Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech;
Between Adam and Noah stand seven names and no verbs — about seventeen centuries in one line of descent. Chronicles opens this way for a reason: these are not leftover records but the opening links of a chain God is tracing toward one Person.
Seven Names, Seventeen Centuries
One writer notes how much history these seven names pass over, and how few men in that whole age stood out for faith:
The Bible TreasuryThe King is before the mind of the Spirit, Who hurries onward and with seven names covers the whole time from creation to the flood, a space reckoned at nearly one thousand seven hundred years. In all that time only two men are singled out for their faith until we come to Noah — Abel and Enoch of the old world.
Henoch Is Enoch
Chronicles spells this name Henoch. Genesis calls the same man Enoch, and what is said of him is short but bright:
Morrish Bible DictionarySon of Jared, and father of Methuselah. Of him it is said, he "walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." It is also said that by faith he was taken up, and that before this he had this testimony: he pleased God. He is a bright example in those early days. By grace a man can have fellowship with God, and so please God, and know it, enjoying the light of His face while walking with Him in a sinful world. Enoch was taken to heaven without dying, as the living saints will be at the coming of the Lord Jesus. Called HENOCH in 1 Chr. 1:3.
Names That Preached
The names themselves carry meaning. Read in order and translated, commentators say, the ten names form one sentence. In it Henoch means "To instruct", Methuselah "His death sends", and Lamech "To the afflicted":
For the YoungIf we turn back to 1 Chronicles 1, the opening three verses give us one of the wonderful sentences of Inspiration. It is a sentence containing ten proper names and not a single verb. The names are these: Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. Dr Kitto has pointed out something remarkable. Translated literally, in order, these ten names form this sentence in English: Man, Appointed [or Replaced], Miserable, Lamenting, The God of Glory, Shall descend, To instruct, His death sends, To the afflicted, Consolation. So the very names of the patriarchs before the flood would be a standing testimony to the world. Methuselah's name in particular was a warning message to the sinners of old. The prophet Enoch, whose own name marked him out as one able "to instruct," gave his son a name that foretold a coming judgment: it would "descend" after his death. The very year in which Methuselah died, the Flood came. One cannot help noticing that after the name of the oldest man this world ever saw, God wrote "and he died."
The Line God Refused To Record
Another family line ran alongside this one, and Chronicles will not touch it. Cain, who left God's presence, has no place in the register:
The Bible TreasuryIt is worth noticing here that in this Book of Chronicles, where God is writing up His people... the Spirit refuses to introduce or mention Cain, that wicked one, and his descendants. I judge this was so that the earthly family might be rightly identified by descent... Cain went away out of the presence of God, and became a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. How could such a man be a link in the chronicles of an elect people?
A Chain Without Gaps
Later chapters of Chronicles skip generations. This one does not:
H. L. RossierWe see that the genealogy begins with Adam. Verses 1 to 4 agree with what is revealed in Genesis. Moreover, there are no gaps in this first chapter. As soon as we come to Israel's history in 1 Chronicles 2, gaps appear. When Chronicles was written, the genealogies of many in this people were still uncertain, because no one could prove them.
Where The List Is Heading
Why start at Adam, rather than Abraham or David? Because the record reaches wider than Israel:
The Bible Treasury...the sin and failure of man, and Satan's determined opposition, are only occasions for the display of sovereign grace and almighty power. Christ the Son will be the King of the Jews as Son of David. He will be the Inheritor of the promises as Son of Abraham. But as Son of Man He will also be King of kings and Lord of lords. So His genealogy runs down from Adam, that He, the last Adam, should win back the headship over the lower creation which the first Adam lost... The genealogy points to Him.
Summary
- The line begins — from Adam, not from Abraham, because the last Adam must recover what the first Adam lost.
- The line is pure — Cain walked out of God's presence, so God leaves him off the register and writes up only the chosen line.
- The line is exact — chapter 1 has no gaps and matches Genesis. Later chapters admit uncertainty.
- The line preaches — the names in order spell out a message. Methuselah's name warned of judgment, and the Flood came the year he died.
- The line ends in a Person — Henoch walked with God and went to heaven without dying; the whole chain runs on to Christ.