Walking With God
Genesis 5
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Introduction: On December 26, 2004, the world watched in horror as the story of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia unfolded. An earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean triggered a huge tidal wave as high as 100 feet tall that came crashing on shore across the region. The tsunami did damage as far as the east coast of Africa, 5000 miles away. Over a quarter million people died in the rampaging waters and devastation that followed. Entire island populations and coastal villages were wiped out—every man, woman, and child in some cases.
According to the Associated Press, there was one notable exception to the loss of life. The Morgan sea gypsies are a small tribe of fishermen who spend much of the year on their boats fishing between India, Indonesia and Thailand. Each December, between fishing seasons, they live in small thatch huts on the beaches of Thailand. Last December, they were living directly in the path of certain disaster. Yet every single member of the tribe survived, while most of their neighbors disappeared in the rampaging waters.
Why? The tribal chief explains, "For generations our fathers warned us that if the waters ever receded fast, they would quickly reappear in the same quantity in which they disappeared." On December 26 when the sea suddenly drained away, many of their neighbors ran to the beach with baskets to pick up stranded fish. Not the Morgan sea gypsies. The chief ordered his tribe to run in the opposite direction, to the mountains and safety. When the tsunami hit, the entire tribe was spared. (Sourced by Craig Brian Larson, Arlington Heights, Illinois; "How ’Sea Gypsies’ Survived the Tsunami," Associated Press, as seen in cbs2chicago.com (12-31-04).
That remarkable story provides a striking parable for the events surrounding our text. The opening chapters of the Bible are an introduction to the rest of Bible history. They explain who we are, why we are the way we are, and how our world came to be the way it is. The great redemption plan begins to unfold with the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. Genesis 4-5 sets the stage for the great flood which God unleashes upon a world gone wrong. Everyone perished except one family. Noah’s small tribe survived because they listened to the voice of their fathers and their fathers’ God.
Make no mistake about it. We also need to listen to these stories. Judgment is coming again. The final judgment will not come with a mere tsunami or even a world wide flood. But it will come. Those who survive the coming judgment, like the ones who survived the last, will be those who have listened. Remember what Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Mt 24:37).
At first blush, Genesis 5 contains a lot of what might look like irrelevant information. It is just a genealogy, an ancient family tree. What’s the big deal? Why’s that in the Bible anyway? What’s it got to do with us? When we dig into some of the details of this rather odd chapter I think you’ll be surprised at how truly relevant the lessons are.
Admittedly, these chapters raise a number of other questions about the ages, numbers, and names that are recorded. Those are also important questions. I want to save those for another time. Today I want to go directly to the bottom line. What’s the Lord saying to us in this chapter? Consider five timeless lessons:
Lesson 1: Families Make A Difference. Genesis 5 intentionally mirrors Genesis 4. Chapter 4 begins with the story of brother murdering brother. It ends with Cain’s family tree. Cain’s family went from bad to worse. They built cities, invented technology, and created music. On the surface they prospered, but all the while they fell apart spiritually and morally. Jesus’ question applies here, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” The family tree ends with Lamech who promises to be ten times as mean as his ancestor Cain.
Evil never stands still! Once it takes root, it always grows. Only the presence of God can stop its spread! Woe to parents who ignore this lesson. Which brings us to the story of chapter 5. Chapter 4 ends with the birth of Seth, the next son born to Adam and Eve. Note the all important last sentence: “At that time men began to call upon [or proclaim] the name of the Lord.”
Not everyone followed the way of Cain and his children. Seth’s family didn’t. Two families—one drifted farther and farther from God. The other called upon God. Good families and godly children don’t happen by accident. One generation blazes a trail of faith that the next can follow. That’s what God intends. While there are no guarantees, even in a dark world people can find their way back to God if the previous generation lights the way.
Lesson 2: People Are People. The opening lines of Genesis 5 restate what we’ve been told at least twice already in Genesis. Humans are not just animals. We are of the same chemicals and elements as everything else. But we are different. We are qualitatively different because we are made in the image of God. Male and female both bear the image of their maker. But we also bear the likeness of Adam. Because that first couple turned from God, we inherit a world that is less than what God made. We too are less than what God intended. That doesn’t make us any less responsible for our spiritual and moral choices. But this reminder of our fallenness should keep us all from arrogantly thinking that we are beyond sin and temptation. That’s why our deliverer has to come from outside. We cannot save ourselves. But that’s another story!
Lesson 3: Death Is the Great Equalizer. That’s the most striking thing about the way Genesis 5 is written. The men listed on this family tree may have lived an incredibly long time. Methuselah lived almost a thousand years! But his epitaph still reads, “And then he died.” Eight times those words are repeated in this chapter. That’s how life ends. To pretend otherwise is to become the greatest of fools. To plan for everything but that reality makes no sense at all.
The Bible knows of only two exceptions to this principle. One was Elijah the great prophet of the Old Testament. He’s the one the song sings about. “Swing low sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.” A band of angels and a fiery chariot met Elijah before the Grim Reaper came knocking. The other exception is Enoch. Verse 24 says, he walked with God and “then he was no more, because God took him away.”
One little girl explained Enoch’s story like this. Enoch and God were such good friends. They would take long walks together every day. One day they got so involved talking to one another that they didn’t realize how far they had walked. Finally, God noticed how late it was and said to Enoch, “Enoch, my friend, we’ve walked too far today. It’s too late to go back now. Why don’t you just come home with me today?” And he did!
This brings us to Lesson 4: It is possible to know God and walk with him even in the darkest of times. Enoch didn’t live in good times, but he was a good man. Circumstances don’t have to determine character. They can. They often do. But they don’t have to. It could have been Enoch’s example that inspired the New Testament appeal. “Become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:15).
What does it mean to walk with God? Our text doesn’t explain but we can make some educated guesses. First, it means to know God personally. This is no second hand religion. Enoch wasn’t living off his father’s or grandmother’s faith. He walked with God. To walk with God means to travel in the same direction. That’s really the most important spiritual question a person can answer. What you have? Who you are? Where you are? All those matter little. What direction are you heading? Are you going God’s way? That’s the question! Enoch was!
To walk with God means to keep step with him. It means to want to be near him. It means believing that the effort required to keep up with God is worth it. That’s why the New Testament uses Enoch as one of the great examples of faith. “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:5-6). To walk with God as Enoch requires faith that God will do what he says. This brings us to our last lesson..
Lesson 5: The God we walk with is a God of mercy and judgment. Remember this entire chapter is the backdrop for the judgment of God that comes in the days of Noah. But before God sends his judgment, he always sends a warning and an opportunity to respond. Noah preached repentance for 120 years before the flood. Even before that, God reached out in mercy to the generations of Genesis 5.
Did you note the curious expression in verse 22? “After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God.” Something changed in Enoch’s life when he became a father. Parenthood has a way of doing that. Lots of people who grew up in church and then drifted away begin to think about spiritual matters again when confronted with the responsibilities of raising and guiding another young life. That’s a good thing. Too bad it doesn’t happen all the time.
Something else may be at play with Enoch however. The New Testament calls Enoch a prophet of God who spoke of judgment to come. Listen to Jude 14-15. “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Powerful words!
Some Bible scholars think Enoch’s prophetic call came with the birth of Methuselah. Maybe like Abraham in the Old Testament and Zachariah in the New Testament God revealed the coming of a son in a visitation by angels or in a vision. Or maybe the whole experience of fatherhood drew Enoch close enough to God that the Lord decided to use him in a special way. At any rate, Enoch names his son Methuselah which in Hebrew means “when he dies, judgment.” Sure enough the year Methuselah died was the year the flood water came. From the day his son was born, Enoch’s son’s life was a count down to the coming judgment. When he dies, judgment!
It is no accident that Methuselah lived longer than any man in the Bible. For 969 years (almost a thousand years) God warned of judgment to come and offered mercy to any who would repent. And then he died! When you think of Methuselah, don’t just think of a long life. Think of the longsuffering mercy of our Lord.
That’s how the New Testament urges us to think of God. Listen to 2 Peter 3:8-9. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Conclusion: Out of what might seem like a strange chapter of the Bible come lessons we all need to hear. Families can make a difference. I hope yours is. People will be people. No one is immune to sin and temptation. Death is the great equalizer. We will all face it sooner or later. It is best to prepare in advance. But even in the darkest of times it is possible to walk with God. And the God who bids us walk with him is a God of justice and most of all mercy.
The lesson of Genesis 5 is also the same kind of lesson that saved the sea gypsies of Thailand. They can save you too. Disaster is coming. Many are headed in the wrong direction. Only those who heed the lesson of the fathers will escape when it comes.
Are you listening? Are you ready?
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
