genesis 5 and 6

The Hebrew paragraph divisions in today’s chapters are:

Gen 5:1-5 {s} Mortality of Adam
Gen 5:6-8 {s} Mortality of Seth
Gen 5:9-11 {s} Mortality of Enosh
Gen 5:12-14 {s} Mortality of Kenan
Gen 5:15-17 {s} Mortality of Mahalalel
Gen 5:18-20 {s} Mortality of Jared
Gen 5:21-24 {s} Enoch walked with God and did not die
Gen 5:25-27 {s} Mortality of Methuselah
Gen 5:28-31 {s} Mortality of Lamech
Gen 5:32-6:4 {p} Holy Spirit will not strive with flesh forever
Gen 6:5-8 {p} Exile is a consequence of sin, but Noah found grace in the eyes of YHVH
Gen 6:9-12 {s} Righteous Noah contrasted with the corrupt earth
Gen 6:13-8:14 {s} Righteous preserved through the judgment of the wicked

In Gen 5, we read so and so lived x number of years, and begot so and so. Afterward he lived y number of years, begot other sons and daughters, so that all his days were z number of years, then he died, over and over again until our eyes glaze over.

But then we arrive at Gen 5:22, and we read something different:

After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty- five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Gen 5:22-24

And then the previously established pattern resumes. These few verses stand out to us simply because they say something different in a long line of repetition without variation. Establishing a pattern, and breaking a previously established pattern, is another of the teaching tools embedded in the Scripture. The break in pattern draws draws our attention so that we do not miss something important God is trying to say.

Enoch walked with God, and he did not die like everyone else.

Noah walked with God also (Gen 6:9). God reveals His plan to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, except for Noah and his household. So Noah did not die like everyone else.

There is a recurring pattern:

Walking with God = life
Not walking / disobedience to God = sin = death

What does it mean to walk “with” God? It isn’t hard. God has a way of walking, of living, of being, and of doing, that He does not deviate from. That is His path, and it is characterized by truth, and life. He reveals His path and way in Torah. Adam and Eve were invited to walk with Him, but they chose differently. However we can see that even after the Fall, men were still invited to walk with Him. Enoch and Noah chose to do so. Neither of them died in the mortality that came upon everyone else. Webster’s Dictionary is a favorite study tool of mine. When I looked up “with” in Webster’s, I discovered it is used to indicate a participant in an action. Enoch and Noah walked with God. They participated in His action. God did not walk with Enoch or Noah. He did not get on board with them, but they got on board with Him. That is a big difference!

The last strong paragraph division was at the end of Gen 3:21. The next strong theme in Genesis is:

Gen 3:22-24 {s} Exile from YHVH’s presence is a consequence of sin
Gen 4:1-26 {s} Exile from family is a consequence of sin
Gen 5:1-5 {s} Mortality of Adam
Gen 5:6-8 {s} Mortality of Seth
Gen 5:9-11 {s} Mortality of Enosh
Gen 5:12-14 {s} Mortality of Kenan
Gen 5:15-17 {s} Mortality of Mahalalel
Gen 5:18-20 {s} Mortality of Jared
Gen 5:21-24 {s} Enoch walked with God and did not die
Gen 5:25-27 {s} Mortality of Methuselah
Gen 5:28-31 {s} Mortality of Lamech
Gen 5:32-6:4 {p} Holy Spirit will not strive with flesh forever

By making Gen 3:22-6:4 a single strong theme, God is teaching us about three exiles as a result of sin – Adam’s exile from Eden, Cain’s exile from the presence of the Lord and his family, and mankind’s exile from life or the earth in judgment (“I will blot out man from the earth,” Gen 6:7a). Sin precedes each of these exiles. BUT! In the face of mortality, sin, and judgment, we find that Enoch and Noah walked with God and did not die, but found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Exile/ death follows from sin/ walking with the flesh; but life follows from walking with God.

For further reading:

Did people like Adam and Noah really live over 900 years?
Are there gaps in the Genesis genealogies?
The genealogy to Noah reveals the gospel
Gen 5:1-6:8, chiastic structure and Methuselah
Gen 5:32-6:4, the nephilim and the chiastic structure
Gen 6:5-8, “I will blot out man” and Noah’s grace
Grace – Hebrew word study
Answers about Noah’s Ark
Studies in Genesis index