Read Genesis 5
From Adam to Noah
1 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. 7 After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.13 After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.16 After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.26 After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 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.” 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Go Deeper
Uh oh. Genesis 5 is just a long list of people with stats about how old they were when they died, right? Is there anything to learn from what we just read? Of course! This isn’t the only place in the Bible where we read a genealogy. In fact, we read about the lineage of Jesus in both Matthew 1 and Luke 3. The biblical writers did this for a few reasons, but one of them was to simply prove the history of what they were writing. They wanted to stress that these were real people who lived real lives and had real relationships with God. Furthermore, the authors want to remind us of the type of people that God chooses to use. In this chapter, Enoch gives us a great example of what we should desire from our lives.
In Genesis 5:24, it says, “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Isn’t that a great verse? While it’s powerful, it’s also somewhat scary. Deep down, we don’t really want our life’s biography to read like this. Many of us want to be remembered. We want to do something great with our lives. But what if our goal was to live like Enoch? Just walk faithfully with God, and when the time comes, we go home to be with Jesus. We live our lives, and then one day we are no more. We don’t need to leave an important legacy, we just need to live faithfully. Let’s be willing to live like Enoch. Whether God asks us to do great things or small things today, let’s have a heart of faithfulness.
Questions
Would you want to live to be 962 years old like Jared?
Why do you think it’s important to know the history of God’s faithfulness to others?
What would walking faithfully look like for you today?
Did You Know?
The Hebrews passed on their beliefs through oral tradition. Stories were told to their children, who passed them on to their children. Genealogies were used to provide an outline to remember the stories of God’s faithfulness. These lineages were a reminder that God has been present in each and every generation.
