IN THE MIDST OF LIFE…
Opening Prayer
Lord God, your love and faithfulness are great beyond measure. I long for you to use all that I am to share who you are with others and to bring you glory.
Read GENESIS 5
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
From Adam to Noah
5 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”[a] 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[b] 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[c] 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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 5:2 Hebrew adam
- Genesis 5:6 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 7-26.
- Genesis 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for comfort.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘In the midst of life we are in death.’*How is today’s chapter—a long list of names of long-ago people who lived very long lives!— relevant to modern people?
The re-statement of the truth that the human race was created in God’s image (vv. 1, 2) emphasizes that everyone in ‘Adam’s family line’—like Adam himself—is created in God’s likeness. Despite sin’s entrance (Genesis 3) and its escalation (Genesis 4), we continue to bear God’s image. Adam’s family line continues to multiply (all these people ‘had other sons and daughters’), showing that God’s creation blessing of fruitfulness had not been withdrawn. Nevertheless, all these accounts (except two) conclude by noting, ‘and then he died’—a sobering reminder that in the midst of life, death inevitably intervenes, interrupting the blessing of life. Even Methuselah, who could undoubtedly make it into the Guinness (or Genesis!) Book of World Records, ultimately died at the ripe old age of 969 years.
Two people stand out. Enoch was spared death and mysteriously whisked away by God (vv. 21–24; Hebrews 11:5). Noah, although he would ultimately die, was spared death in the great flood and used by God to give humanity a fresh start. Both Enoch and Noah ‘walked faithfully with God’ (vv. 22, 24; Genesis 6:9), a phrase that echoes the pre-fall intimacy Adam and Eve enjoyed with God (Genesis 3:8). Despite human sinfulness, blessed fellowship withGod remains a glorious possibility for all of us.
Apply
How would you walk with God differently today if you knew it was your last?
Closing prayer
Father, with the psalmist I pray, ‘Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’ (Psalm 90:12).
*‘The Order for the Burial of the Dead: At the Grave’, The Book of Common Prayer
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