The First Genealogy

I realize I haven't done this in a while.
It's so bad.
But at least I've started again right.

So today, the reading is from Genesis 5.

At first thought, I really didn't think I could pick anything up from this passage as it's more or less just a list of names, years etc. But reading it this time really reminded me that every single word in the Bible is God spoken & has meaning & purpose in our lives, even the parts we sometimes think are completely irrelevant.

What struck me first is in verse 2.
"He created them male and female and blessed them."
It shows that since the beginning, we've been blessed. God's blessing doesn't wear off. So despite sin's corruption upon us, we'll always be made for & favored by God. It's up to us now to flee from our sin or not.

One main thing seen from this passage is how people died so late.. & also how they had sons & daughters so late. It seems the fleshly bodies at that time lasted longer. Maybe the cells decayed at a much slower rate, or the body was just more 'advanced' in general. I've never actually put much thought into this before.

Another thing that really caught my attention is how this genealogy is focused on the firstborns. It was only the firstborns that could bear more firstborns which led to someone important. Couldn't there have been a non-firstborn somewhere in between? Firstborns must therefore be pretty important. Also, it seems all firstborns were males... What do you think about this?

Another thing I noticed is the gradual decrease in the years to become a father from Adam to Mahalalel. It would've probably kept decreasing if maybe something special didn't happen during Jared's life?

One thing I picked up this time is the phrase "became father of". It kind of makes it sound like that it's a privilege to become the father of such a son. That latter generations were important, & as sons bore sons, it gradually got more important. Maybe it was pointing at Jesus? The son of God~

Now comes the the more exciting part of the passage - Enoch, the man who never died.
I never noticed this before, but Enoch was on earth for 365 years, the amount of days in a year. Maybe that has some significance? Something really stood out to me this time reading it, the blandness of the whole experience. Enoch was one Godly person, walking with God for 300 years. To the world, we'd expect it to say something like "so God blessed him immensely with riches, wisdom power etc." right? But instead, it just says "then he was no more, because took him away". It really doesn't sound that great at all if you ask me.
But if you think more into this, it's really true.
Alot of the times God rewards us, it isn't what flesh desires. It's something that means alot to us, but may seem really useless & stupid to other people. If we put more thought into what Enoch really got from God, we will really appreciate it. Enoch got to leave this sinful & corrupted world sooner than others to spend the rest of eternity in paradise with the all-loving God! Now that's probably the best thing anyone could ever want right?

Then after Methuselah's super long life, it goes onto Lamech, which lived significantly less than the others. Was it cause he wanted comfort from labor & pain? But look at the number, 777. The number 7 seems to have some purpose of perfection in the Bible from what I've heard. Maybe living less, but at that specific age was a blessing afterall? Maybe it symbolized God's perfection right before the storm during Noah's life?

I'm really surprised I could pick up so much from reading a genealogy!
This really proves that the Bible isn't just words from a book, but God's words spoken to us~

So something important to think about to finish off.

Alot of the time, what God grants us in our lives may seem really stupid & disappointing on the surface. But remember, what comes from God is always amazingly good & so much better than we could ever imagine. Be assured that God will reward us immensely as Christians, but remember that isn't the purpose of our lives, but because He deserves it & we need to glorify Him~

Godbless~