Names II

In the last post I mentioned that the name of a person bears a meaning, a calling that is put together by God. Here I want to talk about a mystery that lies in the names of the ten first generations from Adam to Noah as they are written in Genesis 5. Not only does each of these names have a specific meaning, but the meaning of these names put together reveal the main topic of the Bible.

The following list shows the meaning for each name taken form Strong's Hebrew Lexicon. In Hebrew - as in Arabic - every word can be traced back to a three-letter root word. Some of the meanings of these names are derived from the related root word:

Adam:mankind
Seth:put
Enosh:mortal
Kenan:dwelling
Mahalaleel:praise of God
Jared:descend
Enoch:discipline
Methuselah:man of a spear
Lamech:bring forth
Noah:rest

These names can be read in order as: "Mankind is put mortal in his dwelling. The praise of God descended to make disciples and was speared to bring forth rest."

This statement is basically a summary of the Gospel itself: Death and separation from God came into the world after the fall of man. But God had a plan and sent Jesus to earth, and He brought redemption for all those who follow Him by dying on the cross.