East of Eden

I'm so excited to bring God's word to you this morning.

It really is a privilege for me.

And let me pray before we start.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you would illuminate our minds, our hearts,

so that your word would land on us with power.

That it would accomplish its purposes in our lives.

That it would remind us of your steadfast grace throughout human history and throughout our whole lives.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

We skipped around a little bit in our reading.

We skipped the genealogies.

But that's not because they're unimportant.

I'm going to reference them in the sermon.

It's just for the sake of time we abbreviated the reading of it.

So please do have your Bible open to that because I will mention them.

And in his novel, whose title is based on this passage, East of Eden, John Steinbeck writes this through the voice of the narrator.

He says,

We have only one story.

All novels, all poetry, they're all built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil.

And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn.

While good, while virtue is immortal.

Vice has always a new, fresh young face.

While virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.

Exiled from the Garden of Eden, East of Eden, we see this contest of good and evil within humanity.

And overall, the picture is really grim.

Other ancient Near Eastern worldviews believe in human progress.

They think that humans are always improving, heading toward a goal.

Old Testament does not believe in progress.

Old Testament teaches the ineluctable advance of sin.

Humanity just spiraling down farther and farther and farther.

That's why Christ has to come to redeem and to rescue humanity.

And so here we see evil constantly respawning and dragging humanity down with it.

But through it all, we see also God graciously preserving humanity so that we might eventually submit to him and be redeemed by the blood of his son, Jesus Christ.

So that's the main point of this passage.

We're going to talk first about God's grace toward Cain in chapter 4.

And then God's grace toward Seth in chapter 5.

And then finally, God's grace toward us in chapter 6.

And recall that due to Adam and Eve's sin, God pronounced to the woman in Genesis 3, 16,

I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing.

In pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.

So remember, childbearing is not a curse, but the pain in childbearing is.

Right?

So the husband's, it's just in the same way, husband's headship over his wife is not a curse,

but the oppressive rule, his oppressive rule over her is.

So with that context in mind, read verse 1.

It says,

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,

I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.

Right?

So you can see kind of her boast, her triumph of having conceived a man.

And of course, to know someone within the biblical context is euphemism for intercourse.

That's why right after that it's followed by a description of children.

Now the name Cain is a wordplay that sounds very much like the word gotten.

That's why he's named that, because Eve said, I have gotten a man.

And then name Abel means breath or vanity.

So it's already hinting at the fact that his life will be cut short.

Now, verses 2 to 3, we see what happens.

Now, Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,

and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

So both Cain and Abel bring an offering to God that's appropriate to their profession.

Right?

So there's nothing wrong with their professions themselves.

They're bringing an offering that fits what they do as their job.

But God only accepts, he only takes delight in Abel's offering.

Right?

So verses 4 to 5, it says,

And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard.

And the reason for this, the narrative seems to suggest, is that while Abel offered the firstborn of his flock

and of their fat portions, Cain did not offer the firstfruits of his ground, of the ground that he works.

And according to Old Testament law, every firstborn male belonged to the Lord.

That's because of Passover.

Right?

God redeemed the firstborn of Israel.

So he said they had to pay a redemption price for every firstborn male,

and every firstborn animals for sacrifice had to be sacrificed.

And in particular, also, God commanded Israelites to offer the fat of the meat

because the fat was considered the best part, the choices part of the meat.

So you're supposed to offer that in sacrifice, not consume them themselves.

And so notice, that's exactly what Abel does.

He brings the firstborn with their fat portions.

Similarly, the firstfruits of all produce was required to be offered up to the Lord.

So in Numbers 18, 12 to 14, it talks about this.

In Deuteronomy 26, 2, it says,

You shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Right?

And the point of this is to recognize that all that we have comes from God.

So you're harvesting from the land that the Lord your God gave you.

So the first of it should come to the Lord.

It belongs to the Lord.

So Exodus 23, 29, it says,

The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

So, of course, it makes sense if you think about it, right?

You bring the cream of the crop, you know, not the crumbs to the king when you come to the king.

But you bring, you know, the firstfruits, not the leftovers to the king, right?

So the question to ask when it comes to worship, when it comes to offering to God is not what can we spare, but what can we sacrifice, right?

And that's the heart behind David.

When he brings an offering to God in 2 Samuel 24, 24, he says,

I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that costs me nothing, right?

The costlier the offering, right, the more suitable it is for the purpose of expressing the preciousness of the one to whom we bring the offering.

And in fact, that's embedded in the word sacrifice itself, right?

See, it's a sacrifice, right?

It's not spare change.

It's sacrifice, something that's costly to us that we bring to him.

And so we see the half-heartedness of Cain's offering when it says he doesn't even, doesn't bring the firstfruits, but he just brings some of the fruit of the ground.

That's why when the author of Hebrews mentions this tale, Hebrews 11 to 4, he says,

By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.

So this is something, of course, is very applicable to us, right?

And this is one of the reasons why, as a church, we don't pass the offering basket during the service.

There's nothing wrong with that, per se, and it's okay that other churches do it.

It's just that we think that it might prompt people to give out of guilt or out of a sense of obligation, as opposed to giving freely.

Because God's not honored by that, right?

God doesn't even accept Abel's sacrifice.

He brought the sacrifice, but God doesn't even accept it, right?

It's not like God is hungry and he needs sacrifices to feed on.

It's not that he's poor, that he needs our money to sustain his church.

He owns everything in the world.

He can provide for his church if he wants to.

So our desire is that our church, we can honor God by bringing our gifts to him freely.

Honor him with the sacrifices we bring because we are willing to make the sacrifice in order to make God look precious,

to affirm him and to worship him.

So at this point, then, Cain should have realized what he had done wrong.

And what he should have done was to acknowledge his wrong ways and then correct it.

But instead, he becomes sullen and despondent.

He says he hung his head.

He says, Cain was very angry and his face fell, verse 5.

But God graciously reaches out to him, verses 6 to 7.

The Lord said to Cain,

Why are you angry?

And why has your face fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

His desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

God gives Cain an opportunity to repent, and God gives him also a serious warning.

Remember, this language is almost exactly like Genesis 3.16, what God has said to Eve in his pronouncement of the curse.

That your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.

So in a similar way, just as the woman, as a result of the fall, the wife, will seek to have her way with the husband to control her.

But instead, the husband will oppress her and rule over her.

In this case, sin desires to have its way with Cain, to possess him, to control him.

Yet he must rule over it.

And the key difference, of course, is that while God's pronouncement to Eve is descriptive, that's what, in fact, is going to happen.

But his pronouncement here to Cain is prescriptive.

It's what he needs to do.

He needs to rule over sin.

He must master it.

And verse 7 is a really, really helpful and insightful description of sin.

Look at how graphic it is.

Read it with me.

Sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

The word crouch means to lie in wait, right, about to pounce.

It means to lurk.

That's the nature of sin.

It's being compared, metaphorically, to a savage beast, a wild beast that's crouching, waiting to pounce at you by the door, right?

And it's at the door, he says, right?

It's not far away.

It's not out in the field.

It's right at the door.

And this is really helpful for us because sometimes I think we, as Christians, can treat sin like a little fluffy bunny in the garden, right?

It's like, you know, sometimes we'll let him in, you know, enjoy it for a little while, and then let it out before it causes too much, you know, soils the carpet too much.

No, this is sin is a wild beast.

How would you treat a savage beast at your door?

And that's what 1 Peter 5a talks about, right?

Be sober-minded.

Be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

How would you treat a savage beast at your door?

You don't go anywhere near it.

You don't give it an inch of room to get in.

That's how we treat sin.

That's how we fight sin.

Don't give it any room to breathe.

Expose your reign and rule over it.

Oppress it.

Don't give it any room to grow in your life.

That's how we have to deal with sin and fight sin in our life.

And I once heard a story of a really wealthy woman who was trying to hire a chauffeur.

She interviewed a few candidates, and a couple of them were exceptional drivers,

and she had them drive up a mountain range, a narrow path right by the cliff.

And they were trying to show off how exceptional their driving skills were.

So they drove as fast as they can and as close as they can to the precipice,

and they made the trip in record time and came back.

But the third driver was very different because he drove slowly,

and he drove as far away from the precipice as possible.

And to nobody's surprise, she hired the third and last driver

because she doesn't want to die when someone's driving.

She wants to be driven in a safe manner.

That's how we should treat sin.

The goal is if we're asking ourselves, when we think about sin and temptation in our lives,

how far can we go without sinning?

How close can we get without sinning?

Then we're asking the wrong question.

The goal is to stay at the center of God's will,

not flirt with sin as much as you can.

It's a wild beast at your door, and that's how we should treat it.

It's desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

Cain, unfortunately, spurns God's counsel, and it says in verse 8,

Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, presumably telling him,

hey, let's go out to the field.

And it says when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother, Abel, and killed him.

Old Testament law, for example, Deuteronomy 22,

judges crimes committed in the field as premeditated murder

because it's done in the field where a cry of help cannot be heard by anyone within range.

So this is what Cain is doing.

And the word kill refers to vicious violence.

It's not just irregular, just generic word for kill.

It could translate almost butchered.

He butchered him to death.

Cain hacked him, his brother, to death.

And notice how the word brother is repeated throughout this passage.

Throughout verses 8 to 11, the brother is mentioned six times.

His brother, his brother, his brother, to highlight the heinousness of his sin.

He murdered his own brother, the little brother,

whom he should have cared for and taken responsibility for.

He killed in cold blood.

So when the Lord speaks to Cain in verse 9,

where is Abel, your brother?

And Cain replies, I don't know.

I do not know.

Am I my brother's keeper?

Though Cain thinks the obvious answer is no,

I'm not the brother's keeper.

The correct answer, actually, according to the narrative, is yes.

Yes, you are.

You're his brother.

And 1 John 3, 11 to 15 talks about this.

John teaches Christians within the family of God

to treat each other as brothers.

And he tells us not to follow the example of Cain,

but instead to love one another.

And think about that for a moment.

If we really treated each other

with the same sense of responsibility

that we have toward our own siblings,

what would that look like?

You know, if we would care enough then

to tell the hard truth to each other,

we would care enough then

when someone's hurting our brother or sister,

that we would do something.

We would care enough that, you know,

this is what happens, right?

If a stranger is sick,

if an acquaintance is sick,

you tell them to stay at home and wear a mask

so that they don't get you sick, right?

But when it's your brother or your sister that's sick,

you care.

You're by the bedside

caring for that sibling until he or she is well.

Do we treat each other?

Do we love one another,

serve one another as brothers and sisters?

Because that's what this passage is telling us.

Yes, you are your brother's keeper.

What would it look like for all of us

to be brother's keepers?

So God interrogates Cain here.

And if you might, if you remember,

when God interrogated Adam,

even though he did shift blame, right,

he at least owned up to what he did.

But Cain lies to God's face.

So you could tell he's more hardened.

He's a greater sinner.

He says, I do not know.

And verse 2 described Abel as keeper of sheep.

And here he says, am I his brother's keeper?

It's the same word.

So it's almost like he's saying,

am I the keeper's keeper?

Of course not.

He's the keeper whose sheep you accepted.

He's the keeper.

I'm not a keeper.

So he's just, you know,

absolving himself of all responsibility.

But God is patient and undeterred.

In verses 10 to 12, he asks,

what have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood

is crying to me from the ground.

And now you are cursed from the ground,

which has opened his mouth

to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you work the ground,

it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

You shall be a fugitive

and a wanderer on the earth.

So remember Cain was described in verse 2

as worker of the ground.

So now his own denial comes to bite him.

Also, you're not the keeper.

You're the worker of the ground.

Well, then your ground will reject you, right?

For Adam, remember, Adam himself was not cursed.

The ground was cursed, right, when Adam sinned.

And said, now Adam's going to have to work with toil,

with painful toil to work the ground

and make it bear fruit.

But now Cain himself is cursed from the ground.

So that even when he works the ground with painful toil,

it will not bear fruit for him,

which forces him to a life of a wanderer and a vagrant.

So it's the same situation.

There's a lot of similarities with Adam and Eve's sin,

chapter 3, and the sins here.

The words like no, keep, cursed, drive away,

they all occur here.

But it's not exactly parallel

because it shows a picture

that is farther down the sinful chain.

So it's people are more degenerated.

They're more evil.

They're more wicked and callous

in their relationship to God.

And so sadly, Cain seems incapable of repentance.

And instead of weeping at the severity of his crime,

he complains about the severity of his punishment.

Verses 13 to 14.

My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground

and from your face I shall be hidden.

I should be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth

and whoever finds me will kill me.

It would have been at this point totally understandable

for God to just throw up his hands in exasperation

and then just strike him down at that moment.

But he responds with grace in verses 15 to 16.

Not so.

If anyone kills Cain,

vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

And he puts a mark on him to protect him

as a sign of God's protection over him.

And so that's how merciful God is, right?

And if God is just in exacting vengeance on sinners,

in the same way,

he's also merciful towards sinners.

He seeks to find a way for them,

for them to repent and for them to return to God.

And so here,

even though the blood of Abel

that's crying out from the ground

is calling for his death,

his immediate death,

he has mercy on Cain

and banishes him instead.

So he settles in the land of Nod,

which means land of wandering.

And that's located poignantly east of Eden,

indicating that he's getting farther and farther away

from the original paradise

that God had created for humanity.

And in spite of all of this,

in Cain's sins,

we see God's grace toward him

in the fact that he blesses him with progeny as well, right?

He still gets to bear God's image

and produce children.

Verses 17-24, we find his genealogy.

But this is still the cursed line.

It's a line that's separated from God.

And we see that in some of the examples

that we get in verses 19-23.

So look at Lamech in 19-23.

He says,

He took two wives.

Right away, that's a red flag.

Because we know from Genesis 2,

God's intention for marriage was that

a man shall leave his father's house

to be united with all women.

So it's between one man and one woman.

And so right away,

when he says,

He took two wives,

it's threatening.

It's ominous.

And then Lamech turns out to be,

unsurprisingly,

a really unpleasant fellow.

His wives' names are Ada and Zillah,

which means pretty,

or chime,

or tinkle for the other woman.

So basically,

one has a pretty face,

the other has a pretty voice.

So it's describing that

this Lamech is a really,

he's a sensual guy.

He enjoys women,

he's taking up the woman he likes

as his wife.

So he's an unsavory character.

Now, so in verses 23 to 24,

he boasts in poetic form.

Ada and Zillah,

hear my voice.

You wives of Lamech,

listen to what I say.

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold,

then Lamech's is 77-fold.

Self-centered, haughty,

hot-headed man, right?

So Cain at least knew something,

he had done something wrong,

he was trying to hide it from God.

But Lamech's boasting about

killing a man,

a young man,

for wounding him.

It wasn't like he was trying to kill him

for wounding him,

for bruising him.

He kills him.

And the poetry is so wonderful

because at the end of each line,

it has the word like my or me in it

to just emphasize,

highlight his egotism.

And the beauty of the poetry

is a stark contrast

to his unsavory character.

Because what he does is appalling.

But even though this line is cursed,

it's separated from God,

it's tainted with sin,

in an imperfect way,

Cain still experiences God's grace

and blessing as his image bearer.

And we see this throughout

verses 17 to 21.

It says that Cain built a city,

right?

So that's urbanization.

That's the beginning of the cities,

which is necessary

if you're cursed like Cain is

and you can't be a self-subsistent farmer.

You need to create other industries

so that you can trade for food

or buy food

because you can't produce food for yourself.

And verses 22 to 22

tells us that Lamech had three sons,

Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal Cain,

which all come from the same Hebrew word

meaning to produce,

highlighting their inventiveness.

And so the Jubal is the forerunner

of the nomadic lifestyle

and invents animal husbandry, right?

Of course, Abel was a shepherd,

but this is more broad.

He's taking care of all kinds of livestock.

Jubal was the creator of musical instruments

and Tubal Cain was the first

to discover metalworking, right?

So all of this is an example

of God's common grace.

Common meaning that it's common to all.

He shows grace even to his non-elect,

to the people who are separated from

and not chosen for his special grace,

yet still even to them,

God shows common grace.

And these sons of Cain

become the fathers of city,

culture, and civilization.

So that's God's grace toward Cain,

even in the midst of sin.

But God's special grace,

his saving grace,

is reserved for the chosen line,

and that's God's grace toward Seth.

And that line begins in verses 25 to 26,

still in chapter 4.

It says,

Adam knew his wife again,

and she bore a son and called his name Seth.

For she said,

God has appointed for me another offspring

instead of Abel,

for Cain killed him.

To Seth also a son was born,

and he called his name Enosh.

At that time,

people began to call upon

the name of the Lord.

So with the murder of Abel,

God's blessing can't rest on Cain.

So now it passes on to their second son,

Seth.

And Seth,

his name is contrasted with Cain's,

because in Cain,

Eve said,

I have gotten.

So she named him Cain.

But with Seth,

Eve says,

God has appointed.

God has put him.

And so Jesus is recognizing

the agency of God.

And right away,

the contrast between the two lines

is highlighted by the fact

that at that time,

people began to call upon

the name of the Lord.

So this is a reference

to the beginning

of organized,

regular worship.

This is the beginning

of religion,

really,

in a way.

And so at the time,

so Cain's descendants

are living without reference

to God,

but Seth descendants

start to worship God

in a regular,

organized way.

And that requires

culture also, right?

So for example,

like the music

that they produced

will be used

for singing,

and the metal working

that Cain's descendants

produced will be used

for building the temple,

right?

So the animals

that Cain's descendants

learned to care for

will be used

for sacrifice.

So all of this

will be used,

but Cain's descendants

used those things

without reference

to God

for their own glory,

while Seth descendants

used them,

harnessed them all

for God's glory.

Culture serves

the purpose

of the cult,

the cultic purpose

of worship.

Cult,

not in a generic way,

not in a bad sense.

So,

the genealogy of Seth

begins in earnest

in chapter 5,

and it's typical

of Genesis

to give you

like a preview

of the next section

at the end

of the previous section.

Verses 1 to 5,

it says,

this is the book

of the generations

of Adam.

When God created man,

he made him

in the likeness of God.

Male and female

he created them,

and he blessed them

and named them man

when they were created.

When Adam had lived

130 years,

he fathered a son

in his own likeness

after his image

and named him Seth.

And the days of Adam

after he fathered Seth

were 800 years,

and he had other sons

and daughters.

Thus all the days

that Adam lived

were 930 years,

and he died.

So notice how

this passage

explicitly connects

God's creation

of man and woman

in his image

and likeness

with Adam and Eve's

procreation

of human beings

in their own image

and likeness.

So they're modeling God,

following him

as they bear children.

Now before I talk further

about God's grace

towards Seth,

I'm just going to address

a couple questions

that people always ask

when we come to this text,

and they're good questions.

And first is,

how did these people

have children

in the first place?

Right?

Whom did they marry

to have children with?

So we'll notice

it says in verse 4,

Adam had other sons

and daughters.

Right?

So at this juncture

of human history,

there isn't anyone else

to marry except

for your siblings,

your relatives.

So Adam and Eve's children

would have had to marry

their siblings,

and then the generation

after them would have

had to marry their cousins,

and so on.

So you see this

in the example of Abraham

who was married

to his half-sister Sarah.

Right?

So now that sounds

really bad, right?

But just listen to me

for a little more.

Spiritually,

this wasn't a problem

at that point

because God did not

forbid inbreeding

until he gave the law

of Moses

in Leviticus 18.

So this is not forbidden

by God at this point.

Biologically,

this probably wasn't

a problem at this point

because the genetic code

would have been

relatively free

of defects

which would have

minimized

the risks

of inbreeding

that right now

is so prevalent

and prominent.

And sociologically,

this wasn't a problem

then as it is now

today because

these were marital

relationships

between consenting adults

as opposed to

non-consensual,

extramarital,

and pubescent

or prepubescent

relationships

that incest

usually is today.

So all this stigma

that's at sensitive

stage,

just all of those things,

it would have been

totally different.

It's not what we would

think of in today's day.

So at this time,

even though

God forbids incest

later and today,

it is totally

unacceptable

and reprehensible

to God,

it was permitted

in the early days

of humanity.

And the second question

is how did they

live for so long?

Right?

These men are called

antediluvian patriarchs,

meaning before the flood

patriarchs,

because the fact

that they lived

before the flood

seems to be the reason

that the narrative

provides for their

longevity.

So if you look at

Genesis 6-3,

God says,

my spirit shall not

abide in man forever,

for he is flesh,

his days shall be

120 years.

So that's his

pronouncement at the

time of his judgment

with the flood.

And it does seem

like after the flood,

the age of the

patriarchs declined

precipitously until

it plateaus around

120.

Now,

nevertheless,

and it's significant,

I think,

it's that they never

reach a thousand years.

They get tantalizingly

close,

but they never quite

reach a thousand years.

And I think

narrator is trying

to make the point

that though they

live a very long

time,

they are all,

you know,

they are not able

to live to fullness.

They're not able

to enter eternal life

because of the

consequence of Adam

and Eve's sin.

They all die.

And it seems like

at least some of

their ages do seem

to have symbolic

significance.

For example,

Enoch is taken up

to heaven at the

age of 365.

I mean,

the symbolism of that

is lost on no one,

right?

The Lamech dies

at the age

of 777,

right?

And then French

biblical scholar

M. Barnounen,

I think,

I think is the one

that came up

with the best

kind of explanation

for this

in terms of

the symbolic

significance of it.

He takes the cue

from Enoch's age

of 365,

which is,

and then he tries

to use the

astronomical periods

that were used

at the time

in the ancient Near East

and were known

to the Babylonians.

And as he did that,

he discovered

some striking parallels.

So, for example,

Lamech's 777 years

is equal to the sum

of the Sinotic periods

of Jupiter and Saturn.

Sinotic period

is how long

a planet takes

to come back

to the same place

in the sky

from our perspective.

And also significant

is Jared's 962 years

equal to the sum

of the Sinotic periods

of Venus and Saturn.

And the Babylonian

Sumerians also used

the sexagesimal

numerical system,

meaning that

the base number

that they used

for the numerical system

was 60.

And there's some

numbers,

connections to 60

here as well.

So, like,

if you add up

all the age

at which these patriarchs

have their first children

and you divide it by 60

and then you add up

all the age

in which these patriarchs

die and then you

divide it by 60,

the sum of the remainders

is 365,

like the age of Enoch.

Now,

so,

if this is the case,

and this is what

the narrator's intention is,

then the cycle

of these men's ears

match the cycles

of the heavenly spheres

to indicate

that, you know,

the gods are in control

of it

and that they are living,

you know,

a life that's far more

blessed than the life

that people live

after the flood.

Now,

with that said,

I don't think

the symbolic significance

of the numbers

necessarily imply

that these are

made-up figures,

right,

because these were

real historical figures

and that's why

they have names

and that's why

there's a record

of their children

and that's why

specific numbers

of age are assigned

to them

because we're supposed

to understand them

to have been real people.

Yes,

distant from the time

of Moses' writing,

but still real people

who live.

Now,

getting back to

the Setai genealogy,

great,

all of this,

it shows that

you get a distinct

impression that

this is a special line,

it's blessed by God

and several clues

for that.

So,

first,

it's typical

of biblical genealogy

to highlight

the seventh person

in the genealogy

because seven

is the number

of completion

and the seventh number

in Cain's genealogy

was Lamech

but here,

it is Enoch,

seventh from Adam

and verses 22,

24,

it says,

Enoch walked with God

after he fathered

Methuselah

300 years

and had other sons

and daughters.

Thus,

all the days of Enoch

were 365 years.

Enoch walked with God

and he was not

for God took him.

So,

twice,

Enoch is described

as having walked with God.

Right?

That's the language

that is used

to describe all the godly men

throughout the Old Testament.

They walked with God

and it says

that he was taken,

God took him.

That's the language

that is used

to describe Elijah

whom God takes

in a fiery chariot,

right?

So,

he doesn't die.

So,

it seems to suggest

that Enoch

didn't have

a normal death.

He was somehow

taken up by God.

But Moses

isn't really interested

in how that happened

as much as the fact

that it did happen.

And secondly,

there's more detail

given about Lamech as well.

And Enoch and Lamech,

they're given more detail here

because there's Enoch and Lamech

in the Canaanite line as well.

So,

it's intended to distinguish

the characters.

And Lamech here,

it says,

he says,

out of the ground

that the Lord has cursed

after he fathers Noah,

he says,

this one shall bring us

relief from our work

and from the painful toil

of our hands.

And he says,

he lives

777 years,

which is,

you know,

remember Lamech,

the other Lamech,

the bad Lamech,

boasted about how

his revenge

is 77-fold.

But Lamech here,

he lives,

not the Lamech,

this,

Noah's father,

Lamech here,

lives for 777.

And you may have also noticed

if you're reading

the genealogy carefully

that in addition to

Enoch and Lamech

who have the exact same names

in the two genealogies,

there is a lot of similar names

if you look,

if you compare the two.

In fact,

the last seven names

look almost identical

in the genealogy.

So if you switch

Enoch in Setai line

with Mahalalel's place,

then even the order

is exactly the same

where these names occur.

So Cain is parallel

to Canaan,

Enoch to Enoch,

Eret to Jerad,

Mehujael to Mahalalel,

Methusael to Methuselah,

and then Lamech to Lamech.

Right?

I mean,

this is intentional.

So perhaps they had a practice

of naming children

after relatives,

I mean,

like we do today,

or giving similar names

to cousins.

Right?

So that's possible.

But I think

that the similar names

are given,

provided intentionally

also to draw a contrast

between the two lines.

The fact that this is

the cursed line,

but this is the blessed line

that God's bringing.

And that contrast

is made more obvious

by the fact that

in the Setai line,

they give,

they provide their longevity.

Right?

This is how long they live.

Look how long they live.

But with the Canaanite line,

age is not given.

And then secondly,

with each of the announcement

of firstborn,

in the Setai line,

it says,

and he had other sons

and daughters,

but in the Canaanite line,

no such words exist.

So they don't seem to have,

they didn't seem to have

had other sons and daughters.

So it shows that

the Setai line

is more fruitful,

he's more blessed by God,

and they live longer as well.

And in fact,

the only daughter mentioned

in the entire Canaanite,

there's only one,

Nehemiah, right?

So in the entire Canaanite line.

And so,

so all of,

but,

all of this,

it shows God's special grace

towards Setai.

Now this is what we call

saving grace,

electing grace,

special grace.

Now we're going to turn

to God's grace toward us

and look at chapter six.

Because even with God's

special grace toward

the Setai line,

if we had hoped

that they would become

an obedient race of men

and become,

you know,

fulfill God's design

for creation,

then our hopes

are very quickly dashed

in chapter six.

It says in verses one to four,

when a man began

to multiply on the face

of the land

and daughters weren't

born to them,

the sons of God

saw that the daughters

of men were attractive

and they took

as their wives

any they chose.

Then the Lord said,

my spirit shall not

abide in man forever,

for he is flesh,

his days shall be

120 years.

The Nephilim

were on the earth

in those days

and also afterward

when the sons of God

came in to the daughters

of men

and they bore children

to them.

They were the mighty men

who were of old,

the men of renown.

Now,

there are several theories

regarding the identity

of the sons of God

and if you want to know

all of them,

I'd be happy to tell you

about it at the Q&A

because just for the sake

of time.

But the simplest

and I think by far

the best explanation

is that these sons of God

are angelic beings

who,

like the serpent

in Genesis 3,

are now transgressing

God-ordained

creational order

by marrying

daughters of man,

humanity.

And this view alone

makes good sense

of the fact

that the sons of God

are contrasted

with daughters of man

and why God

so abhors this union.

So early Jewish exegesis,

the Roman Jewish historian

Josephus,

the Dead Sea Scrolls,

as well as New Testament texts

like 2 Peter 2.4

and Jude 6-7

and earliest Christian writers,

Justin Martyr,

Irenaeus,

Clement of Alexandria,

Tertullian,

Origen,

they all agree

that this is what

this passage is referring to.

Sons of God

refer to the fallen angels

whom God punished

as a result of their sin

that's documented here

in Genesis 6.

And 2 Peter 2

talks about that

in greater detail.

So for example,

other Old Testament texts

refer to angelic beings

as sons of God,

Job 1.6,

Psalm 29 verse 1.

Psalms 29:1

And in fact,

in Job chapters 1 and 2,

Job 1 · chapter mention

you see God

holding a court,

right,

with the heavenly beings,

the angelic beings,

and Satan comes

as one of the sons of God

to accuse Job

before God, right?

So that's the picture.

And this is very consistent

with other ancient

Near Eastern views

of their own pantheons

with sons of God

in the court,

with the court of God.

The main difference,

of course,

is that the Old Testament

teaches that there's

only one God.

All of these are not

real gods.

They're just God-like beings.

They're angelic beings.

While the other ancient

Eastern religions

believed that they were

all real gods

and actual offspring

of the God.

So that's a big,

big difference.

But here,

still,

the sons of God,

I think,

is referring to angelic beings.

And notice what they do.

Try to pick up

the familiar sequence

of words here

in verse 2,

chapter 6.

The sons of God

saw that the daughters

of men

were attractive

and they took

as their wives

any they chose.

Does this sound

familiar to you guys?

We just saw it happen

right in Genesis 3

because the word

actually,

the word attractive

translated here

is the same word

translated as good

in the earlier chapters.

So God saw

that it was good.

And remember

what Eve does

in Genesis 3, 6.

So when the woman

saw that the tree

was good for food,

and it says later,

she took

of its fruit

and ate.

So seeing,

good,

taking,

and doing that,

she usurped

the creator's rights.

And here,

these angels

are doing

the very same thing.

Sin is always

the same.

You see

that it's good

and then you take

what's not

yours to take,

what's forbidden

to you by God.

And it seems

that it's not just

the angels

that are guilty,

but it's the men

who are guilty,

which is why

God punishes man also.

And it seems

that this is

not rape,

right?

Because it says

that these sons

of God

took daughters

of men

as their wives.

This is not rape,

this is marriage,

which means

not only did

the women

consent,

it's their fathers

in this culture

also consented.

So everyone

in humanity

is implicated

in this sin.

And in fact,

other ancient

New Yorks

and religions

actually encouraged

fertility cults

and sacred marriages

with the gods.

And so this is

a polemic

against that practice.

And so God

decides to punish

humanity.

He says,

My spirit shall not

abide in man forever

for he is flesh.

His days shall be

120 years.

Meaning that

God's not going

to let them live,

give them the breath

of life for an

indefinite period

of time,

or even that long

as the antediluvian

patriarchs.

Instead,

now it's going

to be cut short.

So this view

then makes sense

of the rise

of the Nephilim.

The Nephilim

were not immortal,

but they are

described as mighty men.

Verse 4 says,

The Nephilim

were on the earth

in those days

and also afterward

when the sons of God

came into the daughters

of men

and they bore children

to them.

These were the mighty men

who were of old,

the men of renown.

So the fact that

Nephilim were there

in those days

and also afterward

suggests that

maybe this practice

happened again

at some point

in human history.

There's more.

There's descendants

of Nephilim

you see throughout

the Old Testament.

So in Numbers 13.33,

they're mentioned.

So the Israelites

are sent out

to spy the promised land

of Anan

to bring back

a report

of how they can

take the land.

And then instead

they come back

cowering and scared

and this is what

they say,

And there we saw

the Nephilim,

the sons of Anak

who come from

the Nephilim.

And we seem

to ourselves

like grasshoppers

and so we seem

to them.

So they lose

all their courage

when they see

the Nephilim

in the land,

the promised land.

And the Nephilim

aren't the only people

described as giants

in the Old Testament.

So Deuteronomy 2.10

talks about

the Imim

formerly lived there,

a people great

and many

and tall

as the Anakim.

So Anakim

are the people

who are set

to come from

the Nephilim.

And like the Anakim,

they're also counted

as Rephaim

but the Moabites

call them Imim.

So Anakim,

Rephaim

and some of the Rephaim

took refuge

among the Philistines

in the valley

of Rephaim

and so

that's probably

the Goliath

probably descended

from them.

So you see,

you remember that story.

And that actually

story is really

illuminating

because I think

it helps clear up

a common misunderstanding.

When we hear

the word giant

or Nephilim

we think of

the race of giants

from like Harry Potter.

They grew up

to like 25 feet.

That's not what's

going on here.

So Goliath,

anybody know

how tall he is?

Sorry?

So he says

the Bible describes him

as six cubits

and a span

in 1 Samuel 17.4.

So that's actually

six feet nine inches.

So that's

about the size

of LeBron James.

LeBron James

is six feet eight

and he's 250 pounds.

I mean,

that guy

is a big man, right?

So I mean,

so this is not

talking about giants

like, you know,

like different,

like these are

big men,

I mean,

to be sure.

They're mighty men.

They were called heroes

for a reason.

But this is not,

you know,

some fantastical giant,

you know,

like from Harry Potter.

Now, I mean,

if you were,

imagine me facing

LeBron James in battle.

It's,

it would be

a very appropriate

hyperbole to say

that, oh,

I look like

a grasshopper to him,

right?

I mean,

so that's what's going on.

So the Israelites

know that,

recognize that it

strikes fear

into their hearts

just to hear

of the Nephilim.

And so God responds,

but Nephilim,

though fascinating,

are reminders

of humanity's depravity,

make sure you remember that,

and of unthinkable

transgression

of God's creation order.

And it's because

of that God responds

in verses five to seven.

The Lord saw

that the wickedness

of man was great

in the earth

and that every intention

of the thoughts

of his heart

was only evil continually.

And the Lord regretted

that he had made man

on the earth

and it grieved him

to his heart.

So the Lord said,

I will blot out man

whom I have created

from the face of the land,

man and animals

and creeping things

and birds of the heavens,

for I am sorry

that I have made them.

So previously,

in his act of creation,

God saw

that it was good.

Now God sees

that it is wicked.

Wickedness of man

was great in the earth.

And it says,

every intention

of the thoughts

of his heart

was only evil continually.

Not just our deeds,

but every intention

of the thoughts

of our heart

was evil continually.

So God cares

not only about what we do,

but why we do them.

He cares about our intention.

And this verse right here

is the clearest

Old Testament teaching

of the doctrine

of total depravity.

We might also call that

pervasive depravity,

which states that

the corruption of sin

extends to every aspect

of human nature.

Now this doesn't mean

that humanity

is totally incapable

of good,

but it does mean

that everything we do,

even every good thing

we do,

is tainted

with some semblance

of evil and sin.

Puritan theologian

Jonathan Edwards

understood this reality

better than most people,

and he distinguishes

what he calls

common virtue

from true virtue.

And writing that

most virtues

that we,

so-called virtues

we observe around us

are simply common virtues,

not true virtues.

He writes that

true virtue

is doing the right thing

simply because

God is worthy

of our total trust

and obedience.

It's done out of love

for God,

out of obedience to him.

Common virtue

is doing the right thing

for our own sake,

out of fear,

out of pride.

For example,

common virtue

is when someone

is honest

because he or she

is afraid

of getting caught

in a lie

and then punished

afterward.

They're still honest,

but they're honest

for the wrong reason.

It's a common virtue.

Or,

someone is honest

because they say

to themselves,

oh,

I'm not like

one of those

low-born,

rotten liars

because of pride.

Pride of thinking

that you're more upright

and honest

than other people.

Common virtue

is when someone

participates

in service projects

because he or she

is afraid

of being judged

by people around them.

Fear.

Or someone

who participates

in those projects

so that they can

feel superior.

Better.

More accomplished

than other people

around them.

It's common virtue.

We should be grateful

for common virtue

because if it didn't exist,

this side

would not function.

That's an example

of common grace

as well.

But God is not

pleased with

common virtue.

He says,

every intention

of the thought

of his heart

is still evil

when we only

have common virtue

but not true virtue.

Doing good deeds

out of fear

and pride

is profoundly

self-serving.

We're doing it

for our glory

not God's glory.

So because we're

taking a shortcut

to virtue,

what ends up

happening is

then we become

more and more

fearful and more

and more prideful

people which

is deeply

displeasing to God.

So if you're

tempted to think

that you're a pretty

good person

then we're wrong.

We're very wrong.

Every intention

of the thoughts

of our hearts

are evil

continually

apart from Christ.

The situation

is so bad

it says that

God regretted

that he had

made man

on the earth.

Other passages

of scripture

say that

God is not man

that he should

lie or a son

of man

that he should

change his mind.

God doesn't

regret anything.

He doesn't repent

of anything

in one sense

because he's

the sovereign

and transcendent

God in his will

he doesn't change

but he does

in a real way

interact with

human history

respond to our

actions

and that's

what we see

here.

And it says

he'd grieve

him to his heart.

That's the language

that's used

in Isaiah 54 6

to describe

the grief

of a deserted

wife.

Grieved.

That's the same

word that's used

in 2 Samuel 19 2

to describe

a father

who lost

his son.

Grieved.

The Lord

is grieved

by the sin.

And his

righteousness

justice must

issue forth

in judgment.

So he says

he will blot out

man from the

face of the

earth.

So what then

are we supposed

to do?

Is there any

hope for humanity?

And verse 8

offers a glimmer

of hope.

He says

but Noah

found favor

in the eyes

of the Lord.

And the words

in this passage

like regretted,

wipe out,

favor,

all sound like

the name Noah

in Hebrew.

So they're all

pointing to him

as the central

figure of the

next section

of Genesis.

It's through

him that

God's grace

for humanity

will appear.

But even

though Noah

will be used

by God

to save

the human

race from

the flood,

he will not

be able to

save the human

race from

sin.

Which calls

for a better

and a greater

Noah.

And we see

hints of this

all throughout

the passage.

Remember what

he said about

the name Seth?

It sounds like

the Hebrew word

for appoint.

And that's

where he got

his names.

And that's

an allusion

to Genesis

3.15

which said,

I will put,

that's the same

word,

appoint,

I will appoint

enmity between

you and the

woman and

between your

offspring and

our offspring.

He shall

bruise your

head and

you shall

bruise his

heel.

So that

promised

offspring,

the promised

Messiah who

is going to

come to

conquer Satan

and defeat

evil,

that man is

going to

come in the

line of Seth.

So that's

pointed at.

And in

Hebrews 12.22

to 24 it says,

but you have

come to

Jesus,

the mediator

of a new

covenant,

and to the

sprinkled blood

that speaks

a better word

than the

blood of

Abel.

God said

to Cain

in Genesis

4.10,

the voice

of your

brother's

blood is

crying to

me from

the ground.

And according

to Old

Testament,

blood is

where the

life is.

And so it

is by the

blood that

we must

make atonement

for sin.

But Cain's

blood is

not crying

for atonement.

It is crying

for atonement

in the sense

that it is

crying for

vengeance.

That's what