Transcript
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Well, welcome back. We are going to continue our story as we take a look at Genesis here in these early chapters by discussing these two cities, how we actually see the city of man culture and the city of God culture both developing.
And of course, the best way to look at this is through the first of all, the story of Cain and Abel. So let’s just out with Cain. If you recall, based upon the Proto-Evangelium, that promise for redemption that was in the curse itself, there was this hint, there was this promise that there would be a son of man, there would be a child that would defeat what had just happened.
And so here’s where the story of Cain actually enters, because when Eve gives birth to him, she makes this point that she has received help from God himself.
She particularly uses the word Yahweh. It’s the first appearance of this word in the book of Genesis. And the name Cain is interesting in itself because the name Cain means something like “to acquire” or “to form” or perhaps even simply “the man.” He is literally the one that they’ve been waiting for, the one that they have been expecting. That seems to be the idea. The The other interesting thing about this is that his name is derived from the word for treasure or some kind of great acquisition. Now, it’s a really interesting contrast because after Cain, he has a brother, of course, named Abel, and Abel’s name is something very different. Whereas Cain’s name was all about kind of this hopeful redemption, this new treasure, Abel’s name simply means breath or even vapor or even mist. In fact, the word used over and over again about how life is vanity in the book of Ecclesiastes, it’s the same word. It essentially means it’s something that’s very temporary. In other words, Abel’s name seems to suggest the fact that we are indeed fallen, the fact that things are not the way that they’re supposed to be. So of course we have the traditional story of Cain and Abel, the story that we all know so well from Genesis about how they both give offerings, about how Abel’s offering, which we’re told was an offering of the best of what he had, how it was accepted and how Cain’s was not. And there’s been a lot of debate over, like, was it about the kind of offering? Was it about the actual attitude? What was it? We have at least one hint from Hebrews that tells us that Abel gave his offering out of faith, and also the fact that he gave the best of what he had.
We don’t have the same language for Cain, so maybe that is the hint of what’s going on there, but either way, because Cain’s offering is not accepted like Abel’s is, Cain becomes angry. In fact, the Hebrew word there seems to be that he is “dejected.” He is depressed, as if he has actually fail to win God’s favor. Now I’m kind of adding that last idea in there but it seems to make sense because one of the things we’re gonna see throughout the ancient world is that typically offerings were given to gods and goddesses to try to win their favor, to either avoid some bad thing from happening or to get something that was wanted rather than giving an offering, rather than worshipping that is, out of a love for God himself.
But of course God actually addresses Cain out of this dejection and addresses two things in him. For one, he says you have a failure to do well. In other words, if you’re going to do something, do it well. In other words, this whole idea of recognize what real worship is. But then, curiously, God also says that sin is crouching at your door and is ready to strike you unless you rule over it. In other words, the language itself is kind of reminiscent of what’s just, well, somewhat recently We don’t really know how many years had passed between, say, the actual fall and Cain and Abel at this time. It could have been many years. But the point is this, is that language is reminiscent of the serpent, this creature crouching, this creature ready to actually strike. But of course, Cain’s solution for actually trying to provide some kind of rule is not to rule over his own base passions, where he wants to try to control the affection of God.
Instead, what he wants to do is he decides to rule over his brother quite literally by actually murdering him. This, of course, is the first recorded death we have in all of world history, and it’s worth noting that this is not a natural death. It’s not a death, say, from old age or from disease. It’s an actual murder. And, of course, when he’s confronted by God, and God asks him, “Where’s your brother Abel?” And he says, “I don’t know.” And he says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” In fact, the term brother is used seven times in this section. Got that number of completeness. But he ultimately, it’s only God who confronts him and says, “Your brother’s blood cries to me “from the ground.” Blood being a symbol of life. Once again, going back to the fact that this is history, I love what the historian Paul Johnson says when he comments on this. He says, “It’s hard to believe that the story of Cain and Abel is complete fiction. It’s just made up. Cain’s reply, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” has the ring of truth and the notion of the shamed and hunted man with the mark of guilt upon him. It is so powerful as to suggest historic fact. I would argue it actually is historic fact, but the point is this, it feels like something real. And then of course we have this curious thing where where Cain is cursed, where the ground will no longer yield its fruit for him.
It’s a very similar curse to what Adam experiences, but it seems to be to a whole ‘nother degree. And then, of course, he becomes someone who flees and becomes someone who wanders away from culture and from life as he actually knows it.
Now, his response during this time is not repentance. His response during this time is to essentially further establish the city of man. That city which which seeks to actually find its own happiness apart from who God is. And he actually goes and he founds a city called Enoch where everyone can come together in one place. Now this curiously is found in the place or he founds it in the place called Nod which is a word that means something like to wander and It wasn’t until the 20th century that this word began to be described as like nodding to sleep or something like that. And of course, this raises the question of, you know, for example, if Cain is doing this, he’s founding a city, and he’s starting another culture, where do these other people come from? That would suggest there had been quite a bit of time that had already passed in the lives of Adam and Eve, and there were already multiple children, perhaps grandchildren, perhaps great-grandchildren, and then all the extended families that go along with it.
But either way, we have this idea that Cain is beginning his own civilization. He’s practicing dominion. But of course, his dominion is itself something that is a rebellion to God. Now of course, when we look at Cain’s genealogy, which as I told you earlier, is not one of the Toledots, it doesn’t have the same formula. So it’s the 11th genealogy in Genesis, but it’s kind of seen as a dead-end genealogy, because it is. all of these people were presumably wiped out by the flood. Well, we know they are, because Noah doesn’t come from them, and only Noah and his family are saved on the ark. So if we take a look at the names here, they give us a hint of who we’re dealing with. They get, for example, Enoch. This is Cain’s son, also whom the new city was named for. It’s a name that can mean something like “the dedicated,” meaning someone who has been kind of set apart, or it can even mean something like “new life.” He has a son, we’re told, called Irad, which may mean something like “runner,” could even mean something like “wild donkey,” we really don’t know. There is some suggestion that his name connects to Eridu, which is a curious idea, because Eridu is quite possibly the world’s oldest city. Of course, keep in mind that would be after the flood. Everything we’re talking about here is before the flood. So perhaps this name was resurrected after the flood. We don’t know. This is just guesswork right here. We are dealing with a time period that Moses only reveals partly. We’re revealing the Word of God here. He only reveals part of what actually is going on here, but we have what we’re supposed to have here. Anyway, Erad has a son named Muhugiel, which means something like blotted out by God. He has a son named Methuselah, which means something like “man of Sheol,” Sheol being another term for death or hell itself. Then he has a son named Lamech, which means something like either “strong young man,” possibly, or maybe it means “to make low.” Not to make himself low, but to make others low. Because it’s Lamech who we have a little window into his life and his personality because he gives us the first song or poem of the city of man.
Remember that first song or poem of the city of God was Adam’s song about Eve and what she was to him. Something very beautiful. Lamech’s song is very different. In fact, I’ll read it to you. He says, “Ada and Zillah, hear my voice, “you wives of Lamech.” So right away he has two wives, very different than the Adam and Eve story. He then says, “Listen to what I say. “I have killed a man for wounding me, “a young man for striking me. “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, “then Lamech’s is 77-fold.” In other words, it’s a very different song. It is a song that is focused upon revenge and focused upon himself preserving his own life. Then, of course, we have further development of culture because Lamech has three sons, one named Jabal, whose name means field horn, who is described as an early shepherd and herder.
He has Jubal, whose name means ram’s horn, who is described as a musician, someone who actually creates musical instruments. We’re actually gonna take a look at the earliest musical instruments we have actually found in archeology. Keep in mind, if the flood really happened, then everything that these guys produced would have been wiped out based upon the geology that we have found and based upon how the flood is described.
Then of course the third sign is tubalcain, which means something like earth horn, and we are told that he is someone who first works in metal.
He’s the first metalsmith. Curiously the history of metallurgy or the development of these earthen metals begins with copper and the developments of bronze, which uses copper and tin, and then eventually iron.
These are things we’re gonna be taking a look at again this year. But in contrast to this, we have the line of Seth that comes from Adam that is very, very different. And this is one of the total dots. One that actually is seen as a line that continues because it leads to Noah and therefore beyond. But it also shows that distinct nature of Genesis where very specific ages are given about the age of these patriarchs when they had a child and when they died.
and it doesn’t seem to be these kind of very neat and round numbers. Let’s just go through the names here to get an idea of what’s going on. We have, for example, Seth, whose name means appointed one. This is when Adam and Eve say that he is a son in his likeness after his image. I’m sorry, actually, the account of Genesis says that, that he was a son in Adam’s likeness and after his own image. He then curiously has a son named Enosh instead of Enoch, So it’s kind of the counter to that city that Cain actually developed. And Anish is a very interesting name because it literally means weak man. And it’s even more curious when you look at the verse that is recorded, we’re told in Genesis 4.26 that at that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. It’s a prayer that comes out of the acknowledgement of the fallen nature of humanity. that he is the weak man. If we look at the others that come in the Shrinagel, we have Kenan, which means praise. We have Mahalalal, which means dance. We have Jared, which means celebrate. And then we have another Enoch, again, meaning dedicated. But according to the prophet Jude, we find out that this Enoch was a very particular individual. He was actually a prophet, who we’re told, who opposed those who practice wickedness. In fact, Jude quotes him by saying, “Behold, the Lord came with 10,000 of his holy ones “to execute judgment on all and to conflict “all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness “that have committed in such an ungodly way.” It goes on from there, but the point is this, he appears to be a prophet in this line of Noah who will also act as a type of prophet confronting the wickedness of the world.
And then, of course, with Enoch, we’re told something very curious about him. We’re told how he was taken by God, how he walked with God and he was taken by God. He was translated, is actually the term that is sometimes used. In other words, he did not die an earthly death. The only other person that can claim this mystery of the world is Elijah, who was taken up in a chariot of fire. It’s also curious because if you read the Sumerian king list, which you can kind of compare that to this list, with the exception being that it has these really long reigns with very round numbers, like 40,000 years, for example. But it’s curious that in the Sumerian king list, there is a seventh one in the list. His name is Amin-dur-an-na. Just like Enoch is the seventh in the list. And we’re told that he had a special relationship with the sun god. That becomes even more curious when you come to some ancient tablets from Nineveh that mention a character with the name of Atuabzu. If I’m even saying that correctly, you’ll have to forgive me. But this character also is the seventh, and we’re told about him, that he also is taken up into heaven, he does not actually die a natural death. So the reason for mentioning these tablets is to show us that the story appears elsewhere. Now of course, the critics will say, well, that’s where Moses got the idea from. But we have to keep in mind that, especially we’ll see this with the flood story, especially that the story of Genesis is very different. It’s very specific. It’s written much more like a history than it is written like a mythical epic, although it has many of those elements as well. Anyway, after Enoch, we have the character of Mephiselah, the longest living man in recorded history. And we are told that he is the man, his name, by the way, means something like the man of the weapon or the man of the infernal river.
That may sound very odd once again, but it makes sense here when you consider the fact that if the math is right, and again, there are some issues here, but it would appear as if the flood comes at the end of his life, in that last year of his life.
In other words, the meaning of his name fits the events of what actually happens. Then of course, he has a son named Lamech, and just like the other Lamech we talked about, Same spelling, same word in everything. Again, meaning strong young man or to make low, but here being in this genealogy and being the son of Methuselah and being the father of Noah puts him in different company to suggest that his to make low refers to himself and his own humility.
Finally, of course, in this line, we have Noah, whose name means rest. And we’re told that out of the ground the Lord had cursed that this one, Noah, will bring relief from all the work and the painful toil of these hands.
In other words, we have a unique type of genealogy and history here, something that the writer Abraham Malamute notes is very different than the Sumerian or the Assyrian king lists, which were simply vertical, they just went from father to son to grandson and so forth, and they typically focused on large spans of time.
These tend to be much more specific. They tend to be more horizontal. We end up having more and more characters throughout Genesis. They begin to branch out into families and siblings, giving us a more realistic picture of the history of mankind.