Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Thursday after the Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: Genesis 5:1-32 (NKJV)
 
5:1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam.
 
In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
 
3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
 
6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. 7 After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
 
9 Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan. 10 After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
 
12 Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13 After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
 
15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. 16 After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.
 
18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.
 
21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
 
25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 26 After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.
 
28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.” 30 After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.
 
32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
 
Devotion
 
In Chapter 4 the descendants of Cain became a large and talented nation who, in spite of the blessings they received from God, chose to care nothing about God and did not follow Him. Then in verses 25-26 God blessed Adam and Eve with another son, whom they named Seth, and Seth was given a son named Enosh. We are told “Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.” This new line, which our reading for today calls “the genealogy of Adam,” becomes the Church, the people of God through whom God has promised to bless all mankind. The rest of this chapter lists all the genealogy of the line of Seth through the years right up until Noah. This is the Church through which God has promised to send the Savior to redeem His people from sin.
 
In this list we find Enoch (vs. 24), of whom it is said he “walked with God.” And finally we come to Noah, of whom it is said, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,” and “Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:8-9). God preserved for Himself a faithful Church.
 
In Hebrews 11 we find some of these names as part of a longer list of “witnesses” who were saved by faith in the promise of the Holy Triune God. These witnesses are listed in order to assure us that this One God is faithful and He will also keep us until the end.
 
We pray: O God, by the leading of a star You once made known to all nations Your Only-Begotten Son; now lead us, who know You by faith, to know after this life the fullness of Your divine goodness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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