Read to Read Again
Daily Reading: Genesis 4-7
Genesis 5:5
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Casually reading the Bible is a wonderful thing. Often while simply reading the Bible the Holy Spirit will supernaturally seem to highlight a verse, a thought, or a word. This leads to comfort, instruction, understanding, or some other result that helps the reader. Again, reading the Bible is a wonderful thing.
But sometimes the simple reading of the pages of the Word of God causes confusion. Sometimes deeper things of God are missed. Sometimes the overall message of God’s Word is forgotten or missed. So, sometimes teachers need to point out some things that the casual reader may overlook. The chronology of the lives of the patriarchs is one of those things. Many believe that the story of creation was handed down by generation to generation many times over, which is true. Yet, it is also true that, for example, Adam lived long enough to have known Lamech who was the father of Noah.
Adam lived a total of 930 years, Lamech (Noah’s father) was born 874 years after God created Adam meaning their lives overlapped by approximately 56 years. Adam himself could have told Lamech about those first few days of creation. Between Adam and Lamech there are seven major personages listed in the Bible (Seth, Enos, etc.). No doubt they all may have known of Adam’s days in the Garden of Eden, and perhaps discussed it between themselves, but Adam was there to correct any error that may have slipped in from the often repeating of his story.
1,056 years after God made Adam, Noah was born. Noah lived 950 years, long enough to have possibly known Abraham. All this means that Adam could have known Lamech, Lamech of course knew his son Noah, and Noah could have known Abraham.
Factually, the first 2,157 years of recorded history are overlapped by three men (Adam, Methuselah, Shem). Which helps us to understand that the accounts of creation, the flood, etc., were not handed down hundreds of times over 2,000 years. Adam could have personally known eight generations in the pre-flood world. Noah could have known nine of the post flood generations. In fact, Noah died around 2,006 years after creation, while Abraham was born in about 1,948 years after creation. Noah’s life overlapped Abrahams by about 58 years, Noah could have known Abraham.
When reading the names of the patriarchs, the time of their birth, and the time of their death remember this: these dates are important. Important enough that God put them in His Word for all the world to know. By studying the dates and understanding the longevity of the life spans before, and immediately after the flood much can be learned.
Now, reading the Bible is wonderful, it’s a great place to start. Studying the Bible is the next level. From studying such dry things as dates, places, names, and all the rest, golden nuggets can be found. Nuggets that are rich in value to a child of God. As you simply read the Bible this year, together let’s also spend some time mining for gold, learning a little bit more by study. After all, as Paul said to Timothy, I say to you: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
II Timothy 2:15.
William T. Howe Ph.D.
Comments