Genealogy Gaps

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Are there gaps in the
Bible's genealogy?

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Genealogy

As a (Y)oung (E)arth (C)reationist I accept the literal interpretation of the early chapters of Genesis and it is frustrating when others constantly attempt to force the text to fit what we "know" via science. I wish this were only true in regard to evolutionists but on occasion, this problem crops up among creationists as well.

Many YEC's claim to believe as I on this subject yet when it comes to Genesis chapters five through seven (the begats and begotten text), they equivocate on the actual age of the earth by misrepresenting what has been communicated. Since this area of scripture is generally viewed as very monotonous, it is possible they have not actually read the text.

The typical comments follow this general format, "the generations listed in Genesis ch.5 - 7 aren't contiguous, but only a sampling." In other words, there are gaps in the lineage as recorded. These supposed gaps allow, them to be vague when they make statements about the age of the earth. They don't know how many gaps exist or how long those gaps might be, but one thing is certain, the earth is surely older than what you would calculate based on the data given.

Most of these teachers are willing to guess that the earth may be eight to ten thousand years old. What I can't understand is why they are willing to add this fudge factor into the numbers. It only adds two to four thousand additional years since creation. Does this make the earth's age more palatable for those who don't accept the concept of a young earth? Are they trying to make the time scale of the Bible match data from extra Biblical sources regarding relatively recent anthropological finds?

The Genesis text in question gives a clear, logical accounting of the chain of generations that existed between the creation of Adam and the flood. There are no gaps! Below is a sample of the scriptures being questioned.

Genesis 5:3 - 8 (KJV)
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. . . .

We can see that in this example, Adam, at age 130, fathered and Eve bore a son who they named Seth. It states that Adam lived 800 years after Seth was born and that all the days of Adam were 930 years. (130 + 800 = 930)

Next we see that Seth, at age 105, became the father of Enosh and that he lived after the birth of Enosh for 807 years. The total number of years that Seth lived is listed as 912. (105 + 807 = 912) This same pattern is repeated until we get to Noah, his sons, and the flood.

Those that are listed form a continuous line with no breaks. We are always told exactly how old the father was when the child was born; We are always told exactly how long the father lived after the birth of the child; We are always told the total number of years the father lived. This pattern continues father to son, to son, etc.

The chart below has been provided as a visual aid for the reader to better understand the text in Genesis. The white numbers represent the actual birth and death years of the persons at the left. (in relation to creation)

Chart Showing Early Lineage of Genesis

Name		Birth to Death
Adam
Seth
Enosh
Kenan
Mahalalel
Jared
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech
Noah

GREEN	bar represents Creation Year 1
RED	bar is the Year of Noadic flood.

There are two things I found to be of particular interest as I began charting the genealogy. I guess that because of our short lived perspective, it had never occurred to me that Adam was alive during the same period of time as a great many of his progeny. As you can see from the chart, he was still amongst the living at the time of Lamech and missed Noah's time by only 126 years.

The second and more important discovery I made was that the text included what I would call a "parity" check on the figures given. Referring to the chart, notice the red vertical line which delineates the year of the flood. (To determine the exact year of the flood, I used Genesis ch.7; v.6 which states that the flood occurred when Noah was 600 years old) We know from the scriptures that only Noah and his family were saved through the flood. If any of the other persons listed in the text had lived beyond the time of the flood, there would be a serious discrepancy in the biblical record. As you can see by the graph, this is not the case.

The only person who came close to "crossing the line" was Methuselah, the longest living man in the Bible and he died in the same year as the flood. (the text doesn't indicate whether it was before or during)

This article doesn't address the remainder of scripture dealing with the early lineage of man, and only includes a sampling to demonstrate the pattern. If it has piqued your interest, open your Bible and read the rest separately. There are other items of interest and mystery to be gleaned from this "boring" section of the Bible.

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