World History 101

We are taking a little break from Singapore history to discuss something that I, Danny, have been studying in the Scriptures lately. I have always been fascinated with numbers, so when our pastor began a study of the book of Matthew with a discussion of the genealogy in chapter 1, I became inspired to do a study of mine own on the different genealogies listed in the Bible.

Here is a basic table of data concerning the line of men from Adam to the Great Flood:

Name	Meaning	Age	Year of Birth	Year of Death
Adam	Man	930	0	930
Seth	Appointed	912	130	1042
Enos	Mortal	905	235	1140
Cainan	Sorrow	910	325	1235
Mahalalel	The Blessed God	895	395	1290
Jared	Shall Come down	962	460	1422
Enoch	Teaching	365	622	987
Methuselah	Death Shall bring	969	687	1656
Lamech	Despairing	777	874	1651
Noah	Rest	950	1056	2006
Great Flood			1656

A couple of things that I noticed while looking at this list:

1. Note that Adam died when Lamech was 56. Thus, the story of creation and the fall could have been passed on firsthand or secondhand to most of those that were alive at the time of the flood.

2. Enoch lived only 365 years, then he "walked with God; and he was not." (Genesis 5:24) At that time Seth, his great-great-great grandfather was still alive!

3. Methuselah died the same year that the flood came. Apparently Enoch prophesied the Flood when he named his son. Methuselah also lived longer than any other recorded man, 969 years. This longevity is another example of God's patience and love for each one and his desire to give every man a chance to repent.

4. If you just read down the line of meanings you find an abbreviated tale of the Gospel story.

It is amazing the things that you learn looking at the lists of names in the Bible! I'm looking forward to my deeper look at the later genealogies.