A TALE
OF TWO FAMILIES
April
27, 2003 pm
MF Blume
Genesis 4:8-16 And Cain talked with Abel his brother:
and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against
Abel his brother, and slew him. (9) And the LORD said unto Cain,
Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
(10) And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground. (11) And now art thou cursed
from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood
from thy hand; (12) When thou tillest the ground, it shall not
henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou
be in the earth. (13) And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment
is greater than I can bear. (14) Behold, thou hast driven me out
this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and
I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass,
that every one that findeth me shall slay me. (15) And the LORD
said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken
on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him
should kill him. (16) And Cain went out from the presence of
the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Seven generations from Adam, in Cain’s line brings us to to Lamech.
Genesis 4:23-24 And Lamech said unto his wives,
Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech:
for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
(24) If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Another line begins…
Genesis 4:25-26 And Adam knew his wife again; and she
bore a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me
another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. (26) And to Seth,
to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began
men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Seven generations from Adam in Seth’s line bring us to Enoch.
Genesis 5:21-24 And Enoch lived sixty and five years,
and begot Methuselah: (22) And Enoch walked with God after he
begot Methuselah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters:
(23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
(24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
I want to deal with Cain’s family and Seth’s family and their descendants,
as though those descendants showed a progressive maturity of the spirit they
each manifested.
7 is PERFECT or COMPLETION.
And the seventh generations from Adam in each of Cain and Seth’s lines
show a complete and matured spirit from each of their families.
One is quite bad and the other very good!
Cain’s murder of Abel occurred in the 128th year of the world.
- Adam and Eve most likely
parented Cain and Abel immediately following their expulsion out of the
Garden.
- And we read that Adam
was 130 when Seth was born.
- Seth was most likely
born a year or so after Cain murdered Abel and left the presence of God.
- So it seems the boys
were over 100 years of age when Cain killed his brother.
Note Cain’s demeanor.
- I shudder to think
of someone so insolent against God Almighty, but I’ve seen the same attitude
in people today.
- God asks him where
Abel is, and Cain insolently responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper!”
- …as if to demean God
and mock Him for such a ridiculous question.
God curses Cain and commands
the earth to refuse to bring forth her strength to Cain as he would sow and
till the ground.
- Recall that Cain was
a tiller of the ground.
- The ground opened its
mouth and received Abel’s blood from Cain’s hand.
- And almost as though
he betrayed the ground, it would refuse to yield her strength to him again.
Not only that, but Cain would
be hidden from God’s face.
- While men seek the
face of God, Cain would live a life hidden from God’s face.
And Cain feared that men might
seek to avenge Abel’s death upon him, so he complains to God of his plight.
- Since God already meted
forth sufficient judgment, claiming vengeance to Himself, He marked Cain
to indicate that any who should slay Cain would be punished sevenfold.
- Cain was to be a vagabond
in the earth, and God prolonged his life, free from worry of death by others,
by marking him.
- Otherwise he could
not be a vagabond.
- And whether to live
as a warning to others or not, the point was that God prolonged his life.
Cain departs from God’s presence.
A son is then born to Cain called Enoch.
And we see indication that Cain is still worried and frets and fears for
his life, inspired by his son’s birth, that he builds a city and names the
city after his son.
- A son’s birth inspired
this man to protect himself.
- Maybe he feared the
lad would be left without a father.
- For a city is a well-walled
source of protection.
Some feel ENOCH, which means
INITIATED or DEDICATED, showed instance of Cain’s repentance, putting his
son in place of calling upon God whereas he lost that privilege himself.
But the thought of TRAINED UP is indicated, also. And that would be in
the ways of wickedness of his father.
Cain still feared death.
His line continues and we read of the seventh generation from Adam, through
his line, in a man named Lamech.
Lamech has three sons and one daughter.
- Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-cain.
- Jabal became a rancher
and as we read he was father of such as dwell in tents and had cattle, the
idea of personal property comes into play.
- Jubal was an inventor
of musical instruments. Harp and Organ.
- Tubalcain was an artificer
in metals, and made instruments from brass and iron, for hunting, fighting
and for tools for work in the fields, since the curse on the ground made
it necessary for more tolls than Cain had, who first tilled the ground.
- Tubalcain actually
means Descendent of Cain.
- Lamech obviously honoured
his wicked ancestor, Cain.
Lamech had two wives, showing
polygamy in Cain’s lineage.
We know Lamech continued in Cain’s ways because we read a statement he
blurts forth to his two wives.
...hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and
a young man to my hurt. (24) If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
In bold proclamation, showing the very same insolence in his ancestor
Cain, he tells his wives to “HEARKEN UNTO MY SPEECH.”
He claims the murder of two people.
- A man and a young man.
- And he claims he murdered
them in self-defence, since it was accomplished in his wounding.
- Some scholars claim
he actually meant that he WOULD slay a man, young or not, if they should
get in his way, despite even being wounded in the process, for he felt himself
so mighty.
- At any rate, the point
was he was simply self-exalted and bore the same spirit as Cain.
- He even stated that
if Cain was avenged 7-fold for the outright murder of his brother, Lamech
should be avenged by God 70 times 7-fold for his murder.
- Why did he say all
of this?
- THE FEAR OF DEATH WAS
IN HIS HEART.
Cain’s spirit carried on into
the children down to the seventh generation.
He assured his two wives they need not fret over the murders he committed.
- Since he did it in
self-defence, he ought to have far more vengeance from God as his security
of living, since Cain was to be avenged 7 times for outright murder.
This tells us something else
about this family.
- He had no remorse for
the murders of others.
- He took life for granted
in others.
- But ironically he abnormally
was concerned fro his own life, as was Cain.
- What self-centredness!
- Disregard for anyone
else’s life, and fearful fretting concern for his own as a result of the
careless murder of the other!
This is what sin does to a person.
- It gives not care for
others, and makes one a nervous wreck over one’s own safety.
And it shows how twisted his
thinking about God was.
Its amazing how people can get away from God and lose so much understanding
of His ways, to the extent that his might actually excused his murders of
two men by implying God would protect him for them.
The family of Lamech was an interesting family.
- They had the inventors
of skills and music there.
- But think about it.
- They lived outside
the presence of God.
- They made do as best
they could with what they had.
- Since their minds were
not on God, and they feared for their lives in constant worry, it appears
they sought to alleviate their fears by distraction and concentrate on pleasures
of this world and pursuit of invention to lessen their worries.
Meanwhile, another family began
after Abel’s death, that would not have existed had not Abel died.
What a humble spirit this family portrayed.
Seth is born, whose name means APPOINTED or SUBSTITUTED.
- Eve named him, saying
God appointed them another seed instead of Abel.
- Because of Abel’s death,
God raised up another lineage through whom Jesus Christ would come, and be
the seed of the woman.
Seth aware of his fragility
of life, knowing mortal life is so fragile that his existence itself was
due to Abel’s death, has a son and names the son ENOS - MORTAL MAN.
He is inspired to do something when his son was born, as much as Cain
was inspired to build a city of protection when his son was born.
- And although Cain did
so in awareness of the fragility of life as well, it was a carnal fear and
drove him into unbelief refusing to trust that God protected him, and made
a well walled city naming it after his son.
- So self exalting.
But when Seth’s son was born,
Seth named him MORTAL MAN, and what this family was inspired to do was CALL
ON THE NAME OF THE LORD!
What a contrast from building a city and naming it after your own son!
A son is born and not exalted but named in indication of the awareness
of our fragile existences.
- And in order to deal
with that awareness, CALLING ON GOD’S NAME begins wholesale!
- Not his son’s name
like Cain did... but calling upon GOD’S NAME!
And seven generations from Adam
in Seth’s family, ENOCH IS BORN.
And whereas Cain’s fear manifested and magnified itself in this seventh
on his side, as Lamech spoke of death and vengeance, ENOCH HAS A SON.
- Faithful to the pattern,
the birth of his son inspires him to do something.
: (22) And
Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years,
He did not build a city after his son, as Cain did.
He did not repeat his ancestor’s fears, as Lamech did….
- He was inspired in
thinking about the fragility of life, that his ancestor Seth shared, and
continued on in the spirit of Seth, the patriarch of his line, who called
upon the name of God, AND BEGAN WALKING WITH GOD after his son Methuselah
was born!
- In fact it was such
a close walk and such a beautiful fellowship with His maker, that whereas
the rest of the people were living up to 900 years plus, This man lives
only 365, having fathered Methuselah at 65, leaving on 300 years afterwards.
- This tells us that
God could not wait another 600 hundred years of fellowshipping with Enoch
for 300 years.
- God took him!
- God could not leave
their fellowship at such a minimal level as Enoch on earth and not able
to see His face.
Cain’s spirit rewarded him being
HIDDEN from God’s face.
God so yearned for Enoch, since Enoch yearned for Him, that God took Him
to himself!
What a contrast between Cain’s family and Seth’s!
In fact, Cain’s family goes no further then Lamech and his three sons
and one daughter, because the flood came by that time, and wiped the line
out.
They feared death.
- They lived outside
of God’s presence.
- They made do with what
they had.
- No thoughts upon God.
- Ironically the thing
they feared the most came upon the whole line!
- Extinction!
But in wonderful contrast, Hebrews
seems to highlight this opposite blessing upon Seth’s family in speaking
of Enoch.
- Whereas Cain’s line
was so fearful of death and so self-preserving, Seth’s line reached out
to the shelter of God in FAITH…
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated
him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
He did NOT TASTE DEATH!
The very thing Cain feared and was magnified in the seventh generation
in his line, DEATH, was something Seth’s line came into as a sort of maturity
and fruition of their desires in reaching forth to God, rewarding them the
greatest blessing of all…. NOT EVEN TASTING DEATH as Enoch was translated,
for God took Him!
Its as though these descendants of each line showed a manifested maturity
and growth of their particular family spirits.
- Fragility of life resulting
in Fear of death and self concern in Cain.
- Fragility of life,
resulting in reaching forth to God and self-less preoccupation with the
thoughts of God in Seth.
We all are aware of our fragile
existences.
- But what will we do
about it?
- Be like Cain, who sought
in self ability to protect himself, living in unbelief of God’s word?
- Or be like Seth, who
reaches forth to God and finally is so taken up with God that God takes
him up?
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