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!
Showing posts with label Genesis 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis 5. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Genesis 5
Good morning, dear friends!
I'm not sure where exactly we'll go with this chapter about Adam's line of progeny. Chapters 6 through 9 concern Noah and the flood, which will take us a while, so I don't feel the need to arbitrarily assign a full week to this genealogy. However, I'm so glad I looked at Jon Courson's commentary on this chapter, because it was illuminating. This genealogy skips right past Cain and Abel and focuses on the continuing, righteous line of Adam. Right at the beginning, we see something curious, as we get a summary of the creation of man. Verse 2 says of this act of creation, He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man." Courson points out that Adam and Eve had become one, and that's how God saw them - He called them, not him, "man." That's why no one is to divide a husband and wife. What God has joined let no one divide!
We're told in verse 3 that Adam had Seth (meaning "appointed") at the age of 130. He had more sons and daughters, lived 800 years longer, then died at 930 years of age. Remember that many believe that, prior to the flood, the earth was surrounded by a water canopy that blocked the harmful rays of the sun. So we see here that man lived for many more years. However, each of the men mentioned in this chapter, except for Enoch, have this punctuation point at the end of their time: "...and then he died." God had warned Adam and Eve in the Garden, that on the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. Now, they apparently lived longer than that day, but spiritually, they died. Courson points out, however, that in God's time, according to 2 Peter 3:8, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day. So, looks like Adam died on the "day" he ate the fruit! :)
Adam was 235 before he became a grandfather through Seth - and you thought you had to wait a long time! Seth was the father of Enosh, or Enos in the KJV version [I point that out to my daughters, because Enos is their paternal grandmother's middle name]. It means "subject to death." And don't we all believe somehow that we AREN'T subject to death??? It seems to take us all by surprise!
I heard a sermon online the other day in which the speaker talked of eternity. He used the illustration of a rope that wrapped around the earth a few times then went way out into space on into eternity. The beginning of that rope had about a 5 inch segment that was painted red. He said that the red part was our life on earth - and the rest of the rope represented our eternal life. His point was that we spend so much time worrying about our life here on earth instead of planning for eternity! So true! We need to get perspective, folks! Because no matter how long our life here, it will certainly end with the line, "...and then he died." We don't want to miss the bigger picture of what God wants to accomplish through us for eternity because we are grasping at this temporal life we're living now - this measly five inches of red!
Hold onto the meanings of these names as we finish this chapter tomorrow. We'll tie them all together at the end. Off to work!
I'm not sure where exactly we'll go with this chapter about Adam's line of progeny. Chapters 6 through 9 concern Noah and the flood, which will take us a while, so I don't feel the need to arbitrarily assign a full week to this genealogy. However, I'm so glad I looked at Jon Courson's commentary on this chapter, because it was illuminating. This genealogy skips right past Cain and Abel and focuses on the continuing, righteous line of Adam. Right at the beginning, we see something curious, as we get a summary of the creation of man. Verse 2 says of this act of creation, He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man." Courson points out that Adam and Eve had become one, and that's how God saw them - He called them, not him, "man." That's why no one is to divide a husband and wife. What God has joined let no one divide!
We're told in verse 3 that Adam had Seth (meaning "appointed") at the age of 130. He had more sons and daughters, lived 800 years longer, then died at 930 years of age. Remember that many believe that, prior to the flood, the earth was surrounded by a water canopy that blocked the harmful rays of the sun. So we see here that man lived for many more years. However, each of the men mentioned in this chapter, except for Enoch, have this punctuation point at the end of their time: "...and then he died." God had warned Adam and Eve in the Garden, that on the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. Now, they apparently lived longer than that day, but spiritually, they died. Courson points out, however, that in God's time, according to 2 Peter 3:8, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day. So, looks like Adam died on the "day" he ate the fruit! :)
Adam was 235 before he became a grandfather through Seth - and you thought you had to wait a long time! Seth was the father of Enosh, or Enos in the KJV version [I point that out to my daughters, because Enos is their paternal grandmother's middle name]. It means "subject to death." And don't we all believe somehow that we AREN'T subject to death??? It seems to take us all by surprise!
I heard a sermon online the other day in which the speaker talked of eternity. He used the illustration of a rope that wrapped around the earth a few times then went way out into space on into eternity. The beginning of that rope had about a 5 inch segment that was painted red. He said that the red part was our life on earth - and the rest of the rope represented our eternal life. His point was that we spend so much time worrying about our life here on earth instead of planning for eternity! So true! We need to get perspective, folks! Because no matter how long our life here, it will certainly end with the line, "...and then he died." We don't want to miss the bigger picture of what God wants to accomplish through us for eternity because we are grasping at this temporal life we're living now - this measly five inches of red!
Hold onto the meanings of these names as we finish this chapter tomorrow. We'll tie them all together at the end. Off to work!
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