A Tale of Two Lineages - Cain and Seth (Genesis 4,5)

A Tale of Two Lineages - Cain and Seth (Genesis 4,5)

Collin Leong. 6 March 2015



Scripture Reference: Genesis 4 and 5

Synopsis:


Genesis chapter 4 records the first ever murder committed by man. It happened just one generation after Adam and Eve - their son, Cain, killed Abel - his brother - over jealousy that God preferred Abel's  gifts over his own. God later gave Eve another son, named Seth.

Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of Genesis list the descendants of Cain and Seth, respectively. Our study compared the description of these two lines of families and made the following key observations:

  • The descendants of Cain were described with many worldly success - they were the inventors of urbanisation, agriculture, music & the arts; industrial & military technology.  In Seth's descendants, no achievements were mentioned, only their age and that "they died".
  • While rich with material and in pleasure, Cain's descendants produced people filled with moral poverty and corrupt values such as polygamy, murder, hatred, vengeance, and arrogance. It started with Cain's attitude: "Am I my brother's keeper?" ending with Lamech's boast of "I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me!" (Gen 4:23)
  • While Seth's descendants did not earn any accolades from man, they chose to walk close to God instead. In contrast to Cain, Seth started right when his people "began to call upon the name of the Lord" (Gen 4:26), producing someone like Enoch who walked with God and was taken before death (Gen 5:22), and ending with Noah, a man who found favor with God (Gen 6:8).


In a nutshell, Cain's and Seth's descendants have two different "world view".  Cain's family world view is centered on man's supremacy and seeks after the pride of life and the lust of the flesh. Seth's family world view is God-centered and seek after His righteousness and will. It doesn't mean that Seth's descendants have no contribution to mankind but that their priorities are ordered around God's centrality.

Also, while each individual in Seth's line may seem to be insignificant, God remembered them in an absolutely amazing way through the meaning of their names. Adding to the fact that Noah was used to save mankind from extinction and that the Son of God, Jesus, was born under this lineage, the profound redemption plan was revealed by the sequence of their names:

Hebrew
English
Adam
Man
Seth
Appointed
Enosh
Mortal
Kenan
Sorrow;
Mahalalel
The Blessed God
Jared
Shall come down
Enoch
Teaching
Methuselah
His death shall bring
Lamech
The Despairing
Noah
Rest, or comfort.

Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

(Reference: http://www.khouse.org/articles/1996/44)


Praise God that even in the early chapters of Genesis, his salvation plan through Jesus Christ (God incarnate) were revealed in this secret code! As someone shared during the study, we may think that our own little life does not mean much to the world nor to God - we are wrong! When we do our part and keep being faithful, we will one day see the whole grandeur of the redemptive picture God is putting together - like a piece in a puzzle. No one can see the beauty in how all things (even our sorrows) fit together for the glory of God, until that day when we see Him face to face!



Applications:

  • Cain’s descendants contributed to Urban development,  agriculture process, the arts, and industrialisation technologies. What have Seth’s descendants accomplished? What are the significance of their lives?  
  • Discuss the difference if any:
    • ‘Enoch walked with God,’- Genesis 5:22.
    • ’Walk before Me.’- Genesis 17:1.
    • ‘Ye shall walk after the Lord your God.’- Deuteronomy 13:4.
  • God requires us to be a “spiritual giant” like Noah in these last days. What specific areas in your life you think need to be more like Noah’s example? How would you start?


Detail Study:

Part A.     Two different world views in Chapter 4 and 5.


a.      Descendants of Cain: Man-centred View
-       View of God
o   No God
o   God is irrelevant
o   I choose my Own God
-       View of Values
o   No absolute right or wrong
o   I set my own standard, or choose a standard to follow
o   I need not make peace with God, only with myself
-       View of man-kind
o   I am not responsible for others
o   Each one entitled to their opinions or life orientation
o   Right to avenge
-       Results: The Lamech type;  Unbridled Corruption (Gen 6:5-7; 11-12)

b.      Descendants of Seth: God-Centred View
-       View of God
o   There is one Creator-God
o   God is real, preeminent and sovereign
o   Relationship with God is possible and desired
-       View of Values
o   Absolute truth as defined and revealed by God
o   God sets the standard, and I fall short of it
o   There is a need for me to make peace with God
-       View of man-kind
o   Bear one another’s burden (Gal 6:2)
o   Love your enemies (Mat 5:44)
o   Turn the other cheek
-        Results: Noah, a remnant. (Gen 6:9)

-       Right View of God gives the Right World View.

c.       Where the Heart is.
-       Cain’s genealogy
-       Pride of life: Urbanisation; Agricultural; Music & the Arts; ndustrial/military technology
-       Lust of the flesh: polygamy; murder; hatred; vengeance; arrogance
-       Seth’s Genealogy
1.      Adam:  Man is made in the image of God.  
2.      Seth : Image of Adam
3.      Enosh: “call upon the name of the LORD.”  - or to call themselves (identify) by the name of the Lord.
4.      Kenan  
5.      Mahalalel 
6.      Jared
7.      Enoch: “walked faithfully with God”; then he was no more, because God took him away. (Heb 11:5)
8.      Methuselah = meaning, "He dieth, and the sending forth," or “his death shall bring” 
9.      Lamech
10.  Noah: “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”  The father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.


Part B.      Noah

Gen 6:8-9 “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.”
  • Right Relationship
    • First man to be called righteous / “just”
    • First time GRACE is used in the Bible.  
    • Justified By Faith (Heb 11:7)   
    • Abraham & Lot (Gen 15:6; 2 Pet 2)
    • Read Rom 5: 16-19;  Others: Gal 2:16; Phil 3:9;
    • Righteousness is a function of the spirit, where through faith we establish a Right Relationship with God.
  • Right Conduct
    • “blameless among the people of his time”; perfect; integrity;
    • Read PS 15:2  
    • Contrast with Lot  
  • Right Fellowship
    • “walked with God”   
    •  Intimacy beyond positional Relationship and discipline in Conduct.  
    • Walking with God <> not walking with the world. Willingness to stand alone.
    • Contrast with Lot


 Part C.      Warning to the world

-       Noah’s days is happening again.    
-       "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Matthew  24:36-39
-       “Scoffers will come”.  2Pe 3:3-7
-       “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” 2Ti 3:1
-       “the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and hold the unrighteous for the day of judgement”  2 Pet 2:4-10


D.     Motivation to Believers

·         Realize that God extended his unmerited favor towards Noah as He does us today.
-       Second definition of Grace – “the power and the desire to do the will of God”
-       “given everything we need for life and godliness” 2Pet 1:3-4

·         Reenergize to do what is right.    
-       We need spiritual giants in the Church
-       “I searched for a man… who would stand in the gap before Me… so that I would not destroy it” (Eze 22:30)
-       “since everything will be destroyed…., what kind of people ought you to be”?  2Pet 3:11

·         Reconsider our walk with God.   
-       Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.. but his delight is in the law of the Lord..” (Ps 1:1-2)

·         Remember to Preach.
-       Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” (II Pet.2:5)
-       Not just to be righteous but to also "proclaimed" the need for righteousness.
-       “shine as lights in the world” (Php 2:15)


-       “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope” (1Pet 3:13-17)

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