Gen 5

Gen 5 is the start of a new tol'dot, this time the "generations of Adam".  The BKC feels that this is important because is shows that the introduction of evil was planned by God and was part of the creation of the Earth, which is why it was in the section "generations of the heavens and the earth."  I think that pretty significant as well.

Verses 1-3 start off by saying again that Adam is in the likeness of God, and that Adam and Eve had "...a son in his own likeness, after his image..."  However, although this is the same language that is used in Gen 1:27 and Gen 5:1  when it talked about Adam being in the image of God.  The Jews who wrote this didn't know what they were saying, you see God doesn't look anything like man and the Jews were wrong to use this language.  Silly Jews.

The BKC points out that many of the verses in Gen 5 have "and then they died" at the end of them.  I've never noticed this before and I find it significant as well.  It's always been my belief that whenever something is repeated in scripture the Lord is stressing it and wants us to take notice of it.  The Lord is stressing that we all die, even if people used to live a long time.

The BKC says that when Enoch "walked" with God it meant that he followed God as in a "Christian Walk".  While I agree that this is a common reference among Christians, I would be surprised if the Jews used it this way.  What does the Bible mean in Gen 3:8 when it says that Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day?  Although this is the only mention of Enoch is barely mentioned in the Bible, there is a lot more information about Enoch out there if someone is willing to look.  There was a Book of Enoch that existed in the early days of Christianity.  It was thought of highly by certain Christians.  It was so highly thought of that there is a quote out of it in Jude, so part of the Book of Enoch actually is part of the Bible.  Today the Ethiopian Orthodox Church includes it in their scriptures, as does the Jewish sect of Beta Israel (a group of Africa Jews in Ethiopia).  There are a lot of traditions about Enoch and the traditions recount that Enoch did in fact walk with God literally.  (One of these external traditions to the Bible, of course, is the LDS Pearl of Great Price.)

I was quite surprised by the way that the BKC treated the statement that Lamech made when Noah was born.  The NIV has it as

28 He named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."

The BKC says that this "prophecy" was not fulfilled the way that Lamech expected it to be fulfilled!  How in the world do they arrive at that conclusion?  They don't explain so I don't know.  My idea of prophecy is not that the prophet says something under the influence of the Spirit and doesn't have any idea how it will be fulfilled.  I was just caught be surprise by the way the BKC talked about this.