Among the “boring” parts of the Bible are the genealogies. Adam begat, etc., etc… We tend to read through them quickly to get to the stories, the action scenes. We will necessarily agree that every word of the Bible is inspired and written for some purpose, but it is hard to see what is important in the begats.
Genealogy was very important to the Jewish religious practice. The priests held their office because of their genealogy. They had to be direct descendents of Aaron. Not every Levite could be a priest.
The land of Israel was divided up and apportioned to the twelve tribes. To hold title to land one had to be able to demonstrate his genealogical right to the land.
And the kings of Israel had to be descendents of David. That genealogical claim to kingship includes the Messiah. Matthew 2 traces Jesus genealogy from Abraham through Joseph but Luke 3 traces Jesus genealogy from God to Adam to Joseph.
All the genealogical records were kept in the Temple in Jerusalem. Thirty eight years after Israel crucified their Messiah the Temple was destroyed and the records were burned. It was God’s way of saying “You had the records available to prove Who Jesus was, and now their purpose is fulfilled.”
The Old Testament, known by the Jews as the Tenach, has many proofs of Who Jesus is. In Genesis 5 we are given the ten generations from Adam to Noah. Those ten generation, in order, are Adam begat Seth, who begat Enosh, who begat Kenan, who begat Mahalalel, who begat Jared, who begat Enoch, who begat Methuselah, who begat Lamech, who begat Noah. Since we don’t speak ancient Hebrew we’re not likely to see the gospel there.
Adam in its Hebrew root means Man. Eve said of Seth when he was born that God had appointed Seth as a replacement for Abel who was slain by Cain. So Genesis 5 says Seth means appointed. The Hebrew meaning of Enosh is mortal and Kenan is sorrow. Mahalalel means the blessed or praised God. Jared means shall come down. Enoch means teaching and Methuselah means his death shall bring. Lamech in Hebrew means despair or despairing. And Noah means comfort or rest.
So, let’s put these meanings together in a sentence.
“Man (is) Appointed Mortal Sorrow, (but) The Blessed God Shall Come Down Teaching (that) His Death Shall Bring The Despairing Comfort (or) Rest.”
This is just one of the many jewels hidden under the surface of the text of scripture. There are many, many more. Such jewels are validation to us as believers that the Author is Sovereign over everything, including the text of His word. He knew His Word would be questioned and challenged and so He placed His fingerprints all over it.
By David Henke
