More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP Gen. 5 The Line of Promise, The Preachers of Righteousness
Have you ever skimmed past Genesis 5, seeing it as nothing more than a tedious list of ancient names and numbers? What if those seemingly dry verses contain profound wisdom for your family's spiritual journey?
Dr. Robert Jackson ("Dr. Papa") uncovers the hidden treasures within this genealogy, revealing how the ten patriarchs from Adam to Noah lived extraordinarily long lives—averaging 912 years—and served as "preachers of righteousness" to preserve God's truth across generations. The fascinating connections he draws illuminate why Adam lived until Noah's father was 56 years old, creating an unbroken chain of firsthand spiritual testimony spanning nearly 1,700 years before the flood.
Beyond historical curiosity, this episode challenges parents and grandparents to recognize their sacred responsibility as spiritual teachers. "You're not responsible for the entire world," Dr. Jackson reminds us, "but you are responsible for your little lambs, your circle of influence." Drawing from Psalm 71:17-18, he shares his personal prayer that God would sustain him to declare divine truth to his descendants—not merely to witness their growth, but to impart eternal wisdom that shapes their souls.
Whether you're raising young children, mentoring grandchildren, or simply wondering about your spiritual legacy, this episode will transform how you view your role in God's multi-generational plan. Subscribe to hear more from "Devotions with Dr. Papa," and discover why passing faith to the next generation might be the most important work you'll ever do.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story?
Speaker 1:Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written Word, which reveals to us the living Word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we are now up to Genesis, chapter 5. Let me read to you a few verses in Genesis 5. I'm not going to read the entire chapter, although we are going to discuss the entire chapter in today's lesson.
Speaker 1:Genesis 5, verse 1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and he blessed them and named them man. In the day when they were created, when Adam had lived 130 years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years. Lived were 930 years and he died. Seth lived 105 years and became the father of Enosh. Then Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died. Enosh lived 90 years and became the father of Kenan. Then Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enosh were 905 years and he died.
Speaker 1:Now I want to make some observations about this chapter and I want you to understand that this pattern is repeated 10 times. There are 10 patriarchs mentioned in chapter 5, all the way up to the life of Noah, and this pattern that I just read to you is repeated 10 times. It names the patriarch, it names how many years he lived until he gave birth to a son who was in the lineage of the seed of the woman, and then it says that he had other sons and daughters, and then it tells us how many years he lived until he died. Then it goes to the next patriarch in the lineage of the seed of the woman and it repeats that process. Now let's talk about some interesting observations in chapter 5. Verse 1, it tells us this is the book. It's interesting that it is a written record, not just a history transmitted orally, in which Adam records the events of creation, the fall of man, expulsion from the garden and the first fratricide, when Cain kills Abel. All of this is written, presumably by Adam. Adam himself wrote chapters 2, 3, and 4.
Speaker 1:This is the first mention of a book in Holy Scriptures, ie in the Old Testament. The first mention of a book in the New Testament is in Matthew, chapter 1 and verse 1, which reads the book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the same wording that we see in this chapter when it says the book of the generations of Adam. Therefore, the first book tells of the origin of the first Adam. The second book in Matthew tells us of the origin and lineage of the second Adam, who is the Lord from heaven. Now my second observation is this In verses 1 through 3, it informs us that God created man in His image, his own image, in the likeness of God. But in verse 3, we're reminded that Adam begat sons in his own likeness, after his image. Adam was created in God's image. Seth was begotten in Adam's image, which means that Seth inherited his father's fallen and sinful nature, as did every one of us. And in fact, in Romans, chapter 5, verse 12 to 14, paul expounds on this when he says therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, for until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law Verse 14,. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned, in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. You see, adam was a type, a picture of the second Adam who was to come.
Speaker 1:Now, my third observation is this there are four facts of ten antediluvian patriarchs. In Genesis 5, god was preserving and recording the divinely ordained lineage of the seed of the woman. In each of these patriarchs, god was preserving and recording the divinely ordained lineage of the seed of the woman, the seed of the woman. The second fact is each man listed begat, sons and daughters, indicating obedience to God's command to be fruitful and multiply. The third fact is God's curse was in effect. Although they all lived nearly 900 years, except for Enoch, they all died. Remember what Genesis, chapter 3 and verse 19 said. Genesis 3, 19 says by the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return. That's a part of the curse and in fact, even though these men lived an average of 912 years, they all died and they all returned to the dust, just like God promised Adam in Genesis, chapter 3, that all men would eventually die as a consequence of the curse. And then number four it was interesting that men could father children during most of their long lives. Adam years Noah had three sons when he was 500 years old. That I find to be absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1:The next thing I want us to observe here is how did they live so long? Have you ever wondered how did these 10 patriarchs live to be 900 plus years old? Well, the pre-flood world was very different from our world today. Some creation scientists speculate, and nobody knows for certain. It's just scientific speculation, speculation that there was a water canopy above the entire earth that protected man and beast from the harmful rays of the sun and created an increased atmospheric pressure, both of which would be conducive to health and long life.
Speaker 1:Later, in Genesis, chapter 6, the Bible tells us that God opened the windows of the heaven. They were opened during the flood and the water canopy disappeared and the lifespan of men began to diminish immediately. Noah lived 950 years, but Abraham only lived 175. I say only, but compared to Noah, that was a short lifespan. Joseph, the Bible tells us, lived 110 years. Joshua lived 80 years. So you see, after the flood, the lifespan of mankind immediately began to be foreshortened.
Speaker 1:Well then, look at Genesis, chapter 5, verse 5. This is Adam's obituary. Let me read that verse to you again Genesis 5.5. So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. This is the conclusion of Adam's life and it was a fulfillment of Genesis 3, verse 19, where God said that he would eventually return to the dust and it reassured all that followed that the wages of sin is well, you know it, it's death. However, he lived 930 years and he begat sons and daughters. We don't know if these other sons and daughters were born before or after Seth, but we know that Seth was chosen to be in the lineage of the seed of the woman. Seth replaced Abel as the son whose seed would inherit the promise.
Speaker 1:Now let's look at verses 6 through 20. These verses contain the rest of the long cyclic recital of the pre-flood patriarchs their names, their age at the birth of their son who was in the line of promise, the fact that they had other sons and daughters and, finally, the age at their death. It's as boring as dry, moldy bread, unless unless we pay attention to some of the fascinating details in chapter 5. For example, there were 10 patriarchs from Adam to Noah and they all lived an average of 912 years. The other interesting thing is there was a hundred, I'm sorry, 1,656 years from Adam, the creation, until the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life, until the day the windows of the heavens were opened, the fountains of the deep were released and the flood was loosed on planet earth. Remember that 1656 years. Also, interestingly, adam lived until six, until, I'm sorry, he lived until Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years old. Can you imagine that Adam lived until Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years old? Noah was born only 14 years after Seth died.
Speaker 1:Now, what's the implication of all that? These men were called the preachers of righteousness. The New Testament called these men the preachers of righteousness. The line of Cain, which Jude called the way of Cain was a lineage of unrighteousness. So you had two opposing lineages coexisting in the world. One was moving away from God and then you had these patriarchs called preachers of righteousness, and many of them lived at the same time, almost until the time of the flood, and they were the preachers of righteousness. They took seriously the responsibility to speak the word of truth that God had commissioned for them and they were coexisting for almost a thousand years, all of them and preaching the true message of God. And presumably the oldest living patriarch had the responsibility of teaching God's Word to succeeding generations.
Speaker 1:Both Enoch and Lamech were outlived by their fathers. Because you know Enoch, god took him when he was in his 300th year or so. God took him and Lamech because his dad was Methuselah. You know that was a hard act to beat and Methuselah outlived Lamech. That means only seven men in the line before Noah had this very serious responsibility in a world careening toward violence and complete destruction. This explains an odd verse in 2 Peter 2 and verse 5, where Noah is described as the eighth preacher of righteousness. In the quote old world Ponder that Noah was called the eighth preacher of righteousness. In the old world there was ten patriarchs. So why was Noah called the eighth preacher? Well, it's because God took Enoch and Lamech was outlived by his father, methuselah. So actually, noah was really the eighth preacher in this line of preachers, this line of patriarchs.
Speaker 1:Now, what are our takeaways? What are our takeaway lessons from Genesis, chapter 5? Let me give you several. God created man in his image. Adam begat his sons in his likeness, with an old sin nature that continues to infect you and me even today, and you know that, oh Lord, prone to wonder how I know it, prone to leave the God I love. That's how the hymn writer put it, and you and I know that that is so very true. We have to deal with that old sin nature every single day.
Speaker 1:Number two the antediluvian environment was drastically different, allowing men to live nearly 900 years. Number three these patriarchs obeyed God in being faithful and multiplying, bearing sons and daughters. Faithful and multiplying, bearing sons and daughters, but in the end they all died as a consequence of the curse. And the same is true today. We all go the way of all men, as King David called it when he gave his charge to Solomon, his son, he said to him charged to Solomon, his son, he said to him I am going the way of all men. Number four these patriarchs were called preachers of righteousness, implying that they took seriously the responsibility of teaching God's word to their progeny. Which leads me to Psalms 71, verse 17 to 18.
Speaker 1:I want to read this Psalm to you, psalms 71. And it's something that has gripped me as a father and as a grandfather. I want to read it to you Psalms 71, verses 17 and 18. Pay close attention.
Speaker 1:Oh God, you have taught me from my youth and I still declare your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, oh God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to all who are to come. You see, david, the psalmist he was. He was thanking God first that he had taught me even from his youth, and I'm thankful for that. Listen, I was blessed to be taught God's word even when I was a child, even when I was a teenager, and and I still try to declare God's wondrous deeds. And then the psalmist says even when I'm a teenager, and I still try to declare God's wondrous deeds. And then the psalmist says, even when I'm old and gray, oh God, don't forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come, and I want you to understand that I pray that prayer because I'm jealous of the opportunities that God gives me to declare his power and his strength to my children and my grandchildren.
Speaker 1:The psalmist, like the patriarchs, was grateful for God's investment in his life and he was serious about the treasure entrusted to him. Serious about the treasure entrusted to him. Even in his old age, his latter years, the psalmist was committed to declaring the truth of God's word and his wondrous deeds, and he pled with God not to forsake him in his latter years, until he declared God's strength and power to the next generation. Now, parents and grandparents, listen to me you may not see yourself as a patriarch or a great spiritual leader, but you have children and grandchildren that look up to you. You're not responsible for the entire world, but you are responsible for your little lambs, your circle of influence. You are the preacher of righteousness to the next generation.
Speaker 1:Be grateful for the treasure that God has entrusted to you and plead with God to not forsake you when you are old and gray, the same as I do, so that you can declare God's strength and power to the next generation. I promise you that I take this charge seriously. I don't pray for health and long life just so I can see my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren, but I pray for health and long life so that I can teach them the goodness and greatness of God. And I submit to you very respectfully that so should you. You're listening to Devotions with Dr Papa. If you like what you hear, I pray that you would share it with your friends and family, that you would follow and like and download and remember your doctor loves you and I'll be back again next week. Until then, may the Lord bless you. Real good.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. Until then, may the Lord to check out Dr Jackson's books that are available on Amazon. The Family Doctor Speaks the Truth About Life in his first book, and the Family Doctor Speaks the Truth About Seed Planting Equipping Believers for Evangelism is his second. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Productions.
