that God made him and not he himself, that the first man was not begotten or produced in like manner as his sons are, but was immediately created. And then note there in verse 2, He created them male and female and blessed them and called them mankind. in the day they were created. If you go back for just a moment to chapter 1, at verse 26, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it." So we see an application of that here in the genealogy. The specific task or rather action of God's blessing upon Adam in verse 2 is probably indicative of the fact that he had a great deal of sons and daughters.
God blessed him so that he could indeed produce, propagate, and fill the earth with image bearers to reflect the glory of God. So that's the origin of Adam by way of a reminder in verses 1 and 2.
The Genealogy of Adam (vv. 3–32)
Now notice secondly the genealogy of Adam in verses 3 to 32. Now there's a recurring pattern that is found here. Now the only two that actually get more play than just telling us how old they were when they had their sons and how old they were when they died are Enoch and Noah. So we're going to more than likely focus on them tonight.
We're not going to spend a lot of time parsing out the numbers and all that stuff here. It's probably going to be an earlier night. than is normal. It's a tough passage to try and draw out practical lessons, though I think Enoch does furnish us with a bit of practicality in terms of our own lives. But there is a recurring pattern.
First you get the name of the patriarch, Second, you get the age of the patriarch at the time of the birth of his son. Thirdly, you get the additional years after the birth of the son. Fourth, you get the acknowledgment of other children. And then fifth, there's that refrain.
In all the cases but for or except for Enoch and Noah. It's going to come later with Noah in chapter 9, and he died. It doesn't say that with reference to Enoch. Now, when you look at other genealogy, say, for instance, in Genesis chapter 11, that refrain is not appended to each of the particular individuals.
It doesn't say with reference to each name given, and he died. Why in the world is it mentioned here in chapter 5? Probably to highlight the fact that the curse pronounced by God had in fact come to fruition. But as well, the uniqueness of Enoch, the fact that he did not die, the fact that in eight other instances we read that refrain, and he died, and he died, and he died, conspicuously highlights the man that walked with God.
And that might be Moses' intention, not alone, not solely, but one of the particular themes that Moses wants us to garner from this passage is the blessing and the joy and the delight of one who walks with God, the way that Enoch did. In other words, life goes better, such that you may not even die, but rather be translated into the eternal stay. Now, I'm not suggesting that ought to be in your mind, so I'm going to live in such a way that God is going to translate me. No, just live in such a way to be faithful.
If God decides to translate you, then, you know, so be it. But be assured, by God's grace, one day you will be translated. Whether it's Jesus returning, or whether we go into the grave and our soul goes to be with Christ, and then our bodies are raised on that day of resurrection. So that's the pattern.
Now notice the particular persons. Adam begot Seth in verses 3 to 5. So Adam lived 130 years and begot a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth. Now again it goes on.
After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were 800 years. He had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. But that's additional information here.
He lived, he begot a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth. Now John Gill suggests that this is mentioned to distinguish from the image of God. In other words, in verse 3 where it says, he begot a son in his own likeness after his image. Gil argues that post-fall, this reference distinguishes Seth's creation in the likeness of Adam rather than Adam's creation in the likeness of God.
Gil posits that we lost the image in the fall, but he doesn't say we lost it completely. Now, in my mind, you either lose it or you don't. He says that it's been defaced, and I would certainly agree with that. Gil repeats his comments in James 3.9.
He says, on the one hand, we lost it. On the other hand, it's not completely obliterated, but rather it is retained. I don't personally agree with Gill here. You might want to mark this down as a time that Jim Butler disagreed with John Gill.
I do this with fear and trepidation, but I think the connection is better understood this way. Adam lived 130 years and begot a son in his own likeness after his image. Now the fact that God, or the fact rather, that Adam is mentioned having been created in the image of God, and then Seth's creation in the likeness of Adam, I think the idea is that we are to infer that Seth as well bears the image of God. Added to this with reference to Cain, there's no reference whatsoever to him or Abel being created in the likeness of Adam.
Now, I don't think we're supposed to conclude that therefore they're not image bearers of God. No, the image of God is passed on, it is passed down. It is defaced, it is deformed, it is distorted by sin, but nevertheless it is retained. I don't think the idea of verse 3 is to distinguish the likeness of Adam from the likeness of God, but the close connection to the fact that Adam is created in the likeness of God and then Seth is created or made in the likeness of Adam means that he possesses the image of God as well.
I think the distinction that we're supposed to take from this is not a distinction of no likeness for Seth, but rather likeness for Seth in terms of the distinction with the Cainites. There's the two seeds in Genesis 4 and 5. I think it's going to help us when we get to Genesis chapter 6. If you think tonight's going to be fun, wait till we get to the few verses that begin Genesis chapter 6.
I don't know if any of you have done any look at that passage before, but there is a big, big interpretative problem when it comes to Genesis chapter 6. On the Nephilim, on the sons of God going into the daughters of men, Some posit angelic beings having relations with women, and that's an interpretation that goes all the way back to the early church. Many, many good men hold that particular position. My current position is that Genesis 6 records for us what we're already seeing laid out in Genesis 4 and 5.
The distinction is between the ungodly Cainites and the godly Sethites. I think that's the way to go when we get to Genesis chapter 6. So if you think I am beating this horse to death, there's a reason for that, so that hopefully when we get to Genesis chapter 6, it will make sense that we have this distinction maintained in Genesis 4 and 5. So the image found in verse 3 is not to alienate Seth from God, but to link Seth with God.
In fact, I think Waltke is on the right path when he says the godly line of Seth, in contradistinction to that of Cain, is linked with the original creation. He goes on to say, moreover, by linking the creation of the image with Seth and not with Cain, the narrator implies that God's purpose for his image will be realized through Seth and his named descendants. Now, of course, this makes perfect sense when we get to Luke's gospel in Luke chapter 3. Because all of this, essentially, is the line of Messiah.
Jesus is directly and uniquely linked to these particular individuals, not to Cain and to that ungodly line. And then Klein agrees. He says, the concern of Genesis 5 is the continuance of the covenant community through the entire pre-Diluvian age." Now, Diluvian simply means that which pertains to the flood. He calls it pre.
Sometimes you'll hear the word anti-Diluvian, and that means prior to the flood. Post-Diluvian means after the flood. So if when we get to the flood narrative you hear those words anti-Diluvian or post-Diluvian, which you most certainly probably will, it just means prior to the flood or after the flood. You might just say, Butler, why don't you just say flood?
Okay, I'll try to keep that in mind and keep Diluvian on the back burner. But that's what it means if you're ever reading Bible commentaries and you see that particular word. So the beginning of a son in his image links this with the image of God. Not to distinguish from, but rather to join with, but to distinguish from the ungodly Cainites.
And then he had, obviously, other sons and daughters, and then he died in his 930th year. And then Seth begot Enosh in verses 6 to 8. Seth as well had other sons and other daughters. His lifespan was 912 years.
Enosh begot Canaan in verses 9 to 11. Enosh additionally had other sons and daughters, and his lifespan was 905 years. Canaan begot Mahalaleel in verses 12 to 14. He likewise had sons and daughters.
Now the probable reason for the great age of the patriarchs, I'm going to quote Gil tonight at the end of the study, but one of them is to propagate and to fill the earth. And this is obviously what these men were doing. And so Mahalaleel's total lifespan was 895 years. And then Jared begot Enoch.
Jared as well had other sons and daughters. And his ultimate lifespan was 962 years.
Enoch: Walking with God
Now, when we get to Enoch there in verse 21, we need to understand this isn't the Enoch mentioned in Genesis chapter 4. Neither is the Lamech later in this genealogy, the Lamech of Genesis chapter 4. In the ungodly line of Cain, you had an Enoch and you had a Lamech. In the godly line of Seth, you had an Enoch and you had a Lamech.
Now, I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes you read, especially in the New Testament, and it's like every other person's name, John, or any kind of thing. Couldn't you throw a Ralph on the scene so that we could keep sort of these names intact? But it's important to understand that. We're not dealing with the same Enoch in the family of Cain, and we're not dealing with the same Lamech in the family of Cain.
Now, look with reference to Enoch. It's described for us something about his life. He walked with God. Now again, that's a beautiful description of intimacy with the Lord, communion with the Lord.
Remember back in chapter 4, we see in verse 26, with reference to Seth. And as for Seth, to him also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. So that implies or infers that there was a time or a season, certainly immersed in the ungodly line of Cain, where persons were not calling on the name of the Lord.
We can't just assume that everybody was a godly and a righteous man. Now this is indeed the godly line of Seth. We have no reason to believe that any of these men were unconverted, or they were ungodly, or they were horrible, wretched people. But with reference to Enoch, he stood out.
With reference to Enoch, there's something different. With reference to Enoch, it is said that he walked with God. Now, later in chapter 6, verse 9, it's going to say the same thing about Noah. This is the genealogy of Noah.
Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Now, other patriarchs walked before God. Now, we probably shouldn't put a whole lot of emphasis on, you know, prepositions and whatnot, but the Holy Spirit chooses his words carefully, and here we read that he walked with God.
With reference to Abram, he's told to walk before God in Genesis 17.1, Genesis 24.40, Genesis 48.15. Jacob says, concerning Abraham and Isaac, that they walked before God. Enoch, however, walked with God. The demand for priests in the prophet Malachi.
In Malachi 2.6, the covenant with Levi is sort of paradigmatic for Israel's priesthood. And God calls Israel's priesthood at the time of Malachi, which was especially corrupt and especially horrible, to repent. And one of the things that he says, the law of truth was in his mouth, referring to Levi, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity and turned many away from iniquity.
So Enoch walked with God 300 years. This is intriguingly, as well, something that makes its way into the prophet Micah. Micah chapter 6 and verse 8. This is the demand of God for all of God's people.
In Micah 6.8 it says, He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? So you see, an emphasis in Genesis 5 is certainly on the lineage and the line of Messiah. It is certainly the distinction between the godly Sethites and the ungodly Cainites.
It may hopefully be the very basis or foundation upon which we can understand the notoriously difficult section beginning in Genesis chapter 6. But Moses accentuates the reality that Enoch walked with God. And as we look at the lifespan of Enoch, he lived 365 years, which is about half of the rest of the patriarchs that are mentioned here in Genesis chapter 10. The idea being is that long life is a blessing.
Nobody should doubt that. or deny that, with reference to the patriarchs, with reference to the nation of Israel, with reference to persons today. For the most part, we count long life a privilege. We count it a blessing. We count it a good thing.
But when he introduces the reality that Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him, he introduces the thought that there's something that's a greater privilege than even a long life. And that greater privilege is to be in the immediate presence of God. Now, some suggest that the Jews had no real concept of resurrection. They most certainly did, and it finds its tap roots here with reference to Enoch.
Enoch walked with God, and then he was not, for God took him. Enoch walked with God in the midst of having sons and daughters for 365 years. I find that incredible. That's the normal day-in, day-out rub of trying to be faithful with reference to sons and daughters.
Now, I know all the patriarchs, it's appended for each of them that they had sons and daughters, but you think about Enoch. He walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. He did this in the midst of the normal. He did this in the midst of the ordinary.
He did this in the midst of the routine. Jude 14 and 15 even tells us that he was a preacher, he was a prophet, he was one that spoke the word of God most high. So he was a preacher slash prophet, he was a father slash husband, and he was a man who in the midst of those things was able to walk with God. So the idea is, or the lesson is, whatever your station, whatever your lot, whatever your place in life, you ought by the grace of God to be able to walk with God.
God does not make this something unattainable or unachievable, but rather God enables His people by the Spirit to walk with Him. And then notice, Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. In other words, he didn't die. There's no refrain at the end of Enoch's sort of genealogical entry.
There's no, and he died. Now, I remember working with a guy at Northrop Grumman, and he said, well, the Bible doesn't say that he didn't die. Yeah, the Bible most certainly does say that he didn't die, and it says it right here. And then later, Revelation interprets it for us.
Enoch walked with God, and he was not. What can that mean, but that he was no longer on earth? That doesn't mean, that means that he was not anymore, for God took him. Now, in 2 Kings 2, verses 3, 5, 9, and 10, this same language, taken away, is used with reference to Elijah.
Remember in our study in 2 Kings, I know it's going back a long ways, but way back in 2 Kings, remember that Elijah did not die. Elijah was taken away by God into heaven by a direct and immediate act. And then the interpretation is given in Hebrews 11.5. 11.5 in the book of Hebrews says, by faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death. By the way, I told that fellow who said the Bible didn't say he didn't die.
I said, yeah, it does in Hebrews 11.5. So just so you know how that story ends. This guy just He loved to argue about the Bible. He loved to debate.
He loved to try to throw these odd questions into the mix. He was just an interesting guy. I've often wondered whatever happened to him. At any rate, Hebrews 11.5, "...by faith Enoch was taken away, so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him away.
For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God."
What It Means to Walk with God
I think when we look at Hebrews 11 of 5, similar to the way that we used Hebrews 11 to help us understand the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, we can sort of flesh out in a little bit more detail what it means that that Enoch walked with God. Remember, we looked at Hebrews 11 to see that the instrumental agent or rather the fundamental principle that was pleasing to God in terms of Abel's sacrifice versus Cain's was it was by faith. It was by faith that Abel brought the sacrifice to God. Cain didn't bring it by faith.
Cain was an externalist. Cain was a formalist. Cain was a man who went through motions, but he had no heart for God. So Hebrews 11 helped us understand that.
Well, I think Hebrews 11 helps us understand or at least flesh out or try to draw out practically what it means to walk with God. We know in the first place that walking with God entails faith. By faith, Enoch, right? So whatever walk with God means, it certainly implies the presence of faith.
Later on in Hebrews 11, it will say, by faith or rather without faith, it is impossible to please God because those who believe not only that God is, but that He's a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. So faith is absolutely requisite. So Enoch was a man of faith. What does it mean to walk with God?
It means to have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It means not only to have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in terms of the object of our salvation vis-a-vis justifying faith, but also living by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. living each and every day by faith in God, realizing that difficulties come and trials come and there's sorrows and there's hardships, but I'm going to lay hold of God by faith. That's what it means to walk with God. It doesn't mean you have to go be a pioneer missionary.
It doesn't mean you have to quit your job, buy a stack of Bibles and travel through Canada, giving them away. Now, if God puts that on your heart, and in Providence opens those doors, then by all means, may you be blessed. But it doesn't necessarily entail that. I think that we have this mindset, it's been evident to me in my own life, it's been evident to me in persons that I've observed, not anybody here to be sure, but we have this idea that we can only please God in certain aspects of ministry.
And that's simply false. Enoch walked with God. He had sons and daughters. He didn't, as far as we know, sell everything he had, buy a stack of Bibles, and travel to Mesopotamia giving away Bibles.
Wherever God has placed you, you can walk with God, because the essential ingredient is faith. And whatever our condition, whatever our situation, we have faith in God.
Faith and a Life Pleasing to God
Notice as well this idea of faith and one who pleases God. So he walked with God implies the presence of faith and as well implies a life that is pleasing to God. If we tease that out further and we ask the question, What is indeed a life that pleases God? Well, it's actuated by faith, but it's lived in terms of God's written law.
In other words, if we ask the question, what does God love, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 is a great place to go. If we ask what God hates, what's a good place to go? Anyone, for all the bonus points, Proverbs, What's that, Galatians 5, yes? Yeah, I was thinking Proverbs 6 as well.
We had a sermon on that not too long ago, on the things that God hates, but certainly Galatians 5, there's a great contrast there between the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit. So when we ask the question, what pleases God? It's not esoteric. You don't need to join a cult.
You don't need to shave your head. You don't need to bang a tambourine at the airport. You need to be faithful and you need to look to God's holy word for your marching orders. You see, it's the law that informs us concerning those things that are pleasing to Yahweh.
If I ask the question, what pleases God, the law answers it for me. Now, make sure you understand, I am not suggesting a life of obedience to the law in order that one may be saved. You know me better than that. I do not believe that you'll get a millisecond down that road.
But those saved by grace through faith by the Redeemer are appointed by the Redeemer after having been justified to the law of God as the rule of life, as the norm, as the pattern, as the standard. And so when we ask what it was about Enoch, what made him so special? He was a man who had faith in God and he was a man who did what God said. That's what it means to walk with God.
That's what it means not only here in Genesis chapter 5, but it certainly means that in Micah chapter 6, and it means that everywhere in the New Testament as well. So if tonight you go home and you pray, or tomorrow morning you pray, and you say, God, I want to walk with you, you don't have to look for any mysterious answers in the scriptures. to the law and to the testimony. Live by faith in the Son of God and pattern your life after the Word of God." That is certainly what it must mean that he walked with God. Kylin Dalich makes the observation, In Enoch, the seventh from Adam through Seth, godliness attained its highest point, whilst ungodliness culminated in Lamech, the seventh from Adam through Cain, who made his sword his god.
You see, there's great balance in the Bible as well. I don't mean in terms of doctrine or I'm talking literarily, the way the Bible is written. It's written as a masterpiece. And the Lamech, the seventh generation in the genealogy of Cain, is the exact opposite of Enoch, the seventh in the genealogy of Seth.
They are diametrically opposed. The one possesses faith and he pleases Yahweh. The other does not possess faith and he is an abomination to Yahweh. So Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him.
What a blessed thing to live in a world where there's an Enoch by the grace of God. And then he bore Methuselah and Methuselah has the reputation of being the oldest of all of them at 969 years. This is a great question for you parents with kids. Ask them who was the oldest man in the Bible.
They should all be able to get that. If they don't, shame on you. No, I'm just kidding. They used to say, I've heard it, I read it somewhere that if a rabbi asked a Jewish kid the 10 commandments and he stumbled or faltered, the parents got in big trouble.
The parents got in big trouble if the kid couldn't recite the Ten Commandments. And then Lamech begot Noah. Again, this is not the Cainite Lamech. This particular Lamech had sons and daughters, and his lifespan was 777 years.
Noah and the Noahic Covenant
But notice with reference to Noah. Again, one who gets a bit more space, and one who is set off in the narrative, and one who will certainly occupy the narrative in the coming chapters in terms of the flood. But notice that his name is prophetic, verse 29. He called his name Noah, saying, this one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord had cursed.
He would provide rest and comfort. That's what his name signifies. And then when we get to Genesis chapter 9, we know that Noah distinguishes himself as a planter of a vineyard. I know there's a particular word for that and I just can't remember it.
Not vintner, that's the... but a Vichyr something. It's got V-I-T at the beginning. But he planted a vineyard. I don't think that Lamech's prophecy only extends to that reality.
In other words, Noah obviously had a green thumb or a purple thumb, no pun intended, to grow wine grapes and have a vineyard and that sort of thing. But I think the prophecy concerning his name as being the one of rest and comfort points even further to what's called the Noahic Covenant. Now, the primary emphasis of the Noahic Covenant is to provide stability for the created order for the exercise of God's special grace. Some have called it the common grace In other words, God promises to Noah what?
He promises that he will never again destroy the earth. God cursed the earth in Genesis chapter 3 with reference to Noah, God lifts at least partially the curse in terms of saying or committing to never again destroying it. So the name Noah provides rest and comfort, yes, in terms of his ability agriculturally, but further than that, his place with reference to the covenants of God. The Noahic covenant, as we move through this next section, is a covenant of common grace.
It's not a covenant of special grace. It's not salvific, but rather it provides the context or the theater for the exercise of the special grace of God. So the Noahic covenant is very important. and it provides the background or the backdrop or the context for the preaching of the gospel and the salvation of sinners through God's covenant of grace. So this prophecy, this one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed extends beyond the vineyard planted to the covenant made by God with Noah that he would never again destroy the earth for man's sake.
And then we see that Noah fathered Shemham and Japheth and more on them later.
Application
Well, just a couple of thoughts before we close. First, the age of the patriarchs.
The Age of the Patriarchs
I would quote John Gill here. He says, and though the length of time they lived may in some measure be accounted for by natural things as means, such as their healthful constitution, simple diet, the goodness of the fruits of the earth, the temperate air and climate they lived in, their sobriety, temperance, labor, and exercise, Those are all good reasons, right? If you go to answers in Genesis or creation science sites, you'll probably get a good dose of that, where conditions were different. Conditions in the antediluvian world were not as hostile. as in the post-flood world.
See that? I'm showing the definition there, diluvian flood. You had conditions that were not as harsh or severe in that pre-flood situation. And so Gill, long after, answers in Genesis of the Creation Science, guys, highlights that.
But what Gill goes on to say ought to be reckoned with as well. Yet no doubt it was so ordered in providence for the multiplication of mankind, for the cultivation of arts and sciences, and for the spread of true religion in the world, and the easier handing down to posterity such things as were useful both for the good of the souls and bodies of men. In other words, we may not have all of the reasons why men did, but it should satisfy the believer that man did. I feel like at times believers get a little bit caught off guard by the age of the anti-flood men.
Brethren, God ordained it so. We should never have a problem with that. I may not know what their diet consisted of. I don't know, you know, you probably heard about the canopy that obtained above the earth prior to the fire.
That's not my area of expertise. My area of expertise is yea and amen and gill most of the time. And he's right. Providence ordered it this way.
If your kid says, well, why did they live to 969? Because God wanted him to. See, that's a legit answer, brethren. I know in this academic scientific age we get a little embarrassed, but we ought not to be embarrassed by any word that's in this book.
If God wanted Methuselah to live for 969 years, God had his good reasons to do so. Were there things in terms of their diet, in terms of the canopy, in terms of their environment, in terms of a lack of disease that sort of inundates the world. Now, yeah, those were factors to be sure, but it was ordered by Providence for this reason. Now, in terms of the date of the flood, we'll get to this more later, but I thought I'd introduce it now.
The date of the flood in the Masoretic text, which is what our new King James is based on, is 1656. Now that's not 1656 BC, it's 1656 AM, and that means Anno Mundi, the year of the earth, or the year of the world. So 1656 would be the 1,656th year, then comes the flood. Now, there's a difference in the Samaritan Pentateuch and in the Septuagint in terms of the numbers with reference to the genealogy.
So those dates are a bit off. If you do any research in this section of Scripture in terms of the flood, you'll see competing dates. Well, that's the reason. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint have different ways of reckoning and add years with reference to the genealogy.
Now, as I've mentioned, the distinction between the godly and the ungodly is absolutely evident and obvious in Genesis 4 and Genesis 5. I will ask you to keep that in your mind as we approach Genesis 6. And then with reference to the emphasis on communion with God in Enoch. His communion with God in life.
He walked with God. And then his communion with God in the life to come. He was not, for God took him. That is a clear definitional explanation that there is life after earth.
There is life after the physicality that we experience in the world. This is an explicit statement of that.
Death, Hope, and Resurrection
Now, the recurring emphasis, and he died, in eight of the patriarchs mentioned here in Genesis chapter 5 indicates the grim reality of the curse pronounced by God in Genesis 2.17 and then carried out by God in Genesis 3.19. That eight times that we read, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. We're so used to death that it probably doesn't affect us a whole lot, but remember that God made man in His image. that not long after God made man in his image, man rejects God, man rebels against God, and then man's son Cain murders his other son Abel. And so this commentary, and he died, is the evidence that God's curse is upon man.
John Gill says eight times in this chapter the phrase is used, and he died, to put us in mind of death, to observe that it is the way of all flesh, that those that live longest die at last, and it must be expected by everyone. So eight times it's pronounced here, except with reference to Enoch. That ought to promote hope, and that ought to produce anything other than despair. The presence of Enoch in this chapter indicates that life, or rather, hope that lies beyond physical death.
This is a sampling of, this is a taste of, this is a dose of the resurrection in a genealogy in Genesis chapter five. It really is glorious. Listen to Calvin. Since in the translation of Enoch, an example of immortality was exhibited.
There is no doubt that God designed to elevate the minds of his saints with certain faith before their death. and to mitigate by this consolation the dread which they would know that a better life was elsewhere laid up for them. He calls this a visible representation of a blessed resurrection. You could preach a resurrection sermon from Genesis chapter 5 on Enoch. He walked with God and he was not, for God took him." Waltke says, Enoch's life affirms that those who walk with God in this fallen world will experience life, not death, as the last word.
So it really is a conspicuous literary arrangement to have these eight fellows, and he died, and he died, and he died, and this one that was not, for God took him. God is calling us to hope in the resurrection. God is calling us to confess with the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the resurrection from the dead. God is calling us to look beyond this present world to that eternal glory that awaits us in the future.
God is calling His people to be a heavenly-minded lot. And then finally, the focus of the genealogy is on Christ.
The Genealogy's Focus on Christ
You can turn to Luke chapter 3. We'll end here at Luke chapter 3 to see that Christ is in fact the scope of the whole. Picking up at Luke 3, 36. the son of Canaan, the son of Arphakad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. That is our Christ.
Luke's gospel traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to Adam. In Matthew, obviously, he goes back to Abraham and David. The reasons are theological in nature, serving the purpose for which Matthew wrote, serving the purpose for which Luke wrote. But the point of Genesis chapter 5, ultimately, is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, let's close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that the consistent testimony of all of scripture is upon our Lord Christ. We thank you as well for the resurrection from the dead. We look forward to that age when we enter into the presence of God most high.
And Lord, help all of us in this world to walk with you. Help us to live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. Help us to seek by your grace and the power of your Holy Spirit to be pleasing in your sight. And we know that this is revealed clearly in the law.
It's revealed clearly in the New Testament epistles. And we pray that you'd give us ears to hear, hearts to receive these things, and a genuine willingness and a desire to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel. And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.