Genesis 5:29 Commentary and Bible Study

Noah’s father, Lamech, was also a prophet, and prophesied even in the naming of his son. The name Noah means rest or comfort, and the verse explains in what sense Lamech expected rest to come to the godly through this son. But how should we understand the fulfilment of this prophecy? Did Noah in fact bring rest and comfort? How can that be, when the vast majority of people living on the earth perished in the flood? Some believe that this was a pious but mistaken prophecy, stirred up by the general expectation of imminent deliverance caused by the translation of Enoch. But Scripture does not give us all manner of pious but mistaken prophecies, and there is a better way of understanding the fulfilment of this prophecy associated with Noah. Others feel that Lamech mistakenly believed that his son Noah was to be the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head. It is clear that Lamech had this promise in mind. All men, including the godly, keenly felt the effect of the curse, and yet they hoped for deliverance based on God’s promise (Genesis 3:15), even though it was somewhat obscure. They believed that God would provide one who would deliver them, and they waited for this deliverer with eager expectation. They believed that when this deliverer came, he would remove the curse imposed on the world.But did Lamech believe that Noah was the one who would achieve this great work? Did he not go too far in saying that Noah would remove the curse from the earth, for even after the flood, the curse was still in place; thorns and thistles still came from the earth; death continued to reign. This problem is solved by understanding that Noah was a type of Christ. Who but Christ could really bring comfort to the Lord’s people? Who but Christ could truly bring rest to the saints? Noah’s flood was a picture of the final judgment , and the world to which Noah and his family returned after the flood was a picture of the new heavens and the new earth that God will one day create. Noah stood for the one who would come after him, who will truly bring rest to God’s people and lead them into a new heaven and a new earth, freed from the curse. But Noah himself could not accomplish all of this in reality. Only one can remove the curse, and it will not be done until the end of the world (Revelation 22:3), and the new creation of all things (Revelation 21:5). Yet the prophecy like many others has a dual fulfilment. It was first of all fulfilled typically in Noah, but it will finally be fulfilled in reality in Noah’s antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ, the renewer of all things.The prophets did not always understand their own prophecies and they too had to search them to see what they meant. It is quite possible, as Calvin says, that Lamech went too far in wishful thinking about his son. Nevertheless the words of the prophecy itself do not require this.