The Generations of Adam

Sermon preached on Genesis 5 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/16/2023 in Petaluma, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.

We come now to the next main section of Genesis starting in 5:1. Remember, each main section begins with the language of the generations of someone. Here it is the generations of Adam. We are then given Adam’s generation through Seth. The last chapter ended the previous section in verses 25-26 with a helpful segway into this section by talking about Adam and Eve having Seth and then Seth having Enosh. But that was just a transition into chapter 5 which now goes into that line through ten generations.

This new section then opens up with a reflection back on chapter 1, verses 26-27, where we learned that God created humans in his own image. That is mentioned here so it can then say that Adam passed on his image to his son Seth. Verse 3, uses the two words used for the image and likeness of God in man, and uses them to describe how Adam’s image and likeness were passed on to Seth. So, the genealogy of Adam begins by reminding us that God made both men and women in his image, and that we then pass that image on to our descendants. This is especially wonderful to read here because it teaches us that mankind’s fall into sin did not destroy that image within. Yes, surely, sin mars and obscures that imago Dei. But it is not lost. We see that here, and surely it’s continued existence is part of why we see Adam’s line through Seth cultivating a relationship with God. Yet, clearly this image is being translated in the context of a fallen humanity living in a world cursed by God because of their sin. That is seen here in chapter 5 by the repeated refrain of death, and Lamech’s reference in verse 29 to God’s curse on the ground. Yet, this genealogy lives long and prospers by the grace of God amidst the curse. Likewise, while this genealogy focuses on the male heads, we could think of the women who were behind this genealogy too. As the men had all that painful toil to work and feed this family, so too all the women had painful child births to have this lineage, as God’s curse upon them from chapter 3.

Realize that all of Adam’s lineage here through Seth is in contrast to Cain’s lineage in chapter 4. Did you notice how there were quite a lot of similarities in the names between Cain’s lineage and Seth’s lineage? Some were quite similar, and others were just plain identical. There are some other minor similarities too. Is there any significance we can take from that? One possibility is that we are being encouraged to do some comparing and contrasting. The two genealogies stand in clear contrast to each other. I mentioned previously that Cain’s line seems to generally reflect the seed of the serpent, and that Adam’s line through Seth seems to generally reflect the seed of the woman, i.e. the godly line that is hoping in faith that God will send that savior that he promised in Genesis 3:15. That language of seed or offspring is even mentioned in verse 4:25 for Seth’s line, but not mentioned for Cain’s. Clearly, there is hope among Adam’s line through Seth that this savior will yet come, per Eve’s words at the start in 4:25. So the similarities between the two lines, also invite us to notice the differences. Like how Cain is not mentioned in the genealogy of Adam. We tend to think of chapter 5 as being Seth’s genealogy, but it actually is labeled under the heading of Adam’s genealogy. But other than the generic reference of verse 5 that Adam had other children, Cain didn’t make the list, but is treated separately. That says something about Cain and his legacy. We can also note that Cain’s genealogy is much shorter, rightfully suggesting that Cains lineage is ultimately of lesser importance in God’s purposes. We also noted the emphasis on the image of God with Adam’s lineage through Seth, but none of that is mentioned for Cain’s line. Surely, they still maintained the image, but they weren’t looking to live out its full, proper potential.

So then, let us look now further at the details of Adam’s line through Seth, but we will also still view it comparison with Cain’s line too. We will look at this line regarding three aspects. We’ll consider worship, walking, and waiting.

First then, worship. Chapter 4, verse 26 says, “At that time, people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” Here we se the beginnings of church. The church didn’t begin in the book of Acts nor with Moses at Sinai. Yes, Acts records the new covenant administration of the church, and Moses records the old covenant administration of the church. When we speak of the old covenant, we really are referring to the Mosaic covenant, but the church existed before that. The church has been from the beginning. Adam’s lineage through Seth and then Enosh begin to call upon the name of the LORD. This is worship language. They call upon God. We probably think of prayer first when we hear that, and surely prayer is a big part of this. But we surely should also think upon an altar with sacrifices. We already saw the beginnings of that with Abel’s sacrifices. As a complementary passage, Elijah in 1 Kings 18 faced off with the Baal priests on Mt. Carmel and this is how Elijah instructed them to proceed with their competing offerings. He said that they were to call upon the name of their god, and he would call upon the name of the LORD, and whichever god responded, that would prove who was truly God. And so, we see that this language of calling upon the name of the LORD implied worship, and surely even an altar with sacrifices. Realize that this also paints them as priests, who so call upon the name of the LORD.

It should also be noted here that they called upon the specific name of the LORD. You see that LORD is in all capitals. In other words, this is the Hebrew name of Yahweh. That is the name God would later tell Moses, and it roughly means “I am.” So, Yahweh is not the generic name for God, which would be Elohim. But this is that personal name, that we see God use especially in relating covenantally and redemptively with his people. So, this tells us while God revealed his name of Yahweh later to Moses, that name was already known and being invoked even in the beginnings of human history and the church.

And so, surely, all this first point about worship from 4:26 should have us to see this in general for this genealogy in chapter 5. Adam through Seth and then Enosh began to call upon the name of Yahweh. They began to be in worship of God and in service of true religion. Surely, that doesn’t mean every descendant of Adam’s line through Seth did this. But I think we are to see a general picture, that Cain’s lineage is generally painted as the godless, and this line in chapter 5 was one in which the true religion was at work. Adam’s line through Seth were a people that worshipped the one true God. And Scripture tells us that this was noteworthy of them. It was part of their legacy and heritage.

Let us next look and see this line of Adam through Seth having people who were walking with God. In chapter 5, it is Enoch particularly who is highlighted in terms of walking with God. We might recall that in the Garden, we saw in chapter 3 that God would walk there, where Adam and Eve were. Walking with God speaks of a relationship you have with God. But it also speaks of how you are going the same way God is going, and you are going with him. To walk with God means you are not looking to run away from God, or to hide from God or to stand against God. To walk with God is look to go the way he is going, to live the way he is living, to be with him where he is. And so, to walk with God speaks of pursuing godliness.

Hebrews 11:5 confirms this understanding by telling us two things about Enoch that surely explain his walking with God. It says that Enoch lived by faith. And it says that he was commended as having pleased God. These are related ideas when it comes to walking with God. You cannot walk with God unless you believe in him and have put your trust in him. If you don’t believe that God’s way is right, then you won’t be walking with him. If you think where God is heading is the wrong direction, you won’t be walking with him. To truly walk with God requires faith. And when you do walk with God, it will be something commendable and pleasing to God. Our faith is pleasing to God. And our pursuit of godly living is pleasing to God.

One specific way that Enoch walked with God is that he was a prophet who testified of God to a godless world. This is something we learn about Enoch elsewhere. In Jude 14, it records how Enoch, seventh from Adam, prophesied of a coming judgment upon the ungodly. His prophecy that has survived from that time implies a world full of ungodly people. To stand with God and speak of God’s judgment upon a wicked world, is very much an example of walking with God. It’s to walk with God in contrast to a world that will not walk with God but is opposed to God.

So then, Enoch walked with God. Our text doesn’t want you to miss it because it tells us this twice, verses 22-24. This was true not just for Enoch in this line, as for example, we’ll see in Genesis 6 that Noah also was one who walked with God, even though that is not called out here in Genesis 5. I think it is likely that we are supposed to infer this is true for Adam’s line through Seth at least in some general way. While Cain’s line were not known for walking with God, Adam’s line through Seth was. Scripture highlights this as noteworthy thing, especially for Enoch.

In fact, Enoch’s notable walking with God is surely related to the particularly unique fact with Enoch that he was taken up by God. Unlike the norm, Enoch did not taste death. He was taken up and translated into heaven with God. The only other person in the Bible that this happened would be Elijah. Hebrews 11 again commends Enoch’s faith in this. But I think this fact of Enoch being taken, really is a wonderful hope held out in this lineage. We see in this genealogy in chapter 5 the repeated refrain of how each person eventually dies. But not for Enoch. Adam was told that his sin would eventually result in his death. It is wonderful to see God’s mercy at work so that Adam could go on to have such a legacy of descendants, despite this sentence of death. It is also God’s mercy that in this genealogy we see such long life attributed to them, despite this sentence of death. I would note that the oldest manuscripts of Genesis 5 that we have are actually from the Greek translation of the LXX, which have somewhat even longer life spans for many of these. And as an aside, in these early generations we see some very long lifespans of people. We might also note that some other extra-biblical ancient records record some very long lives of people back then too. As time goes on and possibly related to the flood, we start to see those lifespans drop off significantly. And yet even with such long lifespans, generation after generation still died. They still also tasted this death with Adam. But not Enoch. There is hope here indeed! And that hope is connected with a life of faith that would walk with God instead of the life lived in defiance to God.

Let us turn lastly and see how in this line of Adam through Seth we see some waiting on God. We’ve already noted how we’ve seen them waiting for God to fulfill Genesis 3:15, with the promise of a seed of the woman that would conquer Satan. That is a promise that God’s people continued to wait upon and I believe we are see that waiting especially carried on through this lineage of Adam through Seth.

Well, we see a specific example then of waiting when we get to Lamech verse 29. Lamech fathers his son and names him 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.” That is a prophetic utterance that expresses hope that Noah will be the one to bring relief or rest to them. Realize that Lamech is referring back to God’s curse from Genesis 3 where God cursed Adam’s work of the ground. Here, Lamech expresses his continued waiting on God to provide salvation from that curse. Here, Lamech expressed faith that God was about to bring that relief through his son Noah. Again, this seems to be Lamech to continuing to reflect on that Genesis 3:15 promise. That he hopes that Noah might be the promised seed of Eve, one who would not only conquer the serpent, but even bring relief from God’s curse. I love how he surely is connecting some theological dots there. It surely would be the case that the promised redeemer would bring salvation in multiple related ways. That salvation would include victory over Satan, sin with all its effects, and death.

What a contrast here with the Lamech of Seth’s line versus the Lamech of Cain’s line. Remember, back in 4:23, Lamech of Cain’s line had celebrated murdering a man who only struck him. Then he took God’s promise of giving Cain sevenfold vengeance and vowed to give himself seventy-sevenfold vengeance. In other words, he says he would do better than God, so to speak. Of course, what Lamech was offering would be an abuse and perversion of justice, whereas God promised equitable justice. But basically Lamech of Cain’s line was saying that he didn’t need God, he could take care of himself. But Lamech of Seth’s line was surely looking to God to yet raise up a savior as he had promised. Well, despite Lamech of Cain’s boasting, that line did not ultimately survive. But Adam’s line through Seth would survive and continue to still today. Lamech of Seth’s line is a grandparent to each one of us here. Whereas Lamech of Cain’s line is only a lesson and warning to each one of us here.

Of course, the fact that one line survives and the other doesn’t is actually the way that the prophecy of Lamech of Seth’s line gets fulfilled. Noah would not solve all the problems of the curse, but God would save humanity through Noah, and in that give them relief and rest. I refer, of course, to the flood. God will bring a judgment and a measure of purification from wickedness on the world with the flood. And yet God would call Noah to build and Ark and preserve a remnant of humanity and also the animals in that Ark. We’ll study more of that soon, but we see that Noah was a type of Christ to come. We will see he is not the ultimate solution to man’s problems. He’s not the one promised who would come to redeem man. But he is a type of the one who would yet come with Jesus.

We have to go to Luke 3 to see that genealogy. There, Scripture traces the descent of Adam through Seth and on to Jesus to find the fulfillment. Jesus, is of this line that contained those who worshipped God, walked with God, and waited on God. And Jesus came doing all that in the full, until he finally went to the cross. There, he showed he was the one who came to conquer Satan, sin, and death. In Jesus, we will find relief from God’s curse and even the final enemy of death will be destroyed. If we are Jesus’ offspring, then we have the heritage that even if we die, we will rise again. And if we are alive when Jesus returns, we like Enoch will be translated into glory never even tasting death.

Trinity Presbyterian Church, in conclusion, we have seen two different lineages and legacies today. We could look at Cain’s legacy, and see many cultural advancements. They make the first city, they create animal husbandry, musical instruments, and metallurgy. They seem like they left a notable legacy to humanity. But Adam’s line through Seth is marked with people who worship the one true God, with people who walk with God, and people who wait upon the promise of the LORD. Cain’s line is marked with kings, but Seth’s line is marked with priests and prophets. Which is the lineage that you would value you most highly? Well, we know the lineage that God values most highly. Now, in the new covenant, God has called us from all tribes and races to come together be one holy seed. Let us then seek to be people most remembered for our relationship with God. That we would be remembered as a people who worshiped God, who walked with God, and who waited upon him.

Adam’s line through Seth gave us a good beginning of what we should especially want in our legacy. I would add then to this application our reading from Jude. It is not enough to have a beginning, but we must also persevere. To live and leave such a legacy, it is one that starts and finishes well. So then, by the grace of God, may we run the race, and look to run it to the end.

As we do this, we realize it is actually Christ at work by his Spirit in us. As we live our lives as Christians, Christ’s Spirit is working inside us to renew us in the image of God. Even this we wait for in hope, that one day that image will be perfected as he ushers into the heavenly city to come, whose builder and maker is God.

Amen.

Copyright © 2022 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.

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