needed at that time. But here at Genesis 5:18, and the state of affairs upon the earth, things were different.

 

Gen 5:19   And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
20    And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21    And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

     We still see here that none have made it past a thousand years old. This 'Methuselah' is 'Methuwshelach' in the Hebrew meaning 'man of a dart', however, the last Hebrew root word of his name 'shelach' can mean 'to shoot forth, a branch' (Strong's no.4962 & 7973).

 

Gen 5:22   And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23    And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24    And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

     Notice that Enoch did not die, for 'God took him'. He was 'translated', even at the early age of 365 years. Wonder why? Was God saving him from some future event because he walked with God? As said before, this Enoch of 'the Adam' was a prophet of God, probably giving warnings as to the events coming soon after his day, with the fallen angels and the time of Noah's flood. Notice that Cain back in Gen.4 had an 'Enoch' in his lineage also? This is a message from our Father that His genealogies which He set forth are important, especially to His People.

 

Gen 5:25   And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
26    And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27    And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

     Remember that Cain had a Lamech in his genealogy? This of course is not the same Lamech (powerful), as this one was the father of Noah.
     This Methuselah lived longer than any other in the flesh with nine hundred and sixty nine years. What a time to have lived upon the earth it must have been, in the sense that the beauty of the earth had no pollution or over crowdedness. During creation in Gen 6 God divided the water and raised a part of it to the heavens. This is thought to have shielded people living on the earth from the damaging radiation of the sun. God would later use this water to bring about Noah’s flood, and from then on longevity would diminish.

 

Gen: 6 – 8 And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7: And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8: And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

 

 The various environmental groups of today think this old earth must go back to this state, trying to cut down on today's usage of resources, but it won't happen with that method; for God will be the only One to cleanse this old earth in the future. I'm not saying it's alright to go out and pollute this beautiful earth which God made for all, on the contrary, but you tell me, how can man accomplish it without destroying life as we know it? (Some groups wish to do this, though I won't mention any names).