Intro:
1. William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus" ("Unconquered") is drenched with the spirit of Cain:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
2. Usually pride is sneaky, an unannounced motive, but in our passage we see blantant pride coming out for all to see.
3. The Loudmouth Lamech.
Trans: 4:18-24
I. FIRST, HIS PARENT. 4:18b
and Me-thu-sha-el became the father of Lamech [LAY-mek] - Lockyer, All the MEN of the Bible writes:
"A son of Me-thu-sha-el of the race of Cain [he was Cains great-great- great grandson]...It is not difficult to trace in the moral character of Lay-mek a close resemblance to Cain. We can detect the same haughty spirit, the same self-confidence, the same disregard of human life, the same absence of reverence for God. His address to his wives is that of one who glories in his self-strength and vigor."
This is the chief problem and sin of the lost man - Pride!
Reminds me of something that happened to the former Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, it is a true story and I have shared it before but it's been a while.
Muhammad Ali, [also called the "Louisville Lip] was flying to one of his engagements. During the flight the aircraft ran into foul weather, and mild to moderate turbulence began to toss it about.
The light went on for passengers to fasten their seat-belts. Everyone complied but Ali. Noticing this, the flight attendant approached him and requested that he observe the captain’s order, and he respond, "Superman don’t need no seat-belt."
The flight attendant did not miss a beat and replied, "Superman don’t need no airplane either."
I think the Louisville Lip and Loudmouth Lay-mek had a lot in common!
II. FURTHERMORE, HIS POLYGAMY. 19
Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah - The Bible is clear that it is God's will for marriage to between one man and one woman. But as I have told you time and time again - the Bible is loaded with sinners! Those who think that the norm for God's people is obedience, have never seriously studied God's Word!
1. La-mech, who was Cain’s great-great-great grandson, was the first man recorded to have 2 wives (Adah, Zillah) (Gen. 4:19). But not the last one!
2. Abraham had 2 wives (Sarah and Hagar) (Gen. 16:3 23:19)
3. Esau had 3 wives (Judith, Bash-e-math, and Ma-ha-lath) (Gen.26:34; 28:9).
4. Jacob had 4 wives (Leah, Rachel, Bil-hah, and Zil-pah) (Gen.29:15–35; 30:4, 9).
5. Moses had 2 wives (Zipporah and the Ethiopian woman) (Ex.18:2; Num. 12:1).
6. Gideon had many wives and 70 sons (Judges 8:30).
7. Samuel’s father, Elkanah, had two wives (Hannah, Peninnah) (1Sam. 1:1, 2).
8. King Saul had at least two wives (A-hin-o-am, Riz-pah) (1 Sam. 14:50; 2 Sam. 3:7).
9. David had at least 8 wives (Mi-ch-al, Abigail, A-hin-o-am,
Bathsheba, Ma-a-cah, Hag-gith, Ab-it-al, and Eg-lah) plus Saul’s wives (2 Sam. 12:8).
10. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3).
11. King Ahab had more than one wife (1 Kings 20:7).
12. King Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines (2 Chron.11:21).
13. King Abijah who ruled over Judah had 14 wives (2 Chron.13:21).
14. King Jo-ash had two wives (2 Chron. 24:1–3).
15. King A-has-ue-rus had a harem. Two wives are mentioned by name: Vashti and Esther (Esther 1:10–12; 2:1–17).
No where is polygamy ever said to be according to God's will - and the result is always family feuds.
Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, "Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?"
"Certainly," replied Twain. "‘No man can serve two masters.’"
Actually we can do better than that!
"Mo-nog-a-my is God's standard for the human race. This is clear from the following facts:
(1) From the very beginning God set the pattern by creating a mo-nog-a-mous marriage relationship with one man and one woman, Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:27; 2:21-25).
(2) Following from this God-established example of one woman for one man, this was the general practice of the human race (Gen. 4:1) until interrupted by sin (Gen. 4:23).
(3) The Law of Moses clearly commands, "You shall not multiply wives" (Deut. 17:17).
(4) The warning against polygamy is repeated in the very passage where it numbers Solomon's many wives (1 Kings 11:2), warning "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you."
(5) Our Lord reaffirmed God's original intention by citing this passage (Matt. 19:4) and noting that God created one "male and [one] female" and joined them in marriage.
(6) The NT stresses that "Each man [should] have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (1 Cor. 7:2).
(7) Likewise, Paul insisted that a church leader should be "the husband of one wife" (1 Tim. 3:2, 12).
(8) Indeed, mo-nog-a-mous marriage is a prefiguration of the relation between Christ and His bride, the church (Eph. 5:31-32).
Polygamy was never established by God for any people under any circumstances. In fact, the Bible reveals that God severely punished those who practiced it, as is evidenced by the following:
(1) Polygamy is first mentioned in the context of a sinful society in rebellion against God where the arrogant "Lamech took for himself two wives" (Gen. 4:19, 23).
(2) God repeatedly warned polygamists of the consequences of their actions "lest his heart turn away" from God (Deut. 17:17; cf. 1 Kings 11:2).
(3) God never commanded polygamy—like divorce, He only permitted it because of the hardness of their hearts (Deut. 24:1; Matt. 19:8).
(4) Every polygamist in the Bible, including David and Solomon (1 Chron. 14:3), paid dearly for his sins.
(5) God hates polygamy, as He hates divorce, since it destroys His ideal for the family (cf. Mal. 2:16).
In brief, monogamy is taught in the Bible in several ways:
(1) by precedent, since God gave the first man only one wife;
(2) by proportion, since the amount of males and females God brings into the world are about equal;
(3) by precept, since both OT and NT command it (see verses above);
(4) by punishment, since God punished those who violated His standard (1 Kings 11:2); and,
(5) by prefiguration, since marriage is a typology of Christ and His bride, the church (Eph. 5:31-32).
Simply because the Bible records God's people, committing the sin of polygamy does not mean that God approved of it."
[The Big Book of Bible Difficulties: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation]
III. NEXT, HIS PROGENY. 20-22
"the immediate descent of a person." Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal...Naamah [NAY-uh-muh], the Beautiful.
A. Jabel - A Moving herdsman. 20
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock -
Leupold, "Jabal perhaps means 'wanderer,' a name indicative of the later nomadic habits of the man...he developed the idea of having a movable [abode], a tent, to [allow him to] travel about with his flocks in search of pasturage.
The noun "father" is used to describe him as the "originator" of the idea."
B. Jubal - a Musician. 21
His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe - Jubal may mean "sound."
Lyre - refers to a small stringed instrument of rectangular shape, whose strings are all of the same length. The strings are plucked with the fingers as for the harp.
Pipe - often translated "flute" refers to a wind instrument made of reed, metal, wood, or ivory.
C. Tubal-cain - Metal worker. 22a
As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron;
The word forger means "hammerer or sharpener."
D. Naamah the Beautiful. 22b
and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah - NAY-a-mah means "pleasant, gracious, beautiful."
Trans:It shows the mercy of God, that inspite of the fact that Lay-meck violated God's Word, God allowed him to have a prosperous family. WE CANNOT JUDGE GOD'S APPROVAL BASED ON OUTWARD SUCCESS.
G. Gordon Liddy, a talk show host; a successful TV spokesman for gold; a professed atheist, who said upon being released from prison, for his part as a Watergate conspirator, "I have found within myself all I need and all I ever shall need. I am a man of great faith, but my faith is in George Gordon Liddy. I have never failed me."
Here is a man with a wife, 5 children, finally secure, and yet arrogantly denies God. There are many people like that today!
"Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes." Psalm 37:7 (NASB)
"35 I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. 36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found." Psalm 37:35-36 (NASB)
IV. FOURTHLY, HIS POEM. 23
Leupold, "Here is the first piece of poetry of which we have a record...That it is a poem is apparent from the very manifest parallelism of the members; the characteristic feature of Hebrew poetry."
Again it reminded me of Muhammad Ali, who often put his boasting over his opponents into poems.
In an interview Muhammad Ali was asked him if he had a prediction of what would happen in a rematch with Joe Frazier, Ali responded with this poem:
"Ding! Ali comes out to meet Frazier
But Frazier starts to retreat
If Frazier goes back any further
He'll wind up in a ringside seat
Ali swings to the left
Ali swings to the right
Look at the kid
Carry the fight
Frazier keeps backing
But there's not enough room
It's a matter of time
Then Ali lowers the boom
Now Ali lands to the right
What a beautiful swing!
And de-po-sits Frazier
Clean out of the ring
Frazier's still rising
But the referee wears a frown
For he can't start counting
Till Frazier comes down
Now Frazier disappears from view
The crowd is getting frantic
But our radar stations have picked him up
He's somewhere over the Atlantic
Who would have thought that
When they came to the fight
That they would have witnessed
The launching of a coloured satellite!"
PS: He lost the rematch!
V. FINALLY, HIS PRIDE. 24
Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
A. The basis of his Confidence.
Leupold, "It pictures Lameck as handling one of the weapons just manufactured by his son Tubal Cain and as sensing the possibilities that lie in possessing such a weapon. For the waw conversive which binds the opening "and he said" [first word in the Hebrew text] to the preceding section, bears just this connotation."
This is the first use of a weapon - many believe that it was probably the first crude sword.
Things haven't changed much - today America has placed her confidence in her military might.
"The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength." Psalm 33:16 (NASB)
Bridges, "To restate those truths from Psalms in modern-day language we could say, "Some trust in nuclear warheads and large armies, but we trust in God, because no country is saved by the size of its military forces or the power of its military armament. Instead, victory comes from God."
The debate between politicians over the size of our nuclear arsenal and the number of aircraft carriers and submarines our navy should have is, in a sense, a futile debate.
Both sides are ultimately trusting in military muscle; they only differ in how much is necessary. The Christian, however, must trust in God, not military might of any size."
We need a heart not like La-meck, but king David as he went forth to fight Goliath.
"Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted." 1 Samuel 17:45 (NASB)
B. His arrogant Confession.
It is not clear whether he had actually killed a man or was claiming this is what he would do.
Leupold, "The perfect tenses that follow have been the source of much difficulty. Some, taking them as a simple historical perfects, read them as a record of a deed done. But in that event it strikes us as most peculiar that Lamech should have slain both a man and a young man. Murders very rarely proceed to wholesale slaughter...
It would be far more plausible to picture Lamech as handling a newly forged sword or singing it boldly about his head and uttering this bit of poetry...In this event, the perfects would have to be regarded as expressing complete assurance, or definite certainty, or promise.
What Lamech threatens is: if any man wounds me, or if any young man bruises me, I shall kill the offender. "Man" and "young man" constitutes a more picturesque way of saying: "anybody."
The threat covers every wrong whether a wound [a cut] or a bruise [from a mere blow] - no matter what one does."
What a bragger! No matter Who comes at me and no matter What they may do - they will be dead meat!
"And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear to my voice; you wives of Lamech, give attention to my words, for I would put a man to death for a wound, and a young man for a blow;" Genesis 4:23 (Bible in Basic English)
"4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God." 5 His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them. 6 He says to himself, "I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity." Psalm 10:4-6 (NASB)
"3 "The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to earth?' 4 "Though you build high like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down," declares the LORD." Obadiah 1:3-4 (NASB)
Sooner or later God will shut the mouth of the boastful.
Reminds me of a sightseeing bus that was making the rounds through Washington, D. C., and the driver was pointing out spots of interest.
As they passed the Pentagon building, he mentioned that it cost taxpayers millions of dollars and that it took a year and a half to build.
While everyone was looking at it, a little old woman bragged:
"That's nothing, in Pe-o-ria we could have built the same building in half the time, and for half the price!"
The next sight on the tour was the Justice Department building. Once again the bus driver said that it cost so many millions to build and took almost two years to complete.
Again, the woman boasted: "In Peoria we would have done it in half the time, for half the price!
The tour finally came to the Washington Monument, and the driver just passed slowly by without saying a word.
The old woman said, "Hey, what’s that tall white building back there?"
The driver looked out the window...waited a few minutes and then said, "Search me, lady. It wasn’t there yesterday."
God like that bus driver knows how to shut up the boastful!
C. Finally, an arrogant Contrast with God Almighty!
Leupold, "Lamech remembers the sentence and the divine promise to his ancestor. If God will see to it that the one who harms Cain will have a sevenfold measure of punishment - then Lamech, not needing God's avenging justice, will provide for himself, by the strength of his own arm - a far more heavy punishment...
The arrogance and presumption are unbelievable. The spirit of self-sufficiency here expressing itself over leaps all bounds!"
IF YOU THINK YOUR IN TROUBLE MESSING WITH GOD...TRY MESSING WITH ME!
Reminds me of a preacher who preached a fiery sermon, many streamed down during the invitation. One lady said, "Pastor, your the greatest preacher I have ever sat under."
One the way home, he said to his wife, "I wonder how many great preachers there are in this world?" She smiled and said, "One less then you think!"
Con:
1. This is pride in its rawest form!
2. An article titled "The Art of Being a Big Shot" was written by a very prominent Christian businessman named Howard Butt. Among many other insightful things he said were these words:
"It is my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my fate, that I run my own life, call my own shots, go it alone.
But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can't go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can't ultimately rely on myself. I'm dependent on God for my next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I'm anything but a man—small, weak, and limited.
So, living independent of God is self-delusion. It is not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue; it's my inner psychological integrity that's at stake.
When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself. And that is the national religion of Hell!"
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
