GENESIS
Listen to this study TH3003
Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Genesis chapter 4 as we continue our study through the Word of God. In our last study we saw how sin entered the world through Adam and how that sin would then spread to all men, the entire human race would be infected. Thus, just as Adam died spiritually at the moment he sinned, successive generations would be born spiritually dead. Just as the death process began the moment Adam sinned, successive generations are born to die, it is the fate of man because of sin.
Tonight we will see how quickly sin can spread because the heart of man is evil. It truly is a picture of man who is in rebellion against God. But thank God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ to pay in full the penalty for our sins. And the moment we ask Him into our lives, we are born again, our spirit is made alive once again and it will control our bodily appetites. Yes, these bodies of flesh will go back to the dust of the earth, but God is preparing a new body for our spirit and soul to dwell in as we spend eternity with Him! With that as our background, lets begin reading in Genesis chapter 4, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening as we study His Word!
For the first time we see the mention of sexual relations between a husband and a wife with the word “knew” used to speak of this relationship. Today we have all kinds of words to describe this kind of relationship, and most of them are not really accurate and some of them can’t be repeated. The idea here is not just the act of sex, which there is nothing wrong between a husband and a wife, but it also speaks of an intimate relationship with each other. They were truly one flesh!
Here we see Eve have two sons. The first she named “Cain,” which means acquisition or acquire. In other words, she believed in the promise of the Messiah from the seed of the woman and either Cain was the man or one of his descendants would be the Messiah. Her next son she named “Abel,” which means nothing, or empty or vanity. Why did she name her second son like this? Possibly, even this early on after sin entered the world, she could see the effects of sin in the world and the only hope was in the coming Messiah, the seed of the woman! Maybe she saw how Cain was acting and felt hopeless in the coming Messiah since Cain was not the man!
Notice that Cain and Abel were not hunter-gatherer’s, cave men but as they grew, Cain’s profession dealt with agricultural, and Abel’s profession was with livestock. Neither were wrong with the profession they were involved in, even though some like to make a big deal out of this. Both these labors were just part of the curse, working hard for a living.
Besides working hard for a living they also took some time to worship the Lord and bring unto Him a sacrifice. Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground and Able brought the first born from his flock. And God rejected Cain’s sacrifice, but accepted Abel’s, why? It could be that God required a blood sacrifice before Him, even though He did accept grain sacrifices. As true as that may be, I think there is another issue here that is just as important. You see, the word used for “offering” in the Hebrew is MINCHAH and it speaks of any type of offering, not just a blood offering.
I think Hebrews 11:4 gives us some insight to what is going on here. We are told, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” In other words, Abel’s sacrifice was done out of love, to please God, while Cain’s was done out of duty, there was a lack of love. Abel had faith, Cain did not. Again, Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
How did they know that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God and Cain’s was rejected by God? It could be that fire came down from heaven and consumed Abel’s sacrifice, while Cain’s just sat there. We do see this in the Scriptures. Remember Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He challenged them to see whose God would accept their sacrifice and Elijah let these prophets go first. They were at it all day, yelling, screaming at their god to respond, and Elijah had enough and he mocks them, which makes them cut themselves and yell even more, but nothing happened. Then Elijah comes forward, has the sacrifice covered with water 3 times and calls upon the Lord and in I Kings 18:38 we are told, “Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.” It is possible that is what we see here going on, but we are not told that for sure. Obviously there was something that alerted them. (See also Judges 6:21, I Chronicles 21:26, II Chronicles 7:1).
Here is something that is interesting to me. Because of Cain’s disobedience, his countenance fell, he was depressed. His pride was hurt, he was angery and it affected his whole life. Could it be that some people are depressed because they are disobedient to God, doing their own thing and it just doesn’t help and you are miserable? That was Cain! I like what David did in Psalm 42:11, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.” What lifted David’s spirits? The Lord did and he focused back on Him, lived in obedience to Him. Don’t be down, focus on the Lord.
It is as Jeremiah tells us in Lamentations 3:40-41, “Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.” Examine your heart, look at your actions and if they are wrong, repent and return to the Lord because, as you do, it will lift up your countenance!
One last point and that deals with worship, which really ties this all together. And keep in mind that worship is not just singing, it is a way of life. Paul put it this way in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Our lives should be lived in such a way that it is our spiritual worship unto the Lord as we give our lives to Him, to be used as He sees fit. And here is the key, listen to what Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
In other words, you must be saved for God to accept your worship – IN SPIRIT. And, it must be according to God’s Word – IN TRUTH. If it is not, then God will not accept it. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted because it was done in faith, according to God’s Word. Cain’s was not, it was rejected because it was done according to his own ideas and efforts, his heart was not right with God!
Here in the Old Testament we see the love of God towards sinful man. God get’s no pleasure in the death of the wicked and thus, He is pleading with Cain to turn from his evil ways. But here is the free will of man; to do well, to obey the Lord and be accepted or not to obey the Lord, not do well and let sin control your life! You see, if you don’t submit to God and His authority, sin will rule your life.
Here we see sin lying at the door of his heart and the idea here is that of a crouching animal waiting to pounce upon him, like a lion waiting to get its prey. Also, the Lord says that sins “desire” is for you, the same Hebrew word used in Genesis 3:16 where the woman will “desire” her husband as part of the curse. The idea in both these verses is to rule over. The woman wants to rule over her husband and here sin wants to rule over Cain’s life. Don’t open the door; don’t allow it to come in! And let me say this, any time you allow anger, envy, strife to grow, you are prey for the Devil. God says you don’t have to go down that path of destruction, but it is your choice. May we be wise!
VERSE 8
Cain opened the door and allowed sin into his life and it was manifested with the murder of his brother Abel! Folks, we might not physically murder someone but we can murder them with our tongue, how we speak to them and of them.
In Hebrews 12:22-24 we are told, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Abel’s blood spoke of death, of judgment, of what sin has done but that is as far as it can go. The blood of Jesus speaks of forgiveness, the forgiveness of our sins. Yes, the shed blood of Jesus speaks of better things than the shed blood of Abel!
VERSES 9-10
Did God not know what happened to Abel? Of course He knew, but He was looking for a confession from Cain, repentance for what he did to his brother. And Cain, instead of confessing says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer to that is “Yes!” You see, we are to watch out for each other. Paul put it like this in Philippians 2:3-4, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
The problem for Cain and for many today is it is all about them. If someone says something wrong, something they don’t like, the knife comes out and the person is murdered with words and they don’t care what happens to their brother or sister. Folks, you have to let it go and allow love to flow from you or like Cain, this thing will build inside of you until it overflows in your actions and your words! And make no mistake about it, God knows our hearts, our motives, and our actions, and the cries of these injustices we have brought upon others reaches the ears of God!
VERSES 11-12
The judgment or curse that God decreed upon Cain was that his labor would be in vain, his crops would not grow and he would walk aimlessly through life, not really able to rest.
VERSES 13-15
Cain was not sorry for his sin, only for the consequences that sin brought upon his life! It is as Paul said in II Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” And The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].”
Of Cain’s response towards God, Barnhouse wrote: “One of the consequences of sin is that it makes the sinner pity himself instead of causing him to turn to God. One of the first signs of new life is that the individual takes sides with God against himself.” How true that is or at least it should be in our lives. And Boice tells us: “One of the clearest marks of sin is our almost innate desire to excuse ourselves and complain if we are judged in any way.”
Here again we see the grace and mercy of God as He sets a mark upon Cain so that no one will kill him. We don’t know what kind of mark it was but it did not identify him with God, he did not walk with God but moved away. But whatever it was, it protected him.
VERSES 16-17
Notice the actions of Cain here. He sins and refuses to repent and he went out from the Lord. It is an act of defiance, shaking his fist against God and going his own way. Instead of receiving salvation he received sentencing! And he moves to Nod, which means wandering or restless. You see, there is no peace apart from God! And here in Nod he built a city and instead of dedicating the city to the Lord, he dedicates it to his son, Enoch. Do you see the slippery slope he traveled upon after he made his decision to reject the council of God and goes his own way! It is as the Lord said to Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Genesis 4:7.
Here is a question that people love to throw out. “Where did Cain get his wife?” That is easy, it was either a sister or cousin, obviously it was a relative! The earth was populated and God did not prohibit marrying a brother or sister until the time of Moses. (Leviticus 18:9,11; 20:17, Deuteronomy 27:22). At this point in time the gene pool was pure enough to allow this, but as time went on, the gene pool was corrupted and marrying relatives can cause many types of birth defects!
VERSES 18-22
Here we follow the linage of Cain, but only for a short time for his linage is cursed, the Messiah won’t be coming from here. Now names are important and the reason God listed the genealogy of Cain was to show the life of a person apart from God. Let me show you what I mean:
CAIN = AQUISTION
ENOCH = DEDICATED
IRAD = FUGITIVE OR WILD ASS
MEHUJAEL = “BLOT OUT THAT YAH IS GOD” OR WIPE OUT THE NAME OF GOD
METHUSHAEL = THEY ARE DEAD WHO ARE OF GOD
LAMECH = POOR AND LOWLY
Thus, this is what we see in the ungodly. An acquisition that is a dedicated fugitive or wild ass who is trying to wipe out the name of God, saying, “They are dead who are of God” and the reality is, they are poor or lowly! I think that is a pretty good description.
Only six generations from Adam we see Lamech marry two women, he was a polygamist! God brought Adam and Eve together and that was to be what marriage is all about, one man and one woman brought together. But, sin has entered the world and we see how man perverts what God has said. The good that God gives to us is used for evil many times. And instead of inner beauty, he is focused on the physical aspect, outward beauty. How do I know that? His wife was called Adah, which means “pleasure, ornament, beauty.” His second wife was called Zillah, which means “shade” or it can speak of her hair, its beauty. And his daughter was Naamah, which means “loveliness.”
We also see the introduction of musical instruments, metallurgy with bronze and iron, working with livestock.
VERSES 23-24
Look at the boasting of his sin. He murdered a man, justified his actions, and wanted his wives to know of his actions. How was he wounded by this man, we don’t know, but his actions far surpassed what he did to this man. He murdered him, and it is the same word that is used of what Cain did to his brother Abel. And he wants to be justified for his actions as he boasts about them. The ungodly can boast all they want but the reality is, you never read of Lamech again and those that reject God have the same destiny!
VERSES 25-26
Obviously at some point Eve saw the wickedness of Cain and came to the logical conclusion that it must be Abel. But God had another plan, another son that would be born to them named Seth. That is the linage from which the Messiah would come. The name “Seth” means “approved” and this would be the one approved by God.
During this time of darkness it seems that a kind of revival broke out as people began to call upon the name of the Lord, to proclaim His truth, they began to call upon Yahweh. Folks, we are a people who should also proclaim the name of the Lord, His truth in a world that is in darkness.
VERSES 1-2
Here we see the genealogies of Adam through the line of Seth. And we are taken back to the very beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and all life, including man and woman.
Now we move into a section we might call, “Beget and be-gone!” In other words, we will be looking at the births and deaths from the time of Adam after he sinned until the time of Noah.
VERSES 3-5
Now this does not mean Adam didn’t have children before he was 130 years old. He obviously had Cain and Abel and I am sure many other sons and daughters, but there was one God wants us to focus on and you will see why in a few minutes. For Adam, he lived 930 years and he died, just as God warned would take place if he disobeyed the Lord. Death is a result of sin and has been passed on to all of mankind through Adam!
Now we are going to list what each name means, because, like with Cain, God has a message for us. And as you will see, this is important.
ADAM = MAN
SETH = APPROVED
VERSES 6-8
ENOS OR ENOSH = SUBJECT TO DEATH
VERSES 9-11
CAINAN = SORROWFUL
VERSES 12-14
MAHALALEEL = FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD
VERSES 15-17
JARED = ONE COMES DOWN
VERSES 18-20
ENOCH = DEDICATED
VERSE 21
METHUSELAH = DYING HE SHALL SEND
VERSES 23-24
What does it mean to walk with God? It means we walk in agreement with God as Amos 3:3 tells us, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” You see, if you don’t agree with God in regards to sin, if you don’t hate sin as He does, how can you walk together? It means we walk by faith as we are told in II Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” That means we trust in the Lord and we walk as He leads us. It means we walk in the light as I John 1:5-7 tells us, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” In other words, you can’t walk in darkness and walk in God for God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. You can turn from the darkness and walk in His light and have fellowship with Him, but you can’t live a life in rebellion against God and say you are walking with Him.
You see, it is just giving your life as a living sacrifice unto the Lord and following after Him, that was the heart of Enoch and it should be our heart also. You see, he was a man of faith as Hebrews 11:5 tells us, “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Let us live our lives in such a way that it pleases God!
Enoch had a special relationship with God and when his son was born, Methuselah, Enoch named him that name because he was in touch with God. You see, his name means, “dying he shall send” and as we will see, in the year that Methuselah died, the flood came. In fact, Jude tells us that Enoch was a prophet, “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’” Jude 14-15. Enoch spoke of the second coming of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ and that God’s people will come with Him, you and me!
We are also told that Enoch didn’t die but was taken up to be with the Lord after walking with the Lord for 300 years! Where did he go? Remember the story of Elisha in II Kings 2:11, it seems like he was taken to be with the Lord to heaven. How did that happen before Christ? I don’t know, I don’t believe he went to Hades, which would later be called Abraham’s bosom until the Messiah came where believers went to. Keep in mind there were two compartments down there and the other side is filled with unbelievers! This obviously was the exception and not the rule for both Enoch and Elisha. Remember in Hebrews 9:27, where we are told, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” You see, it is the rule but there is the exception, some have died twice like Lazarus and others won’t die like in the Rapture, but that is the exception. I believe that is what we see here.
VERSES 25-27
LAMECH = TO THE POOR AND LOWLY
Methuselah is the longest living person in the Bible, he lived 969 years! Why is that? Because it truly shows or gives us a picture of the grace of God! Judgment was coming but God was patient and longsuffering, giving man every opportunity to repent before the flood came! It is as Peter reminds us in II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God is so gracious and merciful to us!
VERSES 28-31
NOAH = REST OR COMFORT
Now, why did God devote a whole chapter to these men who begot and be-gone or they died? Listen carefully to how this plays out as I list the meanings of these men like I did with the descendents of Cain. It goes like this:
The man approved to death, sorrowful. From the presence of God, one comes down, dedicated. Dying, he shall send to the poor and lowly, rest and comfort!
That is the Gospel message given to us thousands of years before Christ came. It is the Good News to a world that was moving quickly into darkness and it is Good News for us today. It is as Paul said in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”
Keep this in mind. If these genealogies are consecutive, and I believe they are, Seth died when Noah was 14 years old. So this information was passed down from the person who witnessed it.
VERSE 32
As we move on we are going to see the focus center on the family of Noah and how God will use Noah and his children in a powerful way. You see, just as things in this world are growing dark, so too we see that taking place here in Genesis. God is preparing to pour out His judgment upon a world that is in rebellion to Him, and yet, in the midst of His judgment we will see His grace and mercy. We will see that next time as we continue our study.
As I close this evening, keep in mind that all the death we see is a result of sin. And as far as I can tell, the death rate is still 100%, all will die. But the Good News is that Jesus has taken the sting out of death for us. The Bible tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Yes, we can have eternal life with Him and that eternal life begins right now as we surrender our life to Him! God has done this for us and may we thank Him for His grace and mercy that He has extended to us! You see, we are saved by faith alone, through grace alone in Christ alone. The only thing we have added to salvation is sin, God has paid the price and we can receive that gift by faith in Him!