Questions and Answers

Genesis 4:14    Who did Cain think would kill him?

An important point to consider in this chapter is the lack of information as to how much time is going by. The narrative is concerned only with Cain and Abel and it sounds as though these were the only children Adam and Eve had at this time. We do not know how old Adam and Eve were when Cain and Abel were born, but we do know from Chapter 5 v 3 – 5, that they were 130 years old when Seth (seems to have been seen as a ‘replacement’ for Abel) was born, and that they ‘had other sons and daughters’ – no mention of how many. Also it is not absolutely clear whether they were born before or after Seth.

At this period in human history there is no prohibition against brothers and sisters marrying (that came later in the law through Moses) so it is assumed that Cain married one of his sisters (ch. 4: 17) and therefore that he feared that someone from his own family, knowing that Cain had killed their brother, would kill him in retribution.

Genesis 4:19-24    Please explain – especially who Lamech killed?

Lamech is the seventh generation from Adam, through the God-despising line descended from Cain – ch. 4: 17, 18. In Chapter 5 we are given the God-fearing line descended from Adam, through Seth. If we add up the years given in ch. 5 we can see that roughly 700 years had gone by from the creation of Adam to the seventh generation and we are told that each of the men mentioned had ‘other sons and daughters’, so there could have been a fair number of people on the earth by this time. So there could have been many people whom Lamech had the choice of killing.

Lamech is the first polygamist, contrary to God’s intention for marriage – Gen. 2 v 24 ‘a man will be united to his wife (not ‘wives’). Lamech is also a braggart and an excessively violent and vengeful man – he has murdered a man and a youth who have only injured him.

Genesis 4:4 and Hebrews 11:4. Please explain

Genesis makes it clear that Cain’s offering did not please God whereas Abel’s did. V. 3 tells us that Cain brought some of the produce of the ground for God. The emphasis is on ‘some’ or as we might say ‘any old fruits’. By contrast Abel brought the best to God – the fat (best) and the first born (best). Abel offered the first and the best to God. This is a theme throughout Scripture – especially in the law through Moses; all first born domestic animals had to be offered to God and they had to be perfect and without blemish. In Exodus 23:19 the Israelites were told, “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God”. Cain, being only the second generation of human beings, should have been aware of this approach to his Creator. The difference in the characters of Cain and Abel comes out clearly here. Abel has respect for God. Cain, instead of humbly accepting God’s correction, has a temper tantrum, and later murders Abel and then whinges sullenly and exaggerates his punishment – no contrition here.

Cain is the archetypal wicked man who disobeys God, and hates and maltreats those who love God (see 1 John 3: 12). Abel is exampled as a model of righteous and faithful behaviour toward God and in that sense, even though he is long dead, his example still speaks to us of acceptable behaviour.

Genesis 5:1    Why did people live so long compared to today?

I guess because God decided that they should. However, it is noticeable that after the flood, lives began to be shorter and by the time we get to Moses we are told (Psalm 90: 10) that the ‘length of our days is seventy years – or eighty if we have the strength’. Moses himself lived to 120 years – but the fact remains that our average life-span is now around 70 – 80 years.

Genesis 5:24. Where did God take him - Enoch? (Please discuss/ lots of questions!)

We are not told where God took Enoch. However, we are told in Hebrews ch.11: 13 that ‘all these people (including Enoch – v. 5) were living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised’. So evidently Enoch died. God took him away from the world which was becoming wicked and corrupt (see ch. 6: 5, 6), just as God took righteous Lot out of corrupt Sodom and Gomorrah.

Similarly with Elijah – God took him away 2 Kings 2, but Elijah wrote a letter to a later king, 2 Chronicles 21: 12 – 15 and so was very much alive on the earth after being ‘taken away’.

Enoch and Elijah are often spoken of together in the same breath, as going up to heaven but there is no Biblical evidence to support this.

It is interesting to compare what happened to Moses – God told him to go up Mount Nebo and that he would die there (Deuteronomy 32: 48 – 50), then we are told that God buried him there and no-one knows where his grave is (Deuteronomy 34: 5, 6).

So, I would conclude that God took Enoch away from a corrupt world and that he died peacefully and that God buried him. Enoch now awaits the resurrection when the Lord Jesus returns.

Genesis 6:1-4    Interesting – open for discussion

The expressions ‘sons of God’ and ‘daughters of men’ are initially puzzling. ‘Sons of God’ in other parts of Scripture describes those who are godly – see 1 John 3: 2 ‘Dear friends, now we are children (sons) of God’; see also Matthew 5: 9; Romans 8: 14, 19; Galatians 3: 26.

Another expression that is used is ‘sons of light’ (those who are Godly) and ‘children of the devil’ (those who are worldly, fleshly, carnal). Using those concepts, the passage can be understood as: Godly men married ungodly women – (men are suckers for beautiful women, regardless of their character!). The result of the intermarrying of the Godly and ungodly was that ‘The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become’ (v5).

Genesis 8:1. Was this wind or the Holy Spirit?

Strong’s Concordance says that the word for wind (‘ruwach’ in Hebrew) can also mean ‘spirit’. (It can also mean: breath, exhalation, life, anger. In the KJV it is also translated as: air, anger, breath, courage, wind, tempest, (whirl)wind – quite a choice!)

All power is of God – ie. it is all God’s spirit at work. In Genesis 1: 2 the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters and subsequently went to work on creation. So the wind in ch.8:1 was the means by which God was drying the earth. Generally speaking, the term ‘spirit of God’ denotes God’s power in keeping the universe going, whereas the term Holy Spirit is used to denote God’s power working on his special work of redemption of mankind.

Genesis 8:20, 21: Are we irreverent by not sacrificing to God? When did the practice stop? No, we are not irreverent by not sacrificing animals. The practice stopped with the death of Jesus. The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were only a temporary institution – a shadow – to teach that sin causes death and that sin must be atoned for. The animals sacrificed had to be perfect and were accepted as atonement by God in the place of the offerer. But what God really wanted was perfection (sinlessness) in mankind and only Jesus provided that. The animal sacrifices were accepted in the prospect of Jesus’ sacrifice. However, even though God commanded the Israelites to offer sacrifices, He made it quite plain that they gave Him no pleasure if they were offered casually, thoughtlessly or with the wrong attitude: see 1 Samuel 15: 22 – 24; Psalm 40: 6 – 8; Psalm 51: 16, 17; Isaiah 1: 11 – 20; Jeremiah 7: 21 – 23; Micah 6: 6 – 8; Mark 12: 32 – 34.

Christians still have to sacrifice – see Romans 12: 1 ‘…offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God’. Our whole lives have to be an offering to God.

Bro Leon and Sis Joan Shuker