Family Lines

I considered skipping the genealogy accounts which lead to the story of Noah, but I decided that there must be a reason for that passage in scripture.  If it weren't important, it wouldn't be in there right? :)  I have included the chart above so you can easily see the names and lifespans of the ten generations of men which occurred between Adam and Noah.

Each of these men have lives which span between 350 to almost a thousand years.  When I researched this on the internet the general consensus was that biblical scholars are stumped.  I wish I had more answers here but all I have is more questions! 

If the numbers are taken literally, that means Noah was born only 126 years after the death of Adam.  Methuselah and Lamech would have been alive when Noah began building the ark. I had never thought about all this generational overlap before!  And though each of these men have long lives, it is a relatively short time between the creation of man and the great flood. 

Enoch is the most mysterious character in this portion of Scripture.  "After Enoch 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 5:22-24  In what way did Enoch "walk with God"?  When God "took him away," did Enoch die or was he raised up body and soul?  There seemed to be a lot of debate over this when I did research over the internet.  I also don't understand why someone who was so close to God would have only brief passage in the Bible.  I want to know more about the mysterious Enoch!

Reading this portion made me realize more than anything that I need the help of some spiritual and theological teachers along the way.  Though I would love to simply comment on the way each Bible story makes me feel and the meaning I draw from it, I think it is most important to understand the scriptures' full context first! I will keep you posted on what resources I choose to help us along the way!