Genesis 6-7
World English Bible

6 When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2 God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. 3 Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. 6 Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. 7 Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.

9 This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

13 God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. 14 Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. 15 This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. 17 I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. 21 Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.

7 Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. 2 You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. 3 Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. 4 In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”

5 Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. 7 Noah went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the floodwaters. 8 Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground 9 went by pairs to Noah into the ship, male and female, as God commanded Noah. 10 After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened. 12 It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship— 14 they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 Pairs from all flesh with the breath of life in them went into the ship to Noah. 16 Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; then Yahweh shut him in. 17 The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. 18 The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. 19 The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. 20 The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21 All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship. 24 The waters flooded the earth one hundred fifty days.

This is the largest section of text that we have tried to cover at one time so far, so I hope I can do it justice as I summarize the main points.  First, we are told that men continued to increase in number, but as they did so, they also increased in their wickedness.  The meaning of Genesis 6:2 is hotly debated, but I believe that there are some New Testament passages that clarify this for us.  This speaks fallen angels (demons) who left their domain (the spiritual realm) to enter the physical realm and have sexual encounters with human women.  I'm not exactly sure how this is possible, but it seems like their goal was to make a super-strong race of humans bent on rebellion against God that they believed would be big enough and strong enough and evil enough to stop God's good plans from happening.  We see in future Scripture passages that God binds these demons to hold them over for the day of judgment in the same Abyss that Satan will one day be held for 1,000 years, but these evil spirits will be released on the earth in the last days as part of the judgment on the world (see Revelation 9:1-11 when this abyss or bottomless pit is opened and these angles come out to torment men and women).  We are told that this is where the Nephilim come from.  However, there are Nephilim up until the time of David when David and his men killed many giants like Goliath and his siblings that were all described as Nephilim, so I don't think this was an isolated event.  If it were, all of the Nephilim would have died in the Flood and that would have been the end of them and there would have been no Goliath, for there were no survivors of the Flood other than those inside the Ark.

I'm getting ahead of myself a bit as we've established that the world is becoming more and more evil and it gets to the point where God says that every thought and intention of man's heart is always wicked at all times.  That is quite a statement.  He says that He's sorry that He created mankind and that He will not put up with their wickedness and rebellion forever, and he gives a warning that judgment is coming in exactly 120 years (the verse does not mean that a human cannot ever live to be more than 120 years old, though we know that is extremely rare).

God commits that he will destroy not just all mankind, but all land-dwelling flesh from the earth, and much of the vegetation so that he can basically start off with a clean slate like after Day 3 of creation.  The containers will be there ready to be filled again but the heavens are not judged and the fish of the sea are only partially judged, but God expected them to be able able survive.  God would cause the whole world to be covered by water, even the highest hills and mountains would be completely covered for 120 days.  During that time, the geography of the earth changed greatly, as the continents began to separate from one another, the waters that were once gathered in a single place were now spread out across most of the face of the earth, and there were now vast differences in elevation and climate across the face of the earth after the Flood.

God sees Noah (remember his name from yesterday?  He was the last name in the genealogy, so we know he was to be the next important character).  He is one of the few people in the Bible that is described as being blameless and walking with righteousness.  We will see later that he is not perfect and he does sin, but along with other like Joseph and Daniel, these are men whom we should try to emulate who were salt and light in the midst of very wicked environments and did not become polluted by the world.  For the sake of God's promises being fulfilled and because He had compassion on Noah and his family, God gave Noah instruction on how to build an Ark that would be large enough to save Noah's family and anyone else who wished to come on the Ark with him, and Noah would spend the 120 years he was given to build and evangelize (he was quite the multi-tasker being able to preach and teach all while overseeing the construction of the Ark and working on it himself).  The whole world would reject Noah's invitation, so the room that was made for all of mankind would be given to two of every kind of animal and seven pairs of every kind of clean animal (more of these animals would be needed so that they would be used for sacrifices).

Note that Noah did not have to go out and hunt and trap the animals, the LORD brought the animals to him and caused the animals to get on the Ark when the time was right.  Since the Ark is a picture of salvation, I think there is something to be learned here about God's sovereignty and power to bring people to Himself, even those whom we would never imagine would be able to be tamed because we see them as having no more spiritual insight as these wild animals, yet God can work powerfully to accomplish His good plans to make a people unto Himself from every tribe, tongue and nation to the praise of His glory (more on this when we get to the Tower of Babel which happens shortly after the Flood).

Many people laugh at this account to say that there is no way that there was room for two of every species of animal on the ark, but that is not what the text says, nd the full gambit of speciation has not happened yet.  Remember that Adam created a taxonomy and named all the different kids of animals in the Garden?  That is the same word we are using here.  Adam was able to do that in less than a day, so we're talking about something high-level here where the animals brought on the Ark were compatible with one another and had all the genetic information necessary to make all the different species of their kind that we see today (you can find more information about his on the Answers in Genesis website and the Institution for Creation Research website if you're interested in learning more about how one family and two of every kind of animal and seven pairs of every clean animal were able to turn into the vast array of what we see today).

Experts have looked at the proportions given for the Ark and the materials used to construct the Ark and have realized that God told Noah how to build a vessel that couldn't be capsized.  We've used these same specifications to help build some of our large vessels  to this day.  Since there were variations on what a "cubit" could be, we usually estimate it is 18 inches.  It is roughly the distance from the elbow to the tip of your finger in a fully-formed adult.  If you're interested in seeing what a vessel of this size might look like and what the different kids of animals might look like and how they could have stored all the food and been able to take care of things like waste disposal, you should visit The Ark Encounter in northern Kentucky (and stop by The Creation Museum that is in the Cincinnati, OH area right over the right while you are there).  These are both part of Answers in Genesis ministries, so you can find out more about them on the Answers in Genesis website.

Noah did everything that God commanded him and on the day that God brought all the animals onto the Ark, He told Noah and his family to get in and God closed the door behind them (God closed the door and sealed it, not Noah).  There is coming a day that the New Testament points to that will be like this day when God seals all of His people inside the Ark of Christ so that we might be delivered through the coming judgment to the new creation that He has in store for us on the other side of it.  However, those who are outside who have rejected the LORD's invitation will have no more opportunity as God desires that they face the consequences of their choice and experience the coming judgment.  In the first judgment, the earth was judged by water.  In the coming judgment, it will be judged by fire.

A quick accounting of everyone on the Ark is given so that we see that there are eight humans on the Ark--Noah and his wife and the sons of Noah--Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.  From these eight people, God will bring about all the various nations of the world.  We'll see that in a little bit with the Table of Nations passage.

So we see that the death and destruction and fossilization and geological changes didn't happen gradually over a long period of time, but they happened quickly over a short period of time--mostly during the 150 days of the flood and the total of 360 days (a full lunar calendar) until Noah was able to exit the Ark.  Important events happened on many of the Feast Days during the first month and the seventh month of the year, though these feasts would not be established until the time of Moses, but God was already pointing towards them and their greater fulfillment in Christ. 

Everything we see today in geology shows that we have layers that were laid down quickly across the entire earth, and the story in Genesis explains why we see a massive amount of fossils appear all at once in what you probably call the Cambrian Explosion.  It was not a record of the "explosion" of life on earth (creation), but of cataclysmic judgment on all flesh and death and destruction (the Flood).  The websites I pointed you towards earlier have many answers to the questions that you may have about Creation Science and the history recorded in Genesis.  It is not myth, fable, or legend.  It is literal history, and Jesus quoted it as such and tells us to expect history to repeat itself in the last days.  In the last days, things will be just like they were in the time of Noah before the Flood.  People who failed to listen to the warnings will be caught unprepared, and that's exactly the way God intends it to be.  He will save all of His Elect (those whom He calls and caused to come inside His Ark of salvation--that is Christ), but to those who choose to reject Him, they will face eternal judgment that will start with the judgment of this creation, which is just a preview of the eternal judgment that will be experienced by the devil, his angels, and all those who choose to rebel along with him (whether that rebellion is passive or active, it is still rebellion).  Choose today to enter the Ark of Christ and be saved.

Daily Readings for This Week

• Day 1: Genesis 5:1-32
• Day 2: Genesis 6:1–7:24
• Day 3: Genesis 8:1-22
• Day 4: Genesis 9:1-17
• Day 5: Genesis 9:18-29
• Day 6: Psalm 53 

​Genesis 5
World English Bible

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them. On the day they were created, he named them Adam. 3 Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 5 All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

6 Seth lived one hundred five years, then became the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 8 All of the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died.

9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 11 All of the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died.

12 Kenan lived seventy years, then became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters 14 and all of the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died.

15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 17 All of the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died.

18 Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, then became the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 20 All of the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died.

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Methuselah. 22 After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 23 All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.

25 Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, then became the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died.

28 Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, then became the father of a son. 29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which Yahweh has cursed.” 30 Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 31 All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died.

32 Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genealogies may not be that exciting to you, but in the book of Genesis they bring an end to one part of the oral narrative and begin another.  They served as logical breaking points for children and adults to memorize large sections of the story and to realize that a transition was about to take place and new main characters were about to come on scene.   However these genealogies also serve another purpose.  They show us that God's plan and His promises continue to move forward despite Satan's best attempts to derail them.  You'll note that there is a key difference between this genealogy and the one of Cain's descendants.  Why is that?  Because Cain was not the next main character that we are to follow.  We are to understand that with the amount of time and detail given to this genealogy that it is important.

For ancient Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt, they may have only understood this genealogy as part of their family tree and an answer to the question of Origins, "Where did I come from?."  Genesis is a history of people in general, but as we continue it becomes more about the story of a specific group of people, and each time God zooms the focus in on that group of people, we get one of these genealogies.  This is one of the greatest signs of God's Election in the Old Testament--He chose specific people in specific places in specific times to be a part of His specific plan (the plan to bring about the one promised in Genesis 3 that would crush the head of the serpent).

Every generation listed here hoped that it would be them or their son or grandson that would be the Child of Promise, but none of them were.  We instead see a pattern of "...and he died" and are constantly reminded of the Word of God in the Garden of Eden, "Dying, you will surely die."  People today have a hard time believing the lifespans of these first patriarchs, but the effects of sin had not yet fully taken hold , and the world was not exactly as it is today--we'll see some major changes happen in the next several chapters of the book of Genesis.

The passage begins by reminding us that Adam had no father other than God and God made Adam in His own likeness (the event that God looked at and called everything "very good").  God made them both male and female and blessed them (telling them to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth and subdue it).  God named the man Adam, but he let Adam name all the other creatures and, later, his wife who had been made for him, but kept from him until Adam realized his need for her.  For this point on, all of the descendants of Adam and Eve would be made in the broken image and likeness of Adam, bent towards sin with a heart of rebellion, and wickedness would increase.  We even see people growing away from God in their choices of names for their children (again, there is a free dictionary of Bible names in the Lifeway Reader that I have lined under the the Bible Study Resources tab).

Adam gives birth to Seth at some point after Cain has murdered Abel.  Seth's name literally means "to fix" or "to put in place."  God had given them the son He had chosen to carry out He plan, and Seth's name is a recognition of God's choice.  Adam and Eve thought that Cain was the right choice, but they were wrong--they didn't even think enough of the one we call Abel to name him until after he died, only to realize the truth that life is but a fleeting breath--a vapor that is here today, and gone tomorrow.  This is one of the great truths of Scripture.

Each generation only focuses on the next link in the chain to get from Adam to Noah.  Even if there were more branches to the family tree, we are focusing in on the one important to the story that God is telling.  God knew from the beginning exactly which people He would choose to fulfill His plans and made sure that this family was preserved, despite their brokenness and inclination to sin.

We come to Enoch, a prophet of God who is mentioned later in the Bible as being one of the first to preach about the future destruction of the world, first by water, and then by fire.  The destruction by water has already happened, but the destruction by fire is yet to come.  He called all men of his time and all times to repent while there was still time.  God chose to use him as a picture of the Rapture of the Church that is coming and how God is able to remove the righteous from the earth before the day of His wrath.  "Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him."  This is a great mystery for those who do not understand the truth of God doing the same thing for people of God before the coming Day of the LORD when His wrath will be poured out on all the earth.

​You may know the name Methuselah as a name for someone who is old, but we can see here why that is.  He is the oldest man ever recorded in human history.  If memory serves me, Methuselah and all who were born after him with the exception of Noah and his family died in the coming Flood.  Their lifespans all line up so that they share the same date of death.

The last link in the chain for now is Noah.  His name means "response" or "consolation."  He is a type of Christ and we'll zoom in on him and his family for the next several chapters.  The rest of this week, we'll look at the events leading up to the Flood, the Flood, and the events right after the Flood when God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants (since we are all descendants of Noah, this covenant is for all of us).  It will be a great picture of God's nature to both punish sin and save a people for Himself.

Psalm 75
World English Bible

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song.
75 We give thanks to you, God.
    We give thanks, for your Name is near.
    Men tell about your wondrous works.

2 When I choose the appointed time,
    I will judge blamelessly.
3 The earth and all its inhabitants quake.
    I firmly hold its pillars. Selah.
4 I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!”
    I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn.
5 Don’t lift up your horn on high.
    Don’t speak with a stiff neck.”
6 For neither from the east, nor from the west,
    nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.
7 But God is the judge.
    He puts down one, and lifts up another.
8 For in Yahweh’s hand there is a cup,
    full of foaming wine mixed with spices.
He pours it out.
    Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.

9 But I will declare this forever:
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
    but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

We will get to this more when we study the book of Romans, but we need to have an honest evaluation of ourselves.  We are not good people who sometimes mess up.  Only God is good (Jesus Himself will say this).  We are broken people bent on rebellion and are wicked at heart.  We deserve the judgment and wrath of God.  Everything that we are about to read about in the book of Genesis where God was sorry that He made man and wished to destroy all flesh from the face of the earth  is righteous and consistent with God's nature.  However, that is balanced with the other side of God's character that we love to emphasize--the part that had compassion on Noah and his family, even though Noah did not deserve that compassion.  Why was Noah saved?  Because God had a plan greater than destroying the whole world for their sins--if He had done that, Satan would have won because we all would have died in our trespasses and sins, and no one would have a way back to God.  However, we still have the promise of Genesis 3 to keep in mind.  God, for His own good pleasure, and to the praise of His glory, chose to redeem a people for Himself--a people who would be called by His Name--and to do so by offering His Son as their penal substitutionary atonement.  He will choose Seth and his family and then Noah and his family and then Shem and his family and then Abraham and his family, Isaac and his family, Jacob and his family and Judah and his family to carry on this promise before the book of Genesis is over.  David is one of those in the line of the tribe of Judah and God specifically will choose David and his family to be a part of the family tree for the promised Messiah.  It is this same David who writes this Psalm that we study today.

We start by praising the Name of the LORD--I like how the WEB capitalizes the word "Name" as it is a reference to the divine name of the LORD.  Other men can tell us about the works that God does for them and in past generations, but we know He is near because He is at work in, through, and around us.  It is something we personally experience.  Therefore, we respond in worship for how great and good God is.

There is a day that God has fixed when He will judge the living and the dead and He will do so blamelessly (every judgment He makes will be completely righteous.  No innocent people will be declared guilty and the guilty will not go unpunished).  The world and all its inhabitants rightly shake at the thought of that Day of Judgment which is fixed in the future, for it will be the end of this creation and the end of the kingdom of the wicked.  The Kingdom of God will be all that remains after that Day.

David warns the proud and boastful that he has nothing to boast in and would remind them that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Those that stand proudly in opposition to the LORD will be crushed and humiliated.  No one is strong enough to oppose God in that coming Day.  There will be no salvation that comes to the wicked from any direction--everyone great and small, rich and poor, slave and king will all alike face the coming judgment.  They cannot escape it, and they win any fight against it.

Yet, we know that not all men will be destroyed in the coming judgment.   There will be a remnant who will be saved.  How can that be if we realize we are all sinners under the curse of sin and death and in a place where we stand condemned by the Law?  What allows any of us to be saved?  David answers that question by saying that it is the grace of God alone which is able to save those whom He chooses.  He is righteous in His judgment to save some and He is righteous in His judgment to pour out the cup of His wrath on others.  The wicked will drink to the dregs of the bowls of the wrath of God in the last days. when there is total judgment against the wicked.

David knows this judgment is not reserved for him--that He is part of the redeemed remnant.  This drives him once again to give praise to the LORD for who He is and what He has done.  David wishes to be God's chosen instrument to bring righteousness and justice in the here and now.  We too desire this, but this is balanced against a desire fir those who are in darkness to see the light of God's salvation and for God to rescue those who were part of the kingdom of darkness to make them children of His marvelous light.  David finishes with his own version of "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  Those who think they are something will be made to realize they are nothing, but to the one who humbles himself and gives all glory to God, the LORD will raise such a man up and highly exalt him in the time of judgment that is a time of rewards for the righteous.  The righteous need not fear the coming judgment that is reserved for the wicked.

Genesis 4:17-26
World English Bible
​
17 Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 Irad was born to Enoch. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice.
    You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech,
for I have slain a man for wounding me,
    a young man for bruising me.
24 If Cain will be avenged seven times,
    truly Lamech seventy-seven times.”

25 Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on Yahweh’s name.

We end with a short genealogy to tell us "this is the end of the story of Cain."  Cain was not cut off without any descendants.  He was allowed to get married, have children and stop his wanderings as he settled down to raise his family.  He built a city in honor of his firstborn son, Enoch (this is not the Enoch that you probably know who was an Old Testament prophet and the father of Methuselah). If you're interested in the meanings of the names, don't forget that you  have free access to Hitchkock's Dictionary of Bible Names when you create a Lifeway account and access your Lifeway Reader.  Names had meaning and significance, especially at this time.

We see that Cain's family was resourceful, artistic, and willing to try new things.  One of his descendants became the father of all the nomadic shepherds and herdsmen who live in tents and wander from place to place to find food and water for their animals.  There are many such people like this even today, but Jabal was the first.

Jabal's brother Jubal was the father of those who play the harp and pipe (musicians).  This is the first job that we've seen that has no practical purpose, but is more artistic in function and for the enjoyment and pleasure of those performing as well as its audience.  We have moved to a new level of civilization here where people are no longer solely focused on what is necessary to survive and are able to think of thing like art and music.

Tubal Cain was also born to Lamech by his second wife, and Tubal Cain became the father of those who made tools of bronze and iron.  Those ages were not so far apart according to the Bible.  Cain's family many have been curses, but God allowed them to invent things that were for the good of all generations to come after them.  Let's zoom in on Lamech for a moment, the father of Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal Cain.

First, we see that Lamech violates the pattern that God has established for marriage being a lifetime covenant between one man and one woman.  So far, even with Cain's family, we have seen this pattern followed that was set forth in Genesis 2.  Now, we see the first  polygamous union between one man and two wives.  We'll see this pattern continue as men continue to rebel against God and the natural order of things that He established.  It would also seem that Lamech, like Cain, did not respect the sanctity of human life.  He sought vengeance for himself seeking to repay someone who had injured him by taking their life.  Worse than that, he bragged about it to his wives and presumed on the grace and mercy of God that God would keep him safe from the avenger of blood that sought the life of the one who look the life of their kinsman.

This whole family is really messed up, and it all started by one man, Cain, giving into his passions and not listening to the wisdom of the LORD to not let sin or passion rule over him.  We are left thinking, "Is there any hope for the human race?" after we read even a short family history like this.  The answer is a resounding "Yes!"  The last two verses in this chapter give us hope and move us along onto the next part of the narrative.  The answer will not be found in the family of Cain, but in the son that God will give to Adam and Eve after the death Abel (and the text reminds us that Abel is dead because Cain killed him, in case we forgot that part).

There is a glimmer of hope that it appears that the descendants of Seth, specifically Enosh, start a kind of revival and people start calling on the name of the LORD again.  In chapter 5, we get a complete genealogy from Adam to Noah through the family of Seth.  This is the Bible's way of telling us that we are leaving one story to focus on a new story, but, although we did not know this at the time, God the Holy Spirit is also helping us focus on the right people to watch for the promise of Genesis chapter 3 to come true.  God has now chosen one of Adam's sons (Seth) and a specific lineage of his descendants to work through.  This is one of the first instances of Election that we see (and it is the general principle of all of these genealogies that we will read), and we see that the first born is not entitled to the promise of the fulfillment of the Messianic promise.  In fact, God loves to work things out just the opposite of what we would expect when t comes to who we think will carry on the promise.  Our natural assumptions are usually wrong because it will not be  a promise fulfilled by natural means, but supernatural means.

Genesis 4:13-16
World English Bible
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13 Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him.

16 Cain left Yahweh’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain rightly understands his punishment, but has a self-centered response to it all.  He complains that his punishment is excessive and will be a heavy burden on him because the ground will not grow things for him and he will be driven away into exile away from all the other people that live at this time (more on that later) and Cain is sure that they will all desire to kill him in vengeance for what happened to Abel (and they would be justified in doing so according to the Law).  The City of Refuge in the Law was only for those who accidently killed someone, but was never for those who committed premeditated murder.  Cain wants to violate God's Law and have little to no consequences, and that's not going to happen.

God is going to hear his concern about his family trying to kill him though, however, it seems the LORD ignores Cain's complaints in every other area because the punishment was meant to be a heavy burden in order to encourage Cain to repent and change his heart and his ways, lest he suffer and ever greater punishment for all eternity.  There is no indication that Cain repented nor that he taught anyone in his family not to follow in his footsteps.

The LORD makes a covenant with Cain that anyone who slays him to take vengeance on Abel will have a punishment that is seven times worse than the punishment that Cain is facing.  Remember that the number seven is a number of holiness but also totality and completeness because it is the number of days in the Creation week.  He rested on the seventh day when all of His work of creation was complete and blessed that day and made it holy.  When we see the number seven in prophecy and in visions, it usually speaks of the totality of something and the holiness of something.  God is promising a punishment that would be complete and uniquely different so that everyone would know it came from the hand of the LORD.  We'll see some punishments like this later in the Bible.

Cain leaves the LORD's presence and starts his nomadic life of wandering in the land to the east of Eden.  The "land of Nod" literally means "The Land of Wandering," so this may not be one specific place on the map, but could be anywhere and everywhere that Cain went and didn't find rest.  However, his time of wandering will come to an end soon when we see that Cain will get married and have a family.  We'll talk about Cain's family next time.

Genesis 4:9-12
World English Bible
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9 Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”

He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”

Even after Cain murdered his brother Abel, God still seeks him out to try to restore him (much like He did with Adam and Eve).  He asks a question that gives Cain the opportunity to confess and repent, but just like Adam and Eve, he tries to hide, cover up and make excuses (like father, like son).  Cain takes zero accountability here and pretends to know nothing about where his brother is or what has happened to him.

God then reveals that what Cain thought he did in complete secrecy is known by God and that Abel's blood cries out for vengeance.  The Curse gets even worse for Cain and his descendants.  They will be driven from the ground that Cain had learned to farm.  Also, they will be wanderers and nomads.  Cain is going to complain about all this and that it is too hard on him and he wants greace without repentance (don't we all?).  We'll talk about that tomorrow.

Genesis 4:6-8
World English Bible
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6 Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? 7 If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” 8 Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

The LORD knows the heart of Cain and tries to intervene with some pointed questions.  "Why are you angry? Why has your mood and countenance changed?" Cain was visibly upset so that he looked both angry and dejected.  Without even letting Cain answer (because He already knew the answer to the question before He asked it), the LORD assures Cain that if he also does what is right, he too will be accepted, and so will his sacrifice.  However, if he does not repent and continues in the path he is on, the LORD says that sin is crouching at his door like a ravenous beast that desires to attack and tear him to pieces.  Its desire is to rule over Cain and to destroy him, but Cain must assert himself and say "No" to temptation be master over it and in this moment, he needs to not be controlled by his feelings.

Cain does not listen to the LORD's instruction and decides to go through with his plan of premeditated murder.  He lures his brother Abel out into the field so that they would be away from everyone else.  It would seem Cain thought that if he got far enough away from everyone, even God wouldn't see him and what he did, but God is going to let Cain know that He saw and heard everything and that Abel's blood cries out from the ground for justice to be done.

This changes everything--the one they had hoped to be their savior clearly is not, and the one that it seems they did not even name because they expected nothing from him is now given the name Abel because his life was but a fleeting breath that was here today and then gone tomorrow.  How will God's promise of a deliverer be fulfilled now?  It seems like Satan has won, but we know he has not.  God's plans are not going to be circumvented or thwarted by the schemes or Satan or the acts of evil men.  Hang on to that idea as time and time again we will ask, "Is this the one?," and our hopes will be dashed as we realize that one we were putting our hopes in had their own sins and guilt and could in no way pay for the sins of others when he himself stood condemned.