Thursday, June 4, 2009

Gospel in Genesis

From Adam to Abraham


The Gospel in Genesis 5


A Bible Study by Jack Kelley


(Read for background)


The Bible doesn’t speak of great human achievement coming from the line of Seth as it does from Cain’s line. But if you do some home work in the geneology of Genesis 5 you discover a profound achievement from God’s perspective that demonstrates the faithfulness of Seth’s descendants. On our way to this discovery let’s also look at an interesting time line I’ve developed to demonstrate the ease with which pre-flood knowledge and experience could have been made available to those who came after.


We’ll assume Adam was born in Year One and use Biblical life spans.


Name Born Died Name Means
Adam 1 930 Man
Seth 130 1042 Appointed
Enosh 235 1140 Mortal (Lived 905 years. Only 821 when Noah was born)
Kenan 325 1235 Sorrow
Mahalel 395 1290 The Blessed God
Jared 460 1422 Shall come down
Enoch 622 987 Teaching (By tradition Adam, Seth and Enoch named the stars, putting the gospel story in the 12 constellations of the Mazzoroth … later perverted in the signs of the Zodiac)
Methusaleh 687 1656 His death shall bring (The flood came the year He died)
Lamech 874 1651 Despairing (56 years old when Adam died)
Noah 1056 2006 Rest (Still around when Abraham was born)


These 10 names contain the Gospel message.


“Man is appointed mortal sorrow. But the blessed God shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the despairing rest.”


I have not found any equivalent message hidden in the names of Cain’s descendants. They focused on the things of this world while Seth’s line was concerned with the things of God even to the extent of naming their sons.


Let’s continue.


Name Born Died
Shem 1557 2157 (out lived 8 of the next 9 generations including Abraham)
Arphaxad 1657 2095
Shelah 1692 2125
Eber 1722 2186 (Some see the origin of “Hebrew” in this name)
Peleg 1756 1995 (Earth was divided into continents during his life)
Reu 1786 2018
Serug 1818 2048
Nahor 1848 1996
Terah 1877 2082
Abraham 1947 2122 (First man to be called a Hebrew. 59 years old when Noah died)


If Adam related his eye witness account to his grandson Enosh, and Enosh repeated it to Noah, Noah could have taught it to Abraham. Could God have arranged this? Shem was also alive during all of Abraham’s life. Some believe Shem appeared in Genesis 14:18 as Melchizedek. At issue is whether Melchizedek (King of Righteousness) is a name or a title. Some also suggest Shem as the architect of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.




Website: www.gracethrufaith.com






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