TLDR: A guide for having a family discipleship time on Genesis 5 based on the ACT Bible Study Method.
Act 2: People Disobey
Scene 3: Seth’s Family
Genesis 5:1–32
Analyze the Passage
Step 1: Introduce the Passage
Genesis was written by Moses sometime between 1445–1405 BC to help the Israelites leaving Egypt understand their history with God. It’s one of the five books of the Law that Moses wrote, which we also call the Torah, or the Pentateuch, which means “five books.”
Today’s true story is another hard one, but it’s one where we see a beautiful glimpse of hope midway through it. This story is in Act 2: People Disobey.
Step 2: Read the Passage
Step 3: Summarize the Passage
This chapter is the story of Adam’s family line through Seth (vv. 1–2).
Adam lived 930 years and was the father of Seth (vv. 3–5).
Seth lived 912 years and was the father of Enosh (vv. 6–8).
Enosh lived 905 years and was the father of Kenan (vv. 9–11).
Kenan lived 910 years and was the father of Mahalalel (vv. 12–14).
Mahalalel lived 895 years and was the father of Jared (vv. 15–17).
Jared lived 962 years and was the father of Enoch (vv. 18–20).
Enoch lived 365 years, but because he walked with God, God took him without Enoch dying. He was the father of Methuselah (vv. 21–24).
Methuselah lived 969 years and was the father of Lamech (vv. 25–27).
Lamech lived 777 years and was the father of Noah (vv. 28–31).
Noah lived 500 years and was the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (v. 32).
Step 4: Interrogate the Passage
Questions you and your family ask might include:
- Why does this chapter begin by talking about God making people in his image like in Genesis 1?
- Did these people really live so long? How?
- What does it mean that Enoch “walked with God”?
- Why and how did God take Enoch?
- What did Noah’s father mean when he said Noah would bring comfort from their work?
- Why aren’t we told how long Noah lived in total and that he died?
Step 5: Wonder about the Passage
Wonder statements you and your family make might include:
- I wonder how many of these people were alive at the same time.
- I wonder what it would be like to live almost 1,000 years.
- I wonder why we don’t learn more about Seth’s family like we did Cain’s.
- I wonder if Seth’s family and Cain’s family knew each other.
Connect the Passage to Christ
Step 6: Find the World in Front of Text
This story bridges all the ones we’ve covered so far and the next one. In Genesis 1–2, God made people in his image to have a special friendship with him. But then, in Genesis 3, we saw how people disobeyed God and broke the one rule he had given—not to eat from a special tree. God had said that if they sinned, they would die. Genesis 4 showed us how deeply sin affected Adam and Eve’s family, starting with one of their sons, Cain, killing their other one, Abel. We then learned that Cain’s family line continued to sin.
Here, Genesis 5 shows us how Seth’s family did. As we read the chapter, one phrase might standout because it appears time and time again: “and then he died.” What God promised would happen—death—came true. Seth’s family line was better than Cain’s family line, but they still were sinners, deserving to die. Life and death. Life and death. Over and over again.
Except one: Enoch. Enoch apparently was especially close to God and God did something very special for him. Enoch didn’t die. God took him into heaven instead. Enoch shows us that there is a way to escape the curse of death, but it isn’t because of anything we do; it’s because of what God does.
This idea is why Seth’s family line ends with Noah. We will follow Noah’s story for the next few chapters and we will see that God spares him and his family from sure death in an amazing way. And just like he did for Enoch, God spares Noah not because of anything he would do, but rather because of God’s good grace.
Sin has shattered God’s good world. It’s not as it’s supposed to be. But God is at work fixing what people have broken.
Step 7: Find the World of Jesus of the Text
This story is one about humility. Pride is what got people into trouble in the first place as we saw in Genesis 3. Then, pride cemented itself into Cain and his family line as we saw in Genesis 4. But here, we see that humility is the path toward being made right with God again. While God’s salvation is a free gift from him, we must be humble to receive it. When we are humble, we imitate Jesus who humbled himself to come to earth and then suffer and die to provide the very salvation that we need.
Translate It to Your Context
Step 8: Connect the World of Jesus of the Text to Your World
How can you be especially humble this week? Remember, humility is not thinking poorly of yourself; it is thinking more highly of God and others. It is putting God first, others second, and yourself third. What are ways that you can display humility with your friends, family, and others to show them Jesus?
NEXT: Act 2: People Disobey; Scene 4: Noah Before the Flood (Genesis 6:1–22)
Learn more about this family discipleship method here.
brian dembowczyk 