January 5, 2024
Read Genesis 5, Psalm 5, John 5
My apologies for the Star Trek reference in the title. I’m not a big Star Trek fan, a “Trekkie” as they are called, but I have seen enough episodes to know the phrase comes from the Vulcans in the series. When you read Genesis 5 you will immediately notice this is a genealogy. The book of Genesis has two different lines of genealogies all through the whole book. Some follow a godly line of people and others a not so godly line. The last part of Genesis 4 is a decent into wickedness. It starts with Cain and his murder of Abel and then goes to Lamech who ends up bragging to his two wives that he has killed a man for injuring him vv. 23-24. Now in Chapter 5 we follow the Godly genealogy of Adam through Seth. It ends with Noah the only one found righteous on the earth at the time of the flood.
The second thing you probably noticed right away was the ages of the men named. The ages range from 365 years with Enoch to 969 with Methuselah. Enoch was one of two men that the Bible says never died. What a simple epitaph we have recorded about Enoch, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” v. 24. Some have noted the 365 days in a year match his years. What a brief but powerful funeral message! Someone once showed me that if you do the math, when the flood waters came on the earth with Noah, it apparently occurs the same year that Methuselah died[JW1] . Was God waiting for the last of the righteous to pass away before He unveiled his plan to Noah? I’ll let you be the judge.
Skeptics will balk at the ages of these men. They may say it’s not possible. First, none of us knows, we were not here to see for ourselves. After the flood we do see the ages falling back down. God does make a statement about man’s years being 120 (Genesis 6:3). I once had a Bible study teacher suggest that perhaps the atmosphere was very different before the flood. The flood narrative describes water that was above in the atmosphere (Gen. 7:11). We do have written records in Sumerian literature that credits three kings as living 72,000 total years. Most think they were just having a humble brag moment in their reign.
Psalm 5 is another Psalm of David. The middle verses stand out to me. vv. 4-6 talk about a God who takes no pleasure in evil nor with the men who practice it. David says, “You destroy those who tell lies” v. 6. The next three verses vv. 7-9 speak of the great mercy that God bestows on the righteous. “But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house” v. 7. This takes me back to the two genealogies in Genesis. There are those that follow the Lord and those that do not. Remember, no one is perfect or without sin, but the trajectories of the two are contrasted.
John 5 is the narrative of Jesus healing a man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. It always fascinates me in this story that Jesus asked a question “Do you want to get well?” v. 6. This is a “yes or no” question. The man responds with a “why” answer to a question Jesus never asked. “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred” v. 7. It seems that the man was focused on his problem and not the solution that stood right before him. When it comes to the problems that we face, do we tend to look at the problems or do we look to the solution to the problems? Sometimes we can focus on the wrong things.
This healing on the Sabbath launches Jesus in persecution by the Jews. Jesus will later explain what keeping the Sabbath is about and what it was not about. Jesus speaks plainly about His authority and the testimony of the Scripture which speaks of him. He tells the Jews plainly, you study the Scripture but you do not come to Jesus who the Scriptures speak of.
What other words or phrases or themes do you see in these three chapters? What stands out to you when you read them? What questions do you have about these passages? Write them down and dig into some answers when you can go back and research them more. Add your comments below.
[JW1]By adding the numbers between Methuselah and Noah (187 + 182) and accounting for Genesis 7:6 where Noah was 600 years old it is possible to consider that Methuselah died in the flood or just before it began. (187+182+600 = 969.)
Posted by John Weldon 
DId God Really Say... 