The First Presentation of the Gospel

When does the Bible first present the Gospel message of Jesus Christ? Matthew? Isaiah? How about Genesis. Genesis 5 to be specific. Take a moment and look it up. Do you see it?

"The first genealogy!" you say. "Those things? I just bleep over them!"

Why do you do that? Doesn't the Bible say: "ALL scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching . . . " (2 Timothy 3:16)?

I learned an awesome tip the other day listening to a teaching tape (mp3) by Chuck Missler. When the Bible lists a genealogy or list of names, put the name meanings together and see what the sentence says! Tricky, huh?

So NOW take a look at Genesis 5:1-29. Adam means "man," Seth means "appointed," Enos(h) means "mortal," Cainan means "sorrow," Mahelal(eel) means "the blessed God," Jared means "shall come," Enoch means "teaching," Methuselah means "his death shall bring," Lamech means "the despairing," and Noah means "rest."

Put that sentence together (with a couple of connecting words) and you get:

Man('s) appointed (to) mortal sorrow. But the blessed God shall come down teaching (and) his death shall bring the despairing, rest.

Sometimes it may be harder to put them together coherently, because some names may mean more than one thing. But all that aside, isn't this AWESOME?

Even at the beginning of time (as we know it), God was hinting at his planned redemption of his people! The more I learn about the God of the Bible and his Word to us, the more I see how very much we DON'T know. And the more I see how incredible he is!

Now try this with the lists of the tribes of Israel- they're often written in differing orders- maybe for a different message? Or maybe the Apostles? There are certainly plenty of other genealogies. Any other name lists you can think of? Anyone out there willing to do some research- fill us in on what you find!

BLESSING:
May you begin to discover the brilliance of our God, Yahweh. May you learn of the incredible ways he has worked throughout time to reach and connect with us. May you know his great love for his creation- especially his great love for you!