Today we will resume our lesson in Genesis 4:16 “And Cain went out from
the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of
Eden.”
This was the only mention of Nod in the Bible. Nod means vagrancy or
missing. The Bible is not very informative about Nod. I do know that to be
in the presence of God, and be sent forth away from Him would have to be
very close to hell. The only physical description we have of this place is
that it was on the east of Eden.
Genesis 4:17 “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare
Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the
name of his son, Enoch.”
You could relate Cain’s being sent away from the presence of God with
someone who has been removed from the church; sent out into the world. God
had banished Cain to a life of wandering. Cain decides not to wander, but to
settle down and build a city. Cain’s wife was there to comfort him. She bare
him a son in exile. It seems Cain was interested in making a name for
himself here on the earth, since in all probability, he assumed he would
have no future in heaven.
There are some very strange similarities in the names of the sons of
Cain and the sons of Seth. If you will look with me at the line of names in
chapter 4, the genealogy reads thus: Adam, Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehujael,
Mathusael, and Lamech. In chapter 5, the genealogy of Seth is: Adam, Seth,
Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, These names
are so similar, if we are not careful we will confuse the two. The only
explanation, that I can find, is that they named their children similar
names.As we look at Cain’s children in the verses that follow, it seems none
of his ancestors walked closely with God.
Genesis 4:18 “And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael:
and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.” Genesis 4:19
“And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one [was] Adah, and the
name of the other Zillah.”
This was undoubtedly not the Enoch who was the 7th from Adam through
Seth. This Enoch here seemed to be the ancestor of some earthly controlled
people, as we will see in the following verses.
Genesis 4:20 “And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell
in tents, and [of such as have] cattle.”
You can see here the wanderer that God told Cain he would be.
Genesis 4:21 “And his brother’s name [was] Jubal: he was the father of
all such as handle the harp and organ.”
Many Christians say music should not be played in the church because
Jubal was not a good man. We must look to David (who was the beloved of God)
to know that music is not only permissible but desirable in church.
Genesis 4:22 “And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of
every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain [was]
Naamah.”
As I said before, this family of Cain was turned toward things of the
world, and Tubalcain was no exception, This family, feeling estranged from
God, was really caught up in fulfilling life in this world, without looking
for an everlasting life in heaven. The spirit of Cain was a spirit of
rebellion against God (worldliness). He was leaving out the spiritual and
the divine to please the carnal.
Genesis 4:23 “And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my
voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to
my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.”
You see. Lamech was following in the footsteps of his ancestor Cain.
Selfishness, greed, and worldliness cause a person to commit all types of
sin. Dual marriages, and even murder, as we see here from Lamech, occur when
a person is interested in fulfilling lust of the flesh. Not regarding God or
the future life, living only for the here and now, could be the basic cause
of murder.
Genesis 4:24 “If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy
and sevenfold.”
Lamech was calling his own protection here, not the protection of God.
In all of Cain’s descendents, Moses did not go into detail about their
lives. It is as if their lives were so selfish and hideous that he wanted to
forget them as quickly as possible. In the next chapter, we will read about
men with the very same names, who are godly descendents of Adam through
Seth. We will also see in their genealogy that Moses told of their length of
days, as well as their pleasing God. A good tree produces good fruit, but an
evil tree produces evil fruit, Cain was evil; Seth pleased God.
Genesis 4:25 “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and
called his name Seth: For God, [said she], hath appointed me another seed
instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.”
The name “Seth” means set, placed, or appointed. God had appointed a
gift of love to Adam and Eve to soften the hurt of the loss of Abel. Eve
recognized God’s work in replacing Abel with Seth. Through this son the
promise of the deliver would come. She would believe this was the appointed
one given to her from God to comfort her.
Genesis 4:26 “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he
called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.”
The nature of mankind is to worship. The nature of mankind tells us
there is a supreme being to worship.
Prayer is talking to God. It is natural to look up and try to
communicate with the Supreme Being. Everyone has void in their lives until
they can fill that void with God. Men try to attain great wealth and power,
thinking this will fill the need, but they are just as empty after they have
attained wealth or power as they were before. Mankind has an inner need to
worship. You may go to the jungle where the cannibals live, and you will
find, that in their own primitive way, they are trying to find God to
worship. Even presidents and kings, that seem to have everything anyone
could want, are still empty within, until they come to have a personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our society today our young people are searching for something real.
Most of them that fall into the trap of false religion are truly searching
for God. They are just looking in the wrong places. Most of these false
religions require great sacrifice (which the young are willing to do in
search for the Supreme Being). If we can just introduce them to Jesus quick
enough, they can fill the void in their lives with Jesus Christ. Nothing
else will satisfy.
This third generation from Adam was an early beginning for man’s search
for God and eternal life. God searched for Man in Adam’s time. This is the
first instance of man seeking God.
For the next lesson read chapter 5 several times.