Genealogies of Cain and Seth
- In what ways do you think the environment they were brought up in has affected people?
- What do the genealogies of Cain and Seth reveal about how we can be influenced by the thinking of others?
We are all influenced by historical settings that enhance or detract from our interpretations of Scripture. It is truly said that no one comes 'from nowhere' but that everyone comes 'from somewhere'
Prof C.Pinnock Most Moved Mover, page 115
- The genealogical chart from the line of Cain contains no mention of death, unlike that of Seth (Gen 5). But why is this so? In answering the question we begin by looking at death. Hebrew thought speaks of death in a variety of ways.
- Death is deparation from God (Gen 2:17). On the day that Adam sinned he did not cease to exist, but he did become separated from God.
- Therefore death can be viewed as the weaker end of life (Psalm 116:3) as existence rather than the abundant life we have been called to in Him.
- Death also speaks of the cessation of biological life as we know it in a conscious lost eternity. Thus it is the opposite of life.
- Cain's lineage was already dead, in the Hebrew sense, (separated and existing as people lived in their own strength and with their own worldview).
- Seth's lineage has the mention of death at the end of one's life on earth; yet for the believer death is the entrance into God's blessing (1 Cor 15:55 'Where O death is your victory?').
- So Cain and his followers were already separated from God in a greater way than Seth who sought to embrace God's ways. Hence there is no mention of death amongst those who were already going their own way, as were the Colossians (and all outside Christ) when God said to them, 'When you were dead in your sins' (Col 2:13).
We now take a look at some of the interesting areas we find in the genealogical charts of Cain and Seth to see the fruit of living by one's own thinking (Cain) and embracing the way of God (Seth).
- The 7th from Adam through Cain is Lamech ...
Adam, Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methushael, Lamech. - Scripturally speaking the number seven speaks of completion/ perfection. For example we have the seven days of creation and the sevenfold Spirit of God (Rev 1:4).
- God ordained that the words of Lamech in Cain's lineage, and the words of a different Lamech in Seth's lineage be recorded for our benefit. No other words are recorded in either genealogical chart. God is drawing our attention to something. But what? Let's begin with Lamech in the lineage of Cain ...
Lamech: 'Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times. Genesis 4:23
Sin is not taken in deadly earnest when it is regarded as something that can be radically overcome by the enthusiasm of ''good intentions' and then, by and by, can be removed by practical activity. You may cure a wound by such treatment but you cannot restore a dead man to life.
Dr K. Barth in The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life p 23
- In this Lamech we see the fruit from a man rooted in his own thinking. In that he is seventh in line from Adam we see something of the full measure of sin (note Gen 15:16 - sin of Amorites)
- Here in Lamech we have a grown man who wants his wives to see how wonderful he is. He's killed a man for injuring him. He kills in order to look good - hence he boasts
Indeed, like cancer, sin kills because it reproduces. As every councillor knows, one of the most typical settings for this awful fruitfulness is the family. Apples do not usually fall far from the tree. Children not only look but often act like their parents, families transmit sin, including the distorted relationship patterns of those families themselves.
Dr C. Plantinga in, 'Not The Way Its Supposed To Be' p 55
- Lamech does not hold to the value of human life and is proud and boastful. Think about this man for a moment, and then contrast all that he does with the grace of God towards sinners. The grace of the most offended person in this universe to his enemies.
- Now note the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:22 (speaking of forgiveness) and link it to Lamech's words. Jesus said that we are to forgive "not seven times, but seventy-seven times'.
- This does not mean that on the 78th occasion we don't have to forgive. Jesus is showing that one of man's problems has been pride and the failure to forgive others from the beginning. Those who understood scripture would realise this and relate it back to Lamech.
- Now contrast the words of Seth's Lamech with the Lamech of Cain. Of Seth's Lamech we read:-
He named him Noah and said, 'He will comfort us in the labour and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.' Genesis 5:29
- Lamech prophetically named his son Noah. Lamech served God and placed his hope in Him in the way he named his son.
- In Hebrew Noah's name sounds like 'comfort' and means 'rest.' It was Noah whom God called to build an ark. Noah rested in the provision of God's grace, as judgement came upon the earth. Think about it, and ask yourself. What does the contrast between the two Lamechs tell us?
- We have already noted how the number seven is used in scripture and seen that the evil Lamech was the 7th from Adam in the line of Cain - in a sense he showed the fullness of sin - the destruction of life. But who is the seventh in line from Adam through Seth?
Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah
Enoch walked with God; and then he was no more, because God took him away Genesis 5:24
- In the above we catch a glimpse of God's gift to those who approach Him on His terms and through His work. Compare this with the provision that Cain made for the Enoch in his family; he named a city after him.
- Enoch (of Seth) walked with God, so what is this all about? The following verses should begin to paint a picture in our minds.
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 2 John 5-6
It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 3-4
- Note also Galatians 5:16, 'live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature,' and 5:25, 'keep in step with the Spirit.' The whole point is that we need to trust in the Lord, not with a blind trust, but a trust that comes from really knowing God as He reveals Himself.
- The key to walking with God is to see Him as He is (for example, He is our heavenly Father), accept His verdict concerning our lives, and embrace His gracious provision. In all of this it is so important to let God speak for Himself and not fashion a picture of Him that is based upon present or past circumstances alone. Some of them may not speak of God at all.
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humble with our God. Micah 6:8
- Enoch could walk with God because God offers the hand of friendship to fallen man through His own sacrificial work. Man's sin does not quench God's love, yet it prevents us from fully receiving this love.
- Note the following verses, which also speak of Enoch, seventh in line from Adam through Seth. In the glimpse of his life we catch in these verses we see something of the riches of fellowship that were his through grace and mercy.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:5-6
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude 14-15
- Enoch walked with God. He knew God because God always desires to be known. Enoch named his son 'Methuselah' which means 'when he dies, then it comes; he has sent his death.' Methuselah was the longest living man in the Bible (969) speaking to us of God's grace. After he died the flood came.
- Methuselah's son Lamech named his son Noah (rest).
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6
- From this brief look at the first groups mentioned in the Bible we see something of how our environment and upbringing can affect us.
- Perhaps it would be a good time to pause and ask ourselves the question: How much have I been affected by the environment I was brought up in. Do some of the ways I think about myself and others simply reflect some of the baggage that is still in my life?
- Looking at the N.T. churches/ communities we see that the biggest problem was bringing old ways into the faith. Note for example excessive immorality at Corinth and the problem that the Galatians had with the law. What do we bring from our communities into the church?
A modern day example:-
When a church uses hymns primarily as entertainment, for instance, it simultaneously perverts the hymns and pollutes worship by introducing entertainment into it. A married father's incest not only ruins his child but also perverts the gift of sex and pollutes his marriage.
Dr C. Plantinga in, 'Not The Way It's Supposed To Be' page 43
- What sort of soil have we been brought up in and what has shaped our lives?
- Some people are very judgemental of others who seem to fall so easily at times - yet do they know what others have been through?
- Some people may give up easily because they've never been able to achieve the goals their parents had for them. How are we going to encourage them and show them that they are accepted by us?
- Some people struggle and go back to old ways of dealing with things because of their insecurities. How should we be helping them?
- Are we genuinely prepared to seek God first and foremost in all things?
But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on the law he meditates night and day. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:2-3
- The psalmist could delight in God's law because He knew that it spoke of a Father who guided His children, and that the law was not a means of justification (refer back to the section of our course on Abel and justification if you need to)
- We have a Father who does not promise us an easy life, but does promise to look after us
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:28-34
Please think about how God shows, right from Genesis, how wrong thinking can so easily affect family life. Perhaps this is a time to pray about issues that we have had to face in the past.