Genesis chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 5

Wow!  Old age takes a new meaning here!  One of my girlfriends commented yesterday that she remembers the day when 30 seemed old.  My husband turns 28 today!  Noah was 500 when his three sons were born!!!  What happened from Noah's time until today??  Without modern medicine or technology, these men of Genesis lived generations and generations!  What did they do?  If Noah waited 500 years to have children, was he afraid of commitment?  I understand that some men are afraid of the responsibility, but that's a bit extremem, don't you think?!

Basically this chapter just outlines the lineage from Adam to Noah.  I don't think I realized that Noah was a descendant of Seth, but since Abel didn't live to be in his hundreds, he didn't really have much of a chance to have kids.  I wonder if the aging process was different back then.  Maybe if you live to be 800, you don't actually hit puberty until you are over one hundred. 

Matthew 5 is loaded.  When I think of stories from the New Testament that I learned as a child or a teenager, many of them are in this chapter.  We begin with the beatitudes, perhaps the most inspiring and hope-filled passages in the Bible.  Then we hear the lessons on being worth your salt and letting your light shine.  Want to sing This Little Light of Mine anyone??  We hear all of the following:

• Uphold the Laws Moses
• Murder is bad, but so is harboring anger toward your brother
• Settle matters quickly with others
• Looking in lust is just as bad as commiting adultery
• Be truthful always
• No more Eye for an Eye business-Be good all the time
• Love your enemies