Studying Genesis, Part 1

     I am currently back at the beginning of the Bible in my reading time.  I have decided to do things a little differently this time 'round, to help me dig into the Word a bit deeper.  So, taking my time, I am truly enjoying little tidbits I never really noticed before, or had forgotten.
     For instance, did you know that God made the firmament, which is called "Heaven?"  Prior to making heaven, when He spoke, the thing He spoke came...Such as light.  Also, did you know that prior to God's curse, the serpent was upright?
     Today, I finished reading chapter five.  I was renewed in my fascination of the genealogy of Adam.  So, I took some paper, used stickers to hold them together (I have no tape or glue), and got to work!  I want to share some interesting facts that were, again, either refreshed or revealed to me this time:

1. From my calculations, there were 1,656 years before the flood.
2. Lamech (Noah's father) was the great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Adam.
3. Lamech was 56 years old when Adam died, at 930 years old.
4. Seth, Adam's son, was 857 years old, when Enoch was raptured by God when he was 365 years old!
5. Noah's father, Lamech, died 5 years before the flood.
6. Noah's grandfather, Methuselah, died the same year that Noah & his family entered the ark.
7. Noah was 84 years old when Seth's son, Enos, died at 905 years old.

     Are not these things interesting!  I sure think they are!  It is fascinating to think that Noah's father and grandfather were able to hear him preach, for 120 years, before the flood.  I am curious as to whether Methuselah died in the flood, or prior to it.  It must have been a very sad time for Noah:  his father, Lamech, is noted to have had other children before he died; and, none of them entered the ark with Noah.

     What of Adam and Eve?  They were expecting the man child from Eve's seed to come and deliver them from the curse they were under.  When Cain was born unto them, it is noted that Eve proclaimed that the LORD had given her a man.  Was this the hope for which they waited?  

     How about when God cursed Cain, for the murder of his brother?  When Cain told the LORD that the curse was too much to bear, and he worried that when someone found him, they would slay him, do you know what God did?  He showed mercy, and placed a mark upon him--to keep folks from killing him!  

     Did you ever notice that Cain was noted as saying that he would be away from the presence of God, now that he was cursed?  Then, after Seth was born, it is noted that it was at that time men started to call upon the name of the LORD...Hmm.  Why did they not call upon Him before Seth's birth?  Was it because they could go to Him?  Just a thought, as I muse upon the parts I have read.

     When Seth was born, Eve saw him as the appointed seed in the stead of Abel.  I noted that later, Seth was so named by his father, Adam, because he was born in his own likeness and image.  Adam had been created in God's own likeness and image.  Now, Adam had a son that was like him.

      As I write these things down, I wonder about Cain; briefly.  I have not yet seen it mention how long he lived, nor if he survived long enough to be around when his father passed away.  If he had survived, would he have known about Adam's passing?  Was there ever any more communication between them?

     Methuselah is supposedly the one who lived the longest on earth, (at least, his age of passing is recorded at 969 years old...I know not another to claim anything longer.).  Yet, he died the same year as the flood.  There is never a mention of him entering the ark.  As we know, only Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their wives, entered the ark with the other creatures.  I cannot help but ponder if Methuselah perished, along with others of Noah's family.  How that must have pained them!

     Did you know that Noah was so named by his father, Lamech, because he looked to his son as the comfort the world was seeking?  Due to the curse of the LORD upon the earth, all were probably seeking comfort...Deliverance...from it.  Was this answer in his newborn son?  

     Well, these notes and thoughts are as far as I have gotten.  I plan on starting chapter six tomorrow.  Exciting!