Genesis 5 - Life goes on
Even a list of hard to read names contains treasure for your daily life.
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Read the chapter in an outlined format:
Genesis 5 (ESV)
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam.
When God created man,
he made him in the likeness of God.
2 Male and female he created them,
and he
blessed them
and named them Man when they were created.
3 When Adam had lived 130 years,
he fathered a son
in his own likeness,
after his image,
and named him Seth.
4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years;
and he had other sons and daughters.
5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years,
and he died.
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh.
7 Seth
lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years
and had other sons and daughters.
8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years,
and he died.
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.
10 Enosh
lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years
and had other sons and daughters.
11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years,
and he died.
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel.
13 Kenan
lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years
and had other sons and daughters.
14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years,
and he died.
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared.
16 Mahalalel
lived after he fathered Jared 830 years
and had other sons and daughters.
17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years,
and he died.
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch.
19 Jared
lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years
and had other sons and daughters.
20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years,
and he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.
22 Enoch
walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years
and had other sons and daughters.
23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.
24 Enoch
walked with God,
and
he was not,
for God took him.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech.
26 Methuselah
lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years
and had other sons and daughters.
27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years,
and he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son
29 and called his name Noah, saying,
“Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed,
this one
shall bring us relief from our work
and from the painful toil of our hands.”
30 Lamech
lived after he fathered Noah 595 years
and had other sons and daughters.
31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years,
and he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered
Shem,
Ham,
and Japheth.
Watch / Listen to the DIG DEEPER video:
Genesis 5 Summary
v1-2 - Moses reiterates what it is that makes man different from the other creatures: God made you in His image and has blessed you.
v3-32 - The 'generations' following Adam are listed. Certainly not every descendent is named, but only a select few. Most of the the listings follow the same format.
Dig Deeper
Long lists like what you've just encountered in Genesis 5 with lots of hard to pronounce names are one of the reasons that reading through the Bible is hard. Yet this is still God's inspired Word, and we can learn from it.
One of the advantages to reading chapters in an outline format is that it helps you easily recognize patterns. Notice the repetition of the phrase in v5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31:
and he died.
This stands in start contrast to the pattern set in chapter one, where you repeatedly read:
it was good.
It quickly becomes apparent that this world is not the way that it was created, and it's all because of sin.
The outlined format also helps illustrate the three names that don't fit the pattern:
Adam's entry mirrors what is written in v1 about God:
Both God & Adam produced offspring in their likeness (it also says that Adam's son Seth was born in Adam's image, pointing back to Adam's creation).
This means you've inherited two things from Adam:
God's image & likeness;
Adam's sinful condition, because eventually Adam died.
Enoch (v22)
didn't 'live' as the others are described, rather he 'walked with God.'
nor did he 'die.' Instead, "he was not, for God took him."
Lamech (v29)
Along with Adam is the only father who 'named' his son, as God named Mankind (v2);
Expresses the hope that his son Noah will represent.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who created you in His image and likeness, and who named you as His own;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you can live like Enoch, who 'walked with God.'
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
