Lamech & the Flood - where is he?

[nwink]

When going through the genealogies in Genesis, it becomes apparent that there was overlap of the lives of the pre-flood men such that maybe only Adam had died when Enoch was around. (But the numbers and all can be confusing) So with that reasoning, what happened to Lamech when Noah was living and was the one on earth who found grace in God's eyes? Did Lamech die a while before Noah started building the ark?

Additional questions: So in order for Noah to be the last one in favor with God, is it assumed all the rest of Seth's line except Noah had intermarried with the line of Cain? And, this is speculating, but would Lamech and Methuselah have been involved in the building of the ark? (Or maybe they were too old to do so)

 

[KMK]

What about Methuselah? He died in the year of the flood. Did he die in the flood or just before?

 

[MW]

Taking a lineal rather than a royal approach to the genealogy, Methuselah died the year of the flood and Lamech died 5 years before it.

 

[nwink]

Taking a lineal rather than a royal approach to the genealogy,

Where can I learn more about these approaches?

 

[Romans922]

I take it that by the grace of God, He mercifully took Methuselah before the flood came. If not (since Scripture doesn't actually tell us), it shows that our God even for His people sometimes doesn't spare them to bring about His plan, yet brings them into His eternal kingdom.

Lamech died 5 years prior to the flood. He died 595 years after Noah was born (Gn. 5:30). The flood came when Noah was 600 years old (Gn. 7:11).

 

[nwink]

Lamech died 5 years prior to the flood. He died 595 years after Noah was born. The flood came when Noah was 600 years old.

So in order for Noah to be the last one in favor with God, is it assumed all the rest of Seth's line except Noah had intermarried with the line of Cain? And, this is speculating, but would Lamech and Methuselah been involved in the building of the ark? (Or maybe they were too old to do so)

 

[MW]

Taking a lineal rather than a royal approach to the genealogy,

Where can I learn more about these approaches?

Most commentaries on Genesis will include some discussion. If you choose to look into it I can only suggest that you beware of "genre" arguments that have a certain appeal on the surface but effectively dismantle the narrative.

 

[JML]

What about Methuselah? He died in the year of the flood. Did he die in the flood or just before?

My pastor just taught on this not too long ago. He was saying Methuselah's name can mean "when he is dead, it shall be sent" representing a prophecy of the coming destruction.

 

[nwink]

Any thoughts regarding the "additional questions" in the OP?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

If we understand the genealogy of Gen.5 to express a godly heritage, then Noah's fathers should be reckoned among the faithful remnant. Did they "help" build the ark? Well, as you've already noted, the fathers were awfully OLD by the time its keel was laid.

I think the witness of the antediluvian record is this: by rebellion in Eden, Man said to God, "I can live without you;" and God gave man up to his wishes. The result is a world that is filled with bloodshed, Gen.6:11, all the thoughts and intents of man's heart only evil continually, 6:5. Unrestrained wickedness is where a world without God descends.

There was intermarriage, without regard to faith, and this further led to loss of whole generations to apostasy in short order. Apart from the grace of God, there would have been no man of faith to live through the baptism (1Pet.3:20-21) that came upon the world. But in mercy, God spared one family by keeping them in his faith, so that the world would not utterly perish. There does not appear to have been any other church in the world, but the one saved inside the walls of the ark.