Read Genesis 5 and 6 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions
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} …
The strong themes of Genesis
Gen 1:1-2:3 {px7} Seven days of Creation, i.e., God is our Creator
Gen 2:4-3:21 {s+s+p} Disobedience is sin, and carries the consequence of painful toil and death
Gen 3:22-6:4, {sx11+p} Exile/ death follows from sin/ walking with the flesh; but life follows from walking with God
Gen 6:5-8 {p} God will destroy His creation because their wickedness was great, but Noah found grace in His eyes
Gen 5:1-6:8 chiastic structure
1a) Gen 5:1-2, God created mankind in the likeness of God and blessed them;
1b) Gen 5:3-20 {sx6} The seed of Adam in his own likeness and after his own image;
1c) Gen 5:21-24 {s} Enoch walked with God/ prophesied judgment;
central axis) Gen 5:25-27 {s} All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years;
2c) Gen 5:28-31 {s} Noah (“comfort”) born who will be saved from judgment;
2b) Gen 5:32-6:4 p, Seed of the sons of God – mighty men of renown – the nephilim;
2a) Gen 6:5-8 p, God will destroy what He had made for man’s wickedness grieved Him.
Now why would the life of Methuselah be the central axis of this portion? Follow with me. The father of Methuselah was Enoch. He was a prophet of God (Jude 1:14-15) who prophesied that two judgments were coming on the world because of sin and the wickedness of man. The first judgment would be by water, and the second would be by fire. When his son was born, he embedded a prophecy within his name, for Methuselah means, “When he dies, it comes.” In other words, in the year of his son’s death, the first judgment, the judgment by water, would come upon the earth.
It just so happens that if you do the math recorded in the genealogies in Gen 5 and 6, you discover that the Flood of Noah did in fact come upon the earth in the year of Methuselah’s death.
But that is not the most amazing part. Methuselah, we learn from the central axis, lived 969 years. He is the longest lived person in the Bible. So at his birth, the prophet of God prophesied, that at his death, judgment would come. And then God caused Methuselah to live longer than any other patriarch, including Adam of the perfect DNA. What was He doing?
He was delaying judgment because of mercy … to give time, time, and more time, for the Holy Spirit to convict concerning sin and righteousness (Gen 6:3, Joh 16:8), for repentance, and turning, so as to escape the judgment that was coming.
So many people charge the God of the Old Testament with being angry, vengeful, wrathful, and judgmental, and they use this very section of Scripture to back up their claim. I, on the other hand, see the greatness of His mercy … extended to the maximum possible limit … ♥
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 and 6, Enoch walked with God
Gen 5:32-6:4, the nephilim and the chiastic structure
Who were the Nephilim?
Sons of God, Giants, and the new world order by Brad Scott
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
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