Bible History of the Old Testament
No. 4
Genesis 5
Genealogy of the Believing Race, through Seth
In the previous text, the characters of the Cainite race have been traced to their full unfolding, and the real character of the people has been revealed. In direct contrast to the Cainites, the race of Seth had been very open in profession of their faith in God and belief in his promises. They had clearly separated themselves from the Cainites and God set them apart as His appointed royal line to work through. Scripture no longer follows the race of Cain and what they were doing, but instead gives the genealogy of Seth all the way down through Noah and the flood.
There is a significant contrast given in the way the Bible lists the
creation of
Adam and the birth of Seth. Adam was made in the likeness of God and
Seth was born in the likeness of Adam and after Adam's image. Adam
was created pure and sinless in the likeness of God, and Seth inherited
the fallen nature of his father. All the rest of the genealogies
have this in common also. They give first the age of the father at
the birth of his eldest son (except Seth was not the eldest), then
the number of years which each of them lived after that event, and finally
their total age at the time of death. The following table lists the
birth and death genealogies of each generation from Adam to the flood:
In the Cainite genealogy, there are simply listed seven generations, viz: Adam, Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehajael, Methusael, Lamech, and his sons. In two instances, the same names occur in both races - Enoch and Lamech. But in both, scripture furnishes characteristic distinctions between them. Cain called his city after Enoch, while the Sethite Enoch "walked with God, and was not; for God took him;" the Cainite Lamech was very boastful with his sword, while the other Lamech called his son Noah, saying "this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed." Thus the similarity of their names only brings out a more clear contrast of their character. Finally, the wickedness of the Cainite race comes out most fully in Lamech, who stands seventh in the genealogy; while the godliness of the Sethite race comes out in Enoch, who stands equally seventh in Seth's race.
As we compare the two genealogies we can be reminded of the stark contrast in them and how they turned out from God's perspective. Every generation of Seth lived its appointed time and transmitted the promise to their sons with the exception of Enoch, whom God just took to be with him. When Enoch was taken to be with God, Adam was the only one who had died. Methuselah and his grandson Lamech, who at the time was 115 yrs old, must have witnessed his removal. Noah would not be born yet for another 69 years, but judging from his name, Lamech must have remembered Enoch's walk with God.
Evidently Lamech must have felt the burden of toil upon an earth which God had cursed, and looked forward to a delivery from all the misery and corruption he lived in. He looked forward to the fulfillment of the Divine promise concerning the Deliverer. Maybe he had a feeling that Noah would have something to do with in some way helping to fulfill this Divine promise, and indeed he did.
As the Bible talks about Noah and his descendents, it no longer just mentions the first-born, but gives the names of all three sons. This was to show that henceforth the one lines was to divide into three, which were to become the second founders of human history.
Enoch, who seems to have walked nearest to God, only lived on earth three hundred and sixty five years. That is less than half the time of those who preceded and succeeded him. Maybe God just gave him a shortened life to relieve him from the work and toil which sin had brought upon the world. It certainly seems that the extraordinary duration of life by no means proved a source of good to a wicked and corrupt generation.
For more information from this book, go to my archives page at www.cathydeaton.com There are other articles of interest there, also.
This text taken from the book Bible History Old Testament by Alfred Edersheim, and is used by permission.