So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died. Sermons
1. The earthly basis of the blessing in the tribe itself. 2. The nearest fulfillments of it in the temporal history. 3. The symbolical import pointing to a remoter fulfillment. We may compare the many dying scenes of the Bible with this; as the last words of Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Simeon, Stephen, Paul, Peter, and the apocalyptic visions of John. Compare especially the song of Moses, and the prophecy of Balaam. It seems possible that the beautiful exclamation, ver. 18, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord," was intended to form a kind of middle point, separating the groups of blessings into one of seven, and another of five. The first group has a Messianic character, the second a wider, cosmopolitan. In the first, Judah, the royal tribe, represents the theocracy. In the second, Joseph, the link of connection between Israel and Egypt, represents the kingdom of Christ becoming the universal kingdom, from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. The whole is a typical representation of "Israel" in the higher sense. 1. It comes out of sinful human nature. 2. It is developed by the grace of God in human history. 3. It stands upon the Divine order of the twelve tribes, the revealed truth, and the Divinely sanctioned religions life and institutions. 4. The essential dement in the history, is the Messiah coming out o/Judah, the shepherd of Israel, the stone of help out of Joseph, the Nazarite, the tried man, the blessed one. 5. The kingdom of Christ is the universal blessedness of the world. When Jacob has handed on his blessing to his heirs, he gathers up his feet into the bed, yields up the ghost, and is gathered to his people. When the carnal Israel is done with, the spiritual Israel remains. When the promises of God shall be fulfilled, then there shall be no more concern with the earthly pilgrimage. "The blessings prevail unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." - R.
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. Sketches of Sermons. I. THE SUBJECT OF THIS BRIEF NARRATION. Adam, the first of men. Here it may be profitable to notice him most attentively.1. As a compound being, formed of different component parts. (1) (2) 2. As to the common head of mankind; both our natural and moral head. (1) (2) 3. As the chief of sinners. 4. As a subject of God's redeeming mercy. 5. As a figure or type of Christ. II. HIS LIFE. He lived nine hundred and thirty years. His life may be considered — 1. In its origin. Divine (Luke 3:38). 2. In its progress, as singularly diversified. 3. In its duration, as graciously protracted. From the protracted life of Adam learn the great end for which our lives are continued; that we may glorify God by getting and doing good. III. HIS DEATH; HE DIED. His death may be considered — 1. As a dissolution of first principles. He died; he was not annihilated, but merely dissolved. His body returned to dust, his soul to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7). 2. As the fruit of sin. 3. As a release from the vanity and evils of this world. 4. As a certain indication of our own. (Sketches of Sermons.) I. The first way of acting with regard to death, is NOT TO THINK ABOUT IT AT ALL; that is the way of men of the world. They can so occupy themselves with the things of this life, that they forget, in some sort, that this life is to have an end. 1. Such a young man thus forgets death in the stupefaction of pleasures. 2. Another young man is thus brought to forget death in the preoccupation of work. 3. The old man himself often comes to conceal from himself the death which is already so near him. He can no longer work; he can no longer deliver himself up to the noisy pleasures of youth, but he can still procure distractions for himself, which beguile his ennui, and remove from him the thought of death; he can stir throw the dice, or hold the cards, and the game will make him forget the flight of time. Or in the moments of idleness; say, when he is thrown back upon his own reflections, he will transport himself in idea into the past; he will turn over in his memory, and with inward satisfaction, too, the scenes of his youth and of his riper age, and that preoccupation with the past will hinder him from thinking about the future. And, in a word, there are many means of diverting one's thoughts, and deceiving one's self with regard to death; but is such conduct wise and reasonable? is it really for our interest? II. A second manner of acting with regard to death consists in PERSUADING ONE'S SELF THAT EVERYTHING ENDS AT DEATH; this is the way of infidels. The men whom I have in view do not at all divert their thoughts from the necessity which is laid upon them to die; they do not fear (at least, to judge from their pretensions), to look in the face the thought of death; they speak voluntarily and coolly of it; they believe that they possess the secret of not fearing it. They mock the people simple enough to trouble themselves with what is to follow death. As regards themselves — more enlightened and freed from those vulgar prejudices — they are convinced that what is called our soul is but a result of physical organization, and that, in consequence, it cannot survive the dissolution of the body; that judgment to come, heaven, hell, and life eternal, are so many idle fancies of weak minds. By means of such a conviction they pretend to live tranquilly, and not to fear death. Annihilation is a sad prospect; there is in the thought of annihilation something which horrifies our nature, and which we cannot look at without shuddering. What strange consolation to oppose to the trials of life is the future expected by the infidel! There is another existence after this, and the infidels themselves are forced, sooner or later, to do homage to that truth. At the approach of death they see the fragile stage of their infidelity fall in pieces like a house of cards at the breath of a child; and the anguish of their conscience becomes then an argument, tardy but terrible, in favour of a life to come. It is not, then, in the ranks of infidels that we shall find the best way of preparing for death. III. A third way of conducting one's self with regard to death consists in MAKING AN EFFORT TO MERIT BY ONE'S WORKS FUTURE HAPPINESS; it is the Way with self-righteous men. If, then, a man observed the law of God perfectly, he could wait fearlessly for death, assured beforehand that the consequences will be happy in his case; he could present himself with confidence at the judgment of God, and ask from Him eternal life as a recompense which he has merited. But, as there is not a single man that has perfectly observed the law of God, there is not one who can procure for himself by that means a solid peace in view of death. IV. But that peace which we seek in vain in ourselves, might it not be found in CONFIDENCE IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD? It is there at least that many persons seek it. Here again, we are forced to overthrow that pretended peace as dangerous and illusive. No! it is in vain that you pretend to found your peace in presence of death on the goodness of God, while leaving in the shade His justice. The goodness of God, separated from His justice, is but a frail reed, which will pierce the hand of the imprudent one who rests on it. V. We shall need, you see, in order to our being able to die tranquilly, A MEANS OF PREPARING FOR DEATH THAT WOULD SATISFY THE JUSTICE OF GOD, AT THE SAME TIME THAT IT WOULD DO HOMAGE TO HIS GOODNESS. It would be necessary that at the very time when His goodness displayed itself in the pardon of the sinner, His justice should preserve its rights in the punishment of the sin. If there existed a System founded on truth, and satisfying that double condition, it would assuredly be the best means, or rather the only means, of preparing us to die tranquilly. Now, that system exists, that means is found, and you have already named it in your thought; it is faith in Jesus Christ. After all human systems have been tried in succession, and been found false and powerless, how joyfully the means which God Himself has proposed, and which is the only one that can give peace to our hearts, is returned to; that system, simple as well as Divine, which is summed up in the words, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!" Faith in Christ presents the secret of satisfying at once the justice of God and His goodness. The Cross of Christ unites what an eternal abyss seemed to separate. (A. Monod, D. D.) (H. Bonar, D. D.) It is said that the striking thing in this chapter is the painful repetition of the words, "and he died." In a popular magazine some years ago there appeared an article, "An Hour Among the Tombstones," in which the writer gives the following: — "In memory of Richard B — , who died August 1, 18 — . He was for many years an inhabitant of this parish." Was he? Well most people are "inhabitants" of some "parish"; and if they live long enough, and are not over fidgety, of the same parish for "many years." That is little enough to say of Richard B — . But what sort of an "inhabitant" was he? Cross and surly, miserly and close-fisted, selfish and ungodly; or, a good man, fearing his God, and blessing his neighbour? Good stone mason, come hither. You have written too much or too little. Either cut out what is on yonder stone, or else cut in something more creditable to him "who was for many years an inhabitant of this parish."One Guerricus, hearing these words read in the Church, out of the Book of Genesis: "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died; all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died; and all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died; and all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years, and he died," etc., — hearing, I say, these words read, the very conceit of death wrought so strongly upon him, and made so deep an impression in his mind, that he retired from the world and gave himself wholly to devotion, that so he might die the death of the godly, and arrive more safely at the haven of felicity, which is nowhere to be found in this world. And thus should we do when we look back to the many ages that are past before us, but thus we do not: like those that go the Indies, we look not on the many that have been swallowed up by the waves, but on some few that have got by the voyage: we regard not the millions that are dead before us, but have our eyes set on the lesser number that survive with us; and hence it comes to pass that our passage out of this world is so little minded.(J. Spencer.) People Adam, Cainan, Enoch, Enos, Enosh, Ham, Japheth, Jared, Kenan, Lamech, Mahalaleel, Methuselah, Noah, Seth, ShemPlaces Tigris-Euphrates RegionTopics 912, Dieth, Hundred, Nine, Seth, Seth's, Thus, TwelveOutline 1. Recapitulation of the creation of man.3. The genealogy, age, and death of the patriarchs from Adam to Noah. 22. Enoch's godliness and translation into Heaven. 25. The family line of Methuselah to Noah and his sons Dictionary of Bible Themes Genesis 5:8 1655 hundreds and thousands Library With, Before, After'Enoch walked with God,'--GENESIS v. 22. 'Walk before Me.'--GENESIS xvii. 1. 'Ye shall walk after the Lord your God.'--DEUTERONOMY xiii. 4. You will have anticipated, I suppose, my purpose in doing what I very seldom do--cutting little snippets out of different verses and putting them together. You see that these three fragments, in their resemblances and in their differences, are equally significant and instructive. They concur in regarding life as a walk--a metaphor which expresses continuity, … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture After the Scripture. The Neo-Kohlbruggians. Walking with God. Gen 5:24 The Epistle of Saint Jude. Consolations against the Fear of Death. "But it is Good for Me to Draw Near to God: I have Put My Trust in the Lord God, that I May Declare all Thy Influences that Gave Rise to the Priestly Laws and Histories The Promise to the Patriarchs. Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes Genesis Links Genesis 5:8 NIVGenesis 5:8 NLT Genesis 5:8 ESV Genesis 5:8 NASB Genesis 5:8 KJV Genesis 5:8 Bible Apps Genesis 5:8 Parallel Genesis 5:8 Biblia Paralela Genesis 5:8 Chinese Bible Genesis 5:8 French Bible Genesis 5:8 German Bible Genesis 5:8 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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