Sabbath School Department.
By G. H. Bell
The Antediluvian Patriarchs.
Note.—A great number and variety of interesting questions may be answered from the following table. The first line shows in what year of the world each of the patriarchs was born: Adam at the beginning of time; Seth, in the year of the world 130; Enos, 235; Cainan, 325; Mahalaleel, 395; &c. The same thing is shown in the first column down the left. The extreme right-hand column shows in what year of the world each of them died. The same thing is shown in the twelfth line. The thirteenth line gives the entire age of each. The remainder of the table shows how long the patriarchs were contemporary one with another. By following along the second line we find that Adam was contemporary with Seth 800 years; with Enos, 695; with Cainan, 605; with Mahalaleel, 535, &c.; that Seth was contemporary with Enos 807 years, with Cainan, 717; with Mahalaleel, 647, &c.; that Noah was not born until after the death of Adam and Seth, and not until after the translation of Enoch. The columns, beginning at the left, show the same thing that is shown by the lines. An oblique line from the upper left-hand corner down to the lower right-hand corner shows the age of each patriarch, or, as we might say, how long he was contemporary with himself. | Patriarch |
Born A.M. |
Died A.M. |
Age |
|---|
| Adam |
0 |
930 |
930 |
| Seth |
130 |
1042 |
912 |
| Enos |
235 |
1140 |
905 |
| Cainan |
325 |
1235 |
910 |
| Mahalaleel |
395 |
1290 |
895 |
| Jared |
460 |
1422 |
962 |
| Enoch1 |
622 |
987 |
365 |
| Methuselah |
687 |
1656 |
969 |
| Lamech |
874 |
1651 |
777 |
| Noah |
1056 |
2006 |
950 |
1. How many generations were there from the creation to the flood? 2. Name the antediluvian patriarchs or fathers of these generations. 4. What do we say of those who live at the same time?—That they are contemporary, or contemporaries. 5. Which of these patriarchs were contemporary with Adam? 6. Which of them with Noah? 7. With how many of these patriarchs was Adam contemporary? 8. How old was Lamech when Adam died? 9. How many years had Adam been dead when Noah was born? 10. How many years was Adam contemporary with each of the other patriarchs? 11. How many years was Noah contemporary with each? 12. How long was Mahalaleel contemporary with Adam? How long with Noah? 13. How long was Jared contemporary with Adam? How long with Noah? 14. How long did Adam live after Methuselah was born? 15. In what year did Methuselah die? 16. How many years from the creation to the flood?—1656. 17. How old was Noah at the time of the flood? 18. How many years did Noah live after the flood? Note.—Ask more questions similar to the above, and let the class look out the answers from the table, or by their own computation. There may be some who cannot remember the answers to all the questions, but the lesson should be reviewed until the most important answers can be remembered, and until the subject has become so familiar as to impress the lesson it is intended to teach. By a consideration of this subject, we see what advantages the antediluvians had for transmitting the history of their time, even without the aid of revelation. Jared lived with Adam 470 years, and with Noah 366; Methuselah lived with Adam 243 years, more than twice as long as the United States has been a nation, and with Noah 600 years; and Lamech, the father of Noah, lived with Adam longer than an average life-time of the present age. What opportunities were thus afforded Noah for becoming acquainted with God's dealings with our first parents in the garden of Eden, for learning what God had taught them there, and for forming a conception of the beauties and blessings of that place, of the glories of Heaven, and the purity and holiness of the happy beings who dwell there. Lessons for Bible Classes.
1. What three things did Daniel particularly desire to know? Dan. 7:19, 20. 2. What do we learn from verse 23 in regard to the character of the fourth kingdom? 3. What in regard to its extent? 4. What is it said that this kingdom should do? 5. How was it to compare in strength with Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia? 6. What may be plainly inferred from Dan. 2:40? 7. What is said of the course of the fourth kingdom toward the other kingdoms? 8. What is said of the strength of the beast that represented the fourth kingdom? Dan. 7:7. 9. What is said of Medo-Persia in the last words of Dan. 8:4? 10. What is said of Grecia in the first sentence of the eighth verse? 11. What is said of Rome in the first words of the ninth verse? 12. What does history show in regard to the fulfillment of the conditions of this prophecy? 13. What does the historian Plutarch say, that establishes the warlike character of the Roman kingdom? 14. What statement is made by reliable historians in regard to the cruelty of Papal Rome? 15. Give the substance of Lesson 3. 16. Give a synopsis of this lesson. Daniel particularly desired to know the truth of the fourth beast, of the ten horns that were in his head, and of that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spake very great things, &c. Dan. 7:19, 20. 1. (a) In verse 23 we learn that this kingdom was to be very fierce and warlike, and was to rule over the whole earth; for it is said of it, that it “shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” (b) It was to be stronger than any of the other kingdoms; for we plainly infer from Dan. 2:40, that as iron is stronger than gold, silver, or brass, so this fourth kingdom, symbolized by the legs of iron, is to be stronger than the kingdoms that had preceded it; and as iron will break and bruise the other metals, so the fourth kingdom is to mar and destroy other kingdoms. Furthermore, in Dan. 7:7, the beast that represents the fourth kingdom is said to be strong exceedingly; and in the eighth chapter it is said of the ram (Medo-Persia), that it became great; of the goat (Grecia), that it waxed very great; but of the little horn (Rome), that it waxed exceedingly great. Dan. 8:4, 8, 9. The Roman kingdom has fulfilled these conditions of the prophecy, as history will abundantly prove. The historian Plutarch says that Julius Cæsar, a Roman general, in one tour of conquest, took eight hundred cities, made one million of men prisoners, and killed another million on the field; and it is said by reliable historians, that Papal Rome put to death not less than fifty million Christians.