Genealogies
Journey Through Genesis • Sermon • Submitted
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09 - Genealogies - 4:16 - 5:
Saturday, December 31, 2016
9:37 AM
The Importance & Significance of Genealogies - Subdivides the Texts - While the book of Genesis is divided into two main categories:The Primeval (Early) History 1-11 The Patriarchal History 12-50
It is also divided into ten sections that tell "Generational" stories. Each of these sections begin with the word "Toledoth" (Toe-la-daw) or "the generations of…". "Notice the toledot catchphrases as you move through Genesis. You might look at them as literary hinges for linking various types of material together."[1]
The "Toledoth" "Generations" of GenesisGenerations of the heavens and earth 2:4-4:26Generations of Adam 5:1-6:8Generations of Noah 6:9-9:27Generations of the Sons of Noah 10:1-11:9Generations of Shem 11:10-26Generations of Terah 11:27-15:11Generations of Ishmael 15:12-18Generations of Isaac 15:19-35:29Generations of Esau 36:1-43Generations of Jacob 37:1-50:26These Generations are even split into two sections - The Pre-flood Genealogies Chapter 5 and the Post-flood Genealogies Chapter 11. I want to concern ourselves tonight with the Pre-flood generations. We have already discussed most of the Generations of the heavens and the earth Genesis 2:4-4:26We will finish that up tonight with the line of Cain 4:17-24 and a brief summary of the Line of Seth before we delve into the Seth Generation in Chapter 5
Establishes a Proper Chronology - One of the classics on Bible Chronology was created by Usher, Archbishop of Armagh (1581-1656) born in Ireland and became a tremendous Anglican minister. He was extremely brilliant. He created his chronology without the help of archeology. In 1650 he released his masterpiece, "The Annal of the World" in which he calendarized events from the creation which he dated at 4004 B.C. to the destruction of Jerusalem A.D. 70. Many chronologies have been created since then, but none of them vary significantly from Usher. Bishop Lightfoot later refined the date of creation to October 23, 4004 B.C. at 9:00 a.m. (Now where he came up with that I'm not sure.)[2]
Gives a lineage of Christ - You can trace the Lineage of Christ from Adam all the way through to his birth.
The Line of Cain - 4:16-24 - The rest of this chapter divides us into two lines - the line of evil (Cain) and the line of good (Seth) Now when I use the words good and evil that does not mean that every individual in that line was good or evil. It is just the choice of the patriarch of that line. The human race can be divided into two classes: the godly who listen to God and the ungodly who reject God.[3]
19-24 - Cain down to Lamech - Notice how he had more than one wife (first one mentioned) and killed two men either out of sport or vengeance. This completes the toledot (the account of) of the creation (Gen. 2:4-4:26). Here is a sordid picture of what had happened to the beautiful, good creation of God. It had become cursed through disobedience. There was violence among people and decay in the natural world. There was a line through Cain, who rejected God's word but espoused violence and polygamy. There was another line through Seth, who called on the name of the Lord. [4]
Lamech's descendants were the first of the arts Jabal - first cattle herders mentionedJubal - first musical instrumentsTubalcain - taught how to shape and form metal. Just because the arts came from the line of Cain does that make them evil or does it show that the image of God remained in the fallen? DISCUSS
The Line of Seth - 4:25-5 - 4:25 - "when men began to call upon the name of the Lord." - This is interpreted two different ways - Since it's in the line of Seth some say it refers to Seth's line following God. Some however say it means this is when people began to worship false gods. I think either can fit here and there is not enough substantial evidence to say for sure. Chapter 5 - Read
Masoretic Text (MT) from which our English versions are translated.
Septuagint (LXX) - the Greek translation of the Old Testament (which evidently did not use the Hebrew text of the MT but used another Hebrew manuscript which we do not now possess.)
Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) - which the Samaritans adapted to make the place Abraham offered Isaac to be Mt. Gerizim and not Jerusalem. (The readings in the Samaritan Pentateuch suggest that it was based upon Hebrew manuscripts from a family we do not now possess).
This means that we have three different sources to use in establishing the likelihood of any particular reading in which there is debate.
Below is a listing of the PRE-FLOOD GENEALOGY of Genesis 5. Note: These three manuscripts do vary in the ages for the various men.
Gen. 5 Pre-Flood Genealogy
Names
Age at birth of 1st son
MT
SP
LXX
Adam
130
130
230
Seth - 5:6
105
105
205
Enos - 5:9
90
90
190
Cainan – 5:12
70
70
170
Mahalaleel – 5:15
65
65
165
Jared – 5:18
162
62
162
Enoch – 5:21
65
65
165
Methusaleh - 5:25
187
67
167
Lamech -
182
53
188
Noah
500
500
500
Years to the flood 7:11
100
100
100
Total Years
1656
1307
2242
The point of this is not so much that all of these disagree – it is how close they are. There are no tens of thousands of years or millions of years, they are from the shortest 1307 – 2242 years. There are no gaps in the Masoretic text for the Genesis 5 genealogy. If we use it as our guide, the time elapsed from Adam until the Flood is 1,656 years. [5]
Trival note if time:
Most names in the ancient world make statements. That is, they are selfcontained sentences. Many of these statements are about a deity. One can easily recognize a deity name in names such as Ashurbanipal, Nebuchadnezzar, or Ramesses. Anyone even casually familiar with the Bible has noticed how many Israelite names end in -iah or -el or start with Jeho- or El-. All of these represent Israel’s God. This type of name is called a theophoric name and affirms the nature of the deity, proclaims the attributes of the deity, or requests the blessing of the deity. As a result, a list of personal names often indicates the language of the speakers, the god(s) they worshiped, and their beliefs about deity. The initial names in Genesis (Adam, Eve, Abel, Seth, Enosh) are all clearly Hebrew but are not theophoric. The only theophoric names in the genealogy in Genesis 5 (Mehujael, Methushael, and Mahalalel) feature the divine name El,7 which indicates a Semitic language setting. Indications of Mesopotamian (Akkadian) include the use of the term mutu, “man,” in Methushael and Methuselah.
Walton, J. H. (2017). Genesis, The NIV Application Commentry [Kindle Android version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
The Gospel in the Genealogies
The Composite List
Now let's put it all together:
Hebrew
English
Adam
Man
Seth
Appointed
Enosh
Mortal
Kenan
Sorrow;
Mahalalel
The Blessed God
Jared
Shall come down
Enoch
Teaching
Methuselah
His death shall bring
Lamech
The Despairing
Noah
Rest, or comfort.
That's rather remarkable:
Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.
Here's the Gospel hidden within a genealogy in Genesis!
(You will never convince me that a group of Jewish rabbis conspired to hide the Christian Gospel right here in a genealogy within their venerated Torah!) [6]
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[M] Arnold, B. T. (2017). Encountering the Book of Genesis (Encountering Biblical Studies) [Kindle Android version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com[M] W.G. Williams, Archeology in Biblical Research, 1965, p. 99[M] Kenneth O. Gangel and Stephen J. Bramer, Holman Old Testament Commentary – Genesis, ed. Max Anders, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Holman, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 56.[M] Ibid[M] FA16 Pentateuch - GBS&C Dr. Alan Brown Lecture - The Nature and Importance of Chronology[M] Clipped from: http://www.khouse.org/articles/1996/44/#notes