vs 1-2
1This 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.
A brief recap on the creation of Christ, restating that men and women both bare the image of God. From here on out we will begin to see the descendants of Adam until we get to another familiar name, Noah.
vs 3-5
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.
There is a little speculation about what the Bible means here when it says that Adam lived 130 years, then fathered Seth. We just read a chapter back that Seth was born to Adam and Eve as a replacement for their son Able who was killed by his brother. Does this mean that Adam had lived in the garden for less than 130 years? Or did age and time start being counted as soon as the fall happened? I dont believe we can ever land on a 100% solid answer, but my view is that Adam and his family began counting their years after sin entered the world and in their hearts. I have had many skeptical friends say that the Bible is chalked full of fairy tales and one of their biggest examples is the age span of the earliest humans talked about in Genesis. I have had well intentioned Christian friends try to explain this oddity in the next couple of chapters when God tells Noah that
3 Then the Lord said, z “My Spirit shall not abide in [1] man forever, a for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
We will unpack this more extensively in the next chapter but this does not mean that God will only let people live to be 120 years old. And is not an adequate answer to give to a skeptic that says the Bible is a fair tale because of Adam and his first descendants living hundreds of years on the Earth. What is the right answer? Here are the main points to bring up when a skeptic asks this question
1.Tell them that this is a fair and reasonable question to ask. And there are reasonable answers to these questions
2.The main reason we believe any of the Old Testament, especially that it is the word of God is that Jesus affirms many of these stories and people. Jesus speaks from the Old Testament and talks about Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jonah etc. The Bible and its authority rests on Jesus, and if He is a liar, lunatic or Lord. IF he rose from death than we can be certain that what we read in the bible is trustworthy. The real question always comes back to Jesus!
3.From a scientific and logical stand point it would stand to reason that the human gene pool was not tainted in the early years and centuries of life. This is also why in the beginning God permitted brothers and sisters to pro create, but later in the Law forbids this and demands this to stop. The same logic can be applied here. There was less time for sickness, disease, infections etc to spread and develop and destroy the human body. Therefore making it easier to believe that the life span would have been considerably longer in the beginning of the human race than it is today.
vs 6-24
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.
So as we watch the beginning of human history unfold we run into a very interesting person. We dont read much about Enoch, but he is one of the most interesting people mentioned in the Bible. Apparently one of the men that walked the closest with God as well. Enoch is one of two men in all of history to never die. The Bible says that every one of his ancestors lived this long, had this son and he died after living this long. It says in verse 21 that Enoch was 65 when he had Methuselah he lived 300 more years, it says he walked with God, and he was not for God took him. Many have speculated that Enoch will come back to this Earth with Elijah as the two prophets spoken about in the book of Revelation. If you believe in a 7 year tribulation period end times theology(I am not sure what my exact view is on the end times other than Jesus is coming back and you better belong to Him when He does!) Either way Enoch was a mighty man of God that never tasted death.vs 25-27
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.
Methuselah is the son of Enoch, and lived longer than any other man in history. 969 Years
vs 28-32
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.
The story of Noah is fascinating and full of faith building principals. We will study the life of Noah and the building of the ark in the next chapter. The story of the flood is the first picture that we see of God's love and protection of His people, and the coming judgment on sinners that will not submit to God!
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