From Adam to Noah

 

When God formed man from the earth, He named him Adam, demonstrating that names have meaning to God. Since then, people have been given names.

In times of old, only one name was given; some, like Jacob, “supplanter”, related to the circumstances surrounding their birth while others’ names were connected to a promise, Isaac, “he will laugh”.

In the naming of the ten generations from Adam to Noah, is such a case, where each name is connected to a promise. It is the promise that God, in His love and mercy, made to Adam “and the woman”, immediately after their display of wilful disobedience.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

In this verse, Genesis 3:15 (NKJV), lies the promise of redemption.

The woman’s Seed Who would bruise Satan’s head, is our Lord Jesus. On hearing this wonderful promise of God, faith must have been implanted into the hearts of Adam and the woman, for it was after hearing that promise, that Adam called the woman Eve, "living". And they believed that through Eve would come, the One Who would redeem all of mankind from the sin that the deception of Eve and Adam's disobedience had brought upon the world.

“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” – Genesis 3:20 (NKJV)

God’s glorious message of redemption is told in the names of those from Adam to Noah:

Adam – “man”

Seth – “appointed”

Enosh – “mortal”

Kenan – “sorrow”

Mahalalel – “the blessed God”

Jared – “shall come down”

Enoch – “teaching”

Methusalah – “his death shall bring”

Lamech – “despairing”

Noah – “rest”

“Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the Blessed God shall come down, teaching that His death shall bring the despairing, Rest.”

Beloved, these ten names, from Adam to Noah, conceal irrefutable evidence of a loving God, Who, from the very beginning, had already laid out a plan for the redemption of sinful man.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “From Adam to Noah” ©2013 revisited December 3, 2025