Genesis 5: Part 2

Good morning, all!

Anyone else struck by how quickly that first month of 2011 zoomed by??? Didn't we just get the Christmas stuff put away?? And now Valentine's Day is just two weeks away! YIKES!

This morning I'm going to continue through this genealogy of the line of Seth, because I want you to see the connection between the names. No word in God's Word is wasted, and the genealogies in the Bible are no exception. Yesterday we mentioned that Seth, which meant "appointed," "begat" Enosh ("subject to death"), who fathered Kenan ("sorrowful"), who fathered Mahalalel ("from the presence of God"), who fathered Jared ("one comes down"), who fathered Enoch ("dedicated").

Here the pattern of the genealogy shifts just a bit, because we are given more information about Enoch's character. We are told specifically in verse 22 that Enoch "walked with God 300 years..." then, again in verse 24, "Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him away." He is the only one mentioned here whose story does not end, "And then he died." Enoch was a man who faithfully walked with God. He had an intimate relationship with his Creator. So much so, that he is the first person "raptured" by God to be with Him while still alive. Now, even though this is pretty much all we know about his life, it apparently is all that matters to God. Again, that five-inch red part of our rope that I mentioned yesterday - our temporary life here on Earth - is summed up in our relationship to God. That's all that matters in the end! And Enoch was indeed dedicated to his God. He surely received a "Well done, though good and faithful servant!"

Enoch was the great-grandfather of Noah. His firstborn son was that old dude, Methuselah ("dying he shall send"). Interestingly enough, the year Methuselah died, God sent the flood! Methusaleh's son was Lamech ("to the poor and lowly"), who fathered Noah ("rest" or "comfort"). Now, here's how Jon Courson puts all of these names together as they point to Christ:

He was the Man appointed to death and sorrow. From the presence of God He came down, dedicated to His main job of dying. He came to the poor and lowly, bringing rest and comfort. Very cool, eh? And you thought genealogy was boring! :)

Tomorrow we will start chapter 6, the story of Noah and the flood. Have a great morning!