Sigh

 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.

When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.  Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh.  After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.  Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.  After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.  Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.  After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.  After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters.  Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.  After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.  After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.  He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Genesis 5)

 

This is the account of Shem’s family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.  And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. ¹³ And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.  And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.  And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.  And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

(Genesis 10:10-26)

 

            I won’t blame you if you didn’t actually read today’s passages. I didn’t. I’ve read them before but genealogical repetition can make one’s eyes glaze over. I understand that. And I’ll even keep my commentary brief after the long ones of the past few days. But we must understand that these genealogies and others that are included in the Bible are absolutely necessary. God told the serpent that Eve’s seed would crush his head. We might say that it’s obvious that any human must be Eve’s seed, but other stories came along that told of other creations. And God gave other prophecies to other people that narrowed it down. Having the genealogies showed not only that God’s word was fulfilled, but how. That’s the first point today.

 

 

          The second point is illustrated by the chart above. The top and bottom are cut off, but there but enough is visible. What it shows is that while Adam and Seth both died too early for Noah to be acquainted with them, Methuselah and Lamech both lived long enough to have (in theory) heard the stories of the creation and fall directly from Adam. Noah might have heard them, as a child, from Seth. Noah died around the same time Terah did, and Shem died after Abraham. This means it’s possible that Abram heard the story of the flood from the people who went through it, and the creation account from someone who had known Adam or Shem. How could this be?

          We don’t know, but consider what scientists say about the dinosaurs. They tell us that the dinosaurs were able to be so big because there was more oxygen in the atmosphere, and that the dinosaurs were wiped out – possibly – by a meteor impact that changed the climate. The scientists and I will never agree on the timing on the event, but what if their timing is wrong and that meteor impact was part of the catastrophe we call “the Flood”? What if the same thing that allowed the dinosaurs to be so big is what allowed people to live for so long?

          This also reduces the number of “exchanges” in the game of “Telephone” necessary to bring the story of Adam to the attention of Abram. We can’t say that Abram heard the family history from Noah or Shem, who heard it from Methuselah or Lamech, who heard it from Adam. But he could have. We also can’t say that Adam or Eve didn’t write their memoirs or that Noah didn’t have a copy of them on the ark. We can safely assume that knowledge was lost in or because of the Flood. Reading and writing could have been included. We don’t know so it is as much speculation to say they weren’t as that they were. After the fall of Rome- after all- we faced what some call the “Dark Ages.”