THE ANTEDILUVIAN ERA

Primary Bible Passages: Genesis 4:8 - 5:8

Key Verse: Genesis 5:1

Memory Verses: Genesis 4:9

LESSON OUTLINE

I. THE FIRST MURDER AND THE HISTORY OF CAIN. (Genesis 4:8-24)

A. In response to God’s rejection of Cain’s offering, Cain slew Abel. (Genesis 4:8)

1. Abel had done Cain no wrong. Whatever conflict Cain had was with God, yet he took out his resentment and hatred on an innocent bystander. Inherent in one's evil direction is jealousy for those who are doing right. Christians who serve God need not think they will escape the world’s ire. (Psalm 35:7,19; John 15:25; Lamentations 3:52)

2. God asked Cain, prior to his murder of his brother, Abel, "Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen?" (Genesis 4:6) Anger, resentment and bitterness in the heart are sins which can drive one to extremely high levels of wicked activity. (James 1:13-15)

B. Life is precious to God and He called Cain into account for his wicked act. (Genesis 4:9-10)

1. God asked Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?" (Genesis 4:9) Cain responded by claiming that he wasn’t his brother’s keeper. Cain also said he did not know where Abel was, which was an outright lie. Defiance grows with sin.

2. God responded by saying Abel’s blood cried out to Him. (Genesis 4:10) God, who knows all and who is the final judge, holds men accountable for their actions toward others. (Romans 14:7)

C. God considers murder to be a heinous crime, and its punishment is very severe.

1. In punishment of Cain for his murder of Abel, God cursed him, and promised him hardships from an extra barren earth. He also promised him a fugitive lifestyle. Cain would be marked by men as a murderer and men would pursue vengeance against him. (Genesis 4:11-12) The "mark" on Cain is not explained in scripture. (Genesis 4:15) That it was not a mark of race which currently prevails on any given race is made clear when it is remembered that all current races stem from the Flood.

2. At the time of the Flood, God established murder to be a capital offense. "Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." (Genesis 9:6) God is the author of capital punishment for murder. (Job 16:18; Psalm 9:12)

3. At Cain’s complaint that his punishment was too great, God established the principle that the punishment of capital offenders is the function of the state, not individuals. Cain was provided the same protection against himself from individuals that any other person has. (Genesis 4:13-15)

D. The history of Cain. (Genesis 4:16-24)

1. Cain took a wife and unto them were born several children. (Genesis 4:17-18) The answer to the question of where Cain got his wife is obvious. Adam and Eve had many other children after the births of Cain and Abel. See Genesis 4:25. Cain’s wife was one of his sisters. At this early beginning, the gene pool was largely uncorrupted, and the danger of deformities and other genetic complications from marriage to a close relative was very small.

2. It is obvious that the intelligence level of these earliest of people was not at all weak and inferior. They were very industrious and progressive people. They invented tent-making, harps and organs. (Genesis 4:20-21) They soon learned how to produce iron and brass. (Genesis 4:22) They were not primitive "cave men" barely above the intelligence level of apes.

3. It is noteworthy that one of Cain’s sons, Lamech, "took unto him two wives." (Genesis 4:19) This act violated God’s principle of the monogamous family, as set forth in Genesis 2:21-24. Polygamy became very popular and even infected many of God’s people, but it has never received divine approval.

Lamech also killed a man in self defense. "I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt." (Genesis 4:23) He pointed out the approval of God upon his right to defend himself against one who would take his life. (Genesis 4:24) The early introduction of this issue seems to establish well the God-given right of self defense.

II. SETH AND HIS LINEAGE. (Genesis 4:25-5:8)

A. The third son of Adam and Eve was Seth meaning "substituted."¹   The choice of this name by Eve testifies of her faith in God to fulfill His promise to continue the righteous seed which would ultimately "bruise" the head of the serpent. (Genesis 3:15)

1. The descendants of Cain (Cainites) and the descendants of Seth (Sethites) are indicative of the two spiritual classes of people to inhabit the earth. The Cainites represent the people who know not and care not for God. They occupied themselves primarily with worldly arts and business and made the kingdom of the world their chief concern. The Sethites represent the people who know and care for God and whose chief interest is in Him and His spiritual kingdom. Thus, the Cainites and the Sethites testify respectively of the lost and the saved.

2. Genesis 4:26 identifies the Sethites as men who began "to call upon the name of the LORD." "LORD" is "Jehovah" meaning "the self-existent or eternal one."² It is not difficult to see why the Jews adhered staunchly to the position stated in John 9:31 which says, "Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." From Adam’s lifetime forward, calling on the name of the LORD was associated with and limited to those already identified with God. Only those in such a relationship could or can successfully call upon Him. (Romans 10:14) Those who have not identified themselves with God by faith have no mediator with God and are thus in no position to approach Him. Consider Hebrews 3:1, 4:14-16 and 7:24-28.

B. The lineage of Seth.

1.The remainder of the Bible is mainly occupied with the descendants of Seth, not Cain. That pattern emerges in Genesis 5 and continues thereafter. The context of the Bible makes clear that Adam and Eve, Cain and his wife and other descendants of Adam had many other sons and daughters, "but no notice is taken of them, because an honorable mention must be made of his name only in whose loins Christ and the church were."³

2. This brief summary of the offsprings of Seth up to Noah and his sons "makes this section a complete record of the antediluvian patriarchs, from the date of Creation down to the birth of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. It therefore provides the chronological framework of history from Creation to the Flood."⁴

3. There is no legitimate reason to not accept the record of Seth and his sons to the Flood as historical fact. Not only their factual listing here in Genesis 5, but the repetition of these in I Chronicles 1:1-4 and Luke 3:36-38 confirms their authenticity. ⁵

C. Some of the pre-Flood sons of Seth were preachers of righteousness.

1. The pre-Flood world was exceedingly wicked. (Genesis 6:5) It was known for sexual wickedness, gluttony, alcohol abuse and especially for marriage abuse. (Matthew 24:38)

2. As sinful as it was, this wicked antediluvian world was not without a righteous witness. II Peter 2:5 calls Noah "the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness." Noah was not the eighth person to live, but was the eighth preacher of righteousness. At 105 years of age, Seth "begat Enos." Enos means "Mortal frailty."⁶ This name testifies of Seth’s recognition of human futility. Enoch was another of these "preachers." He preached the coming judgment of God in view of the godlessness of those days. (Jude 14-15) The inclusion of this prophecy by Jude, coupled with his statement that the Lord will come "with ten thousand of his saints," speaks of the fact that it has not yet been completely fulfilled. It is thus the first Bible prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ. In addition to whatever Noah said, his building of the Ark was within itself a divine testimony to the world. (Hebrews 11:7) Methuselah means "when he dies, judgment." The message of God and His coming judgment upon sin surely went forth.

The Bible does not elaborate on how the pre-Flood preaching was done. It does affirm that a continuous line of the men in the lineage of Seth to the sons of Noah stood up for the Lord.

3. The antediluvian men and women were almost universal in their rejection of God and His ways. Out of the many billions of people who lived at that time, only eight entered entered Noah’s Ark and survived the Flood. (Genesis 7:7, I Peter 3:20) Here is a preview of the small percentage of true believers in the whole population in any age, especially the population at the Second Coming of the Lord. Jesus said, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14)

 

FOOTNOTES

1. Strong, James, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, New York: Abingdon Press, 1958, reference 8352.

2. Ibid., reference 3068.

3. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, London: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1706, Vol. I, Genesis 5.

4. Morris, Henry, The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976, page 152.

5. Ibid., page 155.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

SUMMARY

As a result of God’s rejection of his offering, Cain was very angry. Anger is generally filled with jealousy. Though Abel had done nothing evil to Cain, Cain resented him because Abel’s offering was accepted, while his was not. People who do evil often resent those who do good. As in the case of Cain, they often take vengeance against and persecute those who live godly lives. Lazy people resent and oppose those who work hard. Somehow the good of godly people seems to accentuate the evil of those who do wrong. Though their anger is really against God, it is common for them to take this anger out on His people. Let every believer beware!

In spite of God’s warning to Cain to control his temper, he did not. He rose up and killed Abel. When God called him into account, as is His unerring practice against evildoers, Cain was arrogant and belligerent. He denied that he had any responsibility toward his brother and even denied the murder. Of course, he could not fool God. No one ever does. God not only assured him, and all of us, that he did have a responsibility toward his fellow-man, He also made very clear that human life is very precious and sacred to Him. God cursed Cain, promising that the earth would always respond more poorly than usual to Cain’s efforts, that he’d be a wanderer and vagabond, and that man’s hand would always be against him. Murder is a heinous crime. God instituted the death penalty for murder. In response to Cain’s complaint that his punishment was too severe, and to prevent individuals from taking the law into their own hands, God gave the responsibility for executing murderers to the state.

Later, Cain married. Since Adam and Eve had many children and since there were no other persons on earth besides the offsprings of Adam and Eve, there should be no confusion over the fact that Cain married one of his sisters. Since the human race had just begun, the gene pool would not have yet been seriously corrupted. Thus, the genetic dangers later inherent in inner family cohabitation would have been minimal at that time.

Further testimony to the intelligence of early man is seen in the later history of Cain. His immediate offspring began to quickly engage in tent making, iron and brass works, and in the manufacture and playing of sophisticated musical instruments such as the harp and organ.

The history of Cain also quickly gives us God’s view of self defense. Cain’s son, Lamech, killed a young man who was trying to do him serious harm. He defended himself. He received no divine condemnation for doing so. It would seem that all persons have a legitimate right to defend themselves against those who would do them harm.

Seth was given by God as a son to Adam and Eve to replace Abel. He and certain of his sons constitute the lineage of the promised seed, which refers to the line from Eve leading to the fleshly birth of Jesus Christ. Not all of Seth’s descendants are listed; only those who were key figures in the divine lineage.

There are two major categories of people in the world, those who believe in the Lord and those who have no real regard for Him. Seth and his descendants typify the former group while Cain and his descendants typify the latter. The Bible is almost exclusively occupied with the offsprings of Seth as they relate to the coming of the Messiah.

It is said of the Sethites that they began to call upon the name of the LORD. As people who believed in the LORD, they called upon Him. In the Bible’s first mention of this activity, calling upon the name of the LORD was not a means by which lost men came to God. Calling upon the name of the LORD was terminology identifying an activity of those who already believed in the LORD.

Almost all that is known of the era from the Creation to the Flood comes from Genesis 4-6. Though brief, this history is most enlightening. The pre-Flood era, also known as the antediluvian age, was a most wicked era. The wickedness which originated with the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden continuously worsened to the Flood. That era was characterized by a disregard for marriage, sexual sins of all sorts, violence, sensuous pleasure, willful rejection of the Word of God, gluttony, alcohol abuse and many other sins. Genesis 6:5 best summarizes the era by saying, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

From Adam right up to the Flood, God strove to turn man from his plunge into more and more wickedness. Though they were few in numbers and largely rejected, which always seems to be true in any era of time, there was always a preacher on hand warning the people to repent. There were eight preachers specifically mentioned in Genesis 5. Enoch was a most godly man, who walked with God. A portion of his message is recorded in Jude 14-15. Noah was himself a faithful preacher. For 120 years his Ark was a potent testimony of God’s coming judgment.

In spite of the warnings, very few people listened to the truth of God. Of the billions of people living at the time of the Flood, only eight people believed God and entered the Ark. Everyone else perished in the Flood. Jesus taught that pre-Flood conditions are a precursor of the conditions which will exist just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the judgment of God which shall accompany His return. It is observable that the same kinds of sins and wickedness characteristic of the world just before the Flood are also increasingly characteristic of the world today. It is sobering to consider that the number of believers at the time of the Flood may very well be indicative of the number of true believers when Jesus returns.

QUESTIONS

1. What was Cain’s emotional response to God’s rejection of His offering?

2. How did Cain physically vent his feelings over God’s rejection of his?

3. Is there any evidence that Abel overtly provoked Cain to take action against him?

4. What is the warning in Cain’s action against Abel regarding the treatment from transgressors which those who would obey God can expect?

5. How does Cain illustrate the power of one’s inward feelings over one’s outward actions?

6. How is God’s omniscience seen in His response to Cain’s action against Abel?

7. Discuss God’s attitude over Cain’s action against Abel.

8. Are we our brother’s keeper?

9. What is God’s position on capital punishment?

10. What was God’s punishment against Cain for the murder of Abel?

11. What is the God-ordained responsibility of the state in dealing with capital offenders?

12. From where did Cain’s wife come?

13. Discuss the spiritual implications of Cain getting a wife from some source other than the lineage of Adam and Eve.

14. Why would the human gene pool allow marriages between close family members without genetic complications to offsprings in the days of Cain whereas the same conditions do not currently exist?

15. How does the later history of Cain speak of the great intelligence of these first and ancient men?

16. Discuss the implications of Seth’s name and its meaning of "substituted."

17. Is the statement that men began to call upon the name of the LORD a description of their activity or is it a statement as to how they became godly people?

18. Why is it impossible for any person to reach God apart from the intercessory work of Jesus Christ?

19. Discuss some of the preachers of righteousness in the pre-Flood era.