Have you ever walked through a cemetery? People go to cemeteries to visit the gravestones of their deceased loved ones. They do this to feel some connection with the person who is gone and to help us remember the times they shared together.
When I was growing up, I went to the cemetery to visit my mother’s gravestone at least once a month. Sometimes I would plant flowers or hang a wreath, but mostly I would just stare at the granite stone and remember my mother’s face. I would reflect on her life and death and the brief time that I got to spend with her before she was gone.
After I visited my mother’s gravestone, I would often go for a walk through the cemetery. As I wandered through the maze of mortuous monuments, I would stop and read other people’s gravestones—mostly of people whom I’d never met. Even though gravestones come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, they almost always had the same information written on them—the person’s name, birthdate, and date of death.
But have you ever noticed the little horizontal line between the birthdate and death-date? There is usually a dash between the birth date and death date—a one-inch dash that represents the person’s whole life. Have you ever thought about the fact that someday your who life will be summed up by a one-inch dash etched in a piece of granite? It won’t tell anyone where we lived or what kind of work we did. It won’t tell anyone who we loved or what kind of impact we had on the world. What a sobering thought!
Reading Genesis 5 is like walking through a cemetery. As we trace the line of Adam through his son Seth all the way to Noah, it’s like reading a row of tombstones. The author of Genesis only tells us the name, whom the father was, that he had other sons and daughters, how long he lived, and that he died. Hardly any other information is given about these 10 men.
Walking through this biblical cemetery helps us reflect on the history of the human race. Remembering our ancient history helps us keep our modern history in perspective. Just as walking through physical cemeteries and looking at tombstones reminds us of days gone by, the author of Genesis walks us through this cemetery to remind us of four spiritual realities.
1.) Walking through this cemetery reminds us that we are all created in God’s image. (1-3)
Before we even get into the cemetery, the author of Genesis already wants us to be reflecting on a spiritual reality. Verses 1-3 are like a sign on the cemetery gate that reminds us that we are walking on holy ground. He prepares our hearts for a walk through this cemetery by taking us back to Genesis 1 and 2 and reminds us that God created humans in the image of God.
We remember that after God created the heavens and the earth, he scooped up some dust, formed the first human, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. We also remember that God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and removed one of his ribs and created Eve, the first woman. He made them male and female and blessed the human race as the pinnacle of his creation.
What does it mean to be created in the image of God? It means that we bear a likeness or resemblance to God. We bear a resemblance to God in ways that animals and plants don’t. We bear a resemblance to God mentally, socially, spiritually, morally and even in some sense physically.
God gives us a good illustration of this in verse 3 when he says that Seth bore Adam’s likeness and image. Whenever someone has a child, relatives and friends make all sorts of remarks about the child’s likeness. They say things like, “Wow, junior is the spitting image of his father.” or “Mary has her mother’s eyes!” Sometimes comments like this backfire. “Laura, it looks like you got your daddy’s stiff chin!” What self-respecting girl wants her father’s chin? Well, you know what I mean! Children bear the image and likeness of their parents.
In the same way, we all bear the likeness of God. When we walk through a cemetery, we should remember that everyone buried there was created in the image of God. Since all human beings have a little bit of our heavenly father in them, we should treat all people with dignity and respect! Remember that every person is precious to God! Remember that you have inherent value and worth because you are created in the image of God! Remember that you matter because God made you!
2.) Walking through this cemetery reminds us of the consequences of sin. (4-30)
As you walk through the gates of the cemetery and glance across the rows of tombstones, you can’t help but be reminded of the consequences of sin. Likewise, the author of Genesis takes us through this cemetery to remind us of the effects of sin. He highlights two effects—shorter lifespans and the inevitability of death.
Shorter Life Spans (6:3)
When most of us walk through this cemetery and read the tombstones, we are perplexed by the people’s ages. The life spans appear to be beyond the realm of possibility. Did Adam really live to be 930 years old? Did Methuselah really live to be 969? This account seems to contradict the sensibilities of modern science. If the average lifespan in America today is 76, how could someone really live to be 900 years old back then?
Before the great flood people lived much longer. It was common for people to live for hundreds of years. Even the non-biblical literature from the ancient Near East attests to this. But as the number of people on earth began to increase, so did its wickedness. Remember, all of humanity had been affected by Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. This sinfulness was passed down from generation to generation. The world became so wicked that God said, “My spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be 120 years.” (6:3) After the great flood, God reduced the life expectancy of man to 120 years to minimize the amount of wickedness that would accumulate on the earth.
If it wasn’t for the consequences of sin, our ancestors would still be alive today and we could have a firsthand account of the way things were back then. But sin has greatly reduced our life expectancy. Today very few people even live to see 100 years. Most of us are fortunate to live into our eighties. I hope that we appreciate all the time God gives us on the earth and that we use our years to serve the Lord.
The Inevitability of Death
When we walk through this cemetery, we not only see how sin reduced our life spans, but we also see that sin caused the inevitability of death. The author of Genesis purposefully highlights this by repeating the refrain “and then he died” over and over again. It is truly a grave refrain!
These words are repeated over and over again to remind us that one day we too will die. I don’t think you can walk through a cemetery without meditating on your own mortality. The rows of stones, the names, the dates, and those little dashes all remind us that our bodies will return to dust from whence it came. As we ponder the inevitability of our death, what will that little dash on your gravestone represent?
None of us knows when we will die, but since we know that we will die, let’s maximize the days that God has given us. Let’s love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength! Let’s love our neighbors as ourselves, even the ones who are really difficult to love! Let’s serve the Lord by sharing the good news that Jesus died and rose again to offer us forgiveness from all of our sins and the hope of everlasting life!
3.) Walking through this cemetery reminds us that the only way to overcome death is by walking with God. (21-24)
As we walk through this cemetery and read this tragic list of names and hear the repeated phrase “and then he died” there is one name that stands out as a shocking exception. Verses 21-24 tell us that Enoch did not die. The author tells us the Enoch walked with God for 300 years and then he was no more—that is, God took him to heaven without experiencing death.
The author emphasizes the reason why Enoch did not die by repeating the phrase “walked with God.” Enoch is an example of one who found life amid the curse of death. In Enoch, the author of Genesis shows us that the pronouncement of death is not the last word. He holds Enoch up as a way to overcome death. “Walking with God” is the way to overcome death and experience life the way God meant it to be.
The whole message of the Bible is essentially summed up in this cemetery passage: We have brought death on ourselves through sin, but God offers us hope by walking with him! “Walking with God” is Genesis’ equivalent to the New Testament’s “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” Enoch overcame death through a relationship with God.
The only way to overcome death and inherit eternal life is by walking with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered and died on the cross so that we could have forgiveness for our sins. Even though we will all taste physical death like Jesus did, we can overcome death through Jesus’ resurrection.
Do you have the hope of eternal life today? Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? Do you have a relationship with him? Are you walking with God as Enoch walked with God? This is the only way to overcome death!
4.) Walking through a cemetery reminds us of our family heritage.
Let me briefly point out the contrast between the family heritage of Cain in Genesis 4 and the family heritage of Seth in Genesis 5. Ironically, both lines contain a man named Enoch. The Enoch in Cain’s line carried on his father’s defiance and independence from God. The Enoch in Seth’s line lived such a holy life that God took him. Both lines also contain a man named Lamach. In Cain’s line, Lamech marries multiple wives and ends up murdering a man. (Gen. 4:19, 23-24). He perpetuated the same spirit of revenge and became a murderer like his great-grandfather Cain. The Lamech in the line of Seth became the father of Noah, whom God used to save the human race from the flood. These are not accidental details. The author of Genesis wants us to see the difference between these family heritages.
Do you see the difference between these two heritages? One honored God and the other defied him! One walked in relationship with God and the other turned to their own human ingenuity and developed technologies to replace God!
Some of us have inherited a godly heritage from our parents and grandparents. They brought us to church, read us the Scriptures, taught us how to pray, and led us to faith in Jesus Christ. If this is you, praise God and honor your heritage!
Others of us inherited a sinful heritage from our parents and grandparents. They modeled a life of sin and destruction, and they have passed on ton of spiritual and emotional baggage. If this is you, I want you to know that your heritage does not have to determine your legacy. Walk with God and pass that walk on to your children and grandchildren!
Someday we will all die, and our family will bury our body in the ground. When our spouse or children or grandchildren or friend comes to the cemetery to look at our gravestone, what will they say? When they look at the little dash between our birthdate and date of death, how will they remember us? When we die, what type of spiritual legacy will we leave behind?