Genesis 4-11
Manuscript
From Bad to Worse
I remember when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. The world was under the threat of nuclear war. America and Soviet Union were threatening to blow each other up. In the midst of this, in 1983, there was a movie called “The Day After.” The movie was about a nuclear holocaust set in the American mid-west. It talked about what happens when the country is wiped out by a disaster, a calamity. In the movie there were a few survivors, a remnant, were left, and the film closes with these few survivors having to adjust to a new world. A world changed forever and people having to live with the consequences, living with “The Day After.”
Well those not as old as me, perhaps when I said the name of that movie, you thought of a similarly named movie that came out in 2004. “The Day After Tomorrow.” Today we don’t worry much about nuclear catasrophe and annhiliation. Today the world seems to be worried about climate change, and this movie played on those fears
in the movie. Due to global warming, a massive superstorm envelops the United States - where else of course - and an instant ice age starts as the storm hits New York where our heros are based. Temperatures drop to –100C and half the world is snap frozen with billions perishing. The few survivors - a remnant - wake up to a different world. The Day after Tomorrow.
Although both these films were made in different eras, and were about different things, the similarity in their titles shows a basically similar storyline. The world is under some threat caused by man’s sin and stupidity. In the 80s it was nuclear annhiliation. In today’s era it is the threat of climate change. And the question is, what happens after some world wide catastrophe. The world is changed, and from the day after, mankind has to come to terms with everything changed, everything different.
You know both these movies played on mankind’s inate intinct, that worldwide catasrophes can happen and have happened. And in fact, we find in the Bible, that they have happened before, and one big one one will happen yet again when Jesus returns.
Last week we looked at Genesis 1-3 - Paradise Lost. We looked at the Creation of the world and of people, and that it was very good. Perfect. A wonderful environment, a great place to live, where we lived in perfect relationship with each other and with God. And we were set to enjoy it forever. Death was not on the agenda.
Until something happened. The first catastrophe ever. When Eve and then Adam chose to believe the devil instead of God. God said that if they ate the fruit from a particular tree that they would die, and the devil said, no you won’t. Who’d they believe, the devil or God? You would think it a no-brainer, but they believed the devil and defied God. And from that action, catastrophe came to the human race. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden, expelled from paradise, and we have been living with the consequences of that ever after. We have been living in
The Day After.
Today we are going to look at the early years of our human history. Last time we finished off with the fall of man, and today we start in Genesis chapter 4, the Day after the fall, or more accuratly, the time period after the fall. In the chapter we will cover today, we will see three cycles of sin. One of them leads to a worldwide catastrophe, where most people are wiped out because of their sin. There is the judgement of God because of their sin, but a remnant are rescued, rescued through the grace and love of God.
The three cycles we will look at are:
Cain and Abel
The Flood and Noah.
Babel and Abraham.
So let’s have a look at Cain and Abel first. Genesis 4 opens with Adam and Eve in the Day after, or the first years after if you want to be more exact. And the first thing we see in verse 1 and 2 is that Adam and Eve had their first two kids, both boys, Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel lived in a new world. Unlike their parents, they had never known paradise. They made the best of the world as they could. Abel kept livestock, while Cain worked the ground and grew crops. And from verse 3 we read that they brought some of their produce to God as an offering.
Gen 43 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.
It is the first offering we read of in the Bible. And let’s read God’s reaction to their offerings:
Genesis 4:4b And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.
God liked Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. Why? Well, we don’t know. It doesn’t say why. Some have speculated that it was because Abel’s sacrifice was an animal, whereas Cain’s was crops. Maybe this is the case but we don’t know for sure, because it doesn’t tell us if this was the reason or not. But we do know that Abel’s sacrifice was somehow better than Cain’s.
Hebrews 11 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.
Why it was more acceptable we don’t know, but somehow it was, and from Cain’s reaction and God’s comments to Cain we can see that Cain knew what sort of offering he was supposed to bring:
Genesis 4:5b So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Notice a number of things: notice Cain’s reaction to when God was not pleased with his offering. Cain was angry. Then notice that God clearly outlined to Cain that he had a choice. If he did the right thing, then he would be accepted. It seems God even gave Cain a second chance. But did Cain repent? Did he humble himself and accept that his sacrifice was not as good as his brother’s? Was he willing to admit that someone else might have done it better? Was he willing to accept that he had got it wrong? That he wasn’t right? And then based on that, was he willing to change and offer the correct sacrifice? God clearly told him that he would be accepted if he did well, but Cain did not repent. He did not humble himself, he did not repent and change his mind, and offer God an acceptable sacrifice. God warned him that he had a choice. He could do the right thing, or he could succomb to sin, as God said, Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain refused to do the right thing, and instead he let sin rule over him. We then read how Cain lured his brother Abel into a field and killed him. The first murder.
The day after, or the era after, the fall from paraside, things were not getting off to a good start. Two brothers. One gets jealous of the other. God intervenes and directly tells him to do the right thing. He refuses. He defies God, and goes and kills his brother. Not very nice.
But God protects Cain, and we see the expansion of the human race. We see the development of civilisation and technology. In verse 21 we see a reference to the harp and flute, the first mention of music in the Bible and human history. In verse 22 we see the development of tool making, likewise the first record of this in the Bible and in history. So while on the one these things can be good - the development of the arts and technology, civilisation, we also see them marred by sin. The forging of metal for tools is good, but that same technology was also used to forge swords and spears to fight each other.
We also see the human race ignoring or changing God’s rules. For example in the garden of Eden when things had been good, in Genesis 2:24 God gave instructions for marriage: Genesis 224 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. That is – a marriage is between one man and one woman who become one flesh. And in Genesis 4:19 we read that Lamech, one of Cain’s descendents, decided to marry two women! Two instead of one! He defied God. He said that that one’s not enough, I’ll take two, thank you very much! Lamech didn’t just defy God’s laws on marriage. He was also an angry, violent man. In verses 23-24, he proudly boasted to his wives that he had killed another man. Lamech revelled in his sin. So we can see the human race spiralling morally out of control. People defying God, going against His commands.
What about today? What do we have? Do people follow his commands? Do we interfere with God’s plan for marriage? God said - one man, one woman, one flesh, for life. But we say, multiple partners, change partners when you get bored or don’t get on anymore, sleep with whoever you like, don’t worry about marriage or commitment, and by the way, opposite sex, same sex, it doesn’t matter, whatever you think is right is okay, what would God know? And what about with technology? We can use it for good, but also for bad. Using technology, to hurt, defraud, to kill others. We are still morally corrupt.
Back to Genesis. Chapter 5 concerns us with the descendents of Adam and Eve
down to to Noah. And that now takes us to chapter 6, where we see the depravity of the human race getting worse and worse, culminating in a very tragic verse in Genesis 6:5
Genesis 65 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
What a terrible state of affairs it had got to! Men and women were living in defiance of God, following in the footsteps of Adam and Eve who had believed the devil rather than God. And this upset God. We read in Genesis 6:6 one of the most moving verses in the Bible:
Genesis 6 6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Or as the NIV says, “His heart was filled with pain.” It is certainly true that in one sense God is beyond us, so complety above us, that there’s nothing we can do that can add or subtract from Him. But yet, God is also emotionally involved with us. When we live in defiance of Him, when we spurn Him, when we defy His laws - laws which He gives us for our own good - when we do that, it grieves Him to His heart. His heart is filled with pain.
People here today - you! Are you filling God’s heart with pain by your behaviour? By your actions? By the evil intentions of your heart? Are you filling God’s heart with pain, by not giving Him the honour He is due in your life? Are you filling God’s heart with pain, by not following Him, not obeying Him? The people in Noah’s time did. And God reacted. In verse 7 we read of God’s decision:
Genesis 67 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
What a disaster! What a catastrophe! God decided to send a flood. God sent a flood that would kill everyone alive. A world wide disaster, a bit like those disasters these Day After movies focus on, when the whole world would be destroyed except for a remnant. And here in this flood, there is a remnant. Verse 8 says
Genesis 68 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.
And we read in the rest of chapter 6 how God gave instructions to Noah, to build an ark – a big ship - for just him and his family and for representatives from all the animals in the world. And in chapters 7 and 8, we read of that flood, the rain that wouldn’t go away, that covered the whole earth. How it happened, we don’t know, but happen it did, and everyone was wiped out. Everyone, except those in the big ship God had told Noah to build.
You know this story is more than a cute Sunday school story, or a cute children’s book. It is history, and the story of God’s judgement. It is God’s judgement on a perverse human race, a human race spiralling out of control into sin. But it’s also a story of grace, grace in saving a remnant. Noah and his family, who feared God. Noah who lived righteously before God.
In chapters 7-8 the flood comes, and wipes out everyone because of their sin, except Noah and his family. And then after the flood has subsided in chapter 8, Noah offers a sacrifice to God. It says that God smelled the sacrifice and it was a pleasing aroma. Someone asked me the other day how a burning animal carcass could be a pleasing aroma, but I think what made it a pleasing aroma, is that unlike Cain’s offering back in chatper 4, Noah’s offering was the right offering. The right sacrifice, offered by Noah who was seeking to do the right thing. And the sacrifice cost him something. There were only a limited number of animals on the ark. The rest had perished in the flood, and Noah was willing to offer some of his limited supply of animals to God.
Are we willing to do that, to offer our limited resources to God? The best that we have?
And as God smells the aroma, he makes a promise in 8:21-22
Genesis 821 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
While in the future God would judge individuals and nations, He would not bring a catastrophe upon the whole world. Except with one exception, as we see here God says, “While the earth remains.” Because there will be a time when the earth as we know it will come to and end. You know those Day After movies, the two I spoke about aren’t the only worldwide catastrophe movies are they? Just last year there was “2012” with a similar theme. It’s a common theme of the human race, we seem to realise that one day there will be a world wide disaster, an accounting for our sins
and that only a remnant will survive. The world of Noah’s time was not that much different to tdoay. People living as they please, and one day there will be an accounting, a world wide calamity when Jesus comes back and the earth as we know it will be destroyed.
In those catasrophe movies, while their details are wrong, the essense is true. There will be and end to this world. Jesus often spoke about His second coming, and the judgement that would come with it, but that a remnant would survive. Those who are His. Do you belong to Jesus? So Noah and his family - the remnant - were saved, as we will too, if we are in Christ.
But let’s go on now. Chapter 10 outlines the descendents of Noah.
And then in chapter 11 we have the account of the Tower of Babel. In Noah’s flood, God had judged the human race because of sin, and preserved a remnant, and the human race had to start again. But it didn’t take long till Noah’s descendents once again fell into the spiral of sin. In Genesis 11:4 we read:
Genesis 114 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.
Again, manking wanted to step into the role only God has. They wanted to build a tower that climbed up into the heavens, they wanted to build a name for themselves.
That means they were full of pride. They were going their own way, doing things without God. Oh how similar that is to us today isn’t it! Nations vy with each other to build the world’s tallest building. Once on stopover in Dubai I visited the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa. It is built in the desert. There’s lots of room around, no space problem. Why build such a tall building? Pride. It’s not just buildings. Sure – it’s one thing to do new things like space exploration and so on, so we can learn and make discoveries, but if the reason is pride, if the reason is to say, “we people don’t needGod,” then that is pride, that is sin. And it is also ridiculous. And the Bible tells us that. The people of Babel were building a tower to reach up to the heavens. They thought it was so tall, but in verse 5 we read, Genesis 115 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. That is, God had to come down, to see the high and mightly structure. It doesn’t matter what we do, we can’t get anywhere close to God with our own efforts, whether it’s building tall buildings, they are nothing compared to the majesty of God. Whether it’s trips to outer space, the universe is so much bigger than anywhere we can go. God is God. We are not God and shouldn’t try and pretend to be God or pretend we can live without Him.
Because of this sin, God came down and scattered the people of Babel. He did this by giving them many different languages. Before Babel, everyone spoke the same language. After Babel, people spoke different languages. Perhaps they were the ancestors of today’s languages. It is well known that today there are thousands of languages, but most of them can be combined into family groups, and possibly these languages at Babel were the ancestor languages of each of today’s language groups.
But the point about the Tower of Babel is that the human race was again heading on a self-destructive path of sin, and God had to intervene. And from that depravity of Babel, we are introduced to Abraham at the end of chapter 11, and next week we will look at Abraham and his calling.
We’ve covered a lot of ground today. But what has been the main thing that we have learnt? It is this: That the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden wasn’t a one off. It set the pattern for all humans after them. Left with a choice between right and wrong, left with a choice of believing God or believing the devil, left with a choice of relying on God or relying on themselves, people inevitably believe the lie and live the lie. And so we see in the first several chapters of Genesis, in the earliest history of the human race, that our ancestors were depraved people, who twisted the laws God gave them. For instance, in the area of marriage, making up their own rules. Our ancestors invented things, but didn’t just use them for good, but also used them to fight with and kill each other. Our ancestors who lied, schemed against each other, and defied God.
And the big question is, are we much different to our ancestors? The world might look a bit different. Communications and technology might be more advanced now, but we still use them for evil as well as good, to fight each other. We still change God’s rules, thinking we know best. We still lie and scheme against each other, and defy God, even question if He exists or if He is relevant in the 21st century.
And the people of Noah’s day, because of their sin, sufferered judgement. Mankind was wiped out because of their sin - except for a remnant. And it is like that with us too. Jesus many times said that the world as we know would come to an end, and only a few – a remnant would be saved. He also said people wouldn’t think the end would come, and they would carry on life carelessly, just like in the days of Noah. This is what Jesus said about His second coming:
Matthew 2436 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
The question for you today is this: are you in Jesus? Have your turned and repented from your sins? Are you believeing, trusting, living for Him? Living according to His commands? Do you count yourself as His? And if you count your self as a follower of Jesus, are you ready? Are you living in the light of eternity? So that your actions, your choices, your speech, reflect the fact that you are following Jesus?
