This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.  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.  And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:  And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.  And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:  And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.  And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared.  And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.  And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:  And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.  And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:  And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:  And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.  And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:  And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.  And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:  And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.  And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.  And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Genesis 5

These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:  And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:  And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:  And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:  And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:  And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:  And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:  And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:  And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.  Genesis 11:10-26

When we read about the biblical patriarchs in Genesis, particularly who begat who and how long they all lived, the tendency for many is to gloss over those verses and move on to more interesting accounts.  Why did GOD put this seemingly mundane and maybe even boring material in the Bible?  Why was it deemed important enough to be included?  All these men lived their lives, long lives at that, one after another, a long, long time ago.  But is that entirely true?  According to the Bible these ancient men did live long lives but not exactly in a serial manner.  When matching birth dates and lengths of life these men experienced, a fascinating fact becomes surprisingly evident.  Even though these men were related and were born one after another, generation after generation, there were long periods of time that generations of theses men were alive on earth.together.  The chart below illustrates the birth, lifespan and death of the first twenty generations of mankind, from the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden to the death of Abraham more than 2000 years later.  It is interesting to note that for fifty-six years the first nine generations shared their lives on earth together.  They all could have talked with each other during this time.  By examining the chart below it is evident that there are only three "links", backwards, necessary from Abraham to Adam (Abraham>Shem, Shem>Methuselah and Methuselah>Adam).

Notice that Shem and Eber whose deaths were in 2158 and 2178 respectively, both outlived all their descendants down to Abraham.  In the patriarchal society that existed in those times, it is no wonder that the Israelites were also known as "Semites" (after Shem) or "Hebrews" (after Eber).

Envision, if you can, Noah asking his father Lamech, "Dad, could you tell me again about the times you talked to Adam about the Garden of Eden"?  Or, "What kind of fruit did great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandma Eve eat in the Garden?  Or even, "What did Adam think about his life, his sin and his GOD"?

Imagine Abraham saying to Shem, "Tell me, how did you and your brothers, Ham and Japheth, and your father, Noah, build the Ark"?  Or, "what did the people around you say and think about the construction of the ark"?  Or even "What was it like on the ark during the forty days and nights of rain.What did you think when you finally set foot on dry land again, knowing you were the only people alive on the earth"?  Did conversations like this take place?  Maybe, maybe not.but they could have since Shem was alive for most of Abraham's entire lifespan.

The Bible is scrupulous in recording the ages of the patriarchs from Adam to Abraham.  It states how old each was when his son, was born, how long each lived after that, and how old each was when he died. Consequently, by simple arithmetic, the calendar year since the fall of Adam, that each patriarch was born, lived and died can be easily and accurately calculated. The genealogy and associated time involved is continuous and any possibility of any time gap is thereby eliminated from these Genesis family tree lists.  Some have theorized and stated that there are gaps in these genealogies.  To make the Biblical timeframe accommodate present secular geology and archaeology concepts gaps are required.  However, there are no gaps in the Genesis genealogies.

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water was upon the earth. Genesis 7:6 

Besides genealogical records, the date of the Flood after Creation can also be accurately affirmed. From the chart above it can be seen that Noah was born 1056 years after the fall of mankind and so the Flood occurred 600 years later, in the year 1656, which was 352 years before Abraham was born.

There are 11 verses recorded in Genesis, which read, " These are the generations of".  The word generation is the Hebrew word "toledoth" which means origins, history, or family history. The statements referenced all come after the events they describe, and the events recorded in each division, all took place before rather than after the death of the individuals named, so they may very well be subscripts or closing signatures, rather than superscripts or headings.  If this is so, the most likely explanation is that Adam, Noah, Shem, and the others each wrote down on clay tablets an account of the events which occurred during their lifetime, and passed them down from father to son via the line of Adam, Seth.Methuselah.Noah, Shem.Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram and  finally to Moses (the 26 th generation from Adam).  Moses under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, selected, compiled and edited these, along with his own comments, into the book we now know as Genesis. If there were such written records, those records would have helped keep accurate any oral accounts of the historical family events. The huge ancestral overlap would also ensure accurate recitation of the true facts of that historical record.

The genealogical details of the early patriarchs are given three times in the Bible-in Genesis chapters 5 and 11, First Chronicles chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 3.  This repetition shows the importance that God places on these "mundane and boring" details. The writers of the New Testament reinforce the fact that these genealogies are a real record of history and represent literal, real people.  The book of Jude specifically refers to Enoch as being " the seventh from Adam ". this matches scripture found elsewhere.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Psalms promise blessing when mediating on scripture.  The verse above proclaims that all scripture is profitable for us.  This must mean that even the "mundane and boring" sections of scripture are good for us.  Even dry genealogies give us a place to meditate on GOD and His word.  Do some meditating today!