How do we know what is important in the Bible? There are a few ways that we are able to observe significance. One way is by considering the order; often the first in the sequence is the first in significance. The very first book in the Bible, in the very first chapter, in the very first verse reveals that God is and that He created everything. From the beginning we learn about the self-existent Creator and His derivative, dependent creation.

Another way we observe importance is by noting repetition. We see phrases and words used again as if to prevent our forgetfulness. The relentless use of “there was evening and there was morning, the Xth day” produces a built-in definition for the duration of a day. Days are counted by one darkness and light cycle. Or another example, Moses uses the word toledot, translated “generations,” as a heading ten times in Genesis. This both outlines the book and also emphasizes the place of man on the planet. To have generations you need marriage between a man and a woman and offspring. The blessing of God making families fruitful is a key part of the story.

A third way to observe significance is by surveying proportion. In other words, how much space, how many verses are devoted by an author to an argument or to an event? In the six days of creative work revealed in Genesis 1, the sixth day has much more detail, and the creation of man and woman on the sixth day gets even more attention.

If we consider a paragraph or an entire book to be like a piñata, there are numerous observation “beat-sticks” we can use to get the good stuff. I mention these three in particular because we come to a section in Genesis that most people plan to observe like they do the crawl space under their house: they don’t; they call in a professional.

We sampled the genre of genealogy in Genesis 4:17-26. This genealogy in chapter 5 is even more deadly, literally, as we learn the names of fathers, names of sons, and number of years old when the father dies. We didn’t have to deal with all the details or deaths in the line of Cain like we do here with the line of Seth. Besides, we already saw the contrast between Cain’s self-sufficient and sinful line and Seth’s worshipping line in only two verses at the end of chapter 4. Cain’s kind created some cool stuff, but Seth’s descendants depended on the Lord.

So what are we supposed to do with this extended, painstaking family tree? Why is it here in Genesis at all, or at this point in the book? Can our hearts be blessed by this itemized inventory of persons? Is it relevant for your tired body and soul, you who dragged yourself here and are trying not to be too distracted while corralling your kids? Does God mean to meet with His people and encourage them with a verbal slide show of old family memories?

I’m convinced the answer is Yes. I want us to observe the context of Genesis 5 in the book of Genesis, discuss how to approach the genre of genealogy, and then next week we’ll shake the family tree to see what fruit falls out.

How does Genesis 5 fit the flow of the Book?

Genesis 5:1 begins a new Roman numeral level heading. “This is the book of the generations (toledot) of Adam.” This is Book 2 according to Moses’ divisions. After the prelude in Genesis 1:1-2:3, Book 1 began in Genesis 2:4 and ended in 4:26. Now we’re taken back to the beginning with Adam and Eve but this time we aren’t tracking the spread of sin, we’ll be tracking the hope of deliverance from sin. We will be tracing the trail to Noah.

There is no doubt that Adam is an important character in Genesis. By way of order, he is the first man, the first human. Through Adam came generations of men and after Adam came generations of men with a fallen nature. But by way of proportion, Noah demands more attention.

The genealogy in Book 2 points to Noah. He is the only one in the chapter who doesn’t die or go directly to heaven. He is the only one with three sons named while all the other fathers have one son named along with the fact that they “had other sons and daughters.” And Noah is the only one prophetically named by his father.

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name 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.” (Genesis 5:28–29)

There is a play on words between Lamech’s hope and Noah’s name. Lamech hoped that his son named “rest” (nuach) would bring “relief” (nacham). This genealogy reveals the roots of relief.

Relief from what? Book 2 doesn’t end in chapter 5 but rather in 6:8. The second act of Book 2 is the depravity of man and the grace of God toward Noah in Genesis 6:1-8. The relief was from the effects of the curse, experienced through the painful toil and made worse by the perverse and continual wickedness. The desired relief, however, didn’t come the way Lamech probably expected. Through Noah God delivered humanity but He did it by destroying all humanity except Noah and his immediate family.

Book 3 begins in Genesis 6:9 and it is “the generations of Noah,” his family and his history. We don’t learn about Noah’s death until the end of chapter 9. Then chapter 10 “are the clans of the sons of Noah.”

So there is an entire chapter of genealogy leading to Noah and an entire chapter of genealogy of the sons of Noah. In terms of proportion, two of the first 10 chapters in the first book of the Bible are genealogies. That’s 20%! Counting by verses, 29% of the first 10 chapters and %33 percent of the first 11 chapters are genealogical records.

Even more in terms of proportion, Noah is the center of six of the first ten chapters in the Bible, a chapter leading to him (5), he and his family during the flood (6-9), and his offspring (10). While the actual flood story (which gets more attention than creation) goes from 6:9-9:17, chapters 5-10 are all about Noah, the hope of relief from the affects of Adam’s fall.

As I’ve said the last couple weeks related to chapter 4, Genesis 5 contrasts the spread of sin from Adam through Cain’s productive but proud people. Noah is the fruit of grace from Adam through Seth’s worshipping family.

Why does Genesis use precious space for a genealogy?

This question works generically for all genealogies, Genesis 5 is just the first one we’ve encountered in God’s Word. Why not just skip to the point? Why the excruciating detail?

Consider 1 Chronicles 1:1-4.

Adam, Seth, Enosh; Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (1 Chronicles 1:1–4)

That’s the way to do it. 14 total words covering the same 11 generations found in 430 words in Genesis 5. If my math is right. Chronicles does it in about .03% of the space.

Every genre makes an appeal to us (not equally appealing, but they make appeal), how them to genealogies hope to provoke us or help us?

Genealogies are not “throw-away” passages because they provide historical context and creditability.

Genesis is a story, but it is a non-fiction story. There are characters, and those characters were registered voters down at the county courthouse, so to speak. You could send them mail. They weren’t merely dreamed up by an itinerant poet-singer (such as you might find in The Illiad).

Genealogies are not “throw-away” passages because they are intentionally inserted by the author.

We’ve already tried to appreciate that Moses is a happy, little, creative weaver-man. He is selective and his selections have meaning not only in the context but because they are included at all. He put the genealogies into his narrative rather than in an appendix at the back of the book.

It’s actually a brilliant literary device to cover a lot of time in a little time. Genealogies are part of the argument not a distraction from it.

Genealogies are not “throw-away” passages because they are inspired by the divine Author.

When Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16-17 he was thinking about the Old Testament. The New Testament was being written, he was writing some of it at that very moment. But he said,

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

If that’s true about every part of the Book then that means that every genealogy is included.

We may not know what exactly God wants us to get out of a particular genealogy, but we can be confident that He wants us to look. Special revelation includes lists of fathers and sons and sometimes daughters. Somehow those directories equip the man of God to be ready for every good work.

To get the point we usually don’t need to know Hebrew, we don’t need to research the archaeological or historical background of every person mentioned, and they probably don’t need to be the first passages we memorize. But think about how it flows in the argument. That takes some time and, if you’re only reading a chapter a day you may forget the previous point and so not appreciate the transition. But it is there. I tried to answer this when talking about how chapter 5 fits the flow of Genesis.

Then look for patterns within the genealogy itself. There are 10 generations from Adam in Genesis 5 and almost all of them list the name of the father, how old he was at the birth of the listed son, how long he lived after that, that he had other sons and daughters, and that he dies. What is significant about that pattern? I’ll finish the message with a couple observations about this.

Then look for phrases or descriptions that break the pattern. Once you know what to expect then the unexpected really stands out. There are some key exceptions in Genesis 5 which I’ll work to shake out of the family tree next week.

Conclusion

I asked earlier if genealogies could profit our souls and answered Yes. Let me finish with two general observations that belong with Genesis 5 before we consider the specific names. Based on the pattern found in the generations here are two conclusions.

First, God’s blessing on men was not removed after the fall. In chapter 1 God blessed Adam and Eve and bid them to multiply. With chapter 5 we have enough to verify that fruitfulness. Men lived and fathered many children.

God’s blessing is relational and generational. Sin wrecks both. It ruins how we get along and what we pass along. But the husband/wife becoming parents/children paradigm is a good one, a God-ordained one. It also means that we ourselves are in a line, a river. For however much the modern world encourages us to think of ourselves and our situations independent of previous or outside influences, we are someone else’s fruit. We are sons and daughters. We also ought to be giving consideration to the roots we’re giving for future fruit. Are we trying to get our blessings out of the house and onto their own insurance as quickly as we can? Or are we raising and shooting arrows that make others wish they had insurance?

Second, God’s judgment on men was real because of the fall. Eight times out of ten in Genesis 5 we read “and he died.” One of the exceptions was Noah, but we’ll still read his “and he died” in 9:29. Otherwise Enoch “walked with God and he was not for God took him” (5:24). Enoch and Elijah are the only two exceptions to death in the Bible. The guys in chapter 5 lived long but they did not live on earth forever. God promised that sin would bring death and His judgment is as sure as His blessing.

How are we living before we die? Will there be anything much to say about us when we are gathered to our people? Are we ready for that day, especially knowing what we know now, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life?