26-0809p Transcript

(0:35) Okay, good evening again. (0:38) This one I’ve entitled, The Serpent Seed versus the Woman Seed. (0:43) We’re in our study of Genesis chapter 4, going through Genesis 1 through 11. (0:50) We covered the first half of chapter 4 this morning, which is the account of Cain killing his brother.

(1:01) And we’re going to continue with the second half of chapter 4 with the account of Cain. (1:08) But before we pick up with the text, let’s pause and consider what’s actually happening in this chapter. (1:17) We alluded to it this morning, but I’m going to spell it out.

(1:22) Peter tells us in 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 10 through 12, (1:29) Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, (1:38) searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating (1:47) when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. (1:53) It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you. (2:01) And the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit (2:08) sent from heaven, things into which the angels long to look.

(2:18) And John writes, as John again mentioned, 1 John chapter 3, 11 through 12, (2:25) For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (2:34) We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. (2:41) And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteousness.

(2:50) This morning we read Genesis 3.15, which prophesied that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. (3:06) And the battle prophesied in Genesis 3.15 between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (3:15) is already raging here in Genesis 4. And the angels are watching intently. (3:26) Imagine for a moment that Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve, and we don’t know for sure.

(3:34) But let’s assume for the moment that they are. Eve is hopefully expectant that Cain might be the promised seed (3:42) who would crush the serpent’s head, Satan. And Satan, for his part, is calculating the same possibility.

(3:53) What has just taken place in the first half of the chapter? The supposed deliverer has been turned (4:02) and has become the seed of the serpent. Worse, the supposed savior has eliminated the other seed of the woman. (4:15) And that is as near as one can get to game over in the opening volley of this conflict.

(4:26) Yes, God is not finished. The rest of the chapter shows both the deepening corruption of Cain’s line (4:36) and the quiet appointment of another offspring through whom the promise will continue. (4:44) Let’s pick up with the text, the mark of Cain and the restraint of God.

(4:50) And before we move forward, return briefly to the mark of Cain through the mark Cain received. (4:58) Cain never shows remorse for killing his brother. He only shows concern that someone might kill him.

(5:07) And God answers in Genesis 4.15, (5:10) Not so. If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. (5:17) And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who found him should attack him.

(5:22) And the nature of the mark itself is not really the point. The point is protection. (5:29) God restrained blood vengeance.

(5:32) Ken Ham, in his work from Genesis to Babel, notes several reasons that this may have been so. (5:44) Capital punishment for murder is not instituted until after the flood in Genesis 9.6. (5:52) And at this early stage, there is no civil government, only a small family circle. (5:58) And it is noted in Romans that the agent of God’s vengeance on earth is the state.

(6:09) And there is no state at this time, only the family. (6:17) And God may have also wanted the miserable life of the fugitive and wanderer to stand as a living warning. (6:24) The protection of Cain was not primarily about Cain as an individual.

(6:29) It was about restraining further bloodshed within the fragile human family. (6:37) The death penalty for murder is later grounded in the image of God. (6:41) Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed.

(6:46) For God made man in his own image, Genesis 9.6. (6:51) And that foundation is not yet formally given in Genesis 4. (6:58) So Cain goes away from the presence of the Lord, and we read in Genesis 4.16, (7:04) that Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (7:12) And the text does not merely say Cain moved away from his parents. (7:16) It says he went away from the presence of the Lord.

(7:19) And that phrase summarizes the entire direction of his line. (7:25) What follows is a short, focused genealogy that traces both cultural advancement and moral decline. (7:36) Cain’s descendants never reappear as individuals later in Scripture.

(7:43) Their story ends here, and the flood later erases them. (7:51) Where did Cain get his wife? (7:54) I wanted to get this far in the morning, because then I could have just said, (7:59) Hey Steve, why don’t you come up here and tell us where you got your wife? (8:06) But, alas, I couldn’t do the joke this morning. (8:10) So in the first part of verse 17, Cain tells us that Cain knew his wife and she bore in it.

(8:20) The question inevitably arises, where did she come from? (8:24) And Paul told the Athenians that God made from one man every nation of mankind, Acts 17.26. (8:35) Genesis 3.20 states that Eve was the mother of all living. (8:42) If you are going to build a population on a single couple, the first generations of necessity must intermarry. (9:00) There’s no other people.

(9:03) Cain married either a sister or a niece. (9:07) No other possibility. (9:12) So does the Bible forbid marriage between close relatives? (9:16) Yes, in the law of Moses, roughly 2,500 years later.

(9:22) At this point in time, there’s no such law. (9:25) And Paul’s directive that he tells us in Romans brings up this principle. (9:34) Where there is no law, there is no transgression.

(9:38) Adam and Eve were created very good, and the early generations closest to them would have carried far fewer, if any, genetic defects. (9:48) I would imagine if God rated his creation very good. (9:55) Then we do today.

(9:57) Lifespans remain long until after the flood. (10:02) The same necessity of close intermarriage appears again with Noah’s family after the flood. (10:09) They’re going to have to do the same thing.

(10:11) You only have Noah, his wife, and their three sons, and their wives. (10:17) From those couples have to come the rest of the population. (10:26) So these early marriages, although you have more couples, so it’s easier not to get too, (10:33) they’re still going to have to marry cousins if they don’t marry brother and sister.

(10:42) These early marriages do not overturn later prohibition. (10:48) They illustrate the truth that Paul applies to those who are in Christ. (10:54) When we have died to the law, anyone who has died is free from the law, is free from sin, (11:04) and is also in chapter 7 of Romans free from the law.

(11:09) And where there is no law, there is no transgression. (11:15) Or as he says in Romans 5, where there is no law, sin is not counted. (11:25) So then we move on to the line of Cain, the progress and degeneration.

(11:36) The genealogy runs, Cain is the father of Enoch. (11:42) Cain builds a city and names it after his son. (11:45) It’s the first mention of city building.

(11:48) Enoch fathers Ired. (11:50) Ired fathers, and if you want to pronounce these names, that’s fine with me. (11:56) This is what I come up with.

(11:58) Methujael, Methujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. (12:08) Lamech takes two wives, Adah and Zillah, the first explicit polygamy in scripture. (12:16) Their children introduce foundational human arts.

(12:20) Jabal, listen to these names. (12:24) Jabal, J-A-B-A-L, the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. (12:31) Jubal, J-U-B-A-L, the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

(12:38) And Tubal Cain, T-U-B-A-L, the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. (12:47) And a daughter is mentioned, Naamah, although nobody knows why she’s mentioned (12:55) and nothing more is said about her. (13:00) Their civilizational progress is real.

(13:02) The urban settlement, the pastoral nomadism, (13:07) and we talk about why that Cain would have to venture around. (13:20) What do they call that? (13:21) I can’t think of it off the top of my head. (13:24) He was going to be a fugitive and a vagabond.

(13:31) What’s another word? (13:34) Nomad. (13:35) Yeah, sure, nomad. (13:36) He’s got to move around.

(13:38) That’s the word I’m looking for and I can’t think of the word. (13:41) Anyway, huh? (13:43) Yeah, that too. (13:45) With no cash in his pocket, he’d be a vagabond.

(13:50) But that’s going to bug me. (13:52) Anyway, he can’t stay in one place for any length of time. (13:57) And we talked about that because he murdered his brother, (14:01) God pronounced on him that he would, if you want to look that up, (14:08) because it’s going to bug me until I find the word, Genesis 4 something, (14:14) the first 16 verses.

(14:19) Anyway, God pronounced on Cain that he would let the ground, huh? (14:31) Wanderer. (14:32) That’s what I’m looking. (14:33) He’s a wanderer.

(14:36) Thank you. (14:39) And the reason why he would have to wander was the ground was going to be (14:47) cursed again because the ground opened its mouth (14:51) and swallowed the blood of Cain’s brother Abel, (14:56) whom died at Cain’s hand. (15:00) And so God cursed the ground again for Cain, nobody else.

(15:05) Cain would suffer. (15:08) It would not produce for him. (15:10) So he couldn’t stay in one place for any length of time.

(15:14) And if you look at the Songs of Lamech, (15:17) one of them was the father of all those who dwell in tents. (15:22) Why would they dwell in tents? (15:24) Because they’ve got to move around. (15:29) Okay.

(15:30) So anyway, the urban development, pastoral nomadism, music, (15:36) and metallurgy appear early, (15:38) and Scripture presents them as genuine historical developments. (15:43) And then there’s a moral trajectory in the family. (15:47) It’s downward.

(15:49) The genealogy culminates in Lamech’s song, who says to his wife, (15:55) Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech. (16:00) Listen to what I say. (16:02) I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

(16:07) If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is 77-fold. (16:15) Lamech turns God’s protective word. (16:18) Why? (16:20) God protected Cain, and that was the protection.

(16:24) If anybody kills you, I will avenge you sevenfold. (16:29) And Lamech takes God’s protective word to Cain (16:32) and turns it into a personal boast of escalating vengeance. (16:39) And what God gave as a restraint, Lamech claims as a license.

(16:44) Polygamy and violence sit together at the climax of the line. (16:48) The seventh generation in Cain’s line is a violent, self-asserting man. (16:57) Contrast this with the seventh in Seth’s line.

(17:02) You know who the seventh generation was in Seth’s line? (17:08) Enoch, who walked with God. (17:13) Is that a contrast? (17:20) Cain’s line illustrates how cultural and technological advancement can flourish (17:25) while the heart moves further from God. (17:30) The pattern echoes the later description in Romans 1, verses 18 and following, (17:36) of the humanity suppressing the truth and descending into greater corruption.

(17:42) The line of Seth is an appointment and calling. (17:47) In Genesis 4, verses 25 through 26, (17:51) And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and called his name Seth. (17:57) For she said, you know, Eve has been naming the son.

(18:02) She named Cain, Cain because it was, it sounds like the word to acquire. (18:09) And she said, I’ve acquired a man. (18:13) Some even say, I’ve acquired the man.

(18:16) She’s looking for the savior that will crush the serpent’s head, (18:21) as we talked about this morning. (18:23) And he turns out to be, as John said, 1 John said, of the evil one. (18:34) Another way of saying that is, who was of the seed of the serpent.

(18:41) So, Satan turned Cain from the savior to one of his offspring, (18:52) who kills Abel. (18:57) And now she is naming Seth. (19:02) And so she bore a son and called his name Seth.

(19:07) For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, (19:16) for Cain killed him. (19:18) To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enos. (19:24) And at that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

(19:30) Eve’s words are full of faith. (19:33) She does not merely say she had another son. (19:37) She says, God has appointed another offspring instead of Abel.

(19:45) The word Seth itself carries the idea of appointment or granting. (19:49) And God has not abandoned the promise of 315. (19:54) The seed of the woman continues.

(19:56) With Enos comes a further note. (19:59) At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. (20:04) In contrast to Cain’s line, which builds cities, develops arts, and boasts of vengeance, (20:11) the line of Seth is marked by turning to the Lord.

(20:14) Public worship, dependence, and invocation of God’s name begin to characterize this family. (20:22) The deliberate contrast. (20:24) Scripture sets up the two lines side by side on purpose.

(20:30) Cain’s line ends with a man who multiplies wives and multiplies vengeance. (20:37) Seth’s line begins with an appointment replacement and the calling on of God’s name. (20:46) Similar or identical names appear in both genealogies.

(20:50) Enoch and Lamech appear in both. (20:54) And there are matches underscoring the deliberate juxtaposition. (20:59) And Cain’s genealogy is short and terminates and Seth’s continues through Genesis 5 to Noah (21:07) and the remnant that survives the flood.

(21:10) Technological and cultural progress in itself is not condemned. (21:16) What is condemned is the trajectory away from the presence of the Lord. (21:22) Human achievement without God does not lead to life.

(21:26) It deepens the corruption that will eventually require a flood. (21:33) The application and invitation. (21:36) The chapter leaves us with two clear paths.

(21:40) One path leads the presence of the Lord, builds its own security, develops an impressive culture, (21:48) and ends in escalating violence and self-justification. (21:53) This is the way of Cain and Lamech. (21:57) The other path receives God’s appointment, names the next generation and faith, (22:03) and begins to call upon the name of the Lord.

(22:06) And this is the way of Seth and Enosh. (22:12) God does not allow the game over moment to stand. (22:20) He appointed another offspring.

(22:23) The promise of Genesis 3.15 continued. (22:27) Ultimately, that appointment seed or that appointed seed is Christ, (22:34) who both suffered and entered into glory. (22:37) The very things the prophets searched out and the angels longed to look into.

(22:43) The question the text presses on us is simple. (22:49) Which line are we walking in? (22:52) Are we building our own cities and multiplying our own defenses? (22:58) Or are we calling upon the name of the Lord? (23:04) The invitation remains open. (23:07) Call on His Name. (23:08)