An innocent person was sentenced to serve a lifetime of self-incarceration! If an average lifetime lasted 70-80 years; that would be a terrible tragedy. That tragedy would be compounded if the person lived longer than 90 years! Imagine if you will, a person serving TEN life sentences! Some crimes are so horrible it has prompted judges to sentence people to 900 year sentences. Would it surprise you to learn that one person in the Bible was sentenced to TEN life sentences and—served them all!
When Adam and Eve were invited out of the Garden of Eden, God placed a curse on both Adam and Eve, and on the entire earth. Sin had tainted every single thing, everything present and everything to come. The whole earth had become a prison. Every human was self-incarcerated until death released them from captivity. One man in particular had the special distinction of serving more time than anyone in the history of the earth.
This man was the oldest living person ever recorded: his father, Enoch, named him Methuselah. Genesis chapter 5 gives us the record of Methuselah living 969 years! Just knowing who his father was tells us the son probably followed in his father’s footsteps, and served God with all his heart. How could a person live that long you ask? Let’s turn the question around and ask ourselves—is anything impossible for God? What a family history; his father Enoch walked with God, Methuselah was the oldest living person ever, and his grandson, Noah, saved the whole world. What a genealogy!
Why are genealogies included in the Bible? Hebrew beliefs were passed along through oral tradition. Stories were told to children who passed them on because for many years writing was nonexistent and primitive. This helped people remember their stories. Genealogies give us a skeletal outline that helped people remember their stories. Genealogies point out an interesting characteristic of God. People are important to him as individuals, not just as races or nations. Hence, God references people by name, mentioning their life span and descendants. Each person is a valuable and unique creation of God. God gave people longer lives so they could have time to “fill the earth”. Most importantly, genealogies were included to confirm the Bible’s promise of the Messiah!
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner:but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God…”2 Timothy 2:8
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