Title: Adam’s Book

By: Ray C. Stedman

Scripture: Genesis 5:1-27
Date: Unknown date in 1968
Series: Understanding Society
Message No: 4
Catalog No: 324

Adam’s Book

by Ray C. Stedman

In Genesis 5 we come to the first of the famil- book of the generations of” occurs only one other
iar genealogies of Scripture. These have proved to place in Scripture. Perhaps you have already
be a stumbling block to many who seek to read the guessed that it occurs the second time at the open-
Bible through. They start well, but they soon get to ing of the New Testament, the first verse of Mat-
the desert of genealogies and give up their reading. thew, “This is the book of the generations of Jesus
These genealogies are somewhat difficult. I am Christ.” Here in Genesis it is, “This is the book of
tempted to handle them in the fashion of the old the generations of Adam.”
Scottish minister who was reading from the open- We are told here that God created man in the
ing chapter of Matthew. He started reading, likeness of God. This is a recapitulation of what
we have seen before. “Male and female he created
“Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat them, and he blessed them and named them Man,”
Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah, [and he looked or literally, he named them Adam. Notice, he did
on ahead and saw the long list to follow not name them “The Adamses;” it was “Adam.” I
and said,] and they kept on begetting one think the revisers are quite right in translating this
another all the way down this page and half- Man, because it is clear that we have here the story
way into the next.” of a race, not merely an individual.
But it is a mistake to ignore these genealogies
• There is only one man in the Old Testament,
because they are very fruitful, very suggestive, and
and that is Adam.
very interesting.
This one begins with a brief introduction and
continues, in a standard formula of presentation, • There is only one man in the New Testament,
throughout the chapter. Look at the first five and that is Jesus.
verses:
• There are only two men who have ever lived in
This is the book of the generations of history, Adam and Jesus – the first Adam and
Adam. When God created man, he made the last Adam; the first Man and the Second
them in the likeness of God. Male and fe- Man.
male he created them, and he blessed them
and named them Man when they were cre- Thus these two books are introduced by this
ated. When Adam had lived a hundred and
same phrase, “The book of the generations of ...”
thirty years, he became the father of a son
The phrase does not describe ancestry, but charac-
in his own likeness, after his image, and
named him Seth. The days of Adam after teristics; it describes the nature of these two men as
he became the father of Seth were eight they develop into a race.
hundred years; and he had other sons and We are told further that it was God who named
daughters: Thus all the days that Adam Adam. When Adam named the animals we saw
lived were nine hundred thirty years; and that it was necessary that he understand their char-
he died. {Gen 5:1-5 RSV} acter, their nature. The name reflected the charac-
ter. Therefore this suggests here that only God un-
Now it is important that we take careful note of derstands man. Only God can name man because
the title of this chapter. The phrase, “This is the

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he is the only one who understands him. This is the Syriac Version. The obvious intent of the
why we so desperately need the revelation of man genealogy is to highlight certain selected
that comes from God, and this is why psychology names, and the reason for that we will note a
cannot be realistic or accurate unless it takes into bit later.
account what we read in the Scriptures about man.
God knows more about man than man does and this • Now the second factor to note about this ac-
is strongly implied here. count is the exceedingly long length of years
The first thing said in Adam’s book is that Seth these men lived. Most of them lived about nine
was made in the image and likeness of his father. hundred years. Perhaps there are times, as we
He was the exact duplicate of what Adam was, and read this, that we might wish we could imitate
so every son and daughter of Adam has been since. them. At other times we feel they were the
Again, this is why the Bible is so contemporary – it most cursed of individuals to have lived that
is dealing with us. We find ourselves here because long. But the record remains and has raised a
we too are sons and daughters of Adam and share problem for many. There have been several
the same characteristics as Seth, the son of Adam, attempts to explain this account.
one generation removed. When the account uses Certain scholars suggest that what we have
this phrase, “in his own likeness, after his image,” here is not individuals, but clans, family
it is referring to the hidden, inner pattern of man, groups. The years given are the extent in
and the actual outward characteristics. Seth was which that family group held together as a sin-
what Adam was, both in his inner life and his outer gle unit, much as the clans of Scotland have.
life. He was, therefore, a fallen man. But this is very difficult, because it is clear that
There then follows a chronology that runs several of these names are clearly individuals.
through the rest of the chapter. There are several Enoch, for instance, “walked with God.” That
factors of great interest in this to which I will call cannot refer to a clan; but to an individual.
your attention as we run through it: Seth, the son of Adam, is clearly an individual.
There are others who seek to explain this
• First, it is evident, if you study this carefully, longevity by taking the years as lunar months,
that this chronology was not intended to be a i.e., each “year” would approximate our mod-
time schedule. This was Bishop Ussher’s ern month.
mistake. He is the one who is responsible for • If you figure out these men’s ages on that
the date that appears in some of our Bibles, basis, it does come out, rather interestingly,
4004 BC, as the date of creation. He figured in the upper limits. It would make Methu-
this all out (without the aid of a computer) selah probably about eighty-five or ninety
back in the 17th century by using these Bible years old, which would certainly not make
chronologies and thus came up with the date, him the oldest man living, but it does give
4004 BC. But scholars have since pointed out him a reasonable length of years.
that this is not what they call a tight chronol-
ogy. It does not trace an unbroken linkage of
• But at the lower limits this system becomes
absurd. It would mean that Seth became
individuals. It highlights certain individuals.
the father of Enosh when he was five years
The son that is mentioned for each man is not
old, which is most remarkable!
necessarily the firstborn son. It says of each of
Some of the miracles that are required by these
them “he had other sons and daughters.” Out
explanations are far more incredible than to
of that family one is selected, not necessarily
take the account in its natural rendering.
the firstborn, and included in this genealogy.
We must conclude, therefore, that this ac-
Thus the intent of this is not to give us a
count indicates that conditions on earth were
tracing of time. This is underscored by the fact
widely different before the Flood. We have had
that the versions of this account in other lan-
other confirmations of this. It was doubtless
guages have different numbers of years for the
true that men lived much longer before the
people involved. The Septuagint, which is the
Flood than they do today. There have been a
Greek translation of the Old Testament, has a
number of interesting scientific suggestions
quite different period of years involved, as does

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made as to why this is true. I will not go into walked with God after the birth of Methu-
those, but if you care to pursue it they are very selah three hundred years, and had other
interesting. It is suggestive, however, that per- sons and daughters. Thus all the days of
haps the years of a man, intended by God, were Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five
years. Enoch walked with God; and he was
approximately a thousand years before a
not, for God took him. {Gen 5:21-24 RSV}
change took place that would introduce him to
a different mode of existence. But, of course, Evidently this is designed to focus our interest.
all this was changed by the Fall of man. The whole passage rolls on almost like a movie
film until suddenly it stops and focuses on one man.
• There is a third factor in this of great interest Instead of saying, “and he died,” it says, “and he
and that is the repeated occurrence throughout was not, for God took him.” Now the book of He-
this account of the phrase, “and he died.” brews, in the eleventh chapter, recounts the story of
Every individual’s mention ends with the Enoch and tells us that this phrase, “and he was
phrase, “and he died,” “and he died,” “and he not, for God took him,” means that he was “taken
died.” Like the tolling of a great bell, this up [or translated] so that he should not see death,”
phrase resounds throughout the passage. Eight {cf, Heb 11:5}. In other words, here is one of only
times it is recorded “and he died,” contradicting two men in all history who never died. Enoch is
the lie of Satan in the garden when he said to one; Elijah is the other. Enoch did not see death
Eve, “If you eat of this fruit you will not die,” but he was taken up.
{cf, Gen 3:4}. But here is the factual record. Twice it says in this account that, before he
Everyone who came along lived so many years was taken up, “he walked with God.”
and then he died. I love the story of the little girl who was telling
This suggests also that all the forms of her mother the story of Enoch. She said, “Enoch
death, as we know them today, prevailed then. used to take long walks with God. One day he
There was not only physical death, you did not walked so far God said, ‘It’s too far to go back;
have to be killed on a freeway back on those come on home with me.’”
days but death took other forms. There were That is what happened to Enoch. Obviously,
also present the incipient forms of death that the intent of this passage is to focus our attention
we recognize in our lives today, things like on this phrase, “he walked with God.”
malice, jealousy, hatred, meaninglessness, de- What does it mean to walk with God? Here is
spair, and emptiness. All these are forms of a man who, in the midst of a brilliant but godless
death. They are the absence of life, as God in- generation, walked with God. What does it mean?
tended life to be. That is what death is – the Well, it is exactly the same today as it was then.
absence of life. These, too, prevailed back in To walk with God is accomplished now in exactly
those days, so that, as we saw last week, life the same way. Enoch did not literally walk with
before the flood was very much like it is today: God, this is unquestionably a figurative expression,
a generation seeking after comfort and luxury, but a figurative walk involves the same thing today
brilliant in its technological achievements, as it did then:
banding together in cities and thus creating an
artificial form of life. Yet, in other ways, life First, it means he went in the same direction
was vastly different then, as is clearly evi- God went. He was moving the way God was go-
denced by the length of life they lived. ing. God is forever moving in human history. He
is moving right now to accomplish certain things in
But now in this account there is found one ex- human life, and he has been doing so for centuries.
ception to the tolling of the bell of death; one man The man who walks with God is the man who
of whom it is not said, “and he died.” This is evi- knows which way God is going and goes the same
dently the highlight of this chapter, the reason why way. Now what is that?
all this is given to us: What direction is God moving? Perhaps we
cannot indicate it positively, but we certainly can
When Enoch had lived sixty-five years,
negatively: God moves always in unswerving
he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch

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hostility toward sin. He is opposed to that which me alone now for awhile. You walk on for a bit
destroys and wrecks human life. No matter how and then come back.”
good it looks, no matter how attractive it seems, But the worst thing that can happen to us is for
how luridly it is painted, God is against it. God to do exactly that.
And the man who walks with God is the man That is what he did with the children of Israel
who walks in unswerving hostility toward sin in his when they came to the edge of the Promised Land.
own life and refuses to make up with it or permit it He said, “I want you to walk with me into the
to rule or to reign. That is the first thing in a walk land.” But they said, “No, not us. You go by
with God. yourself but we’re not going.” So God said, “All
right, then you will wander for forty years in the
Second, it means to keep in step. You cannot wilderness until you come back to this same place.
walk with somebody if you do not keep in step with I’ll leave you alone. If you don’t want to go in, you
him. Sooner or later there comes unbalance and don’t have to go in.” But that is the terrible thing
you bump into him, or he bumps into you. There- about God, he gives us what we want. If we want
fore there must a keeping in step. it badly enough he will let us have it, and it will be
Now it is most interesting that in the New the worst thing that ever happened to us.
Testament a walk is described this way. It is a se- But Enoch was a man who had learned to move
ries of steps. A walk is not like moving on one of as God moved, and to walk in step with him.
these endless belts. It is not smooth; it is a repeti-
tion of almost falling. The third thing is that there was no contro-
Have you ever analyzed your walk? Every versy between them. They were in agreement.
time you take a step you almost fall. You allow “Except two be in agreement, how can they walk
your body to go off balance and then you catch together?” says the Scriptures {cf, Amos 3:3}.
yourself with your other leg. Then you shift to that They must be in agreement. And this is how we
and you almost fall again, only to catch yourself. must be. There must be no controversy between us
That is what a walk is; living on the verge of a fall if we are going to walk with God, but we must
all the time. agree with things as he sees them.
And the man or women who walks with God is What changes this makes in our lives! In our
the man or woman who lives on the verge of a fall. Sunday School class some of us were wrestling
That is an adventurous life. That means if God is with the problem of the Christian view of war. I
not there to support and strengthen you, down you could see people struggling with having to change
go. You are counting on him to come through and their mind about certain things they thought were
to keep you steady. That is what a walk with God true but which the Word of God corrected. It was
involves. It is always a walk of venturing out. It is a severe, difficult struggle. But if you want to walk
never satisfied with the status quo, never content to with God you must see things as he sees them.
remain in a quiet state, doing nothing, waiting, en- Enoch did. For three hundred years he walked
joying one’s self; it is forever venturing out. It is with God, and this is the same activity to which we
forever moving at the same pace God moves. It are called. We are to walk “as children of light,”
means taking a step when God insists. {Eph 5:8}. We are to walk “in the Spirit,” {Gal
I have discovered in my own life (and see it re- 5:16, 5:25 KJV}. We are to walk “worthy of God”
flected in many others) a tendency to want to sit {1 Th 2:12 KJV}, through the midst of a godless
down after I have taken a step and rest awhile. We generation, exactly as Enoch did.
all feel God pressuring us to do something – take a
new step, stop this, start that, or venture out in a But notice that Enoch did not always walk with
new direction – and after God pushes us awhile, we God. The first 65 years of his life were quite an-
do it. Perhaps we have been resisting for quite other story. Evidently, he reflected for 65 years the
awhile before, but then we take the step and we feel same godless attitude as those around him. You
good. We have accomplished something. Then ask, “Well, what started him walking with God
God comes along and says, “Now I want you to then?” And the answer is given to us here. It was
take another step.” And we say, “Oh, no, Lord. I not receiving his Social Security payments when he
had a hard enough time taking this one. Just leave reached 65, but it was the birth of a son, a boy

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whom he named Methuselah. It says so. “Enoch a secondary way it does refer to that. But its pri-
walked with God after the birth of Methuselah mary reference is to the judgment of the Flood.
three hundred years.” So it was the birth of this Enoch saw the coming of the Flood and he named
baby that started him walking with God. his child, “When he dies, it will come.” If you fig-
Surely there is more to this than simply the fact ure out the chronology of this from the life of
that he became a father. I have noticed that becom- Noah, who was six hundred years old when the
ing a father has a profound effect upon a young Flood came, you will find that the very year Me-
man. It makes him more thoughtful, makes him thuselah died, the Flood came. It happened exactly
more serious, more sober in his outlook on life. It as God had predicted.
does have a very beneficial effect, but there is more But the grace of God is revealed here in the
to it here than that and it is revealed by the name fact that this boy lived longer than any man ever
that Enoch gave to his son. Methuselah is a very lived, nine hundred and sixty-nine years! That is
interesting name. It means, literally, “His death how long God waited before he fulfilled the threat
shall bring it,” or loosely translated, “When he dies, implied in the boy’s name.
it will come.” What will come? The Flood! Can you imagine what a fascination this boy
Enoch, we are told in another passage of must have been to his family? How they watched
Scripture, was given a revelation from God. He him every time he went out!
saw the direction of the divine movement, looked But God let him live longer that anybody else
on to the end of the culture, the comforts, and the to reveal the heart and compassion of a God who
mechanical marvels of his own day, to the fact dislikes to bring judgment but does so because of
there must come an inevitable judgment on the the moral demands made upon his nature of truth.
principle of evil in human life. He saw the cer- Now we see the reason for this table of genealogy:
tainty of destruction of a world living only to please
itself. When he saw it his baby was born, so, in 1. First, it is given to highlight the supreme pur-
obedience, evidently to God’s word, he named the pose of revelation, to teach us the possibility
baby, “When he dies, it will come.” and importance of a walk with God. That is
This revelation to Enoch is given in the next-to- what men are called to do, to walk with God.
the-last book of the Bible. If you want to see what The greatest glory that can come to any human
a unit the Bible is, notice how Jude and Revelation being is to learn to walk with and be a friend to
tie in with Genesis. In the 14th verse of Jude we God. Enoch was the friend of God.
read, concerning certain godless men who would be
present in any age but especially in the last age: 2. Second, this genealogical table is given to warn
us of the day when evil shall ultimately be
It was of these also that Enoch in the stopped. God cannot allow human evil to in-
seventh generation from Adam prophesied, crease endlessly. He restrains it, but when it
saying, “Behold, the Lord came with his reaches a certain limit, he judges it. That is the
holy myriads, to execute judgment on all,
repeated story of history. This is the whole
and to convict all the ungodly of all their
deeds of ungodliness which they have
message of the book of Jude. It happens again
committed in such an ungodly way, and of and again in history. But, as Paul tells us in
all the harsh things which ungodly sinners First Corinthians 10, there is always a way of
have spoken against him.” These are escape provided; that way of escape is indi-
grumblers, malcontents, following their cated again in a most fascinating way in this
own passions, loudmouthed boasters, flat- chapter by the meaning of the names listed.
tering people to gain advantage. {Jude There is some difference among authorities as
1:14-16 RSV} to the meaning of these names, depending upon
the root from which they are judged to be
That was the world of Enoch’s day, and Enoch taken. But one authority gives a most interest-
saw the end of it. He saw that the Lord was com- ing sequence of meanings:
ing to execute judgment on it. Now I know there
are those who take that passage in Jude to refer to
• The list begins with Seth, which means
the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
“Appointed.”

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It will be for us the end of Adam’s Book, when all

• Enosh, his son, means “Mortal;” and that Adam is in us is at an end, there is nothing
more to be recorded in it. Then only what Christ
• His son, Kenan, means “Sorrow.” has written in us will survive. You have heard the
little motto,
• His son Mahalalel, means “The Blessed
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past.
God.” Only what’s done for Christ will last.

• He named his boy Jared which means That is a pithy expression of what we find in
“Came Down,” and this chapter. In Revelation when John saw the dead
standing before God, the books also were opened ...
• His boy, Enoch, means “Teaching.” What books? Adam’s book, and Jesus’ book. The
book of the generations of Adam and the book of
• Methuselah, as we saw, means “His death the generations of Jesus Christ.
shall bring;” Now one question lingers: What are you doing
today in this godless generation?
• Lamech means “Strength,” and Are you walking with God? Have you learned
to keep step with the Almighty? Have you learned
• Noah, “Comfort.” to trust what he says and walk in his direction and
to keep step with him, in agreement with him?
Now put that all together: That is the only basis for any hope of escaping
the judgment of death, as Enoch did. Jesus said,
God has Appointed that Mortal man shall “Because I live, you shall live also,” {cf, John
Sorrow; but The Blessed God, Came 14:19b}. “He that believeth in me shall never die,”
Down, Teaching, that His Death Shall {cf, John 11:26 RSV}.
Bring, Strength and Comfort. For the believer in Christ death loses its char-
acter, its fearfulness. Death is but a momentary
Is this book from God? transition into the life God has for you.

God has given you and me a life to watch just Prayer:

as Methuselah’s generation watched his: It is your
own life. Thank you, Father, for helping us to view
God has written Methuselah on each one of us. reality, to see through the tinsel, the glitter,
“His death shall bring it,” or “When he dies, it will the sham, the illusion of life. How helpful
come.” How far is it till the end of the world for it is to see the possibilities of a walk with
you? When you die, that is the end of the world. you as Enoch walked with you, and to be-
That is the end of man’s day. Is it fifty years from lieve you and trust you. Teach us so to
now? Ten? Tomorrow? Who knows? But at any walk that we may overcome the world, and
moment, when he dies, it will come. one day you will say to us, “Come on
Is it not foolish how we try to escape the inevi- home, it’s too far to go back.” We thank
tability of the end? Yet everything hangs on that. you in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright (c) 2010 by Ray Stedman Ministries. This material is the sole property of Ray Stedman Ministries. It may
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