Genesis 4

Welcome back! I hope that you have read Genesis 4 because that is what we are going to be going over today. Go read it and come back if you haven’t already. Then at the end, throw in your own comments!

Cain and Abel make their appearance here. Most everyone knows the story of Cain and Abel, but let me remind you of their story. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve. This was right after they ate the forbidden fruit, because bearing children was one of Eve’s punishments. Then Eve bore another son, Abel. The bible doesn’t say how far apart in age they were, but the way Cain gets jealous of Abel, my guess is they were only a year or so apart. It just seems the closer siblings are in age the less they get along. Just a guess and how I see it.

Cain “worked the soil.” In other words he was the gardener. He grew crops of food. Abel kept the flocks. When it came time to bring God their offerings Abel brought his best while Cain basically brought what was left. It took a few bibles to actually understand that and it actually all came down to a teen devotional bible to grasp it. Cain took the best of his crops for himself and I guess for his family. Abel didn’t think twice about it, he took his best fat portions from the first born of his flock and took it to God. God knew the difference. God will always know the difference no matter what it is you are offering him.

Cain becomes jealous and angry and takes his brother out into the field for a bit of a chat. Really, Cain took Abel out to kill him. And there you have it my friends, the first murder! I do wonder how cold blooded you would have to be to kill your own sibling. I love my brother and would fight to the death for him. I can’t imagine killing him because God favored him…though the only reason God favored Abel is because he was obedient. If I was Cain I would have asked Abel to help me with my offering next time, not kill him.

So, God knows what’s up and he comes to Cain and ask where Abel is. Cain plays dumb and makes a smart remark “Am I my brothers keeper?” I can hear Cain asking that in such a way that makes me want to pop him and tell him to fix his attitude. God gave Cain a chance to confess to his sin but Cain lied. I think the lesson we can learn from this is to never lie to God because He ALWAYS knows the truth!

God tells Cain that he can hear Abel’s blood cry out to Him from the ground. Of course, sense God created all He is connected to all. Cain really did not think his actions through. God punishes Cain by casting him out and Cain becomes a restless wanderer. But he is also protected by God so that no one shall kill him as he killed his own brother.

So Cain goes out, finds a wife and has a son named Enoch. Random fact, I love that name. Cain then built a city and named it after his first born. Then we get into more genealogy.

Enoch has a son named Irad. Irad had a son named Mehujael. Mehaujael had a son named Methusheal. Methusheal had a son named Lamech. Here we stop for a moment.

Lamech marries two women, which in today’s society would be illegal. Adah and Zillah were their names. Adah gives birth to Jabal who becomes the father of  “Those who live in tents and raise live stock.” And his brother is Jubal who becomes the father of “all who play the harp and flute.” So Jabal is all work and now play while Jubal is all play and no work? I know it’s probably wrong of me to think of music as just play, I am sure it kept up the spirits of the people, but sometimes you have to get down and dirty to get the jobs done.

Lamech’s other wife Zillah has a son, Tubal-Cain who forged tools of bronze and iron. I am suddenly in the mind of Thor…I have no idea why! Maybe because the idea of making tools back then seems to me to be a hard task. Zillah also had a daughter Naamah. I assume that she will come up again in the bible sometime later simply because daughters are not often named…at least not from what I have seen so far.

The last of Genesis 4 goes back to Adam and Eve. They have another son, to replace the one lost. They name him Seth. I thought it was funny when I first read about Seth. He comes in almost as an afterthought. Like, Oh by the way, here is another son. And Seth goes on to have a child named Enosh. But as we will see in Genesis 5 (yes, that will come tomorrow) Adam and Eve do have more sons and daughters then the three that are named.

I wonder about the sons and daughters that are named. Some seem to be just for the time line to show where someone came from. I would hate to be one of the kids on the list of  “not so important.” LOL

That is it. Genesis 4 is done. That wasn’t so bad now was it? I do warn you about tomorrow though…It’s a lot of names and how long people lived. So…go read it.

Much Love,

Heather