Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 4-7.
When Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the Garden, access to the Tree of Life was lost. This meant that Adam, Eve, and all of their descendants would have to face physical death.
This consequence is emphasized in Genesis 5 as the “generations of Adam” are outlined (Genesis 5:1). Over and over, each man was born, fathered the next generation, then “he died” (Genesis 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31). There was, however, one exception to this – Enoch.
“Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:21-24).
When we get to Genesis 6, we find that mankind had become so corrupt that God was sorry that He made man and determined to destroy all those He had created (Genesis 6:5-7). But there was one exception – Noah.
“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:8-9).
Both of these men, Enoch and Noah, were saved from death. The same reason is given in both cases. Each one of these men “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24; 6:9).
Though the specific conditions of grace have been different under each dispensation, the key to salvation has always been the same: If we want God to save us, we must walk with Him.
Tomorrow’s reading: Genesis 8-11
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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