Day 2: Genesis 3-5
Day 2 starts with reading Genesis 3-5, starting with the story of the serpent's deception in Eden.
I believe by definition the opposite of mercy is wrath, giving people what they deserve (and then some), and Lamech's actions seem to match that definition. Is this the way things should be? I wonder what became of Lamech...
Taking a slightly different approach to illustrating Noah's lineage, let's try to figure out how many years passed between the creation of Adam and the birth of Noah.
God demonstrates mercy
This may be the first passage in the bible where God demonstrates mercy through his judgment of Adam and Eve for eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam knew that the punishment for eating the fruit was death.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV)
And yet Adam still ate the fruit. Even though God was severely disappointed in his behavior and Eve's, God demonstrated mercy by not dealing death to the man and the woman, which they deserved. Instead...
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 ESV)
God gave Adam and Eve clothes, to protect them while they served a significantly reduced sentence, which was banishment from Eden. Not bad, from Adam and Eve's perspective, huh?
Lamech demonstrates wrath, not mercy
So, God demonstrated mercy in the judgment of Adam and Eve. But Lamech, on the other hand, demonstrated the exact opposite when describing to his wives the revenge he took on two people.
Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.” (Genesis 4:23-24 ESV)
I believe by definition the opposite of mercy is wrath, giving people what they deserve (and then some), and Lamech's actions seem to match that definition. Is this the way things should be? I wonder what became of Lamech...
Noah's lineage
Taking a slightly different approach to illustrating Noah's lineage, let's try to figure out how many years passed between the creation of Adam and the birth of Noah.
| Person | Father's Age (years) at Birth | Years since Adam |
|---|---|---|
| Adam | n/a | 0 |
| Seth | 130 | 130 |
| Enosh | 105 | 235 |
| Kenan | 90 | 325 |
| Mahalalel | 70 | 395 |
| Jared | 65 | 460 |
| Enoch | 162 | 622 |
| Methuselah | 65 | 687 |
| Lamech | 187 | 874 |
| Noah | 182 | 1056 |
An interesting tidbit I read in a Q&A on Yahoo! Answers is that Adam was still alive in the time of Lamech. Since Adam lived to the age of 930, Lamech would've been around 56 years old when his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather passed away. Now that's a huge family!