Tag Archives: Genesis 4

January 2, 2024 Bible Study — Give God Credit and Do Not Allow Sin to Rule Over Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 4-7.

We have two key stories in today’s passage.  The first is the story of Cain and Abel.  Actually,  first I want to note the reason Eve gave Cain his name.  She says that she named him this because she acquired him, or brought him forth, with the aid of the Lord.  In this way she acknowledges that it was by God’s grace that she gave birth.  We also should give God credit for that which we acquire.  Whether they be children or material goods, we only acquire anything in this world with the aid of God.  Which brings us to the story of Cain and Abel.  Cain was angry because God looked with favor on Abel’s offering, but did not look with favor on Cain’s offering.  Essentially, Cain was jealous of his younger brother.  God confronted Cain over his anger, and told him that if he did what was right he would be accepted.  However, if he did not do what was right, sin was just waiting to take him.  Unfortunately, Cain did not heed God’s word and instead killed his brother.  We must heed God’s words to Cain and do what is right so that we may rule over sin, rather than allow sin to rule over us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

January 2, 2023 Bible Study — Adam To Noah

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 4-7.

As I was reading today’s passage the first thing which struck me is that the genealogy in chapter five does not tell us that the sons named were the first born.  Before today I had never realized that the passage does not make any claim that Enosh was Seth’s first born son, the same being true for each of those listed after this.  So, while the passage definitively tells us that Seth was Adam’s third born son (after Cain and Abel), it makes no particular claim about the birth order for the rest of those listed (except that they each had younger brothers and sisters).  The other thing I never before realized is that the passage seems to imply that Seth was Adam’s true heir.  The wording of the passage seems to suggest that Cain lost his rights as the first born son because he killed his brother, which made Seth the eldest remaining son to Adam.

While none of these thoughts seem to me to have any spiritual significance, they are what came to me as I read this passage today.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

January 2, 2022 Bible Study — Odds And Sods About The World Before Noah

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 4-7.

My first thought when I started today’s blog was, “How long until I forget that it is no longer 2021?”  followed by, “How long until I do not have to think to type 2022 instead of 2021?”

I find it interesting that in today’s passage that the account gives so much information about the descendants of Cain.  If the story about Noah and the Flood is to be taken literally, no one alive today is a descendant of Cain.  This would seem to make the fact that the sons of Lamech were the first to do certain things of no particular significance.  If all of their descendants perished in the Flood, why is it significant that Jabal was the first to be a nomadic herdsman? Or that Jubal the first to make and use stringed and wind instruments? or that Tubal-Cain was the first to make metal tools?  Then, while discussing the events which led up to the Flood, the account speaks of the Nephilim.  They were apparently the offspring from when the “sons of God” had children by the daughters of humans.  This would not be significant, except that the passage seems to say that there were Nephilim on the Earth after the Flood.  All of this makes me wonder if we are intended to take it literally when later in the passage it tells us that every living thing which dwells on the land perished in the Flood.  I want to be clear that I am not saying that I believe that not all life that dwells upon the land and was not in the Ark perished in the Flood.  I am merely saying that these little comments make me wonder.  Much of this ambiguity stems from the fact that the Bible was written in Ancient Hebrew, and, based on what we know from more recent languages, it is probable that many words used in the Bible changed meaning to one degree or another from the oldest time they were used in the Bible to the most recent time they were used.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

January 2, 2021 Bible Study From Adam To The Flood

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7. I have decided to switch from suing the New Living Translation to using the New International Version because, all in all, I prefer the NIV.

Once again I am unsure where I am going with today’s blog.  However, today I see several things I want to touch on which I do not see any connection between.  The first was something which I first thought of yesterday.  In yesterday’s passage it mentioned that God had given every seed bearing plant as food for mankind.  Then in today’s passage, Abel is a shepherd who brought an offering of the fat portions of some of the firstborn of his flock.  God found this a more acceptable offering than Cain’s offering from among his crops.  I am unsure of what significance this has, but it feels rather significant.

A little later the passage tells us that the “sons of God” married the daughters of humans who they found attractive and had children by them.  This provides the context in which the writer tells us that human wickedness had become so great that God decided to unleash the Flood.  We have no other references which give us any insight into who these “sons of God” were, nor what connection there was between them taking human women as wives and the wickedness of humanity.  One thing I find interesting is that the passage tells us that the “Nephilim” were the offspring of these matings between the “sons of God” and human women, which happened before the Flood.  Later, the Israelites encountered descendants of the Nephilim when they entered Canaan to conquer it.  Did the Nephilim survive the Flood? Or, did more “sons of God” mate with human women after the Flood?
The final thing I want to touch upon is that the passage tells us that Noah walked faithfully with God, which appears to be unique among the people of his time.  Although, we should note that Noah’s great grandfather was Enoch, who walked faithfully with God, then was no more because God took him away.  Also, Noah’s father and grandfather died just before the Flood, so we should suspect that they were similarly faithful to God as Enoch and Noah.

January 2, 2020 Bible Study — If You Do What Is Right, You Won’t Do What Is Wrong

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7.

Before I continue with what my thought experiment means for understanding this passage there is something important I want to point out, actually two things.  At harvest time, Cain presented some of what he had harvested as an offering to God, while Abel presented the best portions of the firstborn lambs.  Cain then got upset because God was more pleased with Abel’s offering.  Why was God more pleased with Abel’s offering?  The passage does not make it clear, but I believe the difference was that Cain just offered some of his harvest, while Abel offered the best of his increase.  Then, when Cain was angry, God gave Cain a piece of advice we should follow ourselves.  If we do what is right we will be accepted by God.  As importantly, if we do not do what is right it will leave time for us to do what is wrong.  Let us fill our time doing what is right so that we do not have time to sin.

Now continuing my thought experiment, although now I will extend it to the idea that for the most part the Bible is true.  So, if the Bible is true, the flood story is true.  Which would mean that everything we know about what happened before that comes through Noah and his family.  It would also mean that the our oldest common male ancestor can be no further back than Noah, while our oldest common female ancestor could be Eve.   Interestingly enough, modern genetic science posits that the common male ancestor of all living humans was significantly more recent than the common female ancestor of all living humans.  I also find this interesting.  God had already established a list of animals which were the only ones approved for human consumption.

January 2, 2019 Bible Study — Give to God First

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7.

We have here the story of Cain and Abel.  They both brought gifts to God from what they had produced that year, but God accepted Abel’s gift and rejected Cain’s.  What was wrong with Cain’s gift? At first it seems that Cain’s gift was rejected because it was from his crops rather than from the flocks as was Abel’s.  However, a careful reading shows us the real difference.  Cain presented “some of his crops” as a gift to the Lord, while Abel brought “the best portions of the first born lambs.”  Cain’s gift to the Lord was just some of what he had produced, while Abel’s gift was from the first of what he produced.  Abel gave to God first, Cain did so as an afterthought.  Cain was jealous of the blessings which God gave Abel as a result of his faithfulness.  However, rather than imitate Abel so that he could receive similar blessings going forward, Cain killed Abel.   People today still follow Cain’s example, perhaps not to the extent of murder, rather than imitate the successful they seek to take what they have for themselves.

We also have the beginning of the story of Noah.  The writer tells us that the “sons of God” took beautiful human women as their wives and that their offspring were the Nephilites, the heroes and famous warriors of old.  The writer tells us that Nephilites lived on the earth at this time and for some time after.  Later, when the Israelite spies went into Canaan, they reported that they saw the Nephilim there (the writer at that point tells us that the Anak people were descended from the Nephilim).  This suggests that either the “sons of God” continued to take human women as wives after the Flood, or that the Flood was not as comprehensive as the writer states in today’s passage.  I tend towards believing that the Nephilites after the Flood were not descendant from the ones before the Flood, but wanted to point out the possibility from the passage of an alternate explanation.  I would not be shocked to learn that the flood “merely” wiped out the civilizations on the earth at that time, that the animals on the Ark were merely those which had been domesticated.  The writer tells us that everything which lived on dry land died, and that is what I believe to be the case, but I wanted to note that other parts of the passage contain ambiguous statements which might suggest otherwise.

January 2, 2018 Bible Study — Cain and Abel, and the Story of Noah

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7.

    There are two key stories in today’s passage: the story of Cain and Abel, and the story of Noah. For the longest time I felt bad for Cain because God did not find his offering acceptable. From the way it was taught to me I thought the problem was that Cain offered crops while Abel offered lambs. However, as I read the passage now I see that Cain just offered “some” of his crops while Abel offered the “best portions of the firstborn lambs”. Rather than change his actions going forward and making better offerings in the future Cain became resentful of Abel and killed him. Another interesting thing about the story of Cain and Abel is that there are numerous other people in the world. We do not know where these other people came from. They may be other descendants of Adam and Eve, or perhaps God had created other people as well. A straightforward reading of the passage makes the first unlikely (the wording suggests that Seth was Adam’s and Eve’s third child, although it does not spell that out and therefore that may not be the case). I personally do not have an opinion on the answer to where the other people came from, but it is a question I am looking forward to having answered when I get to Heaven.

    As an introduction to the story of the flood, and as a means of explaining how corrupt the world had become, we are told that the “sons of God” took any of the beautiful women they saw as wives and had children by them. The heroes of ancient renown were the offspring of such marriages, but we have no real understanding of who the “sons of God” referred to here were. Another answer I am looking forward to receiving in Heaven. The passage tells us that the people were totally and consistently evil so that God chose to wipe the earth clean of them. However, there was one man who walked in close fellowship with God. that man was Noah. God gave Noah instructions to build a boat and take aboard his family and “a pair of every kind of animal”. I have wondered for many years whether “every kind of animal” was story tellers short hand, since only those animals which Noah brought on the boat would have been around after the flood.