Chapter Summary 4 and 5

 

SIN’S PROGRESSION CONTINUES

Lesson 22

The consequences of the first sin sometimes referred to as the “Fall” now work themselves out in the descendants of Adam and Eve. At first the narrative moves quickly as we see that Cain murders his brother, Abel (4:1-18). Lamech breaks the pattern of monogamous marriage by taking two wives (vv. 19-22), and justifies his murder of a young man “for injuring me” (vv. 23-24), making the bent of sinful human society all too clear. However, another son is born to Adam and Eve, Seth, and at least some in his line “call on the name of the Lord” (vv. 25-26). Centuries pass. God keeps track of the godly line (5:1-31), which concludes in a man named Noah (v. 32). There we will find another exciting narrative begin to evolve, but SIN’S PROGRESSION CONTINUES STILL.

 

THE KEY VERSE IS 5:3:

Adam’s children bear his likeness.

 

PERSONAL APPLICATION:

How will your children be like you?

 

SIGNIFICANCE:

 

God had warned Adam that the very day he ate the forbidden fruit he would “surely die” (2:17). The act of sin brought immediate spiritual death. Genesis 4 demonstrates the reality of the spiritual death that grips our race. In the murder committed by Cain, and the arrogant selfishness of Lamech, we see the first hint of the crime and the injustice that corrupt human society.

 

WHY WAS CAIN’S OFFERING UNACCEPTABLE?

 

Cain brought vegetables that he had grown. Genesis 4:7 indicates that Cain knew it was “right” to sacrifice an animal as an offering to God (3:21). Cain may have brought his best. But we are sinners, whose access to God calls for blood sacrifice.

 

CAIN WAS VERY ANGRY (4:5):

 

Cain’s anger shows how intent he was on having his own way rather than submitting to God. Anger is a destructive emotion. We can never excuse attacks on others by saying, “I have a bad temper.” We need to acknowledge anger as a sin, and consciously submit to God’s will.

 

WHY DID GOD PROTECT CAIN?

 

Cain feared he would be killed for murdering his brother. God marked Cain instead. Why? Perhaps to demonstrate that no one who lives away “from the Lord’s presence” can be the source of a just society.

 

CAINITE CIVILIZATION.

 

Gen. 4:20-22 pictures a developed culture, with leisure time for music, and a technology capable of smelting metal ores. But no matter how great human achievements in the material realm, humanity is spiritually crippled. Lamech’s poetic defense of his murderous revenge reminds us that sinful man is still incapable of shaping a world of love, harmony, and peace.

 

THE LIKENESS OF GOD

 

Gen. 5:1-2  “Image” and “likeness” are found together in passages where the essential nature of man is taught (1:26). Together these make a theological statement: to understand human nature we must see man as originally created, gifted with the “image-likeness” of God. We must not compare our nature with that of any animal, but only with God. What is this “image-likeness?” What sets us apart is that we share with God attributes of personhood. Like Him, we have a capacity to think, to feel, to choose. This “image-likeness” makes each human being of worth and value in God’s eyes. We are like Him, and God cares for each one of us. Verses 1-3 remind us, however, that the image which reflected God so well in Adam was warped and twisted in the Fall. Adam passed to us, not the unflawed “image-likeness” of God, but his own imperfection. Today we are still like God in many respects. But we are also like Adam, in desperate need of Christ and His transforming touch.

 

LONG LIVES?

 

Gen. 5 Many cultures have stories of long lives for ancestors who lived prior to a great flood. Some have suggested that heavy cloud cover then (2:5-6) may have cut off the radiation we know today is associated with aging.

 

PAINFUL TOIL

 

(5:29). The curse on nature (3:17-19) helps shape the O. T.’s view of work. Some passages suggest work can be productive and satisfying. But many reflect the fact that work can be drudgery: unending, unpleasant toil that brings neither fulfillment nor profit. At its best, work reflects the joy God found in creating. At its worst, it reminds us of the burden of Adam’s Fall.