The Legacy Of Unrepentance-1

The LEGACY Of UNREPENTANCE-I— Genesis 4:16-24

Attention:

We will all leave a legacy to our families. But what of any value will they receive?

Background:

Previously we had looked at Cain’s willful disdain of God’s direction for his life, & discovered the ‘Tragedy of Unrepentance’(4:1-15).

Today we are going to examine the descendants of Cain & the resulting transfer of belief.

“the genealogy[:16-24] shows how sin disqualified Cain’s line as the people of blessing”..... God blesses the line of Cain. But notice, He blesses them in a temporal way. That is, only connected to time. Only in the physical were they blessed; not in the sense of the spiritual, or that which is eternal.”—John MacArthur

“Secular culture is a provision from God for man’s life. It is a common grace.”.....“And that contributes to communication, it contributes to culture, it contributes to society.”—John MacArthur

Cain’s legacy was a spiritually derelict/deficient progeny.

Personal unrepentance leaves a legacy of spiritually dereliction/deficiency.

What can a spiritually deficient legacy provide?

8 desires/determinations of a spiritually deficient/derelict population.

1—Spiritually deficient populations seek...

SEPARATION/Segregation(:16)

Explanation: (:16)Don’t bother me

:16—“Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD & dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.”

Cain was doomed to be a vagrant & wanderer so he left the presence of the LORD. Cain made a purposeful choice to leave YaHWeH’s presence, not the other way around. However, Cain’s actions are assumed & anticipated.

The exact wording is used of Satan as he leaves the presence of YaHWeH in heaven.

Job 1:12—“And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”

Job 2:7—“So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, & struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”

A human side to determining our entrance into God’s presence. God offers us forgiveness by grace thru faith. What will you do with it?

Conversely to the unrepentant, man is encouraged thruout Scripture to seek/enter YaHWeH’s presence. It is God’s design & desire for us. We should always seek His power & direction(however it may come) in our lives.

1Thes. 1:8-10—“For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia & Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, & how you turned to God from idols to serve the living & true God, & to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

“He[Cain] sought to be away from the presence[influence] of God, & God sent him out of His presence; so that this was both God’s judgment & Cain’s own choice. And so it is with all who reject God.”—John MacArthur

Though Cain was a wanderer, he centered his wanderings in “Nod.” This proper name seems to enforce the fact of Cain’s “fugitive & vagabond” status(:14) because it is a noun form of a verb meaning ‘to wander.’. It is a land, an area which probably took its name or became designated as such because of Cain’s wandering.

Perhaps Nod is so appreciably separated from all others of Cain’s family so that he can now have a life of his own free of its influence & thereby YaHWeH’s influence. This seems to be borne out thru the genealogical list & statements of :17-24. Particularly as they are compared to the separate & distinct genealogical record of chapter 5.

Nod was “on the east[side] of Eden.”

The “garden” itself was located in an unqualified “eastward” direction in the place called “Eden”(meaning ‘pleasure’)—quite a different concept from “Nod’s” wandering. It appears evident that Adam was driven out of the garden towards an easterly direction.

Gen. 2:8—“The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, & there He put the man whom He had formed.”

Gen. 3:24—“So He drove out the man; & He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, & a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

“Went out from”—auy yaw-tsaw’—1) To go out, come out, exit, go forth. Strong–a primitive root; To go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally & figuratively, direct & proxim.

“Presence”—Mynp paw-neem’ pl. (but always as sing.)—1) Face. Strong—The face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally & figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.).

“Lived”—bvy yaw-shab’—V.—1) To dwell, remain, sit, abide. Strong—a primitive root; properly, To sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, To dwell, to remain; causatively, To settle, to marry.