Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah's Flood
First in a Series of Bible Study Lessons
from Barbara’s Journals.
The following is from my 2021 Computer Journal.
“Every human on earth today can trace their genealogy back to the time of Noah, because all the world came through his three sons: Shem, Ham, and Jacob.” – David Jeremiah
I began today’s Bible study with two cable TV sermons by Allen Jackson and one by David Jeremiah. From these sermons, I learned so much about Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah (Genesis 5) that I wrote a supplemental document about these men to begin this year’s Bible study. (In addition to keeping handwritten journals, I’ve been journaling on the computer since 2007.)
I discovered Allen Jackson when COVID-19 was beginning, finding him through Eric Metaxas on TBN. I have watched him regularly since then because his preaching is not just reruns of old sermons (sometimes true of David Jeremiah), but current ones related to the present day.
The first programs I watched in December were about living in the pandemic and lessons Christians were learning on how to live with a focus on trusting in God. In the last days of December 2020, he had a two-part series on how to prepare for what he saw coming in the New Year.
It was helpful and comforting advice on dealing with our changing culture and special challenges for Christians, and why we have nothing to fear as long as we walk with God. Like Jeremiah’s sermons, Jackeon’s are about 25 minutes in length, so my new “morning routine” this year is to watch one of each while I’m getting up, dressing, making my bed, and doing chair exercises. But often I find myself stopping what I’m doing to take notes. Like today. My takeaway from Pastor Jackson was this:
“The key to our future is not about politics or elections; it’s about the hearts of the people in our nation—not how we identify ourselves, but what we give our hearts to.”
“Forgive others for what they did to you last year, remembering the biblical rule about forgiveness: If you can’t forgive others, God can’t forgive you.” (Matt: 14-15). Interpretation: God will forgive us in the same way He asks us to forgive others: by restoring fellowship with us.
David Jeremiah’s sermon from 2000 was riveting, and I had to stop and write a page of notes. It was from his series, “Ordinary People with Extraordinary Faith,” and the topic today was Enoch. In my journal note for Genesis 5, I noted that Methuselah lived 969 years, and the patriarch who lived the shortest life was Enoch, whom God took directly to heaven because he was a man who lived in faith and pleased God. What I learned about Enoch prompted the following writing.
Enoch,
Who walked with God and did not die.
Pastor Jeremiah obviously loves to do mathematical calculations to illustrate a special discovery he has made. This one was mind-blowing to me. He said Enoch is mentioned in Genesis 5:18 (son of Jared), Hebrews 11:5 (By faith, taken from this life), and Jude 14-15 (where he was a prophet witnessing about the Lord’s coming judgment of mankind). In Hebrews, Enoch was one of only four patriarchs mentioned in the New Testament as men who walked in faith and pleased God, the others being Adam, Noah, and Abraham.
Methuselah, Son of Enoch,
Who lived 969 years.
Enoch was 7th in line from Adam, the father of Methuselah (who lived 969 years), and the great-grandfather of Noah (the kind of perspective I don’t usually get because I’ve never kept track of the genealogy of everyone introduced in Genesis). Without this lesson, I wouldn’t have connected the dots here from a simple reading of the verses about Enoch, which is why we need pastors like David Jeremiah to help us see the whole picture.
Enoch was the first man in the Bible of whom it was said that “he walked with God” and, in Jude, that he also pleased God. But like many people today, he did not come to God until later in life. As Jeremiah explained, key things that often bring people to Christ today are getting married and having the first child, so it’s clear in the Bible that being a father changed Enoch’s perspective.
“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters” (Gen. 5:18-19).
Noah’s Flood
Now for the arithmetic lesson: By calculating the lives of those named in Genesis and working backwards, Jeremiah determined that if Adam was born in year one, Methuselah was born in 687. He calculated that Noah was born in 1056 and was 600 when the flood came in the year 1656, which was the exact year that Methuselah died. God told Enoch to name his son Methuselah, which means “when he is dead it shall be sent.” This was not coincidental because as soon as he died, God sent the flood.
Thus: 687+969=1656, the year when Methuselah died.
Jeremiah also noted that because God took Enoch (as He also took Elijah), Enoch became the first illustration of the Rapture (1 Thes. 4:15-17).
In the next sermon in this series, Jeremiah focused on Noah, and how faithful he was in building the Ark. Also said that he was a great evangelist, because he brought his entire family to faith, which is why all were with him in the Ark. He also stated that every human on earth today can trace their genealogy back to the time of Noah, because all the world came through his three sons: Shem, Ham, and Jacob. What an interesting fact to ponder!
Recommended Books:
» Fallen Angels, Giants, Monsters & the World Before the Flood: How the Events of Noah’s Ark and the Flood Are Relevant to the End of the Age, by Rick Renner. I’m currently reading this intriguing, historical Bible study book and finding it hard to put down. It’s giving me a keener understanding of the relevance of the Bible to today’s constantly changing world and the end times. As one reviewer put it, “Events that happened before the flood of Noah have a cautionary parallel to similar events taking place right now.”
» As It Was in the Days of Noah: Warnings from Bible Prophecy About the Coming Global Storm, by Jeff Kinley. This book discusses the parallels between the time before the flood and our current culture, highlighting the rise in evil, the surge in immorality, and the pandemic of godlessness
» The Coming Golden Age Bible Study Guide: How to Be Kingdom Ready by David Jeremiah (2024). In this book, Jeremiah unfolds the Second Coming of Christ and His millennium reign here on earth, and how this fact impacts us today.
» Big Trouble Ahead: A Real Plan for Flourishing in a Time of Fear and Deception. Pastor Allen Jackson reveals a biblical perspective on the startling events unfolding in our nation and shows us how to hold onto everlasting hope and flourish, even amid the chaos.
» AllenJacksonNOW Podcast. Pastor Jackson has a large congregation in Tennessee and, since 2021, he has become known internationally through his weekly “Culture and Christianity” podcast. I watch it daily because I learn much from his interviews with leaders in various walks of life.
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First published as Barbara's Personal Musings About Life in August 2025.
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