In the romantic comedy, Hitch, the “date doctor,” Alex Hitchens, played by Will Smith, tries to arrange a heart capturing date with Sara, a gossip columnist, played by Eva Mendes. He arranges to take her to Ellis Island to surprise her by showing her her great grandfather’s signature, Juan Mendes, in a passenger log. You know, it was supposed to be romantic. Upon seeing her grandfather’s signature, she has an immediate emotional breakdown. As it turns out, her grandfather was known as the “Butcher of Cadiz.” When Hitchens did his research he thought “butcher was a profession not a headline."
Family in a fallen world is an interesting reality. Every family tree has highlights and lowlights. There is a reason why you don’t take your new girlfriend to meet your family immediately. You want to make sure she likes you enough not to be scared off by your strange uncle Jack or your … well, no shortage of examples there!
The genealogies of Genesis are not simply filler between narratives. They are an essential part of the story. They powerfully communicate to us God’s unfailing purpose to bless His people. The genealogies accomplish this purpose by casting the line of unbelief, as in the line of Cain (4:17-24), alongside the line of faith, as in the line of Adam through Seth (4:25-26 and 5:1-32). Notice the arrangement: the ungodly line of Cain and back-to-back accounts of the godly line of Seth with a word of confessional worship sandwiched between them.
The writer could not say more clearly, “Here is godliness and ungodliness, blessing and cursing.” By this arrangement the author has chillingly cut the line of Cain from any relevance in the history of redemption. Oddly enough, the writer does not connect Cain to Adam in the Canite genealogy (4:17-24) like he traces Seth from Adam in both Sethite genealogies (4:25-26 and 5:1-32), even tying Seth back to the original creation in God image and likeness (5:1-3). Intentionally, the writer is downplaying the image and sonship of Cain. He and his line are no longer sons. They have distorted the image of God to an almost imperceptible, unrecognizable aspect of human life. This is meant to be shocking and confrontational. We are positioned right now, through faith or unbelief, in the line of blessing or cursing.
Throughout Genesis the blessing is at stake. The Snake and the spread of sin have sought to make blessing a non-reality. God, however, has shown the impossibility of defeating his purpose of blessing. Thus far, the lies of the snake, the pursuit of human autonomy, and murder of the godly seed have been unable to sever God’s blessing from His people.
Throughout Genesis the blessing is at stake. The Snake and the spread of sin have sought to make blessing a non-reality. God, however, has shown the impossibility of defeating his purpose of blessing. Thus far, the lies of the snake, the pursuit of human autonomy, and murder of the godly seed have been unable to sever God’s blessing from His people.
We must realize that through adoption in Christ, we are in the line of blessing on this side of the cross. As the antediluvian sons of God had a unique mission of calling on the name of the LORD in an increasingly corrupt age, we have a mission to uphold the Christ and Him crucified in an increasingly paganized society. In the context of a fallen world the blessing that is ours in Christ will always be the target of the evil one. As we see in Genesis, there is more than one way to attack blessing. We are in a war, and we are attacked at all sides—from within and from without—from the church, the world, and within ourselves. We will never walk away for Christ until temptation finds some desire in our own hearts. As the children of God in a fallen world, we must realize some things about ourselves, the world, and God. Otherwise we will prove ourselves to be irrelevant in the history of redemption and outside the line of faith.
First, realize you dignity and humility; you are both sons and sinners. As we approach chapter 5, I realize that these antediluvian fathers lived extraordinarily long lives. I believe these men literally lived such long lives. Some offer explanations about the atmosphere before the flood as a reason for longevity. The only explanation I will offer is that God for His own purpose sustained their lives. The length of their lives is not the most important thing about them. More importantly, they are in the line of faith. In these men, we see the beginnings of the restoration of sonship.
The genealogy begins with the signal that we are moving along in the story. “This is what became of the family of Adam, that is, the godly line” (1a). Moses ties this line with the original creation of Adam and Eve in the likeness of God and under the blessing of God (1b-2). He is tying the Sethite line to Sonship and blessing.
Notice how this works out in verses 1-3. Some want to make a big deal out of whether Adam refers to “Adam” or mankind. There were only two of them, Adam and Eve. Together they constituted “mankind.” Both Adam and Eve were created in the likeness of God. Then Adam fathers a son in his own likeness and image and named him Seth.
Here’s the logic: if Adam was created in the image of God and had a son in his likeness and image, then Adam’s son is also in the image and likeness of God. If being in the image and likeness of God made Seth Adam’s son, then being in the image and likeness of God made Adam’s God’s son. This is the way Luke read this text.
In the genealogy in Luke’s gospel, Luke traces Jesus’ ancestors all the way back to Adam and Adam to God. Luke says, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God (Lk. 3:38).
The 10 members of this genealogy from Adam to Noah and the 10 members of the genealogy in Genesis 11:10-26 from Noah’s son Shem to Terah and then on in Genesis from Abraham to Issac to Jacob to Judah are all listed in Luke’s genealogy in the line of Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. He is the seed of the woman who would and did defeated the serpent.
He didn’t meet the serpent in a perfect world. He met him in a fallen world, not in a garden but in the wilderness. He lived a perfect life. He did not fall at the tempter’s lies. He bound the devil. After, he sent his disciples out with authority to cast out demons, he told them, I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven (Lk. 10:18). He died on the cross bearing our sin. He arose again the third day. All who repent of their sin and place they faith in him are restored and are being restored to imaging bearing sonship.
Have you noticed this language of sonship and image in the NT?
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)
And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” (Romans 9:26)
Mankind has three insurmountable problems in Genesis: Satan, sin, and death. The answer to all three respectively is: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
What do we see in Genesis 5? The sons of God. Those who by faith are being recreated in the image and likeness of God.
Though we are being created anew in the image of God, we must live in the humility of knowing we are fallen men.
A likeness to God is not all that is inherited from Adam. There is also a likeness to Adam. He is the head of a fallen race. Even though the Sethite genealogy is the line of faith that leads to Christ, they are still under the reign of death. The typical genealogical entry is the age of the person when he fathered his firstborn, the remaining years of his life, acknowledgement of other sons and daughters, total years he lived, and a death notice—and he died. (e.g. 6-8)
No other genealogy in Genesis has this refrain, and he died. It is there for a purpose. Though these antediluvian sons of God lived extremely long lives, they died. In the movie Gladiator, Marcus Aurelius said to Maximus, Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.
This shows that the wages of sin is death. In these verses, we see the reign of death. God warned Adam of death, and though it took 930 years, Adam died (5).
This refrain of death could lead us to despair or to throw off all restraint. We have a tendency to exalt ourselves, and we have a tendency to despair. We must remember that we are weak, and we need to live life with a healthy view of our weakness.
What is remarkable about the Sethite genealogy is that it is an unremarkable list of names and ages. No further information is given about the entries. Think of it living to be 900 years old and all that can be said is that you had some kids and died.
Self-exaltation is an over-rated value of the world. If you get to be the dictator of some respectable nation, you are still going to die. I am amazed how we baptize the desire of humans to exalt themselves. We appeal for people to be missionaries and do something significant with their lives. We appeal for people to give their lives to Christ on the bases of God doing great things with them. We are secretly envious of others who seem to be positioned better than we are, who have more money than we have, or who have achieved more academically than we have. There is no limit to the desire to exalt oneself. The humbling refrain over all of our lives is and he died. At this point in my life, I’m thinking we are doing pretty good if we can get supper on the table.
Don’t aspire to greatness, aspire to faithfulness where you are. Serve the Lord where you are and pour into others, give, pray for others, and rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
At the same time don’t despair over death. This list could be depressing, but there are two irregularities in the genealogy that are there to give us hope: Enoch and Noah. Both are characterized in the same way—They walked with God (5:22, 24; 6:9). These are the only two men in the Bible that are said to have walked with God.
What does it mean they walked with God? The writer of Hebrews helps us here. 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…(Heb 11:5-6a). Of Noah, Hebrews says, By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed and ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and because an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith (Heb 11:7). Noah and Enoch were simply men who believed God. This is the meaning of walking with God.
Unlike all the only men in Genesis 5, they escape the refrain, and he died. We know Noah died. In fact, Genesis 9:29 completes the Genesis 5 genealogy with the exact language we see in Genesis 5, and he died. This shows that the entire flood narrative is to be considered as a narrative within the genealogy of Genesis 5. This lends credence to the thought that the sons of God and daughters of men are part of the population explosion noted in Genesis 5, and he had other sons and daughters.
Unlike all the only men in Genesis 5, they escape the refrain, and he died. We know Noah died. In fact, Genesis 9:29 completes the Genesis 5 genealogy with the exact language we see in Genesis 5, and he died. This shows that the entire flood narrative is to be considered as a narrative within the genealogy of Genesis 5. This lends credence to the thought that the sons of God and daughters of men are part of the population explosion noted in Genesis 5, and he had other sons and daughters.
Don’t despair! God has made a way for you to escape the judgment to come. Noah show us that God can take you through the flood of judgment unharmed.
Enoch in one of two people who did not die. The other is Elijah. In the book of Jude we have a record of some of Enoch’s preaching that helps give us perspective on his age and ours. Jude 14-15 says, It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, [15] 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.”
Don’t despair. Enoch warned his generation and ours of impending judgment. He shows us that God can save us from the reign of death. Indeed, in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus on the third day, God has saved all those who have faith in Christ from the judgment to come and the condemnation of death. When He finally subdues all of His enemies, death will be among them, and He will raise the dead.
Second, as children of blessing, we must realize the world is spiraling downward into sin. Chapter 6 opens with the blessing in jeopardy. 6:1 gives us a summary of what we have just read in Genesis 5. Genesis 5:2 (c.f. 1:28) reminds us that the blessing includes multiplication and dominion. As in Genesis 3 when Adam took that which was good and used it to evil ends, God’s faithfulness in multiplying the race is used to evil ends Genesis 6. Sin is always the perversion of what it good. God made a good world. In the assertion of human autonomy, we corrupt God’s good gifts. Self-promotion, self-expression, and self-determination were the highest values of the pre-flood world. I want us to see in this text how a society spirals downward to hell.
Antediluvian society had a complete and total disregard for the blessing. They no longer regarded their sons and daughters as a means to realize the blessing of the promised seed of the woman. I know that there are different views regarding the identity of the sons of God. There are basically three views: angels, kings, or Sethites.1 I have no interest in debunking the other views because, regardless of the identity of the sons of God, the meaning of the text does not change. The blessing was in jeopardy because the total disregard for God in man’s assertion of moral autonomy. The most natural reading of early chapters of Genesis is that the son of God are the Sethites. This little narrative in chapter 6 flows right out of the genealogy Seth in chapter 5. I have added a footnote to the manuscript to discuss the other views.
When we look of Genesis 6:1-4, we have to ask what is the problem with people marrying and having children (2, 4)? Is this not doing the very thing God intended when He blessed the first marriage? Why would this lead God to say He was going to shorten the lifespan of man (3)? Notice how Moses even takes pains to show that the Nephilim are not some half-divine half-human offspring of an unholy union of fallen angels and humans (4). The Nephilim were around throughout this population explosion. Everybody knew about them. They were not inhuman beings. They were simply men who wanted to make names for themselves (c.f. Cain naming city after his son 4:17 and the people at Babel 11:4).
The writer gives us a hint as to the problem. He hooks this story with the fall. Notice the language, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good and they took as their wives any they chose (c.f. 3:6). Like Adam and Eve, they assumed the divine prerogative by determining for themselves what was good. They acted as if they had absolute moral autonomy. It was through their marriages and children that the line of Christ was to be preserved, and they cared nothing for it. These sons of God and daughters of men had a distinctive heritage of faith. Their fathers were 10 men who were characterized by calling upon the Name of the LORD (4:26). They rejected that and were living life in a self-determining fashion, giving no thought for God in the ordinary affairs of life. They were living fleshly lives. Whatever the flesh wanted, they called it good.
This would lead God to withdraw His life sustaining spirit from them. We now have pathetically short lives. You can see from this text, we have not advanced. Yet as short as our lives are some men are so wicked that they live too long! Jesus summed up that generation and compared it to the time of his coming (Mt. 24:37-39):
37] For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [38] For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, [39] and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
We know from the witness of the NT that Enoch was preaching, Noah was preaching, and that their fathers had called on the Name of the Lord. Yet, they had no regard for God until the flood swept them all away.v
Their disregard for God spilled over into disregard for others.
It is impossible to live in disregard to God and have a life that has proper regard for others. When humans sin, life does not become larger but smaller. Alexander Pope said, To err is human. No! it’s not. It is somewhat less than human. Adam and Eve were human before sin. After the fall, they became somewhat less than human. If we want to know what it means to be human, we have to look at the life of Jesus. The more we sin the less human we become. How does someone move from being an ordinary kid on the block to sexually abusing, murdering, and cannibalizing his victims? He moves one step at a time from one sin to another, until such a life becomes absolutely reasonable. This is the result of moral autonomy—totally inhuman behavior.
So in verse 5 there cannot be a more startling description of human depravity. What started with one generation disregarding God in their marriages and family led to another that was so evil that they could not think of anything but evil. Evil was the new good, the new normal. So evil did this society of men become that the chosen line was threatened. We can see why Jesus said of the days before His coming that False christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Mt. 24:24).
Third, as people who are both sons and sinners living in a fallen world, we must realize the extreme to which God will go to preserve and bless His people. The writer again hooks this story back to creation. In verse 5, the LORD saw the wickedness of man was great…. This is a far cry from and God saw it was good (1:10). What sinful men called good (attractive v2), God called evil in the strongest of terms. So wicked had the world become that line of blessing was in jeopardy. It came down to one man and his family that have to ride out a global deluge in a homemade ark.
The story of Noah and the flood is not primarily a story about judgment. It is primarily a story about salvation.
The language of verses 6 and 7 are difficult to fit into our understanding of God. The LORD regretted that He made man on the land, and He is grieved to his heart. He determines to blot out man. Could there be stronger language? Some look at this and want to argue changeability in God. This is not mutability, but revelation of the constant character of God. He is angry with the wicked every day.
While it doesn’t come through in the English text, like the words of Lamech, Noah’s father, regretted, made, and grieved are a play on Noah’s name. That does not take away from the literal meaning of those words, but it shows is that God is judging the world that He might save His people. In this event, God was not only saving Noah, He was saving us.
It is not remarkable that God would destroy the world with a flood or in the future with fire. What is remarkable is that He would save Noah and that He will save us! When we read this story and all we see is judgment and when we think of the coming of Christ and all we see is judgment, we learn something of our view of God. Such a view comes out of a heart that is weighted with condemnation. Due to condemnation, a lack of love for God and His people emerges in our lives. We just want everybody to get what’s coming to them. We think everybody is going to hell, and they all deserve it. I agree on the deserve part, but the amazing thing is not everybody is going to hell.
In contrast to those under the displeasure of God, Noah found or obtained grace. This is much more surprising than God’s intention to destroy the wicked. What made Noah to differ? The grace of God. We can see what God’s grace did in Noah as we compare verse 8 and 9. Grace worked in Noah to produce the fruit of righteousness. The verse order is intentional. It was not that Noah was righteous and earned grace. Grace cannot be earned, and it is absolutely essential for salvation.
The most amazing truth about God is He is gracious. He is only gracious to sinners. The deserving, the righteous cannot receive grace. They cannot only receive judgment. The only people who can receive grace are sinners. God is so determined to be gracious to his people that He will judge the world to preserve them by grace.
As we come to the Lord’s Table, we come as those who have found grace in the eyes of the LORD. A judgment greater than the flood engulfed the Son of God. As we eat this bread and drink this cup, we give testimony that through faith in Christ, who lived a perfect life, died on the cross bearing our sin, and was raised on the third day, we have been brought safely through judgment to enjoy life in the KOG.
If you are a believer in good standing with a local, evangelical church, if you have been baptized confessing your faith in Christ alone, we invite you to come to the Table with us.