GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 5

GRIFFIN COMMENTS—GEN 5 (Gen 5:1) This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Genesis 1 through 4 has given us the origin of man and his fall; along with the way life developed down through the two lines of Cain and Abel. Now he records the order of the families that came from Adam with the ultimate development of a corrupt race that must be destroyed, and was destroyed by a flood. He began with the genealogy of Adam and ran through the first ten patriarchs, who were descendents of the seed of the woman (Gen_3:15) beginning with Seth [since Abel had been killed] and continuing through to Noah.

(Gen 5:2) Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Adam did not name himself. He was permitted to name the animals and his wife, but his own name came from God and means earth, because he was made of the earth.

This name seems to connect man 'Aadaam (OT:121) with the soil from which he was taken 'ªdaamaah (OT:127) (Gen_2:7). It is evidently a generic or collective term, denoting the species. God, as the maker, names the race, and thereby marks its character and purpose.

(Barnes' Notes) (Gen 5:3) And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: Adam first of all was made in the image of God, and now he transmitted that image to his offspring so that all who followed him were of the same image.

CONDUCT 4. Conduct: behaving under controlled directives.

CONDUCT Gen_5:3-32 Jos_1:8 The phrase "walked with God," which is only applied to Enoch and

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Noah (Gen_6:9), denotes the most confidential intercourse, the closest communion with the personal God, a walking as it were by the side of God, who still continued His visible intercourse with men (vid., 3:8). It must be distinguished from "walking before God" (Gen_17:1; Gen_24:40, etc.), and "walking after God" (Deu_13:4), both of which phrases are used to indicate a pious, moral, blameless life under the law according to the directions of the divine commands.

The only other passage in which this expression "walk with God" occurs is Mal_2:6, where it denotes not the piety of the godly Israelites generally, but the conduct of the priests, who stood in a closer relation to Jehovah under the Old Testament than the rest of the faithful, being permitted to enter the Holy Place, and hold direct intercourse with Him there, which the rest of the people could not do.

The article in h'lhym gives prominence to the personality of Elohim, and shows that the expression cannot refer to intercourse with the spiritual world.

(Keil and Delitzsch) Gen_2:3 All the races, however low their condition, have been immemorially in a state of domestication; but the monkey tribe are as incapable of domestication as the wolf, the bear, or the tiger. Man has the faculty of storing for his own use and that of all future generations; of making unlimited advances in knowledge and self-culture; of discussing abstract metaphysical questions, and guiding his conduct in the most difficult circumstances by clear and sagacious reasoning: whereas monkeys have nothing but instinct; every successive generation of them has resembled that which preceded it, and so no doubt has it been from the first creation of the family' (Paper read before British Association, 1863). (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary) Gen_5:18 Enoch-or Henoch (1Ch_1:3), dedicated, or, according to Gesenius, initiated. These significations, because both of them are applicable, intimate, what from the subsequent conduct of Enoch there is reason to conclude, that he was early instructed in the things of God, trained to His worship, and devoted to His service. By this means, under the influence of the Spirit, his mind would receive that sacred bias which led him to act so decided a part, and to attain so great eminence in the service of Yahweh.

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Gen_5:22 He gave evidence that religion had taken up her settled residence in his soul; but as genuine piety may be in the heart while the fruits of righteousness are not very conspicuous in the conduct, an expression is used in reference to Enoch's religious deportment, which describes not only the fervor of his piety, but the intimate communion of his heart with God as influencing his habitual conduct, and shedding a bright luster over the whole of his character.

Gen_6:11 For all flesh had corrupted his way-i.e., course of life, manners, conduct (cf. 2Pe_2:15; Jud_1:11).

(Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary) Exposition of Gal_5:13-26; Gal_6:1-2 The law is ever to you the blessed rule by which you judge your conduct, but it is not a law of condemnation to you, neither are you seeking salvation by it.

By the Fountain Gen_49:22; Deu_33:13 According to the influences under which they come, certain people become good, bad, or indifferent. But when a man lives in the presence of the Lord, he has fixed principles, which rule his heart, and guide his life. He fears God, not because others fear him, but because God is "to be had in reverence of all them that are about him?" Psa_89:7. He believes revealed truth, not because others believe it, but because he is sure that the Lord has spoken it, and therefore he knows it to be true. If anybody denies the faith he stands up to it, for it is precious to his heart. His moral conduct and his spiritual life are upright, true, sincere, and reverent; not because of the prejudices of education, or the force of example, but because the Lord has placed within him a new heart and a right spirit.

Who Is on the Lord's Side? Exo_32:26 I am looking forward to the time when there will be only two parties left to fight,-the men who will have this text emblazoned on their standards, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" Eph_4:5, and who will have nothing but the Bible for their rule of conduct, and those bearing the other banner in praise of the inventions of men and the traditions

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of the fathers.

The Man Whose Hand Clave to His Sword 2Sa_23:9-10 He was a man of marked individuality of character, a man who knew himself and knew his God, and did not care to be lost in the common mass, so as to run away merely because they ran. He thought for himself, and acted for himself; he did not make the conduct of others the measure of his service; but while Israel fled, "he arose, and smote the Philistines."

[SEE SPURGEON SERMON: HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM Pro_14:14]

(Gen 5:4) And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: The Bible says nothing of his standing with God after the departure from the Garden of Eden. We do not know whether he continued to worship God as his sons did, nor do we know whether or not he followed one line [Cain] or the other [Seth]. We only have a record of the length of his life on earth. It is interesting that he is not listed among the heroes of faith in Heb 11.

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

God had said that the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die (Gen_2:17), and 930 years is within a millennial day. One day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. (2Pe_3:8). He died spiritually the day he ate of the tree but continued to live physically for 930 years, then died before the millennial day was over.

(Gen 5:6) And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: All of these from Adam on down also begat other children, because there were descendents that had to come from them. The daughters are not mentioned either so we have no idea who married who and any others that were born to these. The purpose of the ones mentioned is to follow the blood line from Adam to Christ, through the seed of the woman.

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(Gen 5:7) And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: The Sethites began calling on God in His covenant relation to His believing people; thus began the church as a people separated from the world, and its service of prayer and praise. While the Cainites, by erecting a city and inventing worldly arts, laid the foundation of the world kingdom, the Sethites, by joint invocation of Jehovah's name i.e. His self manifestation towards man, founded the kingdom of God. (Fausset's Bible Dictionary) (Gen 5:8) And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

There are many traditions concerning Seth (q.v.), not only in Rabbinic, but also in Christian, writings. According to the Rabbinic traditions, Seth was one of the thirteen who came circumcised into the world. The rest were Adam, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Terak, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah (Midrash Tillim, fol. 10, col. 2). The book Shene Luchoth says that the soul of the righteous Abel passed into the body of Seth, and afterwards this same soul passed into Moses; thus the law, which was known to Adam and in which Abel had been instructed, was not new to Moses (Eisenmenger, Neuentdecktes Judenthum, 1, 645). Josephus relates that after the things that were to take place had been revealed to Seth how the earth was to be destroyed, first with water and then with fire lest those things which he had discovered should perish from the memory of his posterity, he set up two pillars, one of brick, the other of stone, and he wrote there on all the science he had acquired, hoping that, in the event of the brick pillar perishing by the rain, the stone would endure (Ant. 1, 2).

(McClintock and Strong) There are many others, one of which is noted in Genesis 6.

(Gen 5:9) And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: Each of these had his life cut short at some time, but notice that they never died until they had left a seed behind. The only one that was not

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permitted to leave seed was Abel because he was slain by his brother before he had children.

It does not state whether Enos had children before Cainan, but that he was 90 years old when Cainan was born, which leaves the possibility of other children being born beforehand. The same can be said of others in this list.

(Gen 5:10) And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: He lived 905 years (B.C. 3937-3032), and is remarkable on account of a singular expression used respecting him in Gen_4:26, "Then began men to call on the name of the Lord." This is not to be taken absolutely, as it would be absurd to suppose that none called on the name of the Lord before that time, and accordingly there are two interpretations given of the passage: one is the marginal reading of the A.V., "Then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord," in order, it would seem, to distinguish themselves from those who were already idolators, and were termed children of men; the other, "Then men profanely called on the name of the Lord," intimating that at that period idolatry began to be practiced among men. The latter is the interpretation adopted by the Jewish expositors generally, but the former has more currency among Christian commentators. It may be observed that they both unite in the common idea of the widening difference between the pious and the wicked. In either case the passage may be regarded as implying that divine worship, which till that time had been confined to private families, now became public — that is, religious services were held on fixed days and in public assemblies.

(McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia) (Gen 5:11) And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

Notice that all of these early men lived to what we would consider a long time, yet the Bible records their life in “days.” “All the days of whoever.” Compared to what it should have been and would have been had they not fallen it would not be days, but timeless. They would apparently still be living today if sin had not been committed.

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Enos means mortal so apparently when he was born his parents recognized the day of death was coming.

(Gen 5:12) And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: The rabbinical tradition was that he first introduced idol-worship and astrology — a tradition which the Hellenists transferred to the postdiluvian Cainan. Thus Ephraem-Syrus asserts that the Chaldees in the time of Terah and Abram worshipped a graven god called Cainan; and Gregory BarHIebraeus, another Syriac author, also applies it to the son of Arphaxad (Mill, Vindlca. of Genealogies, p.

150). The origin of the tradition is not known; but it may probably have been suggested by the meaning of the supposed root in Arabic and the Arammean dialects, just as another signification of the same root seems to have suggested the tradition that the daughters of Cain were the first who made and sang to musical instruments (Gesenius, Thesaur). His name is Anglicized "Kenan" in the Auth. Vers. at 1Ch_1:2.

(McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia) (Gen 5:13) And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: The endless account of living and begetting may stir within us no real excitement, but without it there would be no seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent (Gen_3:15).

That which is especially observable, is, that they all lived very long; not one of them died 'till he had seen the revolution of almost eight hundred years, and some of them much longer; a great while for an immortal soul to be imprisoned in an house of clay. (Wesley's Notes) (Gen 5:14) And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

Every man’s days are limited and so we come to “All the days of Cainan," as we do the others. They appear to be many according to today’s timeline, but they are actually relatively short. Actually he lived only 332,150 days which is less than half a million. How different from the eternal life to come when we will live a million

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years and not just a million days. If a man lived a million days he would be nearly 2, 740 years old.

(Gen 5:15) And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: Here is a man whose name means “God shines forth,” yet there does not appear to be much light of God shining forth until his grandson Enoch arrived on the scene. His son, Jared, simply means "descendant."

We are told how long they lived that lived in God's fear, and when they died, that died in his favor; but as for others it is no matter: the memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot.

(Wesley Notes) (Gen 5:16) And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: The name of Mahalaleel also means Praise of God. Men began to call on the name of the Lord in the days of his father, and he attached the name of the Lord to his name. He begat sons and daughters but we do not know how many of each he had. There was another Mahalaleel who was the ancestor of Athaiah who dwelt in Jerusalem after the exile (Neh_11:4).

(Gen 5:17) And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

Of men in those days we know very little. For example, we know this man Mahaleel was married and that he had both sons and daughters but we do not know how many he had. Only one of their names survives and that only because he was in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

He also is spoken well of by the Arabic writers (p) as a good governor, a pious man that walked in the way of righteousness; and when he died blessed his children, and adjured them by the blood of Abel, not to suffer any of theirs to descend from the mountain to the sons of Cain: according to Bishop Usher he died A. M. 1290. (p) Elmacinus, & Patricides in ib. p. 234. (Gill)

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(Gen 5:18) And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: The name of this patriarch; Enoch, from chaanak (OT:2596), signifies to instruct, to initiate, to dedicate. From his subsequent conduct we are authorized to believe he was early instructed in the things of God, initiated into the worship of his Maker, and dedicated to his service. By these means, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, which will ever attend pious parental instructions, his mind got that sacred bias which led him to act a part so distinguished through the course of a long life.

(Adam Clarke's Commentary) (Gen 5:19) And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: Here is a man who had no greatness of his own that we know of, but we know he was associated with a great man. He was the father of Enoch, and was still alive when Enoch was translated. Did the translation of Enoch have any effect on him? Was he any influence on his son that helped him to have a desire to walk with God? (Gen 5:20) And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

Up to this point the story has always ended the same, “And he died.”

The mortality brought about by the fall had stopped each person before they reached a thousand years of age. The next one would be Enoch and he became timeless because he did not die.

[Jared] The name is supposed by Budde to denote a degeneration of the human race, the first five generations being righteous, their successors not, except Enoch and Noah. The name has been identified with that of Irad ( ‫עירד‬, ‛iradh ̄ ̄ ), Gen_4:18. (ISBE) (Gen 5:21) And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: The circumstances in which he was placed. He was a patriarch, the king, the priest, and the prophet of a numerous family, to whom he

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was to administer justice, among whom he was to perform all the rites and ceremonies of religion, and teach, both by precept and example, the way of truth and righteousness. Add to this, he was a married man, he had a numerous family of his own, independently of the collateral branches over which he was obliged, as patriarch, to preside; he walked three hundred years with God, and begat sons and daughters; therefore marriage is no hindrance even to the perfection of piety; much less inconsistent with it, as some have injudiciously taught.

(Adam Clarke's Commentary) (Gen 5:22) And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: If we omit the violent end of Abel, the only death on record that precedes the translation of Enoch is that of Adam. It would have been incongruous that he who brought sin and death into the world should not have died. But a little more than half a century after his death, Enoch is wafted to heaven without leaving the body.

(Barnes' Notes) (Gen 5:23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: What time of the world. It was when all the patriarchs mentioned in this chapter were living, except Adam, who died fifty-seven years before, and Noah, who was born sixty-nine years after; those two had sensible confirmations to their faith other ways, but to all the rest, who were or might have been witnesses of Enoch's translation, it was a sensible encouragement to their faith and hope concerning a future state.

(Matthew Henry's Commentary) (Gen 5:24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

A man distinguished because he walked with God. • Not seeing or touching God anymore than we do, yet realizing habitually His existence, recognizing His presence.

• We are sure that acquaintance included TALKING with God! • At times with trembling and fearfulness GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 5—PAGE 10

• At times with familiarity and as a child • At times to tell Him of the cares and anxieties of the day • At times to tell Him of his greatest joys He asked whatever he wanted He told whatever he desired The phrase "walking with God" is used throughout the Old Testament. It characterizes a Christian life!

About Noah: "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Gen_6:9).

About Abraham: "Walk before Me and be thou perfect." (Gen_17:1) "The Lord before whom I walk." (Gen_24:40).

Prayer of Hezekiah: "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart." (2Ki_1:1) Psa_116:9 "Walking before the Lord in the land of the living." "I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."

Micah: "What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Mic_6:8) About Levi: "Walked with God in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from their iniquity." (Mal_2:6) IN THE NEW TESTAMENT "Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

"Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."

"Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing."

"Walk circumspectly" "Walk in the light" "Walk by faith, not by sight."

1.TO WALK WITH GOD IMPLIES A LIVING GOD 2.TO WALK WITH GOD IMPLIES HARMONY! 3 TO WALK WITH GOD IS TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS 4.TO WALK WITH GOD IS TO PROGRESS 5.TO WALK WITH GOD MEANS REST OLD TESTAMENT CHURCH 2Co_3:14 *(1) ENOCH AS A TYPE OF THE RAPTURED CHURCH Gen_5:24

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One witness for God in the time of moral corruption was Enoch, the seventh from Adam [SEE Gen_1:6]. Enoch walked with God and he pleased God. That fact implies that this was unusual in his day.

HE TAUGHT THE WORLD BY HIS TRANSLATION.

1. That there is rapture of the church to come and a sphere of human existence beyond this. (1Th_4:13-18). Enoch was taken out before the flood came.

We know he could not get into heaven without a change (1Co_15:50-53) so Paul enlightens us as to what change had to take place for both Enoch and Elijah. The same will be for us.

2. That death is not a necessity of human nature. If Adam had not sinned he would still be living today. Man was made with a possibility of immortality. He could have eaten of the tree of life (Gen_3:22-23).

3. That there is a God in the universe who approves of walking with Him or pleasing Him. (Gen_5:24; Heb_11:5) 4. That the overcoming life is the way to a grand destiny. After Enoch was translated the wicked were destroyed out of the world and Noah rode above the judgment in an ark. (1Pe_3:18-21) We will ride above the Tribulation judgment going on in this world after the rapture. 1Co_10:1-2 (1) WALKING WITH GOD "Walk" is often used in Scripture for conduct in life, or a man's general demeanor and deportment. Thus we are told that Enoch and Noah "walked with God;" that is, they maintained a course of action conformed to the will of their Creator, and acceptable in His sight; drawing near to Him by public and private devotions; manifesting, by their (godliness), a constant sense of His presence, and by their purity of life, a reverence for the moral laws which He had established for the guidance of His creatures. In many parts both of the Old and the New Testament, we find God promising to walk with His people; and His people, on the other hand, desiring the influence of God's Holy Spirit, that they may walk in His statutes.

"To walk in darkness," (1Jo_1:6-7) is to be involved in unbelief, and misled by error; "to walk in the light" (1Jo_1:7) is to be well-informed, GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 5—PAGE 12

holy, happy. "To walk by faith" (2Co_5:7) is to expect the things promised or threatened, and to maintain a course of conduct perfectly consistent with such a belief. "To walk after the flesh" (2Pe_2:10) is to gratify the carnal desires, to yield to the fleshly appetites, and be obedient to the lusts of the flesh. "To walk after the Spirit" (Rom_8:1) is to pursue spiritual objects, to cultivate spiritual affections, and to be "spiritually minded, which is life and peace."(Rom_8:6) —McClintock and Strong.

What do we mean when we say we walk with God? WE ARE ADMONISHED OF THE LORD TO— • Walk honestly (Rom_13:13).

• Walk worthy (Eph_4:1; 1Th_2:12).

• Walk circumspectly (Eph_5:15).

• Walk in the Spirit (Gal_5:16).

• Walk in the truth (3Jo_1:4).

• Walk in the light of the Lord (Isa_2:5).

• Walk in the day (Joh_11:9).

• Walk in the name of the Lord (Isa_2:5).

• Walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham (Rom_4:12).

• Walk in the footsteps of good examples (Phi_3:17).

• Walk in thy way safely (Pro_3:23).

• Walk in love (Eph_5:2).

• Walk in wisdom (Col_4:5).

• Walk in newness of life (Rom_6:4).

• Walk in good works (Eph_2:10).

• Walk in Christ as you have received Him (Col_2:6).

• Walk in His ways (Deu_5:33).

• Walk in His commandments (1Ki_6:12).

• Walk in His paths (Isa_2:3).

• Walk in His statutes (Lev_26:3).

• Walk in His judgments (Lev_18:3-4).

• Walk in His ordinances (Leviticus 18:3-4).

• Walk in your calling (1Co_7:17).

• Walk in the fear of the Lord (Neh_5:9).

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(a) Walking implies awareness (Eph_5:15) • Diligently • Carefully (watch where you are going).

• With caution and exactness.

THE WICKED— • Walk contrary to God (Lev_26:21-28).

• Walk in the imagination of their wicked hearts (Deu_29:19).

• Walk on every side (Psa_12:8).

• Walk in darkness (Psa_82:5).

• Walk in the night, stumbling (Joh_11:10).

• Walk after the flesh (Rom_8:1; 2Pe_2:10).

• Walk by sight (2Co_5:7).

• Walk disorderly (2Th_3:11).

• Walk after their own ungodly lusts (Jud_1:18).

• Walk after their own ordinances (Lev_18:3-4).

• Walk after the manner of the heathen (Lev_20:23).

• Refused to walk with God (Psa_78:10).

• Take no heed to walk with the whole heart (2Ki_10:31).

• Thrust the good out of the path who would walk with God (Deu_13:5).

• Take walking in sin lightly (1Ki_16:31). (b) Walking implies purpose (Eph_5:1).

YOU ARE TO— • Walk while you have the light (Joh_12:35).

• Walk according to the rule of faith (Gal_6:16).

• Walk without fainting (Isa_40:31).

• Walk as children of light (Eph_5:8).

• Walk as you have been taught (1Th_4:1).

• Walk as Christ walked (1Jo_2:6).

• Walk as you are called (1Co_7:17).

• Walk in liberty (Psa_119:45).

• Walk by the same rule (of spiritual understanding) as we have attained (Phi_3:16).

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• • • •

Walk by faith, not by sight (2Co_5:7).

Walk not after the flesh (Rom_8:1).

Walk not as the Gentiles walk (Eph_4:17).

Walk not in the counsel of the ungodly (Psa_1:1).

(c) Walking implies harmony (Amo_3:3).

• Loving what God loves, hating what God hates.

• The carnal mind cannot be in harmony for it is at enmity with God. • Salvation implies a walk of regular, unbroken, well sustained communion with God. GOD WILL— • Prove your walk in His law (Jdg_2:22; Exo_16:4).

• Show you how to walk (Exo_18:20).

• Bless you in your walk (Lev_26:3).

• Walk with you (Lev_26:12).

• Walk with you through the valley of death (Psa_23:4).

• Walk in you as you walk (2Co_6:16).

• Establish your walk (Lev_26:12).

• Withhold nothing from those who walk uprightly (Psa_143:8).

• Revive you in the midst of trouble as you walk (Psa_138:7).

• Cause you to know the way wherein you should walk (Psa_143:8) • Walk with His own in white (Rev_3:4).

• Bring joy to those who walk (Psa_89:15).

• Agree with those who walk with Him (Amo_3:3).

• Prosper you in your walk (1Ki_2:3).

• Lengthen your days of walking (1Ki_3:14).

• Keep covenant and mercy with those who walk (1Ki_8:23).

• Teach you to walk (1Ki_8:36).

• Deliver your feet to walk (Psa_56:13). (d) Walking implies progress (2Ti_4:7-8) • A walk implies personal activity.

• We must not stay at the starting point.

• We must not loiter "forgetting those things which are behind, we press toward the mark (Php_3:13)."

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• We must not go in circles, "laying again the foundation." (e) Walking implies action (1Ki_2:3) WE MUST NOT— • Faint in the way (Mat_15:32).

• Be weary in the way (Isa_57:10).

• Corrupt the way (Gen_6:12).

• Fall out by the way (Gen_45:24).

• Turn out of the way (Exo_32:8).

• Be discouraged because of the way (Num_21:4).

• Forget the way (Deu_8:2).

• Turn to our own way (Isa_53:6). (f) Walking implies perseverance (Job_17:9) WE MUST— • Finish our course (2Ti_4:7-8).

• Reach our destination (Joh_14:6).

• Learn God's Word in the way (Deu_6:7).

• Remember the way previously led (Deu_8:2).

• Take heed to the way (1Ki_2:4).

• Hold on to our way (Job_17:9).

• Mark the way (Job_22:15).

• Commit our way to God (Psa_37:5).

• Hate every false way (Psa_119:104).

• Keep to our way (Pro_16:17).

• Guide our heart in the way (Pro_23:19).

• Listen to God in the way (Isa_30:21).

• Prepare the way of the Lord (Isa_40:3).

• Forsake the wicked way (Isa_55:7).

• Save the sinner from the error of his way (Jam_5:20). (g) Walking implies habit. (Isa_40:31) Constant change.

• Going from state to state; stage to stage; glory to glory; strength to strength; victory to victory; faith to faith.

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• • • •

Avoid burdens of that area.

Never feel at home.

Exposed to constant dangers.

Learn to abound and to be abased.

What are the seven things walking implies?

(2) WE TRAVEL MANY ROADS IN OUR CHRISTIAN WALK (a) The road to Bethlehem: The road of faith (Luk_2:15). (b) The road to the Wilderness: The road of temptation (Luk_4:12). (c) The road to Galilee: The road of responsibility (Luk_4:14-15) (d) The road to Jericho: The road of life (Luk_10:30). (e) The road to Calvary: The road of sacrifice (Luk_9:51). (f) The road to Emmaus: The road to certainty (Luk_24:28-31) (g) The road to Damascus: The road of crisis (Act_22:6-8, Act_22:10). (h) The road to Gaza: The road of direction (Act_8:26-27). (i) The road to Jerusalem: The road to danger (Act_20:22-24). (j) The road to Rome: The road of service (Act_19:21).

(Gen 5:25) And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: Peter speaks of the longsuffering of God waiting in the days of Methuselah. When he died the flood came. God showed mercy on the world, and just kept waiting and not allowing this man to die to give every man an opportunity; yet it did not profit—they did not take advantage of their only chance (1Pe_3:20). Notice that the shortest life among these patriarchs was followed by the longest.

(Gen 5:26) And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: There have always been questions about people living so long in those days, since it is impossible today. Very likely the theory of Morris and others is correct that the atmosphere was different then, as well as being world wide and did not change until after the flood, for all of GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 5—PAGE 17

these were before the flood. Their theory involved a canopy of water over the earth that burst when the flood started.

(Gen 5:27) And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

Here is the record of the longest living man on earth, yet all we know of him is that he was here a long time. Too many are like him and go through their years without making a real mark on their world. They arise each morning, greet the family, ask of their welfare, spend the day in the usual and go to bed, and awake the next morning to start it all over again. With this man it went on for nearly a thousand years without anything more significant than that he lived longer than the rest. Jewish tradition says he died seven days before the flood referring to Gen_7:10.

(Gen 5:28) And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: Was the reason this man would say that his son Noah would bring them rest because he was a prophet? Whether he was or not we do know the prophecy came true. He died before the flood so he could not take advantage of the prophecy. But had he lived, would he have gone into the ark? Was Noah preaching about the flood before he died?

His words (Gen_5:29) show the great difference between this descendant of Seth and the descendant of Cain. While the one is stimulated to a song of defiance by the worldly inventions of his sons, the other, in prophetical mood, expresses his sure belief in the coming of better times, and calmly and prayerfully awaits the period of comfort and rest which he expected to be ushered in by his son Noah. (ISBE) (Gen 5:29) 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.

His name means rest and it was expected that God would bring rest to the world through him. Sure enough He did, but not like they GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 5—PAGE 18

expected, all the rest of the inhabitants of the earth were destroyed in the process.

Our Noah has been born; the Rest-giver, strong Burden bearer, allpitying and all-suffering Savior. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, but Jesus Christ brings and gives righteousness, instilling it into every believing heart.

(A. Raleigh, D. D.) (Gen 5:30) And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: Adam lived to see Lamech, the ninth generation, in the fifty-sixth year of whose life he died; and as he was the first who lived, and the first that sinned, so he was the first who tasted death in a natural way.

Abel's was not a natural but a violent death.

(Adam Clarke's Commentary) In pious, believing hope, resting on the promise to Eve of a Redeemer, he by the Spirit foresaw in Noah ("rest or comfort") the second founder of the race, the head of a regenerated world; "this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." Feeling the weary toil of cultivating a ground yielding weeds sooner than fruits, Lamech looked for the ground's redemption from the curse in connection with Noah. It shall be so at the glorious coming of Noah's Antitype (Rom_8:19-23; Mat_19:28; Rev_21:1; 2Pe_3:13).

(Fausset Dictionary) (Gen 5:31) And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

We come to the end now of a list of distinguished men Each is distinguished for something different except that they all lived a long time.

I. SOME MEN ARE RENDERED DISTINGUISHED BY THE PECULIARITY OF THE TIMES IN WHICH THEY LIVE. Adam; the first human being to

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(1) inhabit the earth, (2) hold communion with God, (3) be led astray.

II.

SOME MEN ARE RENDERED DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR MARVELOUS LONGEVITY. Methuselah.

III. SOME MEN ARE RENDERED DISTINGUISHED BY THE VILLAINY OF THEIR MORAL CONDUCT. IV. SOME MEN ARE RENDERED DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR ANCESTRAL LINE OF DESCENT. Feeble lights in a grand constellation.

V. SOME MEN ARE RENDERED DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR TRUE AND EXALTED PIETY. Enoch. This is a distinction of the very truest kind; it arises from the moral purity of the soul.

Lessons: 1.

2.

3.

4.

That a good old age is often the heritage of man.

That noble lineage is the heritage of others.

That true piety may be the heritage of all.

That true piety has a substantial reward as well as a permanent record. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

(Gen 5:32) And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The most important of Noah's sons of course was Shem because from him would come the Messiah. His name signifies “Name,” and through him the name of God was preserved, until it finally became “Jesus” for He shall save His people from their sins.

[Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth] From Gen_10:21; 1Ch_1:5, etc., we learn that Japheth was the oldest son of Noah, but Shem is mentioned first, because it was from him, in a direct line, that the Messiah came. Ham was certainly the youngest of Noah's sons, and from what we read, Gen_9:22, the worst of them; and how he comes to be mentioned out of his natural order is not easy to be accounted for.

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(Adam Clarke's Commentary)

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