Day 785: The first rapture - Genesis 5 vs 18 – 32

18-20 When Jared had lived for 162 years he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch for 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21-23 When Enoch had lived for 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God (pleased God) after he fathered Methuselah for 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, (i.e. was not found) for God took him.

25-27 When Methuselah had lived for 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech for 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28-29 When Lamech had lived for 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief (rest) from our work, and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30-31 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah for 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:18-32 English Standard Version.

Moses has been listing the descendants of Adam through whom God's plan of salvation would be worked out. In vs 18-24 he mentions the remarkable incident of a man named Enoch who was taken to be with God rather than dying like all others. What happened to him prefigures what will happen to true believers who are alive at Christ's return. The apostle Paul said of that day: “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And those who have died believing in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive will be gathered up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

What does God's word record of Enoch as to why he was taken by God even before his father had reached the end of his life? (vs 21-23)

He walked with God. He obviously loved the Lord and sought daily to keep in step with God's will. The Hebrew word implies pleasing someone. So the writer of Hebrews said: “Now before Enoch was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6) Such was the life of Enoch. A Christian today is someone who truly believes that God exists, and that faith in Christ will not be in vain.

Verses 25-29 tell of Enoch's descendants leading up to the life of Noah. One of these was Methuselah who lived to the age of 969, the oldest on record. How do we know that God's promise of a Saviour was still very much alive in the hearts of people like Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech? (vs 28-29)

Noah's name meant 'rest'. It was given by faith in the hope that he might be the one to end the curse that the world was under because of sin. The next chapter will go on to show that Noah was indeed a key figure in God's plan of redemption, and a picture of the salvation and the true rest for mankind that God would bring about in Christ.

A final thought from David C C Watson's book 'Myths and Miracles'. He points out that if one compares the dates given here with the fact that the worldwide flood came when Noah was 600 years old, as it says in Genesis 7:6, it means that Noah's father, Lamech, died 5 years before the flood, and Granddad Methuselah died in the very year the flood came! This chapter has told of a man who was taken by God out of a sin filled world, and another who would be saved through a cataclysmic judgment. They both believed God existed, and believed all that He had spoken. May we also not be like “those who shrink back and are destroyed, but like those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (Hebrews 10:39)