The Gospel According to Genesis 5

 

 

The Gospel According to Genesis 5

 

MAN – Adam

 

IS APPOINTED – Seth

 

MORTAL - Enosh

 

SORROW – Kenan

 

THE BLESSED GOD – Mahalalel

 

SHALL COME – Jared

 

TEACHING – Enoch

 

HIS DEATH SHALL BRING – Methuselah

 

THE DESPAIRING – Lamech

 

REST AND COMFORT - Noah

 

Genesis chapter 5:

These ten generations

Truly form a narrative

That depicts salvation.

 

Cain and Abel

Were omitted from this mix,

When Cain killed Abel

He caused that fix.

 

That the Hebrew meanings

Of each of these names

Tell the Gospel message

Is wonderfully plain.

 

 

The first man ever:

His name meaning MAN

Was created by the Almighty God

Who called him Adam.

 

Next in this Genesis 5 bloodline

Was Adam’s third son,

Seth means IS APOINTED;

That’s the second generation.

 

Next, we have Enosh

The third of these people

And it is significant

That his name means MORTAL

 

Fourthly, there is Kenan

And his name means SORROW

The state of fallen man

Comes every tomorrow.

 

Then comes Mahalalel

Hence, THE BLESSED GOD:

The turning point in the message

To be spread abroad.

 

Next, we have Jared:

His name means SHALL COME

Pointing to the Lord Jesus:

The Father’s begotten Son.

 

Enoch means TEACHING:

Of course, meaning the Christ

Whose life was offered

As our sin sacrifice.

 

HIS DEATH SHALL BRING:

That’s what Methuselah means,

Showing why the Lord Jesus

Came on the scene.

 

Next are THE DESPAIRING

Hence, the name Lamech:

An emotional state

That speaks of much regret.

 

Hallelujah for Noah

Meaning COMFORT AND REST!

Genesis chapter 5

Is THE GOSPEL, no less.

 

 

Man is appointed mortal sorrow

But the blessed God shall come teaching.

And his death shall bring the despairing

Rest and Comfort.

 

Stewart Russell © July 31, 2021

 

Your Attention Please!

 

It’s a while

I haven’t mused

Now too tempted

To refuse

Now is the time

That I choose

So very sorry

You’re not enthused

Trying to keep

These lines short

If too long

I will abort

Hope by now

You get my drift

Between you and me

Avoid the rift

Is that sense?

Or is it not?

Read on some more

See what we’ve got

Your attention

Is what I need

Don’t stop now

Continue to read

In the beginning

Adam was created

Having seen Eve

He was elated

Eve ate the fruit

Adam participated

God’s only law

They had violated

Driven out of Eden

After this first sin

Adam and Eve

A new life begins

  

First get together

There was Cain

Next came Abel

And then some pain

Cain killed Abel

Through jealousy

First homicide

Then misery

Sent away

To the land of Nod

His just punishment

At the hand of God

Next came Seth

Adam’s third son

But Adam’s work

Was far from done

Sons and daughters

He did beget

And that record

Is not broken yet

So many children

And mouths to feed

God did supply

His every need

Children got children

And filled the earth

Hundred and hundreds

Since Cain’s birth

The population grew

And men rebelled

Wickedness everywhere

Began to swell

Noah built an ark

Out of gopher wood

Preached God’s word

Then came a flood

Floodlights on the ark

All during the flood

After the rains

Only eight people stood

Noah and his family

Would disembark

Into the world

To make a fresh start

A beginning in Eden

A beginning away

A beginning for Noah

Three beginnings I say

A fourth beginning

God called Abraham

From Ur of the Chaldees

To Canaan’s land

God had told him

To leave his family

But he took along

Some for company

Lot his nephew

Also went with him

He was trouble

Right up to the chin

Abraham journeyed

Till he reached the land

It was not easy

But he took a stand

God had delivered

On His promise to him

Now Lot and Abraham

Gazed from the rim

Lot chose the better

Or so he thought

But not long after

He was sore distraught

Abraham lived in Canaan

And soon came strife

A son from his servant

And one from his wife

One was of the flesh

The other of promise

In the second his seed

Would be blessed

Hagar was banished

And Ishmael too

A feud commenced

Muslim and Jew preview

Isaac begat Esau

Followed by Jacob

But the younger

Formed Israel’s hub

From Jacob to Israel

His name became

Father of Israel’s tribes

Is still the claim

The most famous were

Judah and Joseph

Former: the lineage of Jesus

Latter: in Egypt rest

Joseph was Prime Minister

In the land of Egypt

Whatever he ordered

Became Pharoah’s edict

His bones were removed

During the exodus

The Israelites left Egypt

After Pharoah’s fuss

On Joseph’s request

Prior to his death

They were taken to Canaan

For their final rest

In the wilderness

Moses would lead

And very often

To God he would plead

Because the Israelites

Were a people stiff-necked

That made the journey

A much longer trek

Moses viewed the land

From a mountain peak

But never entered there

On his two feet

The only ones to enter

Were Joshua and Caleb

After the original group

Had foolishly rebelled

Moses, Joshua, Judges

Then the book of Ruth

Kings and their Chronicles

The Old Testament truth

David and Solomon

I must also mention

Of the kinsfolk of Jesus

Our Lord and salvation

Into the New Testament

Hear the angels sing

In tribute to Jesus

Hail the newborn king

Herod did his worst

But to no avail

He went to his grave

Knowing he had failed

Jesus was crucified

Died and was buried

But in three days

Rose triumphantly

No sting in death

No power in the grave

Jesus defeated both

And added the knave

Salvation is grounded

In resurrection power

Jesus will come again

Any day any hour

Advent number one

Jesus came and died

By cruel men’s hands

He was crucified

Advent number two

He will come to reign

King of kings, Lord of lords

Thus paradise regain

I intended to muse

Then changed my mind

Thought I would leave it

For another time

Stewart Russell © 2017

Adam’s Soliloquy

I am Adam

The first man

Formed by God’s own hand

Straight out of the land

Not a natural birth

Molded from the earth

One of a kind

Not another origin like mine

This is my wife, Eve

Note Eve, not Steve

She is really different

With differing intent

Bone of my bone, yes

And flesh of my flesh

The most beautiful sight in all of Eden

Our first home an amazing garden

You may say

It was too good to last

One disobedient step

And it was a thing of the past

God gave a warning though to Eve and me

Never to eat of a particular tree

But we both disobeyed

And all of humanity was made to pay

Driven from that garden in a hurry

Our first experience of God’s fury

Apart from the tree of life

Into a world of sin and strife

Out of us twain

Came our first born, Cain

After that Abel and Seth

Were followed by all of the rest

Disabuse your mind of Mother Earth

Cain is the first of natural birth

All of our children came

Through birth pangs and much pain

  

And now you’re reading this

Here’s something you shouldn’t miss

You are one of my clan

And one of Eve’s great grans

How different things had become

Very early on we lost Abel, one son

Killed by the other out of jealousy

Sin had filled Cain’s heart with murderous envy

Imagine our great pain and void

Imagine no daily news or tabloid

Imagine when we first got the news

About the way our first-born did choose

Choosing to slay his brother

Then walking away without a bother

Reprimanding God in the process

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” was his protest

Soon my entire family was torn apart

Bringing much grief to Eve’s and my heart

Cain continued in his ungodly way

Further and further from God he strayed

But out of Seth came a line

That called out to God in that time

Enoch walk with God for three hundred years

And one day, just like that, he just disappeared

Reminds me of a time when in the future

This will happen to every born again believer

One moment that great company will be here

The next the entire throng will disappear

A day is but a thousand years in God’s sight

With Him there is no morning, noon and night

We reckoned by the appearing of the great sunlight

God sits in eternity through His infinite might

Each time I recall the following I can only sigh

“The day that you eat thereof you will surely die”

None has ever reached that thousand year score

Nine hundred sixty-nine was Methuselah’s, not a year more

I was one of the ‘nine-hundred’ achievers

Besides me there were only five others

We were certainly limited by what was prophesied

In that before one thousand years we would all die

Nine hundred years experiencing the curse

Nine hundred years regretting my sin, the first

Nine hundreds years of sorrow and bereft

Nine hundred years with the prospect of death

How I wished I could return again to that start

How I dreamed after Eden with all of my heart

How I longed for that communion never to part

How I yearned for Father’s fellowship deep in my heart

Within a single day in God’s sight

All my sunshine had turned to night

It appeared Satan had won this particular fight

But suddenly I recalled something much to my delight

At first I did not understand

When first banished from the Eden land

It was not all a curse but there was a blessed strand

Of grace extended from God’s own hand

Enmity will rage between Satan and man

And it would appear as though man will be damned

But Satan’s onslaught will be a temporary show

For the Messiah will deliver him a fatal blow

Even now as I reminisce these hundreds of years

Nine hundred years of toil and fret and cares

I introduce to you the second Adam

God’s Son and my Saviour, the God-Man

Since I walked the face of this earth

Thousands of years have passed with billions of births

By now you should be looking back at Calvary’s cross

And thanking God you don’t have to be lost

In the garden I fell

In the garden Jesus excelled

I fell to my first trial

But he triumphed over Belial

I sold out the human race

Jesus was the conduit of God’s grace

My love was flawed I do regret

But Jesus’ love is absolutely perfect

I caused death but he brought life

I wilted under pressure but Jesus conquered in the strife

I took all I could but he just gives and gives

I died and decayed but Jesus died and yet lives

I was the first Adam and Jesus the second

There are mostly contrasts but little comparison

My demise was due to my own offense

But his death was for our recompense

He died that you and I can be made alive

It doesn’t matter what Satan and his demons contrive

Death shall be swallowed up and the grave will be no more

As Jesus reveals all that he has in store

I am Adam

The first man

This is my soliloquy

My heat felt plea

Stewart Russell © 2016