Adam and Eve had many children, but only 3 that the Bible refers to in particular: Cain, Abel, and Seth. Abel didn’t get a chance to have a wife and family because Cain murdered him. God told Cain he was cursed from the earth and would become a fugitive and a vagabond upon it.
Also, God said the ground would no longer yield her bounty to him. This was a great disaster for Cain, the too proud farmer.
Cain told the Lord his punishment was greater than he could bear, and that everyone would want to kill him. “And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold (7 times).
“And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him” (Genesis 4:15b).
The Bible doesn’t mention what the mark might be, but I think it might have been a number 7.
Cain’s descendants and their achievements are mentioned in Genesis 4. There are eight generations from Adam to the Great Flood that are mentioned in the Bible.
1) Adam;
2) Cain;
3) Enoch;
4) Irad;
5) Mehujael;
6) Methusael;
7) Lamech;
8) Jabal/Jubal/Tubal-cain.
Cain’s great, great, great grandson, Lamech, also killed a young man. Lamech, oddly enough, was the 7th generation from Adam (inclusive reckoning). “And Lamech said unto his wives, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold (77)” (Genesis 4:23-24). Keep in mind, this is Lamech talking and not God.
God never said these words concerning Lamech and didn’t put a mark on him, as He did with Cain. Violence and murder were on the rise in these later antediluvian times. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
Sometime after Cain Killed Abel, Adam and Eve had another son and they named him Seth. This is the patriarch that eventually produced Noah and his three sons; whom the seed of all human beings on the earth come from. The Great Flood destroyed the rest of mankind.
Genesis 5 lists Adam and Seth’s descendants. Noah is the 10th generation from Adam (inclusive reckoning); and his three sons, Japeth, Ham, and Shem, are the 11th generation. There are three more generations listed for Seth than Cain. It’s possible that Cain was much older than Seth, since they lived such long lives in those times.
Seth’s descendants demonstrated faithfulness to the Lord. “And to Seth, to him also was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). This faithfulness is most apparent by the meaning of their names. Remember, Adam was good at naming things. He named all of the living creatures in the animal kingdom.
Here are the genealogy names, year of birth from creation, year of death from creation, meaning of names for Adam and Seth’s descendants, and their age at death.
NAME BIRTH DEATH MEANING AGE AT DEATH
1) Adam 1 930 “Man” 930
2) Seth 130 1042 “Appointed” 912
3) Enos 235 1140 “Mortal” 905
4) Cainan 325 1235 “Sorrow” 910
5) Mahalaleel 395 1290 “The blessed God.” 895
6) Jared 460 1422 “Shall come down” 962
7) Enoch 622 987 “Teaching” 365*
8) Methuselah 687 1656 “His death shall bring” 969
9) Lamech 874 1651 “Despairing” 777
10) Noah 1056 2006 “Rest” 950
These 10 names contain the gospel message: “Man is appointed mortal sorrow. But the blessed God shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the despairing rest.”
*Enoch never died but was raptured up to heaven by God.
If you compare the names of the two family genealogies of Cain and Seth, there are many similarities and some are exactly the same. For example: Cainan’s name is more than likely derived from Cain. Cain would have been Cainan’s great uncle. It’s unusual that the meaning of Cainan’s name is “sorrow”. The name similarities continue with Mahujuel and Mahalalel, and also Methusael and Methuselah.
The 7th generation from Adam, through Seth, is Enoch. He was probably named after Cain’s son Enoch. The name Enoch means “teaching.” By tradition Adam, Seth, and Enoch, named the stars, putting the gospel story in the 12 constellations of the Mazzaroth…which was later perverted in the signs of the Zodiac.
Lamech must have gotten his name from his great uncle, Lamech, of Cain’s family. Cain’s Lamech is the one who killed a young man, although it could have been in self-defense. The name Lamech means “despairing”. How would you like to have a name with that meaning/suggestion?
The two Lamechs seem to have an affinity toward the number 7. The Bible doesn’t mention the younger Lamech killing anybody or needing to be avenged 7 or 77 times like Cain or the elder Lamech. However, he does seem to be cursed with a very short life compared to the other antediluvian patriarchs. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. Most of Seth’s line lived to be 900 plus years old, including Noah; but Lamech was only 777 years old when he died.
Methuselah outlived his son , Lamech, by 5 years. Methuselah, whose name means “his death shall bring”, died the year the great flood came; 1656 years after Creation and Adam.
Methuselah must have been blessed indeed. His father was Enoch, who “walked with the Lord” for 300 years after Methuselah was born. Enoch was then raptured up to heaven by God. Methuselah must have been the main recipient of Enoch’s wisdom and teaching for those 300 years.
The rapture of Enoch took place 987 years after Adam was created. Adam didn’t live long enough to witness the rapture of Enoch (or the after effects), but Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech did. Seth would have been an old man of 857 years old and Lamech would have been relatively young at 113 years old. Noah hadn’t been born yet.
Seth died 14 years before Noah was born. Noah likely knew most of his ancestors personally including: Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and his father, Lamech. The stories of Creation (including the original patriarchs, Adam and Eve) and the rapture of Enoch; would have been passed on from one generation to the next. Noah could have heard of these events and other family history/genealogy from Enos himself. Enos was Noah’s great, great, great, great, great grandfather. Also, there were likely scrolls written on clay tablets of family records and birth/death anniversaries that got passed down from one generation to the next.
The antediluvian epoch was a time of great evil upon the earth:
“There were giants in the earth in those days: and also after that when the sons of God came unto the daughters of them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:4-9).
Noah, the 10th generation from Adam, walked with God; as did his great grandfather, Enoch, the 7th generation from Adam. God gave Noah a 120 year warning regarding the tribulation that was to come upon the Earth. He also gave him instructions for building an ark and gathering of both animals and crops for food. The animals would share the arc with Noah and wife, and their 3 sons and their 3 wives. Only 8 human beings survived God’s wrath when He sent the Great Flood. The flood lasted for about a full calendar year.
Noah was 480 years old when God’s word/warning came to him. His father, Lamech, was 662 years old at this time; and Methuselah was 849 years old. Shem hadn’t been born yet. All of the other antediluvian patriarchs of Seth’s line had died (or was raptured) by this time.
Noah was 600 years old and Shem was 99 years old when the Flood came. The Bible doesn’t mention the ages of Noah’s two elder sons, Japeth and Ham.
Cain’s family line and all of the other sons of Adam did not heed God’s “word” to Noah and they perished in their sins.
The rapture of Enoch was a foretaste of the future Rapture of the Church. The Great Flood was a foretaste of the future Great Tribulation. Enoch was raptured before the flood. Noah and family were saved through the great tribulation of the flood, as the Tribulation saints will be in the end days:
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37).
Lamech’s days might have been shortened for the same reason that the days of the Great Tribulation will be shortened:
“And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he has chosen, he has shortened the days” (Mark 13:20).
I believe the Jewish calendar’s yearly sum total since creation is incorrect by about 200 years. Concerning this and a timeline for biblical chronology, see my previous article at https://www.raptureready.com/?s=epochs+of+time. It’s ironic that our current Gregorian calendar year of AD 2017 is 5777 on the Jewish calendar; 5 years after Lamech died (prematurely) at 777 years old, the Great Flood came.
Regardless of when the Great Tribulation occurs, it will come in like a flood and will be completely devastating. Instead of waiting for this horrific world event, wait for Jesus to come back at the Rapture. If you believe in Him as your Lord and Savior, He will save you from the wrath to come.
Become like Enoch and Noah and “walk with the Lord”. Let Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, be your constant companion mentally and spiritually. Focus your thoughts and prayers toward Him. As Paul said In Philippians 4:8:
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Randy Nettles