The Unfolding of God's Plan

THE UNFOLDING OF GOD’S PLAN

An Exposition of Genesis 5:1-32

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: May 15, 2022

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

¹ This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. ² Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. ³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵ Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

⁶ When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸ Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

⁹ When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.¹⁰ Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

¹² When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel.¹³ Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

¹⁵ When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared.¹⁶ Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

¹⁸ When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch.¹⁹ Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.²² Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

²⁵ When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

²⁸ When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son²⁹ and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”³⁰ Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹ Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

³² After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Genesis 5:1-32)

INTRODUCTION

The beginning of Genesis 5 introduces the subject matter. “This is the book of the generations of Adam” means that what follows will reveal some important things that happened after Adam was created. The rest of verses 1-2 briefly recaps that moment back in Genesis 1-2 when God created mankind. Then verses 3-32 tell us about the branch of Adam’s family tree that runs from his son Seth all the way down to the tenth generation (Noah) and the eleventh generation (Shem, Ham, and Japheth).

BRIEF RECAP OF THE CREATION OF MANKIND (v. 1-2)

Let’s begin by taking note of the brief recap of the creation of mankind, in verses 1-2. In case you weren’t paying attention back in Genesis 1, mankind didn’t evolve from apes. Mankind is not an animal upgrade. “God created man” – and God created man special and distinct from the rest of creation. “God created man… in the likeness of God.” Unlike all the other creatures, man bears a special relationship with God; man resembles God and is therefore able to reflect God’s character and represent God’s authority. And one of the primary ways by which we express God’s image is in our relational capacity, especially in our relational capacity as male and female, the two complementary sexes that are joined together as one in the mystery of marriage. When a male and female are joined together in marriage, they become one flesh. They are a unified whole. And, at the same time, the male functions as the head – the leader – of the union. We see this in the remarkable statement that God “named them Man when they were created.” The word translated ‘Man’ is adam, the same word that elsewhere is translated ‘Adam’. The fact that God gave the male-female pair a single name shows that the male-female pair are fundamentally unified. And the fact the name that God gave them is also the name that is elsewhere applied to the male, shows that the male is the head of the marriage.

The cultural tradition of the wife taking her husband’s name is profoundly right because it echoes God’s design in Genesis 5:2. If you referred to Brian and Charlotta Wilbur as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur’ or, even more pointedly, as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Brian Wilbur’, you would be saying something profoundly right, something that echoes how God set things up in Genesis 5:2.

That first couple enjoyed God’s blessing as they got their start in the world, as the middle of verse 2 reminds us: “and he blessed them”. How wonderful to be reminded of that original blessing that God conferred upon mankind! How sobering to be reminded that the reason for the repeated refrain “and he died” in verses 3-31 is a result of the fact that Adam and Eve failed to continue in the blessing. They disobeyed the Creator who had blessed them, and that disobedience opened the door to the long march of death.

THE GENEAOLOGY FROM ADAM TO NOAH’S SONS (v. 3-32)

So, having been reminded of God’s special work in creating mankind, we are now ready to consider the eleven-generation genealogy that starts in verse 3. As we walk through this, it is not necessary to repeat every detail. The basic genealogical formula is clear enough: ‘When the man so named had lived a certain number of years, he fathered a son. And that man then lived a certain number of years after he had fathered that son, during which time he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of that man were a certain number of years, and then he died.’

When we come to an information-heavy passage that follows a carefully worded formula, what we should be on the lookout for is the little things that stand out. Look for the deviations from the standard formula. Look for the surprises. Look for unusual phrases that only occur once or twice. Look for the extra information. Or look for incomplete information. The incompleteness is obvious at the end of the passage, where we don’t get a complete three-verse summary of Noah’s life and death. After naming Noah’s three sons – for the other nine fathers in Genesis 5, only one son is named – after naming Noah’s sons, the genealogy abruptly stops and another line of thought is introduced at the beginning of Chapter 6. The reason for this, of course, is that a three-verse summary of Noah’s life won’t cut it. Instead, Noah requires the better part of four chapters, which is what we get in Genesis 6:8–9:29.

Setting aside the incompleteness of Noah’s biographical information in verse 32, there are three big things that stand out in verses 3-31. What I want to do is call your attention to these three big things, and afterward I’ll tell you a fourth thing about this passage that is actually the most important of all.

Adam Fathered a Son in His Own Likeness (v. 3)

The first thing that stands out is, in verse 3, – that “Adam… fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image”. In verses 3-32, verse 3 is the only verse with the phrase “in his own likeness, after his image”. This phrase is intended to be compared with verse 1, where it says that “God created man… in the likeness of God.” And this takes us back to Genesis 1, where God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) So God made man in God’s image, after God’s likeness. But now when it comes to procreation through the male-female sexual union, we are told that “Adam… fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image”. Adam was made in God’s image, after God’s likeness. Seth was fathered in Adam’s likeness, after Adam’s image.

But what is the significance of the phrase? It likely signifies two things. On one level, it means that the image and likeness in which Adam was made, is indeed passed down to his descendants through procreation. James 3:9 indicates that all people, not just Adam, “are made in the likeness of God.” So if Adam is made in God’s likeness, and then Seth is made in Adam’s likeness, then since Adam’s likeness is indeed after God’s likeness, then Seth now also shares the image and likeness of God. The image and likeness of God is passed down to all human beings through procreation.

But that’s not all. To say that Seth was fathered in Adam’s likeness and after Adam’s image forces us to reckon with the fact that Adam had fallen into sin. As a result of his disobedience, Adam had become a corrupted or marred image-bearer of God. Adam is still an image-bearer of God, but after he had sinned Adam’s image-bearing was no longer pristine. Therefore Seth was fathered in Adam’s blemished likeness, after Adam’s flawed image. And what happened when Adam fathered Seth is what happens when any sinful man fathers a son or daughter in this world: the father passes on his corrupted and flawed image to his offspring. As it is with the father, so it is with his sons and daughters. When Seth began to express his sinful nature in sinful conduct as a youngster, it would have been spot on to tell him, ‘O Seth, dear boy, you are acting just like your father, Adam.’

There is one other detail that stands out in verse 3, which also stands out in verse 29, and so I’ll hold that thought until we get to verse 29.

Enoch Walked with God (v. 21-24)

After verse 3, the genealogical information continues without surprise until you get to Enoch. Enoch stands out big time, and we need to slow down and drink it in.

Enoch’s Life

All that we need to know about Enoch’s character is found in verse 22 and is repeated in verse 24: “Enoch walked with God”. This phrase “walked with God” doesn’t mean that from time to time Enoch met up with God in order that the two might take an evening walk together. The concept is much bigger than occasional and isolated walks. ‘Walk’ is a metaphor for the character, the movement, and the trajectory of your entire life. The Bible says that King Ahaziah of Judah “walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Kings 8:27). By contrast, King Josiah of Judah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (2 Kings 22:2) ‘Walk’ refers to the consistent direction of your everyday life. You are either going God’s way, or you’re not. You are either following the Lord, or you’re not. You are either keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, or you’re not. You are either walking with God, or you’re not.

Enoch went God’s way. Enoch consistently went in God’s direction. He kept close company with the Almighty. He lived for an audience of One. He didn’t care about walking with the crowd or walking with the bigwigs or walking with the trendsetters. Likewise, he didn’t care about walking after the world or walking after his own fleshly desires. He was like the blessed man of Psalm 1 “who walks not in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1). Enoch was not ensnared by the deceitful message of worldly people. Instead, Enoch had a message for worldly people. We know that Enoch had a message for the world because The New Testament Letter of Jude tells us that Enoch prophesied that the Lord’s judgment would come upon this sinful world. Jude 14-15 says,

“It was also about these [ungodly persons] that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”” (Jude 14-15)

In the context of the Letter of Jude, Enoch’s prophecy of coming judgment is not pointing mainly to the judgment of the flood, but is actually pointing forward to the final judgment that will come upon all ungodly persons. Enoch knew that godliness is the main thing: God will generously reward those who walk with Him, and He will execute judgment on those who walk contrary to Him. And as Enoch went God’s way, so he warned the disobedient of the judgment to come. The sweeping flood judgment of Genesis 7 – which happened 669 years after Enoch was taken to glory – the flood judgment was a preview of the final judgment that will take place at the end of the age. If you refuse to take refuge in the Lord – if you refuse to turn away from sin and trust in the Lord and go His way – then you will be swept away into everlasting punishment. I don’t want you to be swept away! Flee from the wrath to come! Save yourselves from this crooked generation! Leave behind this bankrupt world, and instead run to Jesus and discover the living water that He gives to all who call upon His name!

Friends, don’t let Satan convince you that you cannot be like Enoch. One of the main lessons here in Genesis 5:21-24 is this: in this sin-laden death-shadowed world, you don’t have to go the way that Cain and Lamech went in Genesis 4. Instead, you can go the way of Enoch. By the grace of God, and through faith in His name, you can learn to walk with God. You can keep both of your feet on the path of righteousness. You can be done with foolish and wasteful pursuits, and you can live a worthwhile life that meets with God’s approval. With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible! By faith, this is how Abel lived. By faith, this is how Enoch lived. By faith, this is how King Josiah lived. Why not you?

Paul’s prayer for ordinary Christians like us is

“that [we] may be filled with the knowledge of his [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).

Enoch lived as Paul prayed, and God took pleasure in Enoch’s faithful walk. And one day, God gave Enoch a rare and special gift: He exempted Enoch from death, and instead took Enoch straightaway to glory.

God Took Enoch

This, of course, is the other thing that jumps out about Enoch. Adam died (v. 5), Seth died (v. 8), Enosh died (v. 11), Kenan died (v. 14), Mahalalel died (v. 17), Jared died (v. 20), but Enoch did not die: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (v. 24) The Book of Hebrews holds forth Enoch as an example of a man who walked by faith:

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6)

Enoch’s immediate translation into the presence of God is a testimony to the fact that if we begin to enjoy fellowship with God while in this present life, so shall we enjoy fellowship with God in the life to come. Those who walk with God now, have every reason to expect that they shall walk with God forever. Except for Enoch and Elijah and the believers who are alive on the earth when the Lord returns, all of God’s faithful people must pass through the door of physical death. Abel walked with God and died, Noah walked with God and died, Abraham walked with God and died, as did many others – and they are not inferior to Enoch. So the fact that “God took [Enoch]” is a testimony to us that physical death is not the end of the story. God’s appointed end for His faithful people is not the grave. There is something beautiful and glorious beyond the physical confines of this present world. And this beautiful and glorious something is nothing less than unhindered and joyful fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit forever and ever, amen. If you aren’t walking with God now while you’re living your everyday life in Western Maine, don’t expect to walk with God when the glory of the eternal city is unveiled from heaven. But if you share Enoch’s faith, if you share Enoch’s desire to draw near to God, if you prefer what God offers over anything that the world offers, then you also will have an unfading inheritance in the age to come.

Years ago I read the words of a Christian woman named Lilias Trotter:

“A lesson came this morning over a ripe peach… a characteristic of ripeness that I had never noticed before–the ease with which it takes stripping. Up to the last day, before real ripeness sets in, it clings to the outward, & the outward has to be torn from it. The parting with all of it comes now without an effort–the Eternal life at its heart is all that matters.”[1]

Don’t be like an immature, unripe fruit that is holding tenaciously to the tree of this present world. Instead, be so ripe in your love for the Lord that the most natural thing imaginable would be for him to pluck you from the world and bring you home to where He is. Enoch was certainly not disappointed when “God took him”, because Enoch’s treasure was not on this earth. Enoch’s treasure was with God in the heavenly places. So, when “God took [Enoch]”, Enoch was home.

Lamech Was Looking For a Deliverer (v. 28-29)

The first thing that stood out in the genealogy is the comment that “Adam… fathered a son in his own likeness”. The second thing that stood out is the life of Enoch. The third thing that stands out is the significance of Lamech naming his son Noah. The names of thirteen men are identified in Genesis 5:1-32, but only two of the thirteen names are highlighted for their significance.

I am indebted to Jonathan Sarfati’s commentary for making me aware of a simple but important detail in verses 3-32. In every case except for two, we are simply told that the father fathered a son: “Seth… fathered Enosh” (v. 6), “Enosh… fathered Kenan” (v. 9), and so on. But in two cases we are specifically told that the father named his son. The first case is back in verse 3: “Adam… fathered a son in his own likeness…, and named him Seth.” Although the significance of Seth’s name isn’t given to us in Chapter 5, it was given to us in Chapter 4 (v. 25). The second case is here in verses 28-29: “Lamech… fathered a son and called his name Noah”.[2] By including this detail only in the case of Seth and Noah, the text is highlighting the significance of their names.

The significance of Noah’s name tells us something important about Noah’s father, for Noah’s father was the one who named Noah with a particular reason in view. Genesis 5:28-29 says,

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”” (Genesis 5:28-29)

If you map out the chronology of Chapter 5, you will see that Lamech was born in the 874^thyear of the world. Adam was still alive when Lamech was born, for Adam lived until the ripe age of 930. So Adam died in the 930^th year of the world; Enoch was taken to glory in the year 987; Seth died in the year 1,042; and Noah was born in the year 1,056. Noah was born just a little over one-thousand years after the creation of the world.

Now notice that when Noah was born, Lamech was very much aware that he lived in a heavy-hearted world. Lamech knew that the Lord had cursed the ground a thousand years earlier. This curse upon the ground is recounted in Genesis 3:17. Lamech knew that human work in this ground-cursed world was exhausting. “[The] painful toil of our hands” was a tangible reality to Lamech, and he wanted relief. So Lamech named his son “Noah”. ‘Noah’ means ‘rest’ and ‘Noah’ sounds similar to the phrase ‘bring us relief’. Thus you can understand the connection between Noah’s name and Lamech’s hope: “this one” – the one whose name means rest and whose name sounds like ‘bring us relief’ – “this one shall bring us relief from our work”. “[This] one shall bring us relief… from the painful toil of our hands.” Lamech’s hope was that Noah would reverse the curse and bring relief and rest to a weary world.

There is something very remarkable about Lamech’s expression of hope, and it actually serves to highlight what is most important about Genesis 5. What is striking about Lamech’s hope is that he was expecting curse-reversing relief to come from a man, specifically, from his son. Why? Isn’t it true that Lamech should have been looking for curse-reversing relief from the Lord, and not from a man? The answer, as it turns out, is that we have stumbled upon a false dilemma. Of course Lamech and everyone else should be looking for curse-removing grace from the Lord. But what we need to understand is that the Lord had promised to send a man to do it! And so, starting in Genesis 3:15, God’s people were looking forward to a special descendant of the woman to crush the serpent, reverse the curse, and restore the blessing. For God had said to the serpent:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal.” (Genesis 3:16)

This promise of good news would have been passed down from Adam and Eve to their descendants, and this knowledge of salvation would have been retained by people like Abel and Seth and Enosh and Enoch – people who “[called] upon the name of the LORD.” (Genesis 4:26) In due course, Lamech was looking for the special son of promise – the Messiah – and somehow he had a sense that Noah was to be special, and therefore Lamech anticipated that Noah was the promised deliverer. Although Noah was a gracious man who played a key role in the preservation of the human race, nevertheless Noah was not the Messiah. Noah did not bring lasting rest to weary men. Even so, Lamech was right to be looking for a human Messiah.

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO DO WHAT HE HAS PROMISED

And this brings me to the most important thing about this passage. This passage is highlighting God’s resolve to fulfill His promise to send a deliverer through one particular branch of Adam’s family tree. God watches over His word in order to perform it, keep it, and bring it to fulfillment. That’s what God does, because He is trustworthy and He is faithful to do what He promises to do. In Genesis 3:15, which I read a moment ago, He promised that a singular ‘seed of the woman’ would come forth in order to deal a death-blow to the devil. Now what we see at the end of Chapter 4 and throughout Chapter 5 is that God is unfolding His promise before our very eyes. God is watching over His word to perform it. God is working His plan.

What did God do at the end of Chapter 4? God appointed for the woman “another offspring instead of Abel”. God sees to it that the corruption of Cain and the death of Abel doesn’t result in the death of His promise. God sees to it that a holy seed is perpetuated through the woman, until Messiah comes. Therefore God appointed Seth to carry forth the promise to the next generation.

Now I want you to notice how the Book of Genesis highlights this portion of Adam’s family tree in Genesis 5. When you compare the genealogy of Genesis 5 with the genealogy of Genesis 4, one of the obvious differences is that the genealogy of Genesis 4 contains no numerical time markers. This pattern will repeat: the genealogies of Noah’s sons Ham and Japheth (in Genesis 10) contain no numerical time markers; the genealogy of Abraham’s son Ishmael (in Genesis 25) contains no numerical time markers (except for Ishmael’s length of life); and the genealogy of Isaac’s son Esau (in Genesis 36) contains no numerical time markers. Furthermore, these non-messianic genealogies eventually just end as far as the Bible is concerned; the Bible does not keep documenting the unfolding of non-messianic genealogies.

Another way to make this point is simply to observe that even by the time we get to the end of Genesis 5, Adam’s family tree was quite complex. Adam’s family tree through Cain, down to the eighth generation, is found in Genesis 4; and Adam’s family tree through Seth is found in Genesis 5. But Adam “had other sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:4), but the Bible doesn’t tell us about those parts of Adam’s family tree. Further, all the men listed from Seth in verse 7 to Lamech in verse 30, “had other sons and daughters”. And all the unnamed sons and daughters would have generated many more sons and daughters as well. So Adam’s family tree would have been massive and complex, but God’s special attention is on this one branch of Adam’s family tree, because it is through this one branch of Adam’s family tree that God is going to provide the Savior of the world. In fact, every branch of Adam’s family tree is going to be cut off at the flood, except for Noah and his three sons, and their respective wives. And when we get to the post-flood world of Genesis 11, we will see another genealogy with numerical time markers that runs from Noah’s son Shem to Abraham. And in due course, the prophet Isaiah will come along and tell us about someone greater than Noah who is going to arise from Adam’s family tree through Seth and Enosh, through Noah and Shem, through Abraham and Isaac, through Jacob and Judah, through Boaz and Obed, and through Obed’s son Jesse:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him” (Isaiah 11:1-2).

And when the fruit of Jesse comes, he will pick up the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and announce to the world that He is the One who will bring curse-reversing rest to weary sinners:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

The eightfold refrain of Genesis 5 stings: “and he died” (v. 5), “and he died” (v. 8), “and he died” (v. 11), “and he died” (v. 14), “and he died” (v. 17), “and he died” (v. 20), “and he died” (v. 27), “and he died” (v. 31). Lamech lived in world of death: he was 56 when Adam died, 168 when Seth died, 266 when Enosh died, 361 when Kenan died, 416 when Mahalalel died, and 548 when his grandfather Jared died. What Lamech needed, and what you and I need, isn’t just a deliverer who can “bring us relief from… the painful toil of our hands”; we need a deliverer who can bring us relief from the march of death through this sinful world; we need a deliver who can save us from the righteous judgment which Enoch foretold and which the flood previewed; we need a deliverer who can crush the serpent and remake sinners in accordance with the image and likeness of God. And what we have needed ever since our first parents went off the rails, God has been absolutely determined to give. Which is why, right here in Genesis 5, He is paying careful and special attention to the lineage of holy seed that would one day yield the true King who suffered death for us so what we might walk with Him the land of the living.

When ‘the seed of the woman’ finally came forth in the fullness of time, a grand announcement sounded forth over this sin-laden, death-shadowed world:

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

And any person, from any branch of Adam’s messed-up family tree, who calls upon the name of this Messiah will be saved. 

Amen.

ENDNOTES

[1] Lilias Trotter, quoted in Miriam Huffman Rockness, A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter. Grand Rapids: Discovery House Publishers, 2003: p. 311.

[2] Jonathan D. Sarfati, The Genesis Account: A theological, historical, and scientific commentary on Genesis 1-11. Second Edition. Powder Springs, GA: Creation Book Publishers, 2015: p. 456.