Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Genesis 5 mostly just provides the genealogy of the descendants of Adam, but there are also some other things to be learned from this chapter. First, the idea of sons being formed "in the likeness" of their father is repeated here again three more times, which seems to imply that it deserves further consideration. I think there is more to this phrase than simply physical evidence of genetics transfered to descendants. Much beyond that, I think it is another expression of God's love in creating every human being in His likeness----which I think says to us that He desires each and every one of us to be a part of His family and become a child of God. Second, there are a lot of names of specific individuals here that we are only given their names and how long they lived, but I don't think they are there simply as "FYI". Some of the individuals will have more details related about their lives in other places in scripture, but many we never learn anything about them. Maybe we learn from this that all people are important to God. Next, there is an individual named Enoch , whom it says twice "walked with God" (v.22 and V24. NIV). Some translations say he "walked in God's ways", "walked habitually with God", "lived in close fellowship" , and "enjoyed a close relationship" with God, but they all seem to imply that this man had an exceptional life of consistent obedience and intimate devotedness to the Lord. It says in v.24 that God "took him", meaning that he suddenly disappeared one day. Maybe this was his reward---since he lived in constant fellowship with his heavenly Father, maybe God allowed him to skip the typical human death process. Though we know little of Enoch, we can be encouraged to model his walk with God. Lastly, this chapter ends with an introduction to Noah, whom Lamech (his father) prophesied " will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed". The story of Noah's obedience to God is told in the next chapter, but here we get a glimpse of the "deliverance" that Noah brings for the faithful family of God.