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Through the Bible with Uncle Ricky — Day 5: Genesis 5

Let’s talk about it

Uncle Ricky: Through the Bible with Uncle Ricky — Day 5: Genesis 5.

Uncle Ricky: Well, here we are — Day 5 of 1,189. Yesterday we ended with Seth, the son God gave Adam and Eve in Abel’s place, and with people calling on the name of the LORD again. Today we walk through the family line — generation by generation, all the way from Adam to Noah.

Biscuit: A whole chapter of who begat who? Uncle Ricky, is this one of those chapters people skip?

Uncle Ricky: It is the chapter a lot of people skip, Biscuit — and that’s a shame, because hidden inside these names and numbers is one of the saddest refrains in the Bible, and one of the most wonderful surprises. So let’s talk about it first — that way, when we read it, you’ll hear both.

Uncle Ricky: The chapter calls itself “the book of the generations of Adam.” And it starts by reaching all the way back to creation: “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”

Olive: God made them in HIS likeness? Even after everything that happened in the garden?

Uncle Ricky: Even after, Olive. The image got marred by sin, but it was never erased. Then Adam has Seth “in his own likeness, after his image” — so the likeness of God and the likeness of fallen Adam are both passed down, generation after generation. And then we get the pattern that repeats all chapter long — a man lives, he has a son, he has more sons and daughters, and then comes the refrain.

Biscuit: What refrain?

Uncle Ricky: “And he died.” Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years — “and he died.” Seth, nine hundred and twelve years — “and he died.” Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared — every single one, the same ending. Friend, God told Adam, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” — and Genesis 5 is that promise coming true, one generation at a time. Long life is a blessing, but length of days is no escape from death.

Olive: Nine hundred and thirty years is a LONG time, though! That’s older than… everybody!

Uncle Ricky: It surely is, Olive. These early generations lived ages we can hardly imagine. Methuselah, who comes later in this chapter, lived nine hundred sixty and nine years — the oldest man in the whole Bible. But notice: even nine hundred years still ended the same way. Now isn’t that something to sober us up? Whether God gives us nine hundred years or ninety, what matters is how we walk while we’re here.

Biscuit: Okay, so everybody dies in this chapter. Where’s the surprise you promised?

Uncle Ricky: His name is Enoch. Listen to how different his story sounds: “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

Olive: He was NOT? What does that mean — he just… wasn’t there anymore?

Uncle Ricky: That’s exactly what it means, little lady. For everybody else it says “and he died.” For Enoch it does NOT say that — because Enoch didn’t die. He walked with God so close, for so long, that one day God simply took him home. No grave. No funeral. Just a walk with God that never ended. I’d call that a gift from God — the greatest one in this whole chapter!

Biscuit: Wait, wait. He just walked right into heaven? While he was still alive?

Uncle Ricky: He did, Biscuit. Enoch is proof right here in Genesis that death does not get the final word over a person who walks with God. Everybody else in the chapter gets a grave. Enoch gets taken. Now isn’t that exciting?

Uncle Ricky: And notice something else, friends — this whole line is Seth’s line, not Cain’s. Back in Genesis 4 we saw Cain’s family building cities and making music while walking away from God. This chapter traces the other family — the line that calls on the name of the LORD, the line the promise travels through. Two families, two directions. It’s still true today: the most important thing about a family isn’t how long it lives, it’s which direction it walks.

Olive: So Enoch walked WITH God. Not away from Him like Cain did.

Uncle Ricky: Beautifully said, Olive — that’s the simple truth of this whole chapter in one sentence. After Enoch comes Methuselah, his son, the record-holder at nine hundred sixty and nine years. Then Methuselah’s son Lamech — a different Lamech from Cain’s boastful one, mind you — and Lamech has a son and gives him a name full of hope: “And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.”

Biscuit: Noah! We finally get to Noah! And his daddy named him hoping he’d bring comfort?

Uncle Ricky: He surely did, Biscuit. Generations of men had been sweating over cursed ground ever since Eden, and Lamech looked at his baby boy and hoped — this one will comfort us. God was already preparing the man who would carry the human family through the flood, and his father named him for comfort before he ever built anything. The chapter ends right on that doorstep: “And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

Olive: Three sons — Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I bet we hear a LOT more about them.

Uncle Ricky: You’d win that bet, Olive. Tomorrow the story darkens — men multiply, wickedness grows, and God grieves over the world He made. But He has already placed Noah right where He needs him. God is never caught off guard, friends. He prepares His people generations ahead of time.

A question to think about while you read

Uncle Ricky: When your name is spoken at the end of your story, will the refrain be that you simply lived and died — or that, like Enoch, you walked with God?

Biscuit: Uncle Ricky, will you read the chapter to us?

Uncle Ricky: I sure will, Biscuit. Genesis 5.

Now read the chapter — Genesis 5 (KJV)

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:

4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

12 And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:

13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:

19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.

26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:

27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

And that is Genesis 5 — a long line of long lives, nearly every one ending with “and he died,” except for Enoch, who walked with God and was taken home, and except for the hope at the end, a baby named Noah who would bring comfort to a tired world.

Tomorrow: Genesis 6 — Noah finds grace, and God gives him a very big building project. See you there.

— Uncle Ricky

If Enoch’s walk with God stirred something in you today, take a look at the “Walk With God” faith tee in the shop — a simple reminder, for you and everyone who reads it, to keep walking with Him every single day.