And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
At sixty-five years of age Enoch became the father of Methuselah, standing in the patriarchal genealogy before Noah and the Flood. His lifetime belonged to an age when human life still stretched nearly a thousand years, with nine generations before the Flood averaging nine hundred twelve years, in contrast to the steady shortening afterward. The birth of his first son marked the turning point of his life to a higher experience and closer walk with God, as he felt more fully his responsibility as a son of God. In his own tender love for his child and the child's trust in him, he learned the infinite love of God in giving His Son and the confidence His children may place in their heavenly Father, and this became the theme of his life and witness. That witness was upheld by a living faith that joined him to God in covenant relation, giving him power to stand unsullied amid a corrupt generation and to walk with God for three hundred years.
Longevity and Lineage
Enoch was sixty-five years old when Methuselah was born, and he stands in the genealogy of the patriarchs before Noah and the Flood whose lives generally lasted nearly a thousand years with a few exceptions. That early record belongs to lives before the Flood that reached nearly a thousand years, and after that time the average length of life decreased. The nine generations before the Flood averaged 912 years, showing the great length of human life at first, compared with nine generations after the Flood averaging 332 years, seventy years in Moses' time, and about thirty-five years at present. This steady decrease proves woeful physical deterioration from a perfect creation. The patriarchal ages from Adam to Noah were literal years, not a different method of computing time, with one or two exceptions living between nine hundred and a thousand years, afterward tapering to between one and two hundred years by the time of the Egyptian vassalage.
The race was created with ten times more vital force than now, for its known violations of all the laws of health and life would otherwise have extinguished it altogether long ago. Violation of God's laws of health and life cut the years of man to contemptible brevity and filled those years with pain, so that in David's time, about halfway from Adam to the present day, the average of human life was only seventy years, and in Europe and America it is now but thirty years, and in great cities but twenty years. The record notes the ages and deaths of the long-lived patriarchs but does not describe prolonged illness or suffering. In this the early generations contrast with the sickness and mortality prevalent in the present generation. Their protracted lives came from the life-giving power of the tree of life, which possessed power to perpetuate life so that as long as Adam and Eve ate of it they could not die, and that life-giving power was transmitted from Adam and Eve to their antediluvian descendants.
Only a few generations had passed since Adam had access to the tree that prolongs life, so human life was still measured by centuries and the race still kept much of its early vigor. That long life carried rare powers to plan and execute, given to serve God and make the Creator's name a praise in the earth and answer the purpose for which life was given. The long-lived included many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works, but they failed to serve God and gave loose rein to iniquity, so their guilt was in proportion to their skill and mental ability. The centuries-long lives kept seven generations alive on the earth together for hundreds of years. This gave men of that time greater advantages for knowledge than modern men have, because they had among them for hundreds of years Adam, formed in God's image and instructed by God in all wisdom pertaining to the material world and in the history of creation, who himself witnessed nine centuries and imparted his knowledge to his descendants.
Though without books or written records, men with great physical and mental vigor had strong memories able to grasp and retain what was communicated to them and transmit it unimpaired to their posterity, and with seven generations living contemporaneously they could consult together and each profit by the knowledge and experience of all. The birth of Methuselah occurred within Adam's lifetime, with Adam still living until Methuselah was 243 years old. This overlap made Methuselah a direct link for passing on all that God had taught Adam: Adam imparted it to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and these patriarchs to Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel. Methuselah was the son of Enoch, and Enoch instructed his family about the coming Flood. Methuselah lived to hear his grandson Noah faithfully warn the inhabitants of the old world that a flood of waters was coming upon the earth, and with his sons and grandsons lived in the time of the building of the ark, receiving instruction from Noah and assisting him in the work.
Fatherhood and Witness
Before Methuselah was born Enoch already loved and feared God and kept His commandments, standing in the holy line that preserved the true faith and carried the promised seed, having learned from Adam the dark story of the fall and the grace of God in the promise and trusting in the Redeemer to come. When he was sixty-five the birth of his first son Methuselah marked the turning point of his life to a higher experience and a closer relationship with God, in which he realized more fully his own obligations and responsibility as a son of God. By seeing his child's love for its father and simple trust in his protection, and by feeling the deep yearning tenderness of his own heart for his firstborn son, he learned the wonderful, infinite, unfathomable love of God for men in the gift of His Son and the confidence the children of God may place in their heavenly Father. That love of God through Christ became the subject of his meditations day and night, and with all the fervor of his soul he sought to reveal it to the people among whom he dwelt.
He was pure in heart and holy in life, trusting the word of God though utterly helpless in himself. His faith was not mere opinion but a living transaction joining him in covenant relation with God, a confiding trust that through the grace of Christ gave vigor and made his soul a conquering power. By holding fast his faith in the triumph of righteousness he withstood the power of a corrupt and scoffing generation, showing how the helpless prevail against the whole world. He stands among the just men who kept the knowledge of God and the fear of the Lord before the world before the Flood, with Abel whom Cain killed, and with Seth, Methuselah, Noah, and many others. This was amid moral corruption in a degenerate age, when the words that proceeded from God were not heeded but disowned and rejected for human philosophy and men drank iniquity as water while words of warning sounded in their ears. He received words of instruction from Adam and repeated them to his children and his children's children, and all who chose to follow the Lord were specially blessed.
His holiness and translation to heaven without death show the character to be reached by those who will be translated when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven, and his life was no more holy than the life anyone can live who keeps a close connection with God. Though surrounded by influences so corrupt that God flooded the earth, and though not free from temptation, living in a society no more friendly to righteousness than the present, he lived holy and remained unsullied while breathing air tainted with sin and corruption. For three hundred years he walked with God through constant conflict and simple faith, knowing God as a very present help in trouble, praying in perplexity to be kept and taught His will, asking how to honor God, and sinking his will in God's will. Walking in obedience to God's commandments, meditating constantly on the goodness and perfection and loveliness of the divine character, talking of heavenly things and training his mind to run in that channel, and by looking to Jesus being changed into the glorious image of his Lord until his face shone with glory from Christ.
He is the pattern for working the cities from outpost centers, since he did not establish himself in the wicked congested cities but lived apart from them and visited them to do faithful service, acquainting the people with the teachings of God's Word. Workers now are to do the same, establishing outpost centers outside the cities from which to visit the millions living in congested centers and warn them. He stands with Abel, Seth, and Noah in the faithful history taught to Daniel and his companions, where truth handed down from human lips from one generation to another was cherished. That truth engraved the image of God on the heart and strengthened them to refuse wine and food dedicated to idols.
At sixty-five years of age Enoch became the father of Methuselah, standing in the patriarchal genealogy before Noah and the Flood. His lifetime belonged to an age when human life still stretched nearly a thousand years, with nine generations before the Flood averaging nine hundred twelve years, in contrast to the steady shortening afterward. The birth of his first son marked the turning point of his life to a higher experience and closer walk with God, as he felt more fully his responsibility as a son of God. In his own tender love for his child and the child's trust in him, he learned the infinite love of God in giving His Son and the confidence His children may place in their heavenly Father, and this became the theme of his life and witness. That witness was upheld by a living faith that joined him to God in covenant relation, giving him power to stand unsullied amid a corrupt generation and to walk with God for three hundred years.
Longevity and Lineage
Enoch was sixty-five years old when Methuselah was born, and he stands in the genealogy of the patriarchs before Noah and the Flood whose lives generally lasted nearly a thousand years with a few exceptions. That early record belongs to lives before the Flood that reached nearly a thousand years, and after that time the average length of life decreased. The nine generations before the Flood averaged 912 years, showing the great length of human life at first, compared with nine generations after the Flood averaging 332 years, seventy years in Moses' time, and about thirty-five years at present. This steady decrease proves woeful physical deterioration from a perfect creation. The patriarchal ages from Adam to Noah were literal years, not a different method of computing time, with one or two exceptions living between nine hundred and a thousand years, afterward tapering to between one and two hundred years by the time of the Egyptian vassalage.
The race was created with ten times more vital force than now, for its known violations of all the laws of health and life would otherwise have extinguished it altogether long ago. Violation of God's laws of health and life cut the years of man to contemptible brevity and filled those years with pain, so that in David's time, about halfway from Adam to the present day, the average of human life was only seventy years, and in Europe and America it is now but thirty years, and in great cities but twenty years. The record notes the ages and deaths of the long-lived patriarchs but does not describe prolonged illness or suffering. In this the early generations contrast with the sickness and mortality prevalent in the present generation. Their protracted lives came from the life-giving power of the tree of life, which possessed power to perpetuate life so that as long as Adam and Eve ate of it they could not die, and that life-giving power was transmitted from Adam and Eve to their antediluvian descendants.
Only a few generations had passed since Adam had access to the tree that prolongs life, so human life was still measured by centuries and the race still kept much of its early vigor. That long life carried rare powers to plan and execute, given to serve God and make the Creator's name a praise in the earth and answer the purpose for which life was given. The long-lived included many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works, but they failed to serve God and gave loose rein to iniquity, so their guilt was in proportion to their skill and mental ability. The centuries-long lives kept seven generations alive on the earth together for hundreds of years. This gave men of that time greater advantages for knowledge than modern men have, because they had among them for hundreds of years Adam, formed in God's image and instructed by God in all wisdom pertaining to the material world and in the history of creation, who himself witnessed nine centuries and imparted his knowledge to his descendants.
Though without books or written records, men with great physical and mental vigor had strong memories able to grasp and retain what was communicated to them and transmit it unimpaired to their posterity, and with seven generations living contemporaneously they could consult together and each profit by the knowledge and experience of all. The birth of Methuselah occurred within Adam's lifetime, with Adam still living until Methuselah was 243 years old. This overlap made Methuselah a direct link for passing on all that God had taught Adam: Adam imparted it to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and these patriarchs to Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel. Methuselah was the son of Enoch, and Enoch instructed his family about the coming Flood. Methuselah lived to hear his grandson Noah faithfully warn the inhabitants of the old world that a flood of waters was coming upon the earth, and with his sons and grandsons lived in the time of the building of the ark, receiving instruction from Noah and assisting him in the work.
Fatherhood and Witness
Before Methuselah was born Enoch already loved and feared God and kept His commandments, standing in the holy line that preserved the true faith and carried the promised seed, having learned from Adam the dark story of the fall and the grace of God in the promise and trusting in the Redeemer to come. When he was sixty-five the birth of his first son Methuselah marked the turning point of his life to a higher experience and a closer relationship with God, in which he realized more fully his own obligations and responsibility as a son of God. By seeing his child's love for its father and simple trust in his protection, and by feeling the deep yearning tenderness of his own heart for his firstborn son, he learned the wonderful, infinite, unfathomable love of God for men in the gift of His Son and the confidence the children of God may place in their heavenly Father. That love of God through Christ became the subject of his meditations day and night, and with all the fervor of his soul he sought to reveal it to the people among whom he dwelt.
He was pure in heart and holy in life, trusting the word of God though utterly helpless in himself. His faith was not mere opinion but a living transaction joining him in covenant relation with God, a confiding trust that through the grace of Christ gave vigor and made his soul a conquering power. By holding fast his faith in the triumph of righteousness he withstood the power of a corrupt and scoffing generation, showing how the helpless prevail against the whole world. He stands among the just men who kept the knowledge of God and the fear of the Lord before the world before the Flood, with Abel whom Cain killed, and with Seth, Methuselah, Noah, and many others. This was amid moral corruption in a degenerate age, when the words that proceeded from God were not heeded but disowned and rejected for human philosophy and men drank iniquity as water while words of warning sounded in their ears. He received words of instruction from Adam and repeated them to his children and his children's children, and all who chose to follow the Lord were specially blessed.
His holiness and translation to heaven without death show the character to be reached by those who will be translated when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven, and his life was no more holy than the life anyone can live who keeps a close connection with God. Though surrounded by influences so corrupt that God flooded the earth, and though not free from temptation, living in a society no more friendly to righteousness than the present, he lived holy and remained unsullied while breathing air tainted with sin and corruption. For three hundred years he walked with God through constant conflict and simple faith, knowing God as a very present help in trouble, praying in perplexity to be kept and taught His will, asking how to honor God, and sinking his will in God's will. Walking in obedience to God's commandments, meditating constantly on the goodness and perfection and loveliness of the divine character, talking of heavenly things and training his mind to run in that channel, and by looking to Jesus being changed into the glorious image of his Lord until his face shone with glory from Christ.
He is the pattern for working the cities from outpost centers, since he did not establish himself in the wicked congested cities but lived apart from them and visited them to do faithful service, acquainting the people with the teachings of God's Word. Workers now are to do the same, establishing outpost centers outside the cities from which to visit the millions living in congested centers and warn them. He stands with Abel, Seth, and Noah in the faithful history taught to Daniel and his companions, where truth handed down from human lips from one generation to another was cherished. That truth engraved the image of God on the heart and strengthened them to refuse wine and food dedicated to idols.