Genesis 4:17-26 – Some Biblical Theological Reflections

The context for this passage is the great promise of God. Yes, the context for any and all given passages of Scripture is the promise and the promises of God. But here we have in mind the promise of Genesis 3:15. Adam and Eve deserve death. And so does the serpent. But God does not destroy them here. No, he offers a promise. A promise of a seed, an offspring. Eve will have a child! But this is no ordinary child, no mere human being. This child is special, for he – we are told – will avenge their blood upon the tempter. He will be attacked, to be sure, by the tempter’s seed. But in that act of temptation, and in that attack in which the child of Eve will have his heel bitten, he will raise up that very same heel and use it to crush the head of the serpent’s child.

So, God blesses Adam and Eve with at least two children, as we see in the first half of chapter 4. But these two brothers do not work out well. There is sibling rivalry here: Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him. Killed him in cold blood.

Now, you can imagine the devastation of Adam and Eve. Even now, they are seeking the promised offspring. “Where is this child in whom we have placed our hope?” Is it Cain? It can’t be Cain because he has shown himself to be on the side of the evil one, of the tempter. He has shown himself to be a heal bitter, the wounder of his brother. If anything, Cain is of the line of the serpent. No, Cain is not the one.

And no, Abel is not him either. Abel, now being dead, is rendered unable to raise up his wounded heal and crush anyone. Abel is named appropriately, for his name means “temporary”, “meaningless”, “insignificant”. No; Abel’s life is only for a time. He dies childless. Thus, neither he nor his offspring will represent the line which will lead to the promised devil-slaying child.

And so, here in our passage for today we are told about the lineage of Cain. And we see a distinct lineage. A lineage which is well marked. A lineage which is well characterized for us here. There is doubt in your mind, is there not, over what this heritage will be all about? Cain, we are told, knew his wife.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. From where did Cain get his wife? After all, no other children of Adam and Eve are reported here. This has made some speculate that there were other humans other than Adam and Eve kicking around on earth from even before they were created. But this is nonsense. We are told that Eve is the mother of all the living. In the New Testament, we are told that Adam represented all of the human race in the original covenant. No, there are no other humans around at this time. We are left to infer from the text, then, that Cain marries one of his own siblings. Was that an immoral thing at the time? Well, the text doesn’t say. But the text isn’t concerned at this point with the morality – or the lack thereof – of marrying your sister. In fact, the law against marrying within your own immediate family won’t come until much later in redemptive history. Thus, our text is concerned with the promised seed. Where is the seed? From whose lineage will he come?

From here we are told about the heritage of Cain. And as we might suspect, it is not pretty. No, in fact, we are appropriately disgusted. Cain and his wife have Enoch. And Enoch and Cain are city dwellers. The first city is built, we are told. The line of Cain is a line of urbanites. They will be the cultured ones. They will be the sophisticated ones. Enoch fathers Irad, and Irad Mehujael, and Mehujael will father Methushael. And then, Methushael will father the imfamous Lamech.

In a chapter of so many firsts: the first murder, the first city, we now have the first polygamist. Lamech – wicked, wicked Lamech – takes for himself two wives. He breaks the pattern. Not even Cain had two wives! No, God made man male and female in his image. Humanity images God in this – that humanity is procreated through the union of one man and one woman. Not one man and two women, not one woman and two men! Not one man and one man, not one woman and one woman. But one man and one woman. And here Lamech breaks with what is the natural, God-made, order of things.

And, so we see, Lemech takes for himself two wives. Through the first wife, Adah, we are told that the first livestock herders are formed. They are the ones who will live in tents. But Adah also gave birth to Jubal who would form a great legacy – a musical one. In this chapter of firsts, we have the first farmers and the first musicians. Cultured and cultivating, this family of Cain’s is a family and lineage of movers and shakers- cultural transformationalists. In fact, Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, gives birth to a son. Would this be the son of Eve we’ve all been waiting for? Would this be the promised son from God? Would this be the seed from heaven? No, this would not be the one. Tubal-cain is productive. He too is a mover and shaker. He too is practical, and pragmatically minded. He is sophisticated and cultured. He is a tool maker. Every city needs workers of iron and bronze to build. Tubal-cain is this man. He is a seed of the earth, an earthly-minded man. A man who wants to redeem culture. He builds, he shapes, he makes. He knows how to make a difference.

But in v. 23 we see that Lamech is a poet. He speaks about his sin, in poetic fashion. Murder is made beautiful. Lamech kills the one who wounds. He murders the young man who strikes him. In this way, he sounds like the promised son. A son, a young man strikes at him, and Lamech crushes in return. But no, this is no righteous killing. And he knows it. He invokes the vow of protection which the Lord rendered unto Cain for himself. If murderous Cain would be killed and his murder avenged seven times, then – declares Lamech – if someone murders him, he will be avenged even more so – seventy-seven times! What arrogance! At least with Cain, his protection was divinely declared. Here, Lamech proclaims, he declares, he preaches his own word rather than the Word of the Lord.

But now, in v. 25, we get a break. We are brought back in time. Vv. 17-24 took us up afield in history. Now, we go back. We go back again to Adam and Eve. Greiving Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve who have just lost their Able. But they have not lost their ability! No, they are fertile as ever. Adam knows Eve again; and this time she gives birth to a son: Seth (v. 25). Ah!  What a joy this baby brings to Eve! God has given to her another offspring! Another opportunity, another reason to hope that the promise of God will come true. After all, if Abel’s name means temporary or breath – representative of that which is here today and gone tomorrow – then Seth’s name means foundation (elsewhere translated “buttocks!”). It denotes that which is stable and permanent. You see, there is good reason for Eve to rejoice.

Indeed, the news only gets better in v. 26. There we are told that Seth begets a son named Enosh. And we are told this is the time in which people began to call upon the name of the Lord. In this way, then, Seth’s lineage stands over and against that of Cain’s. And we begin to see a dichotomy form in humanity. We begin to see an antithesis form. On the one hand there is the cultured, socially renovating, relevant city builders. They are earthly minded, and good at what they do. Cain’s line with their this-worldly perception are concerned to call upon their own name. Wicked Lamech, with his mind on the things below, proclaims his own name and declares his earthly life protected from all revenge. Lamech refuses to lose his life, that he might find it.

But Seth becomes the foundation for a heritage that is altogether other-worldly. The city of Seth has foundations, for its architect and builder is God. This heritage does not call upon their own name, but they call upon the name of the Lord. The Lord God, and he alone, is their God. And, in fact, this lineage would be the lineage of promise. This is the side of the antithesis which trusts not in works, but in the promise. For this is the lineage which will lead to Noah and his family. And that family will produce the lineage of Abraham. And Abraham will have two children, only one of which will be the seed of the promise. It is not Ishmael, of course, for he is the son of human works and cultural relevance. No, the antithesis will continue here between those who trust in their works versus those who trust in God’s unconditional electing love. See, Ishamel and his heritage will build great civilizations like Lamech’s line. But it will be through Isaac that the promise will come. Through Isaac will come Jacob and all of Israel. And from Israel will come David who will call upon the name of the Lord. And from David will come fulfillment of the promise, the greater David – David’s Son and David’s Lord – King Jesus.

And in King Jesus the true offspring – of every tribe, nation, and tongue – a great multitude will be made to call upon the name of the Lord. Is it not remarkable? Jerusalem is half a world away and Jesus lived there nearly 2000 years ago. And yet, God has made for himself a people in the line of Seth to call upon his name here in America. Even we who have been united to Christ by faith alone – the people of God! And not just us, but all those who have been gathered into the church by the faithful preaching of the Word! Descendents of Seth – not according to the flesh, but the Spirit – are being made even today. As our missionaries go out to the furtherest corners of the earth, the great antithesis continues as the lineage of Seth grows and spreads and sinners are join by faith alone to Jesus Christ, the offspring of Eve who has crushed the head of the devil’s son!

And so, the antithesis continues this day. Choose ye this day whom you will serve. Of whose lineage are you? Are you of the earth, of the man of the dust? Are you of the world, enraptured with all of its Cain-ish and Lamechean glory? Do you call upon your own name, and the works of your own hands? Or, are you heavenly-minded, calling upon the name of the Lord – knowing that without that name which is above every name – you have no hope in the world?

And lastly, of what heritage will the church be? Will she be of the earth, awed by the worldly, cultural, social, technological advance and transformation? Or will we be those who seek a better country, a heavenly one? Will we daily seek that city of Seth, that urban metropolis whose architect and builder is God? Will we be a people of the man of the dust, or be of the Man from heaven? Will we idolize man made cultural endeavors, with all of its prestige and worldly reputation? Or, will we not serve mammon, but rather seek the face of Jesus – the author and consummator of our faith? Will you lose your life here on earth, that you might find it hidden with God in Christ in the heavenly places? Or will you seek to save your own life through blood revenge and self-preservation as you labor, sweat, and toil in a dog-eat-dog world? May we be truly disciples of Christ, in the line of Seth, living as children of the promise in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation.  Maintain the antithesis!

Amen.