This chapter contains the genealogy of Adam to Noah – it records ten patriarchs, sometimes called the “deluge-patriarchs” or “pre-flood patriarchs”, their applicable lineage and their years on earth.
“When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died… Kenan… Mahalalel… Jared… Enoch… Methuselah… When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, ‘He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.’ After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.” (v3-32 abr)
Noah was the tenth generation (counting Adam as the first), and not much is said about most of the people in between. The majority of the patriarchs only have a record of their name, their lineage son’s name (they had other un-referenced children), and then the number of years they lived.
It’s interesting that with the exception of Enoch, who was taken early (see note below), all of them lived an average of 907 years (Lamech brings the average down, he died “young” at 777, the rest are 895+). That’s mind boggling. I have a theory as to how that’s possible, but I’ll wait until Gen 10 to talk about it (spoiler alert).
One of them has an interesting note different than all of the others: “After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (v22-24) This makes Enoch one of two people I can recall being recorded as not dying, just simply going up into heaven with God (Elijah being the second).
Enoch, has one other significant mention in scripture, immediately following the passage about Abel we discussed earlier this week. “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ‘He could not be found, because God had taken him away.’ For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Heb 11:5-6) The entire chapter of Heb 11 is known as “Faith in Action” and it names several of the Genesis patriarchs – I highly suggest reading the whole chapter.
My takeaway from Enoch, and the other great “Faith in Action” people, is that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Heb 11:1,3) I am reminded that faith and the resulting behavior is critical to my walk with God (and pleasing God as Enoch did).
My prayer is that my faith will become stronger every day, so out of that faith will come the confidence to not only walk beside God, but to live out my faith in such a powerful way that others are convinced to pursue a walk with God.
~ Conqueror in Training