Genesis 4-6 Life of Christ Semester I mr. e ~ SRCS ~ fall 08 Dissention, Disqualification, & the coming Deluge.

Genesis 4-6

Life of ChristSemester I

mr. e ~SRCS~ fall 08

Dissention, Dissention, Disqualification, Disqualification,

& the coming & the coming Deluge Deluge

Genesis 4-6Dissention Dissention What does Eve mean?…surely Cain wasn’t

born full-grown! (In other words: Who does she think emerged?)

…What does this show about their relationship to God and His words/covenant promise?

Eve seems to think like one of us in terms of how God ought to work on our timetable…(granted, Cain was her firstborn)…but when did God answer her prayer and His promise with His Promise…and how long did she have to wait?

4:1

Adam [a] lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. [b] She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth [c] a man."

ch 4

Genesis 4-6Dissention Dissention

Cain Abel

Disobedient to authority Obedient to authority

A sinful man A sinful man

Rejects God’s grace Shows Faith in God

Although Scholars have much debated as to why God accepted Abel’s and not Cain’s sacrifices (eg. Bloodless vs. bloody)…God’s Word says it was because of his motives/attitude!

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. (1 John 3:11-12).

4:2-5

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Genesis 4-6Dissention Dissention What’s this all about?:

Why was Cain cursed?

How was he cursed? (see v. 12) Why was this particularly

injurious?

What was Cain’s lament?

How did the Lord respond?

Why?

*ever wonder why his mark is not explained in detail? Surely we would sinfully mimic or unjustly judge another who purposed//happened to bear a similar mark….

4:15 ,16

15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so [e] ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, [f] east of Eden.

Genesis 4-6Dissention Dissention

This is called a chiastic chiastic patternpattern and it is a structured way of telling a story…and, surprisingly, is used often in Scripture…

Notice the care and symmetry:

Adam and Eve give birth to Cain and Abel (4:1-2)

Cain Rejected: Sacrifice no good (4:3‑5)

Cain "Downcast" over sacrifice rejection (4:5b)

Cain warned of sin (4:7)In the field: Cain kills Abel (4:8)

God: “Where is your brother?” (4:9)

In the field: Brother’s blood cries out (4:10)

Cain cursed because of sin (4:11)

Cain "Downcast" over punishment (4:13-15)

Cain Rejected: Out of the Lord's presence (4:15)

Cain and his wife give birth to Enoch (4:17)

Genesis 4-6DisqualificatioDisqualification n

4:25,26

25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, [i] saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.       At that time men began to call on [j] the name of the LORD.

What is the greater significance of Eve’s words?

What does SethSeth mean?

The name Abel means “vanity” or “emptiness.”  It is the same word that is used throughout Ecclesiastes to describe the emptiness of life without God. By contrast with the birth of Cain and the emphasis placed upon his name, there is no mention of such celebration when we come to Abel.  He is just born.  There is no special mention of how he came to be named.

Seth probably means granted

Genesis 4-6DescendantsDescendants

What’s this chapter all about? Why interrupt a good story with weird names?

It has to do with the contrast of family lines:

Genesis 4 Genesis 5 Genesis 6

The descendants of Cain The descendants of Seth The intermarriage of sons of God and daughters of men

A picture of those following A picture of those A picture of moral wickedness in the way of Cain descended through Seth

1 This is the written account of Adam's line…    … 32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

ch 5

Genesis 4-6DescendantsDescendants

What’s this chapter all about? Why interrupt a good story with weird names?

What are we to make of this list of names?  It brings up a number of questions and poses a number of problems for the Bible student.

 1. The Age of Humanity.

It was by the use of such methods (strict history) that James Ussher (1581‑1656), Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, and Vice‑Chancellor of Trinity College in Dublin published his chronology establishing the first day of creation as Sunday, October 23, 4004 BC.

The problem with such a chronology is that it is flatly contradicted by archaeological finds, not to mention those of geologists and biologists.  One would be hard pressed to postulate a creation in 4004 B.C. and a subsequent flood in 2348 B.C. when we can date the beginnings of the Egyptian monarchy to around 3100 B.C.

Fortunately, the Scriptures themselves bear testimony that such genealogies are understood to be stylized so that they contain deliberate omissions.  This is seen in the genealogy of Matthew 1 where a number of kings are omitted. [4]

1 This is the written account of Adam's line…    … 32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 4-6 DescendantsDescendants

2.         Antediluvian Longevity.

Even a cursory look at the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 indicate a great difference in the average life span of mankind before the flood to what it is today.   

3. Repetitious Requiem.

 It is a droning drumbeat of death.  It is a reminder that the effects of sin continued to be felt throughout history.   

4. A Listing of a Godly Line.

You might be the only one in your family who believes.  You can be the beginning of such a godly line in your family.  Determine today that every generation coming from you will be a part of a godly line.  Make this your life’s priority.

The marvelous thing is that these men are listed by name.  God has the names of His faithful recorded in a book.

Genesis 4-6 DescendantsDescendants

Note the symmetric contrast:

Lamech Enoch

Seventh from Adam through Cain Seventh from Adam through Seth

He killed a man and wrote a boastful He walked with God and did not die song of his deed..

21 And Enoch lived sixty‑five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty‑five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24).

Enoch reminds us of two things: Death…

a. Is an enemy b. Is conquerable

Genesis 4-6 DescendantsDescendants

And about these also Enoch, in And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, Adam, prophesied, saying,

“Behold, the Lord came with “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, many thousands of His holy ones,

1515 to execute judgment upon all, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of and to convict all the ungodly of

all their ungodly deeds which all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly they have done in an ungodly

way, and of all the harsh things way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have which ungodly sinners have

spoken against Him.” (Jude 1:14-spoken against Him.” (Jude 1:14-15).15).

Genesis 4-6 DescendantsDescendants

By faith Enoch was taken up so By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; that he should not see death; and he was not found because and he was not found because

God took him up; for he obtained God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. taken up he was pleasing to God.

(Hebrews 11:5).(Hebrews 11:5).

Genesis 4-6 DescendantsDescendants

Lamech (a different one) was prophetic…

What does Noah mean?

How was this the case?

5:28 And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty‑two years, and became the father of a son. 29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed."

Genesis 4-6 DescendantsDescendants

Ever wonder what these were?… a few possibilities exist:

1. Fallen Angels: seem to have been made by a special act of creation

2. Descendants of Seth: carries the contrast motif b/w righteous & wicked

3. Kings or Rulers: “sons of God” was a designation similar to that which was used among the Sumerians to refer to their kings who were considered to have been divine (Kline). These kings rose up in the tradition of Cain and Lamech, rejecting the authority of God and proclaiming their own deification as well as that of their ensuing dynasty.

6:1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [a] man forever, for he is mortal [b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."  4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

ch 6

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Adam

Noah

Enoch

Morris & Whitcomb, The Genesis FloodLifespan (years) x individualLifespan (years) x individual

6:1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [a] man forever, for he is mortal [b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

Genesis 4-6Genesis 4-6 Coming DelugeComing Deluge

Before we account for the water…lets look at the heart…

1. Man’s heart

Describe it. Have you ever heard people lament the evil of today? What comfort can you take from this passage?

2. God’s heart

a. The Repentance of God

b. The Grace of God

6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

God is the Creator of emotion and this suggests God is the Creator of emotion and this suggests that God Himself possesses the strongest that God Himself possesses the strongest possible emotion.  It is not an emotion without possible emotion.  It is not an emotion without control and it is not an emotion that lends itself control and it is not an emotion that lends itself to sinful actions, but we should not water down to sinful actions, but we should not water down the Scriptural references to God’s sorrow, His the Scriptural references to God’s sorrow, His grief or His joy. grief or His joy.

Noah was saved in the same way that you Noah was saved in the same way that you are saved…are saved… he became he became an heir of the an heir of the righteousness which is according to faithrighteousness which is according to faith (see Hebrews 11:7). (see Hebrews 11:7).