Chapter 5
(Leading a Life of Godliness!)
God gave Adam another son to replace Abel, whom Cain had killed. His name was Seth. Seth looked like Adam.
Seth became the father of a godly generation and Cain became the father of an ungodly generation. Seth also had a son, whose name was Enos. Then man began to worship the name of God. Yes, godliness originated within human beings.
Men had easily enjoyed the presence of God until Cain killed Abel. That is, men were able to communicate easily with God, i.e., God spoke to man; man also spoke to God.
But since man began to sin willfully, the presence of God had been alienated from him. Only then did the man begin to realize his condition.
When Enos was born, human beings felt the need to search for God who had created them in His own image. They began to worship God and started calling on His name. When they sought after Him like that, they were able to come closer to Him.
"What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?" (Deuteronomy 4:7)
Enoch walked with God!
"When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.
After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." (Genesis 5:24-24)
Enoch was born in the fourth generation of Enos. He was the most pious of all his ancestors. Although Enoch was involved in family life and had sons and daughters, he had a closer walk with God. He was pleasing in his walk with God. So God took him out of this world without causing natural death.
It was Enoch who was taken from the earth without seeing natural death, after the death of Adam (930) and Abel (killed by his brother Cain). After he was taken, human beings began to multiply on this earth. Then sin and ungodliness were more prevalent among men.
Noah - A Righteous and Godly Man!
God raised a righteous and godly man in the third generation of Enoch on this earth. His name was Noah. Noah means Comforter.
The earth would not bear its fruit because of the curse that came after Adam's sin. There was no rain on the earth. Noah was born in the midst of such grief. But, as his name implies, he brought comfort to his parents, his descendants, and the whole world.
Noah was pious and righteous among the people of that time (in the days of sin). God was moved with remorse for the human beings whom he created, because of the depravity of men and women, and of the increase of sin.
For the sake of human beings, God decided to destroy the whole world and all living things in it by water. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God didn't want to destroy him and his whole family in water to be flooded on the earth.
Many of his forefathers (the pious) died in the days of Noah. His ancestors, from Enos (905) to Enoch (365), gone to be with the Lord during this period. After the birth of his sons - Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's father Lamech (777) died. Only Noah's grandfather Methuselah was alive.
