Section III. Generational Separation Each Era Cut Off from the Previous The father of the first age, Adam, lived to see ALL EIGHT generations that would live and die in the first era, but died shortly before Noah's birth (who would survive into the next era). Noah's son Shem, as a father of the 2nd era, was essentially cut off from his past (thanks to being born so late in Noah's life, all previous generations had died, only his father, grandfather and great grandfather survived to his birth), yet Shem (like Adam) lived to see the birth of nearly the entire future generations that made up his era (ten generations), dying before the birth of Jacob (the first of the generation that went into era 3 of Egyptian captivity). Like Shem, Jacob knew only a short past, father and grandfather, (though Eber from 6 grandfathers back was still alive during the early part of Jacob's youth). Beginning with the twelve tribes, as fathers of Israel during the third era of Egyptian captivity, the pattern changed somewhat, in that they were simultaneously cut off from their past generations (knowing father and grandfather only) AND their future generations. During the entire era, from Levi to Moses, each father lived almost his entire life (130+ years) before seeing the birth of his heir, and then died while the child was little more than an infant. Each of these children, including Moses, being only 2-3 years old at most at their father's death, were certainly cut off from all but the vaguest memories of the previous generation. At the end of the 3rd era, Moses (although not a patriarch in the traditional sense), after spiritually "fathering" the Jewish people into a nation of God in the wilderness for 40 years, was cut off (by his death) from the generation entering into a new era in the Promised Land. In keeping with the "fresh start" pattern as seen with Shem and with the 12 tribes, the nation of people that finally entered the Promised Land knew only a short past, having been cut off from all their prior generations who died in the wilderness. Noah was the one major exception to this pattern, in that he knew his forefathers to the seventh generation back to Adam's grandson Enosh, and nine generations forward to Abraham (a total span of SEVENTEEN GENERATIONS, including his own). Though Methuselah sets the record for longest lifespan (dying the year of the flood at 969 years old - coincidence?? Or did he die in the flood!?), Noah far surpasses Methuselah's "mere" ten generations (or Shem's ten), as well as having the unique distinction to be the only man to essentially straddle two of the major eras that God otherwise separated.
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