Drumroll Please

The Rhythm of Genesis 5

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and open it to the book of Genesis. We'll be looking at Genesis chapter 5. If this is the first time you've used the Bible, you could go ahead and grab the pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we would love for you to just keep that Bible for you to have a copy of God's Word. So again, if you look around, you should be able to find a pew Bible in front of you or next to you.

We'll be looking at the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, at chapter 5. I'm going to read the whole chapter for us and then we'll pray. Genesis chapter 5, verses 1 through 32:

This is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God; he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and called them mankind. Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Adam’s life lasted 930 years; then he died. Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh. Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Seth’s life lasted 912 years; then he died. Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Enosh’s life lasted 905 years; then he died. Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Kenan’s life lasted 910 years; then he died. Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Mahalalel’s life lasted 895 years; then he died. Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Jared’s life lasted 962 years; then he died. Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him. Methuselah was 187 years old when he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Methuselah’s life lasted 969 years; then he died. Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son. And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Lamech’s life lasted 777 years; then he died. Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

— Genesis 5:1-32 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we pray as we look at this line, this lineage coming from Seth, that you would help us to trust in Christ alone. Help us to see your glory in your Word this morning. We pray by the strength of your Holy Spirit, and it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Some of you were wondering if I was actually going to read the whole chapter. Well, I did, and I will again! But first, I want to talk to you a little bit about how to do a drumroll. Anybody here play drums? I can think of one person here that plays drums, maybe two.

The way that you would play a drumroll is to learn your rudiments—a really basic pattern like a paradiddle, which is left, right, left, left, right, left, right, right. Get comfortable doing these basic rudiments over and over and over again. And as you practice those basic beats, you start to speed up. As you get familiar with the pattern, the pattern accelerates; it picks up speed. More familiarity builds up rapidity, and then it builds up to the point where it starts to sound just like a drumroll.

Reading Genesis 5 can feel like the driest, most boring list of names that you could possibly read. I used to joke with people that chapters like Genesis 5 are where Bible reading plans go to die. But if you pay attention, if you read these names and read these verses, you start to recognize a pattern. Your eyes start to read faster because you recognize it and get familiar with it. You can actually start to accelerate through it.

I wonder if you can see the pattern here in Genesis 5: life, then death; life, then death. Paradiddle, paradiddle, over and over and over again. You see, Genesis 5 is more than just a list of names—it is a drumbeat. It is a pattern of life and death. As humanity expands and dies, it asks the question of whether there is hope for mankind. If you listen to the drumroll carefully as it picks up speed, as it repeats itself over and over, you can start to hear God's plans in the background steadily coming to pass.

The main idea that God wants us to grasp this morning is to recognize this pattern of mankind. The two points of today's sermon are this exact drumbeat: Point 1 is going to be about life, and Point 2 is going to be about death. Life and death, life and death.

Point 1: Life in the Image of God

Let's start with point number one: life. Read again with me verses 1 and 2: "This is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and called them mankind."

Some of you have Bibles that are built to last for generations. Some of your homes might have giant tomes of family Bibles with lots of pages before you even get to the book of Genesis. These Bibles are designed to last. Most likely, all of the Bibles that you have have a little page on the inside cover for you to inscribe with pen whoever gifted the Bible to you and what your name is, so that if you lose your Bible in these abundant pews, someone can find it and return it to you.

For those Bibles that are a little bit more permanent and meant to last a little longer, you might see additional pages—pages for weddings, births, or deaths—ways to keep track of your own family from generation to generation. People who own those Bibles passed down through generations can look back at those pages and see the legacy of their own family tree—this pattern, the drums.

Similarly, Genesis 5 starts a new section in the book of Genesis. Genesis 1 establishes creation and how God created the heavens and the earth. Chapters 2 through 4 focus in on the very first human beings, Adam and Eve, the consequences of their sin, and the effect on the rest of the planet. Now, Genesis 5 begins to expand in a new section to show this family tree—Adam's family tree.

It's not just a random inscription of one dude's family line. Adam represents all of humanity; his name literally translates to "man." In other words, this family tree isn't just trying to explain how Adam's family lineage got here—it's trying to show how we all got here. That's why it's so important to reiterate the origin of mankind. That's what God calls it.

This is the third time in the book of Genesis that we see the origins of humanity, but this time it serves as a heading of the generations of man. I don't know if you've ever seen this TV show sponsored by Ancestry where a very kind African-American gentleman sits down with various celebrities to follow their family lineage, telling them about their backgrounds and where they came from. People are absolutely shocked! You see some people who were adopted as children finding out who their birth parents were and what their history was like. You also see people who thought they knew their family history really well discover, upon further investigation, that they're actually from a completely different familial line altogether.

If you want to know where you come from, all you have to do is read Genesis 5. This is it. We are made in the image of God. We are made male and female. And when we were created, God blessed us and called us mankind. You and I are made in the image of God; we image Him. In the same way that children image their parents, we image our heavenly Father. Just as God forms and fills creation, we form and fill the earth as we work and multiply.

It also says here that we're made male and female. Male and female aren't just arbitrary social constructs; they are woven into the very fabric of our being. It is the thoughtful intention of our loving Creator to make us male and female.

It also says here that we are blessed. God is eager to bless mankind. There's a lot of morbid humor prevalent today, especially among younger people who feel as though the future is utterly hopeless for them—making light of existence, flippantly talking about ending one's life, the worthlessness of life, or the hopelessness of it all. There's a part of that reality that I'll get into in my second point, but it can often be used to diminish the genuine gift of life from God.

God blesses our existence. God actually rejoices to see life multiply and expand on the earth. He blesses humanity here. We are a blessed people, chosen by God.

Lastly, it says here that we are called. God names us mankind. That naming does two things: first, it identifies us; second, it subordinates us.

First, it identifies us by telling us who we are: we are mankind. We exist to carry out the purposes of God as outlined in Genesis 1:28—to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. That is who you and I are. All of us are called to follow the Lord and obey His commands.

Second, naming subordinates us. What do I mean by that? When God names you and me, He places us under His authority. It helps us understand that we are to submit—that human beings are not the ones ultimately in charge. Naming is a declaration that you can make only if you're in authority, a declaration that ultimately a king makes.

You can think about it with your own kids. Why can you name your kids? Because you're in charge, because you have authority over them. Think about Jesus renaming Peter or Adam naming all the animals in Genesis 2. You're only able to do things like that if you have authority over those things. Adam names Eve in Genesis 3 because he is the male leader. In Genesis 5, God names humanity "mankind" because all of us are under God's authority, and we're called to follow Him. This is the bedrock, the very basis on which humans can begin to build their identity.

Do you know your identity? Do you know your family tree? Knowing where you're from helps you understand where you're going, who you belong to, and whose authority you're under. Friends, all of us who are made in God's image—which is all of us—are responsible to follow this God.

That's exactly what you see the descendants of Adam doing. They are obeying the Lord's command and having kids. You can see that over and over again in the pattern: Adam fathered Seth, Seth fathered Enosh, and so on. Not only that, they're also having other sons and daughters. The earth is getting populated with image-bearers, with humans.

We also see greater blessing applied to those who carry out these commands with greater faithfulness. You can see that with the seventh man in this genealogy, named Enoch. Skip down to verse 21 and read that with me:

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. So Enoch's life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God. Then he was not there because God took him.

— Genesis 5:21-24

Enoch is one of two men I can think of in the Bible—Elijah and Enoch—who never experienced death. He never went through it. They are probably the only two people in all of human history to have that experience. Enoch doesn't live nearly as long as these other men. It seems like all of these men are living extended years, but Enoch only lives 365 years, which are rookie numbers compared to Methuselah's 969 years of life!

However, the reason he lived a shorter life has nothing to do with disobedience, but his obedience. It says here that he walked with God. I love that picture of walking with the Lord. The primary phrase used here isn't just that he knew Him or obeyed Him, but that he walked with Him.

It's one thing to say that you know true things about the Lord; it's another to walk with Him, to be able to call Him friend, and to see God as an active, essential participant in your life. Would people be able to say, if they looked at your life, that you're someone who walks with the Lord? If your neighbors, coworkers, or family members were to find out you were a Christian, how surprised would they be? Would your Bible reading indicate an interest in hearing from God? Would your prayer life show an eagerness to speak to Him?

Is your walk done by yourself, or is it done with the church? All of us as a church have a responsibility not just to tend to our own Christian walk, but to help each other walk with one another as we all collectively walk with God. Would people say that you walk with the Lord?

There's a clear connection here with this disruption in the pattern when it comes to Enoch: those who walk with God are spared from death. I'll get more into how that works later, but the point here is that we need to be people whose walk encourages others to continue in theirs as we love God and love one another. Enoch walks with God, and then he is taken away. As the seventh man in this list of mankind, Enoch is spared from death. But Enoch is the exception, not the rule. While man images God and brings forth life, the consequences of sin continue to persist.

Point 2: The Inevitability of Death

Which brings me to point number two: death. I just want you to look at verses 3 through 31 again. See if you can hear the pattern:

• Verse 5: "So Adam's life lasted 930 years; then he died."
• Verse 8: "So Seth's life lasted 912 years; then he died."
• Verse 11: "So Enosh's life lasted 905 years; then he died."
• Verse 14: "So Kenan's life lasted 910 years; then he died."
• Verse 17: "So Mahalalel's life lasted 895 years; then he died."
• Verse 20: "So Jared's life lasted 962 years; then he died."
• Verse 27: "So Methuselah's life lasted 969 years; then he died."
• Verse 31: "So Lamech's life lasted 777 years; then he died."

Can you start to see how every story ends? Can you recognize the pattern? Can you hear the drumroll? "Then he died. Then he died. Then he died."

Death is the great equalizer. It flattens everything. It steamrolls every gift, pulls the color out of existence, and hollows out everything of its meaning. It is the all-consuming void, the inevitable cliff that we are all headed toward. It doesn't matter if you live 90 years or 969 years—you will live your life, and then you will die.

Do you think about death? In our hypersanitized lives, we've managed to figure out ways to separate ourselves from the reality of death almost every single day. We've thrown our sick into hospitals; we put our dead in beautiful walled gardens. We do everything we can to avoid seeing death in our everyday lives.

Not only have we cast death away, but we proactively work to forget death. We tell ourselves, "Yes, I'm going to die, but at the end of the day, I have bills to pay, families to care for, and dreams to accomplish," trying to drown out this drumbeat of death with the droning of whatever secondary desire has gripped our hearts.

When we read chapters like Genesis 5, we are reminded that if you spend the rest of your life running away from death, at the end of the day, your life will still be spent. Your life will end. You can have the longest list of accomplishments in your eulogy, and at the end, it will still say, "And then they died."

What really matters in this life? John Piper tells a famous story of an 80-year-old man who, toward the end of his life, finally came to know the Lord. Looking back at decades of his life, he wailed in sorrow, saying, "I wasted it! I wasted it! I wasted it!"

If you look back at all that you've built in this life, everything you've dedicated your time toward, and everything you've pursued—can what you've built stand against the tsunami of death? You can try to ignore it, but it will still come.

This pattern permeates all of creation; it's never-ending. This drumbeat doesn't stop with chapter 5; it keeps going over and over again. The longer you live, the more familiar that drumroll gets, doesn't it? The more familiar it gets, the faster it seems to get. Pretty soon, the drumroll comes for you. We're born, we live, and then we die. We die, and then we die, and then we die.

With that inevitability, what kind of hope exists for sinners like you and me who have to face the inevitable consequences of our sin, and after death must stand before a holy and righteous God to give an account for the sins we've committed?

Point 3: The Hope of Deliverance

Even in the expansion of the very first generations of humanity, God implants hints of His master plan of redemption, which brings us to a third point: hope. You might ask, "Is he really going to preach a sermon with just two points?" No, there are three points! The third point is hope.

Look again at verse 28. At the very end, we see a disruption to this pattern:

Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son, and he named him Noah, saying, "This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed." Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Lamech's life lasted 777 years. Then he died. Noah was 500 years old and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

— Genesis 5:28-32

That's the end of the chapter. It doesn't say "then he died" for Noah; it just leaves it there. Toward the end of this genealogical drumroll, we see another disruption of the pattern.

That name "Lamech" might sound familiar to you if you remember the sermon from two Sundays ago. In the line of Cain, you also see a son named Lamech—one who boasted in his own might and flexed his own ability. He said, "If Cain was to be avenged seven times, then Lamech will be avenged seventy times seven times." He boasted in his might and his own ability.

But the Lamech in Seth's line is totally different. This guy is not able; he recognizes his helplessness. He cries out, recognizing the agonizing labor of their hands. He looks around at this pattern that he's seen over the centuries of his life, and all he sees is devastation around him: the ground is cursed, our work is cursed, I am cursed. He can't help but ask, "Who is going to redeem this mess?"

He hopes in his son, in his seed—a guy named Noah. So he names him Noah, which means "comfort" or "relief." When you think about the inevitable pressures of death, isn't that what you want? Relief! Real rest!

In the face of this consistent drumroll, that declaration almost sounds insane: "This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands... This son is going to undo the curse of sin in our lives."

When I was a little kid, my parents—lovely parents, so grateful for them—made it very clear to me as Korean immigrants that they had no retirement plan, and that I was it! If my sister and I didn't pick ourselves up and make something of our lives, we wouldn't just be dishonoring ourselves, but we wouldn't be able to take care of them. That's a lot of pressure to put on an eight-year-old! How much more pressure for Noah to undo the agonizing labor of human hands?

If you're reading the book of Genesis for the first time, you look at Noah and expect this guy to do something absolutely remarkable. If the promise of the seed in Genesis 3:15—that He will crush the serpent's head and put an end to this curse—is true, it sounds like Lamech is looking at his son Noah and saying, "This guy is it!"

And the drumroll slows. Noah lives 500 years, and he doesn't die—at least not in chapter 5. That part of the story comes next week. But friends, you and I both know that there's a lot of book left, a lot of Genesis left, a lot of Bible left. All of us have had the experience of trying to bank our hope on things that end up not pulling through, and Noah is no exception. He doesn't come through; he falls into sin just like the rest of us. The curse is not undone.

The Genealogy of Deliverance

But Lamech was right—he was just a little early. Can you recognize the pattern that permeates through the entire narrative of Scripture? You have life, you have death, but you also have hope. Even the most repetitiously dismal passages in Scripture end with rays of hope. Even chapter 3, which explains the curse of sin in our lives, ends with hope in Genesis 3:15—the promise of the One who would crush the serpent's head.

If that promise is true—that someone would come to bring relief from the labor of our hands and undo the curse—then this genealogy is not just tracking the inevitable drumroll of death. It's not just a family tree of mankind; this genealogy becomes a family tree of the Son of Man. In fact, all of these names aren't pointing down toward death; they're pointing forward toward the coming seed who would bring the rest Lamech was lamenting for.

Turn your Bibles ahead to Luke chapter 3. I think Luke understands exactly what Moses is trying to do in Genesis 5 when he lists the genealogy of Jesus's lineage in Luke 3. If you're tempted to skip verses 23 through 38 in Luke 3, remember Genesis 5. Remember this drumbeat of death passed on from generation to generation.

When Jesus finally comes on the scene in the Gospels, Luke presses the reverse button on the tape. He shows how this genealogy isn't pointing down toward death, but actually upward toward life:

...son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

— Luke 3:36-38 (CSB)

Does that sound familiar? Do you recognize those names? What is Luke doing? He is showing how, generation after generation, every link of humanity was pointing forward to this promised Christ. He's showing that the drumroll of this genealogy, even in Genesis 5, isn't ultimately a drumroll of death—it is a drumroll of deliverance!

Lamech cries out, saying, "Give me rest!" And the Son of Noah, Lamech, Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalalel, Kenan, Enosh, Seth, Adam—the Son of God—comes to answer Lamech's request on the cross. He dies the death that you and I deserve for our sin. The penalty of sin—death itself—was poured out on Jesus in full. As He breathed His last breath, His own death put death to death and brought that drumroll to a complete stop.

Faith That Conquers Death

Jesus is the One who puts an end to this cursed cycle of death. Knowing Jesus changes everything about what you and I do. Friends, what is our hope in this life? Not that death is inevitable, but that Christ is a capable Savior who has conquered death itself.

Did you notice that Genesis 5:21-24 never mentions why Enoch was spared from death? I pulled a little trick on you by talking about Enoch early! The ultimate purpose of Enoch is not to be an example for us of doing good things for God so that we can spare ourselves from physical death. In fact, Genesis 5 says nothing about the reason why Enoch was taken up by God—it just says that Enoch walked with Him, and then the Lord took him.

The reason why Enoch was taken isn't found in Genesis 5; it's actually found in Hebrews 11:

By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

— Hebrews 11:5-6 (CSB)

What made Enoch acceptable before the Lord? The author of Hebrews is pretty clear: what makes Enoch acceptable before God is not simply that he walked with Him, or that Enoch had some special spiritual strut that was more impressive than the rest of the men on this list. It was that Enoch was resting in faith in God. He had confidence in the Lord—that the Lord is someone worth delighting in, that the Lord was his reward. Because he loved the Lord, he was willing to walk and draw near to Him.

In other words, Enoch was saved by faith alone. It was because of his faith that he was willing to walk with the Lord. It was because he trusted that Jesus was better, that God is good, and that He has rewards for His children, that he was willing to draw near to God and walk with Him.

How much more for you and me who trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus? Do you need any other reason to go to Him? Do you need any other argument? Do you need any other plea? It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

What can cause Christians like you and me to be willing to rise up and stand against the tide of so much evil in this world? What strengthens us and motivates us in such a way that we're willing to continue to fight sin that seeks to devour our hearts? What gives us the motivation to hold on to hope even when we know that our heart is inevitably going to stop beating?

Only trusting a God who has conquered death itself—where you know, "If I trust Him, if I draw near to Him, He rewards those who earnestly seek after Him." You need a guarantee. You need something you can bank your hope in—something worth walking toward, and not just walking toward God, but walking with Him.

How much more for Christians who have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us? You cannot get closer to God than to be in Christ, to be united with Him, and to walk in Him. Friends, if you want the confidence to be able to walk, pursue, love, and hold on to this hope, you need to believe.

If you're not a Christian, that's what we want you to do. We want you to believe, to see this Savior, to look at the Son of Man, the Son of God, who was crucified and raised from the dead, and to be able to declare with all of your heart: "This One will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands caused by the ground that the Lord has cursed."

Friends, the good news of the Gospel, even in Genesis 5, is that you do not need to fear the drumroll of death, because your Savior has crushed death under His feet. Your final breath in this life is just the birth of your everlasting life—like a seed that dies and then sprouts from the ground.

In your heavenly genealogy, as it recounts the Lord's faithfulness in your own life, it may say, just like Enoch, Enosh, Mahalalel, and all these other guys: "After they lived many years, then they died." But if you trust Christ, if you believe in His saving work, in His death and resurrection for you, it won't end with those words. After those words, it will read: "But because Christ died, then they rose."

Let's pray.