Genesis 5
Even in a fallen and wicked world, God's people can still receive and respond to his many blessings with faith and hope.
1. Genealogies in Genesis
a. The Bible begins the slow and careful identification of the Seed.
1. Some things to notice:
Narrative 1.1 – 4.16
Genealogy 4.17 – 5.32
Narrative 6.1 – 9.28
Genealogy 10.1 – 32
Narrative 11.1 – 9
Genealogy 11.10 – 32
Genesis always mentions the unfavored sons (and bloodlines) before the favored sons (and bloodlines).
Linear (vertical) genealogies are straight lines of descent. A – Z. Adam to Noah. Shem to Abraham.
Segmented (horizontal) genealogies trace bloodlines through multiple sons. Noah's three sons.
b. Jesus' genealogies (in the Gospels) are different:
Ancestors, not descendants. Because... Jesus is not the subject, but the object, the one toward whom the action moves. – Victor Hamilton
2. Blessings abound (1-2)
a. The "book" is:
Paraphrase: The short, written, legal document that contains the authoritative account of Adam's descendants through the favored line of Seth.
b. Some reminders and instructions:
1. Israel (as Seth's descendants) can still…
a. Know God and respond to his Word.
b. Obey God and exercise dominion and represent him on the earth.
c. Some good news:
While the "image" is certainly crumpled and marred, it is not destroyed.
3. And so does the curse (3-20)
a. The favored bloodline is blessed and brings forth much fruit… but they all still die.
b. The "book" is about:
1. The firstborn son of each new generation.
2. The transmission of the divine image and likeness from one generation to another.
3. The continued hope that the Promised Seed will indeed appear.
c. A genealogical pattern emerges:
1. The age of the father at the birth of the firstborn.
2. The name of the firstborn son.
3. The number of years that the father lived after the birth of the firstborn son.
4. The fact that the father continued to produce sons and daughters.
5. The fathers age when he died.
6. Blessings: long life and many children.
7. Curse: Seth's bloodline is not exempt from death. Neither is Israel. Neither are we (Romans 5.12).
4. But not for Enoch (21-24)
a. The "pattern" is disrupted so we will "stop and see" what the author wants us to understand and benefit from.
b. Number 7 in the bloodlines:
1. "That" Lamech represents sin and death.
2. "This" Enoch represents righteousness and abundant life.
c. "Walked with God" means:
1. "Fellowship and communion"
2. "Communion and obedience"
3. "Portrays the intimacy that is the essence of true piety"
4. "Walking at the side of God"
5. "Walking along God's path, in the same direction"
6. Hebrews 11.5-6: Enoch believed God was God! …and that he was good to those who seek him on his terms.
7. Jude 14-15: Enoch believed and proclaimed that God would judge and punish sin.
d. Being in God's presence is a much greater blessing than a long life (2 Corinthians 5.6-8).
e. The point of the Enoch story:
1. Faith brings hope.
2. Life, not death, is the final word for any who walk with the Lord.
5. But for everyone else (25-27)
Death continues.
6. And hope still happens (28-32)
a. The "pattern" is disrupted again so we will "stop and see" what the author wants us to understand and benefit from.
b. Lamech speaks:
1. "That" Lamech acted out the curse and exalted in self-sufficiency.
2. "This" Lamech humbly hopes for relief from the curse's effect.
c. Another teaser trailer:
1. Noah disrupts the pattern
2. No firstborn recorded. A segmented (horizontal) genealogy instead (three sons).
3. No death recorded. We are left hanging.
d. Bloodlines are compared:
1. The lifestyle and lineage of Cain leads to judgment.
2. The lifestyle and lineage of Seth leads to salvation.
e. Mystery abounds:
1. This is how God works in a fallen world. Since he has chosen not to eradicate a fallen race but to redeem it, he does his work in an imperfect context. – John Walton
2. God made this decision before he made the world (Ephesians 1.3-6).
3. Difficult questions? Yes! Does Genesis provide an answer? Yes! God is up to something as glorious as it is good.
4. The bright Son behind the dark clouds:
a. God is completely in control.
b. God is completely good.
c. God can be trusted completely.
7. Some questions for Christians to consider while living in a cursed culture and dwelling on a cursed planet.
a. Are you aware that God is still in the business of blessing those he loves?
b. Will you be like Enoch and take him at his word and believe what he says about himself? Do you really (and always) believe that he is good?
c. Will you be like Enoch and take him at his word and believe what he says about you? That you are his child and are accepted and adopted? That you are loved by your Creator, Redeemer, and Friend? That he wants you to walk beside him and along his way?
d. When life is mysterious and when evil abounds, will you remember that he has proven his love at Calvary... where he defeated the serpent, bore the curse, broke the "power of canceled sin" ...and that he has gone to prepare a place for you in a new paradise?
e. Will you believe the point of this passage... that even in a fallen and wicked world, you can still receive and respond to his many blessings with faith and hope?
