What is the meaning of Genesis 5:14? So Kenan lived - Genesis 5:14 opens with the simple acknowledgment of Kenan’s life, linking him to the unbroken genealogy that runs from Adam through Seth (Genesis 5:9-13) and eventually to Christ (Luke 3:37). - By recording each patriarch’s name, Scripture stresses that every person in God’s redemptive timeline is real and significant, not mythological. - The phrase echoes earlier verses (“And so-and-so lived…”) to show God’s sustaining grace generation after generation, even in a fallen world (Acts 17:25). - Kenan’s place in both Genesis 5 and 1 Chronicles 1:2 reminds us that God keeps meticulous track of His people, reinforcing His faithfulness to preserve a godly line. a total of 910 years - Pre-Flood lifespans were extraordinarily long—Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5), Seth 912 (5:8), Mahalalel 895 (5:17). Scripture presents these numbers straightforwardly, so we accept them literally. - Such longevity highlights God’s patience: centuries of life gave each patriarch abundant time to know the Creator and teach descendants (2 Peter 3:9). - The drastic decline in ages after the Flood (Genesis 11) and God’s later statement, “Man’s days shall be 120 years” (Genesis 6:3), show that long life was a unique, temporary mercy before judgment. - Even the longest earthly lives are finite, underscoring that true hope lies not in lifespan but in eternal life promised in Christ (John 11:25-26). and then he died - Every entry in Genesis 5 ends with the same blunt refrain, “and he died,” except Enoch (Genesis 5:24). This drumbeat fulfills God’s warning in Genesis 2:17 and 3:19: sin brings death (Romans 5:12). - Kenan’s death after 910 years underlines that no amount of time can remove humanity’s need for redemption (Hebrews 9:27). - The contrast with Enoch, who “walked with God, and then he was no more” (Genesis 5:24), hints ahead to the victory over death secured in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22, 54-57). - Thus the verse is both a record and a sermon: life is a God-given gift, but death is an inescapable reality apart from divine intervention. summary Genesis 5:14 quietly but powerfully testifies that Kenan was a real man sustained by God, granted an extraordinary 910 years, yet still subject to the universal sentence of death. His long life shows God’s patience; his death shows sin’s cost. Together they point us to the One who alone conquers the grave and offers eternal life. |
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