Note: When doing a study on a book in the Bible you use a lot of resources. The major influence for me on this study of Genesis is The Genesis Record by Henry Morris.
Genesis 4
1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
We see here that probably Eve thought that this was the serpent bruiser that God had sent her. She was thanking the Lord for what she had received from her seed. Unknowing to Eve it would be 6,000 yrs later that the real serpent bruiser came to this earth. But she did thank the Lord for this child.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of
sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of
the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Here we see the beginning of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. This is man offering a sacrifice to God. We see this is required from the beginning of time God wants a sacrifice. This could not actually suffice and give forgiveness as Christ did but it would have to do until Christ came down. Let us see what God thought of the sacrifice.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and
of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his
offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And
Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
What is wrong with the sacrifice of Cain? It seems it was given from the sweat and brow of Cain. It seems to have been given with good motives. So what is wrong with It. Only through the sacrifice of blood could their be remission of sin. Hebrews 9:22-AV "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
There must be a blood sacrifice to forgive sins. Cain's sacrifice denied three things of God (1) nature is evil, we cannot come to God on our own terms and our own hands but we must come to God on his terms. A lot of people want to come to God on their terms but God will not accept their sacrifice. (2) man is separated from God, Cain acted as though everything was all right. Just as if they were in the Garden of Eden and the fall never happened. He again offered with no idea of what the offering was for. People today try to do this by denying sin. This is liberalism but we need to realize that we are fallen and separated. (3) man cannot offer works to God, no matter how much effort he put into it nor how good it was we cannot offer God our works in return for forgiveness. How many people do I know have told me they needed to go to Chruch because they have done wrong. Or they needed to pay their tithes or just work. NO! Salvation is by grace and that is the grace of God shown in his son Jesus Christ.
So the Lord accepted Babel's sacrifice because he came with a true and faithful heart, he was obedient.(HEB. 11:4) The Lord rejected Cain's sacrifice because he was disobedient and lacked faith.
6. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is
thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be]
his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
God is talking to Cain and asking him why he is angry. Why is he mad? Is it because he made a mistake? Or is it because he was mad at himself in sin, No but it was because God rebuked him. We must make sure we pay attention to God to make sure that we do not get mad at him for rebuking us.
8. 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.
Just before this Cain was angry with his brother and now he has slew him. This is where anger leads to. This is why God tells us not to let the sun God down on our anger. With anger there is jealously. And with jealously there is pride. What happens with pride and wrong desires. (James 1:15 reads," Then when lust hath conceived , it brigneth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death") Anger always causes us to do or say something that we would not do when we are not angry
9. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And
he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother's keeper?
What an awful and disrespectful answer to God. I guess Cain thought he could hide his sin from God. But obviously God knows. for remember Matthew 10:26 " . . . there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and his, that shall not be known" If you have a secret sin in your life be prepared God will know and either you will answer for it here or in time of judgment.
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.
What do you think would have happened if Cain would have never killed Abel? Cain was given a second chance by God. But the jealously and anger of Cain overwhelmed him and he killed his brother.
So with this God had to give him a punishment. Which turned to be a punishment that would last forever. There is always it seems a generation of Cain's out there. Always trying to justify themselves. Always trying for another way of redemption.
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.
We still see no repentance for his sins. He is just asking God to relieve his sorrow. Right in front of his face was the relief for all his sin but his pride would not allow him to repent. He would not humble himself he just wanted to be separated for God. Why do people do this? Why?
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.
Cain separates himself from the presence of God or the presence of Gods will. He goes down to dwell in the Land of Nod. How many people today live in the Land of Nod. In that dry and barren place where the presence of God does not dwell.
Now we look into the generations of Cain. Let us read and try to understand.
17 And Cain knew his wife;
"2. Question:" "Where did Cain get his wife?"
"Answer:" This is certainly one of the most ancient of all questions raised by Bible critics, and we can be sure that the superficial contradiction it implies did not escape notice by the original writers of the Bible. Cain was apparently the first son of Adam and Eve
(Genesis 4:1) and Abel the second (Genesis 4:2).
After Cain had murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8), God punished him by sending him away from his home and from God's presence forever. But then we are told that Cain was fearful of vengeance by others who might slay him (Genesis 4:14), that he knew his wife (Genesis 4:17), and even that he built a city. The descendants of Cain and the antediluvian civilization which they developed are described in Genesis 4:17-24.
In the beginning, according to Scripture, man was created "very good" and would have lived forever had he not sinned. But, "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin" (Romans 5:12). Even after the reign of decay and death entered the world at the time of God's great Curse on man's dominion (Genesis 3:17), most men did live for hundreds of years and undoubtedly had large families. Adam and Eve are said to have had both "sons and daughters" (Genesis 5:4) during the 930 years of Adam's lifetime, and the same is true of each of the other antediluvian patriarches listed in the genealogies of Genesis 5. The average life-span of these patriarches (excluding Enoch, who was taken out of the world before he died) is 912 years.
The question of how man was able to live to such great ages is a separate problem, which will be discussed later. Taking the record at face value, however, it is obvious that a very large population could have developed in the world before the Flood. It can be shown that,
based on very conservative assumptions as to family size, average longevity, etc., there could easily have been many millions of people in the world long before Cain's death.
Since the Bible does not indicate at what period of life he murdered his brother, took his wife, or built his city, there is obviously no contradiction in the record. Consequently, neither the original writer of Genesis 4 nor any later editors ever felt this was a problem that needed explanation.
The Bible is thus always consistent, not only with its own statements, but also with all known facts of science.
and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the
city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
We see here the pride of man naming cities after himself. From the beginning.
18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and
Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one [was] Adah, and the
name of the other Zillah.
Here we see the first recording of Polygamy in the Bible. God has never approved of Polygamy from the beginning. God intended man to be with one wife as his creation shown but it was man who chose to have two wives. Adah means ornament, beauty or adornment. Kind of a pleasure of sight to Cain. Adorning of ones self. Taking pride in self 1Tim 2:9 speaks against this. Then we see Zillah which means "a shadow or silent". She was probably the one who stayed and did all the work. One for pleasure and one for the duty of the house.
20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in
tents, and [of such as have] cattle.
21 And his brother's name [was] Jubal: he was the father of all
such as handle the harp and organ.
22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every
artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain [was]
Naamah.
These were very industrious people. They were tradesman. We see a housing contractor, a rancher, a musician, and a craftsman.
23. 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.
Lamech says he kills a man in self defense who knows. But any way again we see murder. Lamech kills.
25. And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare 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.
Here we see that Adam and Eve had more children. Seth came about and was the replacement of the evil Cain. Let us notice this last part it says,"then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." First we saw the evil side of a generation looking out for it self and now we see a generation following after God. As we see in verses like II Samuel 6:2, I Chronicles 13:6, and Psalms 79:6, and Jeremiah 10:25 the calling of the name of the Lord refers to public worship. While the people of Cain focused on the arts and crafts of society the people of Seth focused on God. While the people of Cain focused on self reliance, the people of Seth focused on God-reliance. So we have seen two fundamentally different families developed here on earth- the godly people and the ungodly people.
Genesis 5
1. This [is] the book of the generations of Adam. In the day
that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
generations of : heavens and earth, 1-2:6; Adam, 2:7-6:8; Noah, 6:9-9:29; Sons of Noah, 10:1-11:9; Sons of Shem, Gen 11:10-26; Terah, Gen 11:27-25:11; Ishmael, Gen 25:12-18; Issac, Gen 25:19-35:29; Esau, Gen 36:1-37:1; Jacob, Gen 37:2-50:26.
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called
their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son]
in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight
hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty
years: and he died.
6. And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
Begat may not mean that he was his father but that he was in the same line. Alot of times only the important people was mentioned.
7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven
years, and begat sons and daughters:
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years:
and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and
fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years:
and he died.
12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and
forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years:
and he died.
15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and
thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and
five years: and he died.
18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat
Enoch:
19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years,
and begat sons and daughters:
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two
years: and he died.
21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
Enoch did not walk with God until after Methuselah was born.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three
hundred years, and begat 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.
1) "he walked with God" lived by faith in God, trusted his word, (Hebrews 11:5-6), endeavored to live a holy life,(John 1:5-7), embraced God's ways(Amos 3:3)
2) preacher for unrighteous who denounced sin and the unrighteous lifestyle of his generation (Jude 14-15)
3) pleased God, (Hebrews 11:5) His life his messagee and sympathy with God so pleased him. So much that God took him away
25. And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and
begat Lamech:
26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred
eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and
nine years: and he died.
28. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat
a son:
29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall
comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of
the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and
five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and
seven years: and he died.
32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem,
Ham, and Japheth.
