Bible Study on: Genesis Chapter 5
by Russell J. Schmidt
The Family of Adam
1) This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
2) He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
3) And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
4) After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.
5) So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
6) Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh.
7) After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters.
8) So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
9) Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
10) After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters.
11) So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
12) Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel.
13) After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters.
14) So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
15) Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.
16) After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters.
17) So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.
18) Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch.
19) After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
20) So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.
21) Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.
22) After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
23) So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
24) And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
25) Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.
26) After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters.
27) So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.
28) Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son.
29) And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
30) After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters.
31) So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.
32) And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
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Book of Genesis, Chapter Five
The Family of Adam
Verse 1-11:
Chapter five, in its entirety, is the genealogy of Adam. In verse 1 we read, as we did in chapter one, that Adam was created in the likeness of God. But, notice when we get to verse 3, we are told of Adam’s first male descendant, Seth, that he was made in the image and likeness of Adam. It does not say in the image and likeness of God.
I believe the author Moses, did this purposely to distinguish the two creations of man. Adam, whom we read was created from the dust of the ground was made in the image and likeness of God Himself. As I described in chapter one’s study; it was not Adam’s physical being that was in the image and likeness of God, it was his spiritual being, and the fact that he was created perfect until sin took his perfection away.
Seth on the other hand, was born of Adam and Eve who were already in a corrupted state, due to their sin. Their “spirit of man,” which was given to them by God in Genesis 2:7, had been found to be corrupt with the advent of sin in their lives. This corrupted “spirit of man” was transferred to Seth, and made Seth in Adam’s image and likeness and not in God’s image and likeness.
If this “image” and “likeness” were describing physical attributes that were in comparison to God the Father, than Seth would also have been described in the image and likeness of God, and not necessarily in Adam’s image and likeness. God is not a physical being, so the image and likeness is not referring to physical appearance. Because it was Seth’s spiritual image and likeness that was corrupted by sin, Seth and any man born after him, were no longer were in the image and likeness of God.
The “spirit of man” was an exact replica of God’s Spirit, until immorality was found to be it’s flaw. Once this flaw was established, you cannot consider man in God’s image and likeness. God cannot sin, it is impossible for Him to sin. Under this state or curse of sin, man is now destined to die, whereas God is an eternal being.
Just as Esau gave up his birthright to Jacob for just one meal which would not sustain him for more than a certain amount of time, through sin man also gave up his birthright of power and dominion over the earth to Satan. Man had nothing left in his being that resembled God; everything had been corrupted by sin.
God would have to institute His plan for Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Messiah, in order to restore man back to his place of dominion and authority. Because Satan could not get Jesus to sin in His lifetime, Satan’s victory against man was over-ruled. But the only way for mankind to benefit from Jesus’ victory, was to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior and to receive the Holy Spirit from God.
Once this was accomplished, the man who accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior, will be restored to his proper place of dominion and authority and will inherit, as a gift of grace, eternal life in the Kingdom of God. It’s a gift of grace, because man is not deserving of this inheritance; man’s penalty for sin is death. But, Jesus paid that penalty for mankind at the Cross, even though He was not deserving of it.
Jesus’ sacrifice restored us to our rightful place in the image and likeness of God, because God has placed His own Holy Spirit within us after receiving His Son Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. That is why Jesus refers to Himself as the only way to the Father, or the only way out of eternal damnation and a life which results in death of the spirit in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'”
Verse 3—5:
Getting back to our genealogy of Adam, the only son mentioned here as being born to Adam is Seth. Now, we know that Cain was actually the first born son and Abel was the second born. So why is Seth the only one mentioned here in the genealogy of Adam?
We can find our answer elsewhere in Scripture. First if we look back at chapter 4 of Genesis, we read in verse 25, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” Seth, as we see, was to replace Abel as God’s anointed. The reason why Cain killed Abel was because God favored Abel’s offering over Cain’s. We already studied this in our study of Genesis chapter 4, so I am not going to go into detail on this subject, only to mention that Abel’s offering was made in faith, where Cain’s offering was not.
Because God chose Abel as more faithful than Cain, God bless Abel and anointed him. When Cain killed his brother Abel, God had to adjust His plan. God then blessed Adam and Eve’s next male descendant, which was Seth and anointed him in place of Abel.
Cain is left out of this genealogy because he has been cursed for his lack of faith in his offering to God and for the murder of brother Abel.
This whole scenario is a picture of what was to come. Cain representing the worldly way of rebellion towards God; Abel representing the Anointed One, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as being executed by men who lived by this rebellious worldly way; and Seth representing those who come after Christ who picked up Christ’s Cross and continued in spreading the Good News of Salvation through the Christ.
Verse 6—20:
Interestingly, we also read in Genesis 4:26, with Seth’s first male descendant (I say first male descendant, because we read with all of the genealogy, that many “had other sons and daughters.” It was the first born male that inherited the family birthright and was noted within the genealogies of the Bible), Enosh, that it was then that men started to call on the name of the Lord.
This represents the Christian movement and how through the Holy Spirit man has been restored to the image and likeness of God. The separation or divide that came between God and man through sin has been removed through the Sacrifice of Jesus and man’s acceptance of Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Enosh is a representation or a type and shadow of this, if you will, and the fact that man can once again directly communicate to God by calling on His name through the Holy Spirit.
Enosh’s first male descendant was Cainan (in Hebrew, Qenan; some translations spell it Kenan because of how it is proniunced). From Cainan came Mahalalel; from Mahalalel came Jared; from Jared came Enoch.
Verse 21—25:
Enoch who walked with God and had a son Methuselah, represents the rapture of Christ’s Church that we can read of in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” He is a type and shadow of this because we read in verse 24, “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him,”
Just as Enoch was taken out of this world alive and no one knew what happened to him; he just disappeared, so to will the believer’s in Christ, just before the judgment of God is unleashed on the world, will be taken out of this world in the “twinkling of an eye” as it is described in 1 Corinthians 15:52. This event will no doubt cause panic among those whose family members and friend’s who accepted Jesus as their Savior will suddenly disappear without warning.
Most people that will be left behind will not realize that this event is related to Jesus’ second coming and the protection of those saints who disappeared, because of their ignorance of the truths of God. For the most part, these people are those who were so caught up in their worldly lives that they were unaware of this truth that the believer’s who disappeared were waiting for.
In the book of Jude, written by Jesus’ brother, Jude alludes to a prophecy by Enoch that was recorded in an apocryphal book called the book of Enoch. This book was not included the biblical canons, because it cannot be verified as truly from the prophet Enoch. This book, in its entirety, had also been lost through antiquity; only fragments of the book have been discovered at Qumran along with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
In this book, according to Jude 14-15, “14) Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15) to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'”
This mention of the ten thousands saints with Christ, alludes to those who were remove from the world during the rapture of the Church of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. It also alludes to the harvest of the earth in Revelation 14:14-20. Don’t be mistaken by the reference of “ten thousands”; this is in plural form. This is not just ten thousand, but as it would be said today, “in the tens of thousands.” By saying just ten thousand would not corroborate the linking verses in Scripture.
So, Enoch represents this rapture. Enoch’s son Methuselah, who was the oldest recorded man in the history of mankind, lived to 969 years old. Methuselah died in the year of the great flood, where Noah and his seven family members were the only survivors. What is the significance of Methuselah’s death occurring in the same year as the flood?
The name Methuselah is prophetic in itself, although the exact meaning is uncertain, suggested meanings are very poignant. When we look up the name Methuselah we find meanings such as, “he has sent his death”, “when he dies, judgment”, “when he is dead, it shall be sent”, and a reference to a “deluge”. Some others say, it means, “man of the dart” or “javelin”.
Although not Scriptural, it is believed by many that Enoch may have received some kind of prophetic sign at Methuselah’s birth about how God was going to bring about a deluge to wipe out His sinful people. This is assumed because of the suggested meanings of Methuselah’s name; the fact that he died in the year of the flood; and Scripture says in verse 22, of Genesis chapter 5, “After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years.”
This suggests that although Enoch may have known God before Methuselah’s birth, something changed in his relationship toward God after Methuselah’s birth. Is it just coincidence that many say Methuselah’s name means some sort of deluge or reference to it, and after Methuselah’s birth, Enoch had some kind of encounter with God that made him change for the better and walk with God for 300 hundred years?
When Scripture says that a person “walked with God”, this is not to be taken lightly. It is a reference to one giving their life over to God and communicating with Him through prayer, meditation, and revelation directly from God. There was a reconciliation that took place between Enoch and God; there is agreement between the two. A person who walks with God needs to be in agreement with God or he is not walking with Him.
One just doesn’t wake up one morning and say, “you know what? I think I’m going to walk with God the rest of my life.” This just doesn’t happen without some kind of event to lead one to this change of heart. The nature of man is sinful, and his heart is always drawn in that direction if God does not intervene in ones life.
Another possible meaning to Methuselah and would give us a similar verdict as to his name being prophetic and pointing to the flood is; it has been suggested that the last portion of his name, “Selah” is a reference to a Babylonian word or name used for sin, and possibly the “god of sin”. This does not give reference to Methuselah being a sinful man, rather it may very well be reference to why God would send the flood, because of mankind’s sin; which Scripture is clear as to why God did send the flood.
In chapter seven’s study, I will go into further detail as to this prophecy and how Scripture also alludes to the flood as being a type and shadow of the coming Holy Spirit, which is referred to as a water.
Verse 26—32:
After Methuselah, came his son Lamech. Lamech had a son, and named him Noah. Here again, as it was with Enoch, Lamech may have received a prophetic word from God prior to, or at the time of Noah’s birth. In verse 29 we read the meaning of the name Noah and why Lamech called his son Noah; Lamech said, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
This is a reference to some event that is going to take place to change mankind for the better, and it either has to do with Noah directly or indirectly. But, again it is a type and shadow of greater things to come indirectly; not necessarily the outcome of the flood, which would be directly. Yes, the flood will result in a cleansed earth of sinful man, but that will only be for a short time. Man will re-populate the earth and bring sin to the forefront once again. This flood or out pouring of water will not be sufficient to bring about lasting change, but the type and shadow that it refers to will.
Just as the sacrifices of an unblemished lamb by the Israelites was not sufficient for lasting redemption for forgiveness of sin, but a greater sacrifice was needed, that being Jesus Christ. So also, this flood was not sufficient to cleanse the world permanently of sin, but a greater flood, that being the future out pouring of the Holy Spirit on God’s people that will bring about a conviction within one with the Holy Spirit toward godly living.
Lamech mentions a comfort that will come concerning the work and toil of our hands because of God’s curse on the ground because of sin. After the flood the toil of our hands did not change. It was still difficult toil or work to till the ground and bring about a harvest of food.
So, what was Lamech referring to? He was referring, again, to a type and shadow that this flood event will represent. That is the out pouring of the Holy Spirit of God on His people and the second coming of Jesus that will take away this curse once and for all, relieving us of the burden of the toil of our hands. This change will not come until after the wrath of God as described in the book of Revelation of the end times.
This flood also represents God’s wrath that is to come to finalize things once and for all and complete God’s plan for mankind.
We end chapter 5 with Noah, in verse 32, having three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Through these three descendants of Noah, God will re-populate the earth.
This concludes our study of Matthew chapter 5.
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