Genesis 4:25-5:32

January 16, 2013 Those of you who read ahead this week might have wondered if wed skip chapter five and move straight into chapter six. After all, the genealogies are usually boring and dont offer much practical insight. But let me remind you that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable to us (II Tim. 3:16). I think that after tonight youll find this is true even for the genealogies. To make it a little easier to read, I want you to take a pen and circle the names of the ten men listed here: Adam (:3), Seth (:6), Enos (:9), Cainan (:12), Mahalaleel (:15), Jared (:18), Enoch (:21), Methuselah (:25), Lamech (:28), and Noah (:32). Six are recorded in an identical format: ____________ lived ____________ years, and begat ____________: And ____________ lived after he begat ____________ ____________ years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of ____________ were ____________ years: and he died. And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: 4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: 7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: 8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. 9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: 10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: 11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. 12And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel: 13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: 14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. 15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and

begat sons and daughters: 17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. 18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. 26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: 27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. 28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: 31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. 32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Here are some things we see in this passage: #1- The wages of sin is death. Here we have the first recorded death resulting from old-age. Imagine how these people must have felt in that moment. There were no funeral homes, caskets, or graveyards, and there must have been some sort of realization that God was serious. #2- The genealogies are meant to point us towards the promised Seed. All these men had other sons, so why not put them on the list? Look at Luke 3:38 and youll see that theres a line from Adam to Christthe promised seed! Genesis 5 isnt primarily about the people on the list; its about Gods promise to redeem His people through His Son. Even (especially) Enoch and Noah demonstrate this truth. #3- The genealogies show us how God works according to His covenant and not according to our works. Note the genealogy in chapter 11 to brings us to Abraham, and see how God called him out of idolatry in chapter 12! Then think about how He chose Isaac over Ishmael: And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my

covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him (Gen. 17:18-19). And then how He chose Jacob over Esau: (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (Rom. 9:11-13). And how He chose Judah over Joseph! Just look at Genesis 49:8-12: Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy fathers children shall bow down before thee. 9Judah is a lions whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 11Binding his foal unto the vine, and his asss colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 12His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Finally, consider how He chose Israel out of all the nations of the earth: For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations (Dt. 7:6-9). #4- God is in control from Adam to Noah and everything is going as planned. Hes not slow in keeping His promise! newgracebaptistchurch.wordpress.com