So often I have heard people say that we can’t trust the Bible story account of creation week because it was passed down from one to another and it got messed up in the passing along.  Genesis chapter 5 helps me a great deal with that objection.

Below is a simplification of the ages of the patriarchs.

Adam lived 130 years before he begot Seth then another 800 years after that – total years = 930.

Seth lived 105 years before he begot Enosh then another 807 years after that – total years = 912

Enosh lived 90 years before he begot Cainan then another 815 years after that – total years = 905

Cainan lived 70 years before he Mahalalel Seth then another 840 years after that – total years = 910

Mahalalel lived 65 years before he begot Jared then another 895 years after that – total years = 895

Jared lived 62 years before he begot Enoch then another 800 years after that – total years = 962

Enoch lived 65 years before he begot Methuslah then was translated to heaven without dying – his total years = still having birthdays!!

Methuslah lived 87 years before he begot Lamech then another 782 years after that – total years = 969

Lamech lived 182 years before he begot NOAH then another 800 years after that – total years = 777

Now here’s an interesting exercise for you to do!

Take a pen and paper and a ruler. Using a scale of say 1cm per 100 years, draw a line for the life of Adam. Place a dot at 130 years (to scale) from the beginning of Adam’s line

Below that line, begin another line at the 130 year mark of Adam’s life for the beginning of Seth’s life. Now proceed to do the same with each of the patriarch’s life lines.

If you do that carefully you will find that Adam and Methuselah were alive together on the earth for aprox. 200 years, while Methuslah and NOAH were alive together for aprox. 700 years.

With minds untrammelled by Facebook and thousands of years of degenerative diseases, would you think it reasonable to assume that they shared some pretty clear family history details?

Have a great day thinking about the amazing history you hold in your hands when you pick up a Bible!