The Gospel as Told by the Family Genealogist

In Luke 24:13-35, post-resurrection Jesus walks alongside a couple of His disciples (who are kept from recognizing Him), and uses Old Testament prophecies to demonstrate to them that He is the Messiah and that He did rise from the dead.  Verse 27 states,

Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

That verse always gives me shivers of joy and wonder, because the entire Old Testament points to Christ.  We kind find Him not only in the prophecy books, but also embedded in the stories of Isaac and Joseph, in all the sacrifices in Leviticus, on and on.  One of the (obviously many) things I eagerly anticipate about heaven is the very thing so casually mentioned in this verse - sitting down with Christ Himself and having Him explain every single aspect of the Old Testament that He designed to point to Himself as the Coming Messiah.

This past week, I was reminded of one of the coolest such instances hidden in the Old Testament - I'd heard it before, but it never ceases to amaze. :-)  This one is found in Genesis 5,  which is simply a short genealogy listing out the first ten generations of humanity, starting with Adam (through his living "good" son - Seth's line) and ending with Noah.  What's significant is when you look at the Hebrew meanings of their names...

Adam means MAN.
Seth means APPOINTED.
Enosh means MORTAL.
Kenan means SORROW.
Mahalalel means BLESSED GOD.
Jared means WILL COME DOWN.
Enoch means TEACHING.
Methuselah means HIS DEATH SHALL BRING.
Lamech means THE DESPAIRING.
Noah means REST.

Put that all together, and you get:

Man is Appointed to Mortal Sorrow.  The Blessed God Will Come Down Teaching.  His Death Shall Bring The Despairing Rest.

That's right - the crux of the Gospel is found in the prophetic names of the first human beings.

Like I mentioned, I adore these occurrences, so I plan to post on more of them. :-)  I'm thinking the Joseph story next.  But tell me - what are your favorite Old Testament stories that point to Christ under the surface?