Genesis 5:25-32 meaning

Methuselah lived a very long life of 969 years. He is the longest living person recorded in the Bible. Methuselah had Lamech who in turn had Noah.

In Genesis 4 we learned that in the genealogy of Cain there was a man named Lamech (Genesis 4:18-24). Likewise, in the godly line of Seth, there was a Lamech. Although they had the same name, their family heritage impacted who they were and how they lived. Seth's Lamech was the father of Noah, who was used by God to save the human race and continue the messianic promise. Cain's Lamech murdered a young man who had wounded him and then boasted about it to his wives (Genesis 4:23-24). This shows the very different paths that these two families took.

Lamech's hope for his son, Noah, is explained by Lamech in the naming, when Lamech prophesies that Noah will be the agent God will use to give humanity rest. This shows us that mankind still understood God's curse and desired a form of relief from it. Noah was not the deliverer Lamech hoped for (he didn't save humanity from the God's curse), but Noah did fulfill the prophetic hope by saving mankind from God's judgment, as we will see in Genesis 6. Noah fathered three boys. The oldest was Japheth. Shem was the middle child and Ham was the youngest.

This chapter covers the lineage from Adam to Noah, the same lineage that will ultimately connect to Jesus (Luke 3:23-38).