Genesis:5

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* Verse 1-5 - Adam was made in the image of God ; but when fallen he begat a son in his own image , sinful and defiled , frail , wretched , and mortal , like himself . Not only a man like himself , consisting of body and soul , but a sinner like himself . This was the reverse of that Divine likeness in which Adam was made ; having lost it , he could not convey it to his seed . Adam lived , in all , 930 years ; and then died , according to the sentence passed upon him , "To dust thou shalt return ." Though he did not die in the day he ate forbidden fruit , yet in that very day he became mortal . Then he began to die ; his whole life after was but a reprieve , a forfeited , condemned life ; it was a wasting , dying life . Man 's life is but dying by degrees . * Verse 6-20 - Concerning each of these , except Enoch , it is said , "and he died ." It is well to observe the deaths of others . They all lived very long ; not one of them died till he had seen almost eight hundred years , and some of them lived much longer ; a great while for an immortal soul to be prisoned in a house of clay . The present life surely was not to them such a burden as it commonly is now , else they would have been weary of it . Nor was the future life so clearly revealed then , as it now under the gospel , else they would have been urgent to remove to it . All the patriarchs that lived before the flood , except Noah , were born before Adam died . From him they might receive a full account of the creation , the fall , the promise , and the Divine precepts about religious worship and a religious life . Thus God kept up in his church the knowledge of his will . * Verse 21-24 - Enoch was the seventh from Adam . Godliness is walking with God : which shows reconciliation to God , for two cannot walk together except they be agreed , Amos strkjv @3:3 . It includes all the parts of a godly , righteous , and sober life . To walk with God , is to set God always before us , to act as always under his eye . It is constantly to care , in all things to please God , and in nothing to offend him . It is to be followers of him as dear children . The Holy Spirit , instead of saying , Enoch lived , says , Enoch walked with God . This was his constant care and work ; while others lived to themselves and the world , he lived to God . It was the joy of his life . Enoch was removed to a better world . As he did not live like the rest of mankind , so he did not leave the world by death as they did . He was not found , because God had translated him , Hebrews strkjv @11:5 . He had lived but 365 years , which , as men 's ages were then , was but the midst of a man 's days . God often takes those soonest whom he loves best ; the time they lose on earth , is gained in heaven , to their unspeakable advantage . See how Enoch 's removal is expressed : he was not , for God took him . He was not any longer in this world ; he was changed , as the saints shall be , who are alive at Christ 's second coming . Those who begin to walk with God when young , may expect to walk with him long , comfortably , and usefully . The true christian 's steady walk in holiness , through many a year , till God takes him , will best recommend that religion which many oppose and many abuse . And walking with God well agrees with the cares , comforts , and duties of life . * Verse 25-32 - Methuselah signifies , 'he dies , there is a dart ,' 'a sending forth ,' namely , of the deluge , which came the year that Methuselah died . He lived 969 years , the longest that any man ever lived on earth ; but the longest liver must die at last . Noah signifies rest ; his parents gave him that name , with a prospect of his being a great blessing to his generation . Observe his father 's complaint of the calamitous state of human life , by the entrance of sin , and the curse of sin . Our whole life is spent in labour , and our time filled up with continual toil . God having cursed the ground , it is as much as some can do , with the utmost care and pains , to get a hard livelihood out comfort us ." It signifies not only that desire and expectation which parents generally have about their children , that they will be comforts to them and helpers , though they often prove otherwise ; but it signifies also a prospect of something more . Is Christ ours ? Is heaven ours ? We need better comforters under our toil and sorrow , than the dearest relations and the most promising offspring ; may we seek and find comforts in Christ . **** Matthew Henry 's Commentary ****

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