Untitled Sermon (139)
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16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
In Numbers 35, there are “cities of refuge”. These cities of refuge were God’s provision to put an end to further bloodshed that even an unintentional killing could incite. The cities of refuge protected the accused against the threat of a blood avenger.
See Numbers 35.33
33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Nod was the precurser to the cities of refuge.
The name itself means to “wander”…Cain chose to wander away from God. He had no need for a religion of blood.
17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
Cain begins a new life. He names it Enoch or Enosh...
18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.
19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
In this society there were shepherds, keepers of oxen and sheep and other livestock.
21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
There was culture. Music, arts. Arts in Enosh...
22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
There were tradesman, craftsmanship.
23 Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”
This is a difficult verse to unravel. It has been interpreted several different ways.
On one hand, Lamech could be saying that he is appealing to a system of justice. He seems to be stating that he had killed a man for wounding and injuring him… striking him. He hadn’t killed this person as Cain had done- it wasn’t for hating him, or lying in wait to kill him, he had killed him with a plea of self defense.
It would be an eye for an eye before it existed.
It would be “He hit me first” like chidren.
Whatever it is that Lamech was saying, it seems to point to the fact that there was a system of law and justice representative of an ordered society.
Agriculture, music, craftsmen- an ordered society with laws.
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
A new son is born. Seth.
His name means “God granted me another child”. in place of Abel.
I want to remind you of the verse with a promise back in Genesis 3.15
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The birth of this son Seth is forever tied to this promise. How do we know it? Go read the next chapter, Genesis 5
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
A pattern is established in Chapter 4, at this verse, that will remain throughout the book of Genesis, OT history, the gospels- The one through whom the promised seed will come is not the heir apparent, the eldest son- it is through the one that God chooses.
I don’t have the time to go through each one, but in the book of Genesis alone...
Japheth, Ham, Nahor, Ishmael, Lot, Esau.
All the oldest first born- and nothing. Nada. Their younger sibling takes the stage.
Jesus said the first would be last and the last would be first.
Jesus rejected the Pharisees but accepted the woman of Samaria. Jesu srejected the religious but accepted Mary Magdalene.
I want to be clear about the birth of Seth. For all of the industry, and culture that came from the line of Cain… Seth is proof that God rejected it all. Just as he rejected Cain’s offering- he has rejected Cain’s wandering. God did not try to reform the children of Cain. He rejected them.
26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
To underscore the importance of Seth…people began to worship God.
When formal worship is established by Moses in the Pentateuch, it is important to realize that it was a return to the worship that started right here… not something new. It may have been formal- but it wasn’t new, Seth had a son that seemingly understood what God was about.
I want to point out something that stands out to me. I didn’t read this, I didn’t steal this. It is an original thought that I think is important.
In Nod, Cains children established craftsmanship. Agriculture. Culture- art and music. Even a civil society with laws.
But back in Eden, Adam and Eve’s son and grandson Seth and Enosh established worship.
Everything We Do Is A Cheap Counterfeit For What He Has Already Done
Everything We Do Is A Cheap Counterfeit For What He Has Already Done
Seth had figured that out. Abel never did.
When those gifts were placed on the altar. Cain’s garden growth and Abels’ livestock… there was the attitude of pride on Cain’s part and the attitude of humility on Abel’s. And that made all the difference.
Cain would have been the guy you couldn’t stand at the company Christmas party… have you seen my son Jabal? He is the worlds’ first farmer- we call him Del Monte. His bananas are great. His pineapples are out of this world. He has sheep and chickens and goats and cows by the millions!!
You seen my son Tubal? He makes tools and machines and steel and iron and brass… he makes hoes for Jabal’s gardens!!!
You seen my son Jubal? He plays the lyre. You’ve never heard anyone play like him… he is the next Doc Severinson I tell you!!
And there is Seth in the corner. Someone asks, how is your son the priest doing? Doesn’t he know he’ll never get anywhere doing that? What’s he going to do for a wife? Who wants to marry a priest? And Seth just smiles. For he knows… that the banana farm, the steel mill, the music hall are all about what they could do.
And the altar that his son Enosh worked at was all about what God has done.