Pastor Chris Plekenpol and his guests explore the Bible together one chapter at a time. They offer practical insights, theological depth, and real-life applications. Dive in for engaging discussions that bring God’s Word to life, one chapter at a time!
Genesis 5 can feel like the part you skim, but we slow down and find the storyline inside the genealogy. The names from Adam to Noah aren’t just history, they’re a spiritual contrast between two ways to live. We talk about why Enoch stands out as the man who “walks with God,” why that kind of daily faith still matters, and how his life becomes a sharp counterpoint to Lamech’s darker legacy.
From there, we land on Noah and the meaning of his name: relief from the cursed ground and painful toil. That raises a real question, how does an ark bring “relief”? We explore the idea of God’s grace arriving through one righteous man, and why Noah’s family is saved because they’re connected to him. It’s one of the clearest pictures of salvation by grace in Genesis, and we connect it to the gospel and the righteousness of Jesus as the refuge we cling to.
The conversation turns practical with Christian parenting, generational faith, and why dads matter. We get honest about father wounds, absence, and the long shadow a parent can cast, while also holding onto the hope of God as a perfect Father who steps in. We close with the power of blessing, the meaning we attach to names, and how speaking life over the next generation can shape a family line.
If you care about Bible study, Genesis, Enoch, Noah, Christian discipleship, and building a legacy of faith, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What part of your family story are you trying to change for the next generation?
And welcome back to a chapter a day. That keeps the devil away.
Jordan Smith
You gotta be on the ball, Cody. I can't do it every time. One more time, one more time. Here we go.
Pastor Plek
Clap it out. And welcome back to a chapter a day. Keeps the devil away. All right, we're here with Cody Sparks from the Cody Sparks band and Jordan Smith. This is Pastor Pleck, and we are knocking out Genesis chapter five. Uh we're looking moving through the generations of Adam, and I thought you found this very riveting, Jordan.
Jordan Smith
Uh, quite the contrary, actually. These are kind of the chapters I'm happy to fast forward through.
Pastor Plek
Why is that?
Jordan Smith
It gets repetitive, and I'm not going to remember any of these names. So give us a couple names that are in there. Mahalel. All right, yeah, that's true. All right.
Well, listen, I think this is fascinating because you you look down the sixth from uh I think Adam and the sixth on either side of you've got the sixth from Adam on the godly side, the sixth from Adam on the you know Cain side is Enoch and Lamech. Lamech turned into a gangster thug rapper, and then you've got Enoch walking with God and he doesn't die. He is the one who gets to experience only that which was promised to Adam. There would be no death. Yeah, he's the one exception. And he walked with God. And so I think there's this reality. I think if we would walk with God, and true to form, that he walks with God and was no more, that means he's with, he never experienced death. And I think ultimately in Revelation, uh, when there's two witnesses, is Enoch's gonna be one of those guys because he, you know, everyone experiences death once, and so he's gonna experience it at that point. Probably Enoch and Elijah, who was taken up and didn't experience death in the chariot of fire. Um, okay, so Enoch is the opposite of Lamech.
He walks with God. And then through this gener through these generations, we end with Noah, who is going to be ascent, essentially the one who uh brings salvation to the human race. And I like how his name means out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands. Which does he do you think Noah does that with the on the ark? How do how would he do that?
SPEAKER_00
I was kind of wondering that myself. Because it was like the land that God cursed. Is it like it flooded so much that the land became more fertile? Uh-huh.
Pastor Plek
Okay, I could go with that. Um, or it could be that he is um the relief is God's grace through Noah. Right. I that might be it. Like you, there's no longer salvation is not by your own ability, but rather by the grace of God. And you see that very clearly where uh Noah is righteous, but all the other guys that they they get into the boat because of Noah. Right. Not because of their own righteousness. That's a picture to me. That's a picture of Jesus. Like whenever Noah's on the boat and all of the of his three sons and his sons' wives and their families get onto the boat, their salvation is not dependent on their righteousness, but on Noah's. And that's exactly how it is with Jesus. That the the all of scripture, in one way or another, points to Jesus, and here it points to Jesus because it was his righteousness that we cling to that um ferries us, if you will, to heaven. Very nice. I like that. There's always, and so you looked at Lamech and saw 777 years. Uh, I did. I didn't know if that was significant. I think it's significant like this that uh he gets five, he dies essentially five years before the flood starts. So he has pretty much the whole arc being built. Does it say that he helps?
SPEAKER_00
No, it doesn't say that. He just, you know, we we find out that's just wondering. Because if as Noah's father, wouldn't you think that he had to teach him the craft? Yeah, oh, sure.
Pastor Plek
Like work and building and I mean, you know, and what to God told me. Put him on his knee at a hundred years old and said, Son, let me show you how to build this. Which is weird. I don't know. It's kind of like maybe the age like sea turtles.
Jordan Smith
Man, it's like watching a movie and you get yanked out right when it's about to end.
SPEAKER_00
Or right when it's about to start, really. I mean, like, you know, like well, you watch it being filmed and you're there for all the filming, but you never see it fully edited. Oh, good point. Yeah, yeah. Like the edited version of what happens.
Pastor Plek
And the conceived and you gotta think that Lamech thought his son Noah was a little bit crazy for building this. But he hear, but Noah clearly hears from God. He's supposed to build this ark, and he's the only one on the planet that gets it. And when it starts to rain, his family moves in and everyone's like, huh, what's this wet stuff? Not knowing that eventually the wet stuff would flood the earth. Yes. 40 days and 40 nights it rains and then 120 days at sea. So kind of wild. All right.
So when you think Jordan, how do you how would you apply this to your life?
Jordan Smith
Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I do find it interesting about the six generations, the two paths to take there. Uh, you know, it's I guess application-wise, maybe do your own research because that is certainly not really explained at all. Okay. But it's a good thing to know.
SPEAKER_00
So do not research the uh young bacterial fountain of youth shot that we talked about earlier. Yeah, find a different application. How about this?
Pastor Plek
The your generations matter. Yeah, they do. Like the way that you like when you talk about what your parents have done with you, that's good. You forwarding the to the generations salvation. Like, you know, Lamech, father of Noah, did not know when he bore, when his wife bore Noah, when he was raising Noah, that this kid would be the one that would preserve all humanity. And so you don't know, like one of my favorite quotes from uh uh from one of my favorite pastors is the most important kingdom work you do might not be something you do, but someone you raise.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah. Well, yeah, Michael Jordan's dad didn't know Michael Jordan was gonna be Michael Jordan, right?
Pastor Plek
In the same way, you know, the probably Billy Graham's dad didn't know. Billy Graham was gonna be Billy Graham. You know, my parents didn't know I'd be a pastor. I don't know how if your parents knew you'd be a worship leader. I don't know what your parents thought you would be, but ultimately you know that there is an impact and an effect from generation to generation.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, The Blessing. But it is so true, though. And their family and their family and their children and their children. To me, that song was a big, like powerful. It hit me really, really hard because it was COVID, Conway was just born. Yeah, that song came out, and I remember hearing I was like, Oh, and it hit me so hard. But for me, it was my grandpa and what he went through, and then he became a pastor after living a life of just chaos. Then my dad became a pastor, then I am in the ministry, and now I have a son that's I'm I'm not saying Conway's gonna do that, he's gonna do what he does, but I'm just saying, like, I'm so thankful for generation to generation to generate and on my mom's side, it goes back so deep that it's like, man, there's so it just keeps going and going, going, and the in the and we're all believers, so I think that's huge for families.
Pastor Plek
Yeah, the other thing I see in this dads matter.
SPEAKER_00
Dads matter.
Pastor Plek
So dad, like where is the you know, you're not there's other sons and daughters, sons and daughters, but you don't hear about moms, you hear about dads. And I think in a culture that has sort of um kicked men to the curb, I want you to know, men, that you matter and that as a man, you're called to to empower and bless the next generation, not only with your presence, but with your wisdom, your godliness, your righteousness. Kids will remember the time you spent with them, the lectures you gave them, the amount of love and grace that was given or not given. Yeah. I I think that's where I feel like a lot of people remember all the stuff their dads didn't do, right? Uh, and we don't want to be a victim culture that just kind of blames our parents for everything. But the reality is, like at some point, dads, if you don't step in and matter, then you're the generations will miss out um because of what you missed out on. So I think there is something really powerful in that. Uh Jordan, any thoughts on the generations?
Jordan Smith
Uh no, not at this moment.
Pastor Plek
Yeah. All right. So I think that's where.
Jordan Smith
Well, how about your your parents? What about them? I mean, my dad was angry and uh so I guess no grace and kind of absent. So maybe that's why this stuff doesn't matter to me.
SPEAKER_00
No, well, but it does though because of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jordan Smith
It doesn't matter to me in terms of I guess I don't care to know it, but I'm sure it's still significant and sure.
Pastor Plek
Like my dad, like is as great as my dad could be, he missed out on teaching me spiritual things. And for me, and almost every pastor that I know has had this weird relationship with their dad, uh, where their dad was not involved in their life at some point. And so God, the father, really stepped in. And so I think sometimes when you understand the reality of how much God loves you and how much he wants to father you, that ultimately you're you're pointing, you're because at some point you raise your kids and you release them to God as a father. And if it's true that Jesus comes along and he points to dads and and he says, This, if if you've seen me, you've seen the father. If you want to know what God looks like, take a look at a dad. It's like that, only much greater and much more perfect. Even though you dads who are evil know how to good gifts, how much how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit, give the best give to those uh who ask him? And I think that's the part of where Jesus reveals God as a father. So if there's one place where Satan could come in and just distract or take away or make it look like it doesn't matter, it would be the place of fathers and the generations and the generations. And I think when when we look at our families and what you're trying to establish with generational living and and passing on the grace of God to the next generation, you know, in in the in American culture, freedom is only one generation away from extinction. But the gospel and the truth and the power of it is only one generation away from extinction. Thank, thankfully, we have the promise of God that it will never be extinct. But man, uh just thinking of your own generation, your own culture, your own family. Uh, it's important for the gospel to go forward through the generations. And our hope is that our children would walk with God like Enoch.
So I have an observation that's completely tangential. Tangent, take it real quick. Take the chance. So when Lamech says, out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands. He's saying that about his son Noah. Yep. Does that make Lamech a prophet? Ooh, it does. Okay. Yeah, I was just curious if some. Yeah, definitely. That was prophetic.
Pastor Plek
All right. And I think that also it's it was speaking a blessing over his kid. Uh, you know, one of the things that each one of my boys kind of had a biblical name or at least some sort of God-honoring. Not Conway Twitty. No.
Jordan Smith
Oh, God. It's funny.
Pastor Plek
And so uh with Austin, I wanted him to know that God loves the city of Austin um way more, but like the way I love my son, my firstborn son Austin. Uh Jet, I know that sounds like an airplane, but uh one of the other meanings is a black uh smooth rock. And so God loves the city of Round Rock, uh, like I love my son Jet. And then Titus, I just love that that he was sent all over the world to encourage. So I want Titus to be sent around the globe to encourage people in their faith. And then Paxton's name means city of peace, that Jesus ultimately is bringing us to his own city of peace. And so uh Paxton might be the one that is an ambassador to deliver that message.
SPEAKER_00
Well, I guess my brother, he got Seth. Yeah, hey, he was the one out of us that got a Bible name.
Pastor Plek
No, it's great. Yeah, well, I mean, I had so the other my other three didn't get uh Bible that I just had to incorporate the Bible into. Uh Titus is the only one that got the actual name from the Bible.
SPEAKER_00
So my middle name's Jordan, and people are like, oh, like, you know, River Jordan. I was like, Michael Jordan. Yeah.
Jordan Smith
I mean, my middle name's Nathaniel, which uh gift from God, I believe is what that means.
Pastor Plek
Yeah, all right.
Jordan Smith
Yeah, or at least maybe that's what my mom said. Your name has a biblical meaning.
Pastor Plek
Well, my name is Christopher, which means bearer, the one who bears Christ, uh, which is kind of neat. Uh so you know, who knew they didn't know that I'd be one that'd be sharing Christ all over the globe, but I definitely have gotten to live out to my name, which I'm really excited about. Um, bearing Christ before the nations. Um, yeah. So your names have a meaning and have power, and I love that when people live up to their name, it's really a powerful thing. All right, thanks so much for watching. We'll see you tomorrow on Genesis 6.
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