March 6, 2023
Focus: Genesis 5:1-2 – This is the written account of Adam’s family line. When God created mankind, He made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And He named them Mankind when they were created.
Father God, I thank You for the answers to prayer You have given me this week. Please open my mind and heart as I prepare this new blog for You. Thank You for Your protection from Satan and thank You for the prayers that have gone up this week. In Jesus Name. Amen.
NOTE: Please check out this link about the spiritual battle for the previous blog “Heart Thing. Thank you. https://bringingjesusn2focus.com/notes-battles-in-heavenly-places/
Now, onto today’s blog
Now, I know, chapter 5 might seem boring but there’s hidden treasure here. It states who begat who and how old Dad was when the son was born. But it is an interesting chapter because it also shows an unbroken line of men who worshipped God. It is the beginning of the lineage of Jesus. Two of the Gospels in the New Testament give the full lineage of Jesus. Matthew lists Jesus’ ancestors from Abraham forward. Luke starts with Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, and goes back to Adam. So, we can see the line has been unbroken from the beginning of time. Some think that one is the lineage of Joseph and the other is the lineage oi Mary. I don’t know which it is, but I know they are the family tree of Jesus.
In this chapter, each verse notes the name of the son born to the father and how old the father was when the son was born. If you will notice, only that one son is named and then states the father goes on to father other sons and daughters. As I said in my very first blog, the Bible is the story of our salvation. The people who are given in the genealogies are the direct ancestors of Jesus. They are the lineage of our salvation, Jesus. To the Jewish people, their family tree is very important. It tells them which tribe of Israel they come from. Knowing the tribe from which they descended seems even more important than who they will marry.
The Holocaust of World War 2 broke many of the family lines. Some were able to keep track of it and others hid it in the hopes that another family member would find it. History is littered with attempts to destroy the Hebrew people. They were conquered and disbursed to other countries away from Israel. There were times that they were forced out of one country to another making it hard to trace family trees. Often, they would change their surname to something that didn’t sound Jewish. For example, many Jewish families have German sounding names.
For the Levites, the priestly tribe, their lineage is especially important. Only a pure descendant from the tribe of Levi can be high priest. Many Jewish families have quite a number of volumes that record their lineage. It is a matter of pride for them. In Jesus’ day, the high priest was a political appointment. If the king didn’t approve of things the high priest said or did, he would just fire them and appoint someone else. History tells us that the true line of the high priest went underground and is still hidden to this day. But you can bet your bottom dollar, that someone somewhere knows who he is. There will come a day in our future when a third Temple will be built on Temple Mount and the man chosen as high priest will be able to prove he is descended from the Levite high priestly line.
Genesis 5 also gives an idea of just how old the earth was when God decided to wipe everything out and start over. I calculate it to be 1659, but don’t quote me on that. Some sources says it’s closer to 2000 years. Taking the age of the first father, Adam, when he fathered Seth. I added the age of the next father to it on down the line, and if my math is correct, it took approximately 1659 years for the earth to become so corrupt that even God couldn’t stand it.
Genesis 6:1-9 tells us that, during these years, the sons of God married human women and had children by them. Some translations use the word ‘giants. They are also called Nephilim and, based on Genesis 6:4, they lived before the Flood. The Bible says that these children “. . . were the heroes of old, men of renown.” It also says that these ‘sons of God’ lived after the Flood and were marrying human women and having children, which makes me think they were fallen angels. I don’t know. There are too many theories on the identity of these ‘giants.’ Only God knows who they were. Since God is silent on this, we will let God deal with it.
God was watching. He was listening. He was guiding. He was being worshiped. He was planning. This unbroken line of men stayed true to God. Sadly, it appears that even the family members of these patriarchs did not keep to the practices of the godly men listed here. They chose to live the way many of the people of our day live. Taking whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it and never considering that there even was a God. You only have to look at the newspapers to see how man has fallen. My city, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has, at least, one murder per day. More often it is more than one. There are robberies, beatings, drugs in our schools, kidnapping, rape and all sorts of evil going on. Most, you don’t ever see because it’s hidden by the bright lights of the casinos, clubs and bars. What’s even worse, we live in a rural area within driving distance of Baton Rouge and, where it used to be safer, crime has reached our rural communities.
In Genesis 5, we have a prophecy that Jesus fulfilled when He was on this earth. Genesis 5:43 says, “Enoch walked faithfully with God, then he was no more, because God took him away.” Enoch was the seventh generation after Adam. And the scripture says plainly that he faithfully walked with God. What does that look like? Enoch walked with God just as Jesus did when He was here on earth. His faith was fixed on God, and even as he lived on earth, his heart was fixed on heaven. God must have been pleased because He took him away from the earth. Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after his death and resurrection. Enoch’s being taken into heaven foreshadows Jesus’ ascension.
Also, In the names listed in this chapter is another prophecy. Not just any prophecy. It was a prophecy of what Noah would do. And it is also a prophecy of Jesus and what He would do through His death and resurrection. I found this next bit of information in a book that I purchased about 15 or so years ago. It’s called Hidden Treasures in the Biblical Text. Written by Chuck Missler. It’s a very interesting little book.
Most names have a meaning. When we were planning to adopt our son, we went through many names, and meanings of those names, to decide what to call him, not knowing that he had already been given a name that fit him and us perfectly. His name is Isaac and Isaac means ‘laughter’. That is exactly what he brought into our lives. But names in families can also tell a story.
From Adam to Noah, each name in the genealogy has a meaning. Methuselah is the man in the Bible, who lived longer than any other man ever, 969 years. His name itself was a prophecy. It is speculated that his father, Enoch, was given the prophecy of the flood and was promised that it would not occur until Methuselah died1. Methuselah outlived his son, Lamech, and was still living when Noah began building the ark, dying just before the Flood.
If you list each name and their meanings, from Adam to Noah, they form a prophecy and not just one, but two prophecies.
Adam – Man
Seth – appointed
Enosh – – mortal
Kenan – sorrow
Mahalalel – the blessed God
Jared – shall come down
Enoch – teaching
Methuselah – his death shall bring
Lamech – the despairing
Noah – rest or comfort2
Now we can clearly see the prophecy. The flood was predicted, but Noah would build the ark, saving his family (humankind) and all animal life on earth. Then, centuries before Jesus was even conceived, He was promised by the very same words. Both prophecies gave hope. Hope that God would keep the lineage of salvation alive and hope that we can be delivered from our sin.
Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow (but) the blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring death shall bring the despairing rest (and) comfort.3
What do you see in those words? I see hope. Man – that’s us, in all our sin. Appointed mortal sorrow – since the beginning of time, due to sin, our lives are full of sorrow and death. The blessed God shall come down – Jesus became man. Teaching – Jesus taught us about the kingdom of God. His death shall bring – Jesus was going to die, and it would give us something. The despairing – that’s us. Lost in sin with no hope of salvation. Rest and comfort – Jesus’ death on the cross gives us comfort that our belief in Him brings forgiveness for our sins. We can rest, assured of eternal life.
Have you ever felt that life is hopeless? Totally hopeless? That nothing will get you out of the hole you are in? I have good news for you. Life is not about hopelessness. It is about living and living with hope that comes from Jesus. I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. It scared the life out of me. Cancer to me was pain and certain death. I began to really pray about it. One morning, about 7 days before surgery, before I even got out of bed, I was praying. I was totally honest with God. I was flat out scared. Then words from Psalm 23 floated through my head, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” (Psalm 23:4, KJV). I felt the peace of God flow through me. There was no more fear. I no longer felt hopeless. I felt wrapped in the arms of God, held the way a loving father holds his scared child. The surgery got all the cancer. Thank you, Lord.Do you need hope?
Father, Thank You again for the plan of salvation. Thank You that I can come to You for comfort and rest. Thank you for the hope you give us even in our darkest moments. Watch over us and keep us from Satan’s lies. In Jesus Name, Amen.
- Missler, Chuck, Hidden Treasures in Biblical Text, Koinonia House, 2000, Pg. 10-11.
- Ibid, Pg. 14.
- Ibid, Pg. 15
Food for Thought
- Do you believe that things just happen by chance, or is there a divine guidance?
- Why do you think genealogies in the Bible are important? Why do you think it is important that we know the genealogy of Jesus?
- Do you have hope? Hope for your future? Hope for you eternity? Why?
- What do you think about prophecy? In the Scripture? Today?
- Why does it seem that so very few people follow God?
