In our last session, we had all the high drama.
In this chapter, we're reading lists of names. Notice that there are two contrasting geneologies:
- The unrighteous line of Cain
- The righteous line of Seth
We have said that when a historical narrative is written by the Biblical authors, they are choosing what they are going to leave out. So when we have a geneology of Cain that is 6 names long, that's significant. It's the number of man. The geneology of Seth is 10 names long, which in the scriptures, is a sign of completeness.
Every name included in the geneology is there to communicate what the text wants to tell us.
Do you know who cares about geneologies? God. These would have been very important lists for those who had wandered in the desert - now going into a foreign land. They didn't have the first five of the books to carry around, so they needed to remember their roots and where they came from. These lists were designed for them to remember and carry with them.
Something we can carry away here is that God cares about individuals. He knows us by name. Our names are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.
These geneologies will also continue to show us the progression of sin and death, show us the continued faithfulness of God to accomplish the promise that He made to being the seed.
Genesis 4:17. Cain married his sister. Notice what Cain is doing in this verse: he's building a city. Interesting. What did God say was his sentence? That he would be a wanderer. Yet Cain, in his first act, puts down roots and builds a city.
Genesis 4:18. Lamech is 7th in the line of Adam (remember this). His name also means brought low.
Genesis 4:19a. We learn something here as well about Lamech. Back in Genesis 2 when God presents Eve to Adam, it says "the two shall become one flesh." God has already made it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman. So when Lamech takes two wives what do we know? No concern for God's law. Keep this in mind because elsewhere in scripture you will see heros of the faith taking multiple wives. Because we're afraid to ask questions of the text, we sometimes assume that it's okay. It is never okay. God can work through this, but those family situations never look anything like you would want your home to look like.
Genesis 4:19b-22a. First, let's look at these three sons. One is into music, one into iron working, and one into livestock. This is the unrighteous line. What's happening here is that art and beauty are being created; functional things being created by people who don't call on the name of the Lord.
This is also what we see today. Note that God is able to bring about beauty even when it comes from the hands of the wicked.
Women In The List.
This will tell us something about the culture Cain is breeding:
This will tell us something about the culture Cain is breeding:
Adah: pleasure, ornament or beauty
Zillah: shade, as in the covering of long luxurious hair
Naamah: loveliness
So what do we learn women are valued for in this culture? The way they look. When we see the way that he speaks to his wives, we learn more about the way women are esteemed in this culture.
Post Fall Poem
Genesis 4:23-24. We have now our first post-fall poem and guess what it's about? Murder. We moved from just committing murder and doing bold sin to now actually writing poetry to celebrate it. Who is this song of violence addressed to? His wives (Lamech).
Genesis 4:23-24. We have now our first post-fall poem and guess what it's about? Murder. We moved from just committing murder and doing bold sin to now actually writing poetry to celebrate it. Who is this song of violence addressed to? His wives (Lamech).
Remember back in the garden when things go south, it was said her desire will be to control him, his desire will be to control her? We see here how this is already happening. What do you think the women in this culture used to leverage power?
- Sexuality
- Beauty
- Attractiveness
What do men use?
- Physical strength
- Prowness
What is Lamech communicating by this poem? Since it's directed at his wives, he saying "don't mess with me." He's singing a poem where he has administered a punishment that far exceeds the crime. Then, he wraps it up by saying in verse 24...."if Cain's revenge is 7-fold, then Lamech's is 77 fold." God's protection of Lamech is nothing compared to Lamech's protection of Lamech is what he's saying.
Numbers
Numbers come into play here as well. 77 fold. Seven indicates completeness and 77 fold takes that number 7 and number 10 and combines them to say utterly complete.
Numbers come into play here as well. 77 fold. Seven indicates completeness and 77 fold takes that number 7 and number 10 and combines them to say utterly complete.
In Matthew 18:12-22, Jesus' listeners would have thought about this when He says how many times were to forgive others - "70 times 7." This is not literal. Seventy times 7 is completeness, completeness, completeness - forgive to the uttermost.
Lamech, 7th in line sings this song of boasting. It is hard-hearted, cruel and self-reliant. It objectifies and terrorizes women. Truly the line is "brought low" in Lamech. Between verses 24 and 25 notice the empty space there. We will come back to this later.
The Contrasting Line of Seth
Genesis 4:25a. Seth means appointed or set in place of. What does this tell you? Eve now sees Seth as a replacement for Abel whom she has lost. She's probably hoping that Seth will be the one who will crush the head of the serpent. Is she right? Yes and no.
No, she's not right that Seth will be the one, but yes that it will be through the line of Seth.
Genesis 4:26. The name Enosh means frail, mortal. So a growing awareness of the fragility of life. Verse 26b "at that time people began to call on the name of the Lord." Hope begins to be breathed into the narrative.
Why? Until now, God has called upon man - that's what He did in the garden, that's what He did with Cain. He comes and inquires and tries to bring the person to repentance, but what do we see now? As times grow dark, as the consequences of sin become more apparent, people begin to call upon the Lord.
Genesis 5:1. You will hear a phrase that occurs a total of 11 times in the book of Genesis - this is the second time: "this is the book of the generations of Adam." We first saw the generations of the heaven and the earth in chapter two. This is the introduction of the line of Adam through Seth.
Genesis 5:1b-3. There's an interesting shift in language in verse 3. It doesn't say he fathered a son in the image of God, but in his "own image." Even though Seth was born in the image of God, he also looks a whole lot like his father Adam and so do we. The work of sanctification is for us to be restored to the image of God as born out in the person of Christ and to have Adam's image scraped off of us one sin pattern at a time.
Genesis 5:4-5. We have this introductory section to the geneology, and then were going to move through them starting with Adam and see now a rhythmic approach to how geneology is laid out. The last time we saw a rhythmic approach was the creation narrative.
Genesis 5:6-12. "Kenan's" name in verse 10 means sorrow. In verse 12, the name "Mahalalel" means praised. Even in the midst of these names that are swirling toward things getting darker and worse, we see a glimpse of hope.
Genesis 5:13-15. "Jared" in verse 15 means shall come down. It sounds like there's something expectant now in this list.
Genesis 5:16-20. "Enoch's" name in verse 18 means dedicated or disciplined. Why does the author keep saying "and he died" over and over? Because like the tolling of the bell, he calls out the lie of the serpent which is "you shall not surely die."
Genesis 5:21-22. Now remember Enoch is #7 in this geneology. We are intended to see him in comparison to #7 in the geneology of Cain who was Lamech. God took Enoch. What happened to our rhythm? Broken. Do you remember when we talked about the creation account that anytime a rhythm is occurring and it's broken, we should perk up our ears and ask "why is this in here and why is it different?"
Enoch lives less years (365 years). This sounds like how many days there are in a year - another one of those numbers that signifies completeness. Even though his life is the briefest, it is probably the most righteous life we find in the whole list.
Notice verse 22: "after he fathered Methuselah." Something about Methuselah's birth impacts him so he becomes someone who walks with God - with complete righteousness. What does "and was not" mean? Look at Hebrews 11:5b. On the other side of the fall we have Enoch, who is so in step with God that God spares him from physical death. Enoch's "walking buddy" was the one True God.
Jude verses 14 and 15 talks about Enoch. Enoch didn't just walk with God but he proclaimed the impending justice of God upon a wicked generation. It seems from these verses that Enoch thought there was a judgment to come. It was a conclusion he reached after the birth of Methuselah.
What Do We Know About Methuselah?
Look at verse 25. He fathered Lamech (Noah's father) and Methuselah lived longest (969 years). Verse 28 - Noah's name means comfort and rest.
How do we make sense of what is happening in verses 25-32?
The name Methuselah means on his death it shall come. The child born to Enoch (Methuselah) is a prophecy.
Methuselah Math
When he was 187 years old, he has Lamech. He lived 782 years more. Lamech is 182 years old when Noah is born. Add 187 and 182 together - 369 years.
We know that the flood occurred (Gen. 7:6) in the 600th year of Noah's life. So what is 600 plus 369? 969 years. From the time Methuselah is born until he dies, and on the day of his death, or shortly thereafter, God comes with 10,000 of his holy ones, the heavens open, and it reigns down a flood of the holy justice of God. Because of this, Enoch becomes someone who walks in righteousness. Who else was described as walking with God? Noah.
What We Can Pull From This
The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Methuselah ages and ages and God tarries in pouring His wrath out. Methuselah is for us a symbol of the long-suffering nature of God.
Genesis 6:1-4. The word "nephilim" means giant. There are all these strange ideas that have been placed on this text about what is really going on. Because we are reading this text in context, we can read with a clear-sightedness. We've just seen two geneologies that show there is a righteous line and an unrighteous line. So when we get to this passage in verse 2, it makes sense from a continuity point that we would read that the sons from the righteous line looked at the daughters from the unrighteous line and thought to marry them. Would God recommend this? No. What do we see as they intermarry? An unholy alliance resulting in a dangerous offspring.
What does the statement in verse 3 mean? Possibly it means it would be 120 years until the flood would come.
Genesis 6:5. Do you hear all the absolutes? "Every."
Genesis 6:6-8. There's an important contrast happening here. This is an antithetical picture of God holding all that He has done in the 6 days of creation and pronouncing it "good", now looking down on creation fragmented by sin and saying "it's not good." He's going to de-create that which He created.
Look at verse 7: "I will blot out man whom I have created." Man was created on day six with animals and creeping things created before man. When were the birds created? Right before the land animals. God is backing out of the creation narrative. "But Noah found favor." The Lord set His favor upon Noah.
Why does this horrify us? Because we're not adequately horrified by the severity of sin. We think God is harsh, but God always contends for His holiness.
White Space in Genesis 4:24-25
What would you hear in that white space if you held your Bible to your ear? Rising water, the flood washing the unrighteous line of Cain. It is never heard of again.
God is willing to do whatever is necessary to put sin to death. We have the enemy of sin that fights against us. We are called to put it to death.
Another List of Names
Why does Adam not show up in the geneology of Cain? Luke 3 is the geneology of Jesus. We move all the way back to Joseph's line and then move through familiar OT names (verses 32-38).
God cares about names. The name that He cares about more than any other is His own.
May we be those who call upon the name of the Lord.
The plan was in place stretching all the way back to Adam - a Savior would come, a deliverer would come.
Next: Session 8
Genesis 5:6-12. "Kenan's" name in verse 10 means sorrow. In verse 12, the name "Mahalalel" means praised. Even in the midst of these names that are swirling toward things getting darker and worse, we see a glimpse of hope.
Genesis 5:13-15. "Jared" in verse 15 means shall come down. It sounds like there's something expectant now in this list.
Genesis 5:16-20. "Enoch's" name in verse 18 means dedicated or disciplined. Why does the author keep saying "and he died" over and over? Because like the tolling of the bell, he calls out the lie of the serpent which is "you shall not surely die."
Genesis 5:21-22. Now remember Enoch is #7 in this geneology. We are intended to see him in comparison to #7 in the geneology of Cain who was Lamech. God took Enoch. What happened to our rhythm? Broken. Do you remember when we talked about the creation account that anytime a rhythm is occurring and it's broken, we should perk up our ears and ask "why is this in here and why is it different?"
Enoch lives less years (365 years). This sounds like how many days there are in a year - another one of those numbers that signifies completeness. Even though his life is the briefest, it is probably the most righteous life we find in the whole list.
Notice verse 22: "after he fathered Methuselah." Something about Methuselah's birth impacts him so he becomes someone who walks with God - with complete righteousness. What does "and was not" mean? Look at Hebrews 11:5b. On the other side of the fall we have Enoch, who is so in step with God that God spares him from physical death. Enoch's "walking buddy" was the one True God.
Jude verses 14 and 15 talks about Enoch. Enoch didn't just walk with God but he proclaimed the impending justice of God upon a wicked generation. It seems from these verses that Enoch thought there was a judgment to come. It was a conclusion he reached after the birth of Methuselah.
What Do We Know About Methuselah?
Look at verse 25. He fathered Lamech (Noah's father) and Methuselah lived longest (969 years). Verse 28 - Noah's name means comfort and rest.
How do we make sense of what is happening in verses 25-32?
The name Methuselah means on his death it shall come. The child born to Enoch (Methuselah) is a prophecy.
Methuselah Math
When he was 187 years old, he has Lamech. He lived 782 years more. Lamech is 182 years old when Noah is born. Add 187 and 182 together - 369 years.
We know that the flood occurred (Gen. 7:6) in the 600th year of Noah's life. So what is 600 plus 369? 969 years. From the time Methuselah is born until he dies, and on the day of his death, or shortly thereafter, God comes with 10,000 of his holy ones, the heavens open, and it reigns down a flood of the holy justice of God. Because of this, Enoch becomes someone who walks in righteousness. Who else was described as walking with God? Noah.
What We Can Pull From This
The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Methuselah ages and ages and God tarries in pouring His wrath out. Methuselah is for us a symbol of the long-suffering nature of God.
Genesis 6:1-4. The word "nephilim" means giant. There are all these strange ideas that have been placed on this text about what is really going on. Because we are reading this text in context, we can read with a clear-sightedness. We've just seen two geneologies that show there is a righteous line and an unrighteous line. So when we get to this passage in verse 2, it makes sense from a continuity point that we would read that the sons from the righteous line looked at the daughters from the unrighteous line and thought to marry them. Would God recommend this? No. What do we see as they intermarry? An unholy alliance resulting in a dangerous offspring.
What does the statement in verse 3 mean? Possibly it means it would be 120 years until the flood would come.
Genesis 6:5. Do you hear all the absolutes? "Every."
Genesis 6:6-8. There's an important contrast happening here. This is an antithetical picture of God holding all that He has done in the 6 days of creation and pronouncing it "good", now looking down on creation fragmented by sin and saying "it's not good." He's going to de-create that which He created.
Look at verse 7: "I will blot out man whom I have created." Man was created on day six with animals and creeping things created before man. When were the birds created? Right before the land animals. God is backing out of the creation narrative. "But Noah found favor." The Lord set His favor upon Noah.
Why does this horrify us? Because we're not adequately horrified by the severity of sin. We think God is harsh, but God always contends for His holiness.
White Space in Genesis 4:24-25
What would you hear in that white space if you held your Bible to your ear? Rising water, the flood washing the unrighteous line of Cain. It is never heard of again.
God is willing to do whatever is necessary to put sin to death. We have the enemy of sin that fights against us. We are called to put it to death.
Another List of Names
Why does Adam not show up in the geneology of Cain? Luke 3 is the geneology of Jesus. We move all the way back to Joseph's line and then move through familiar OT names (verses 32-38).
God cares about names. The name that He cares about more than any other is His own.
May we be those who call upon the name of the Lord.
The plan was in place stretching all the way back to Adam - a Savior would come, a deliverer would come.
Next: Session 8
