Cain's Wife & The Birth of Seth (Genesis Chapter Four - Part 3)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. John writes in chapter 4, verse 20, If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's what?

He's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? In this commandment, we have from him that he who loves God must also love his brother. So hatred of your brother is like hating God.

To murder your brother, it's as if you wanted to murder God, but of course they can't. So according to Jesus, the defining mark of a Christian, and that's brought out by John here, is that we love the brethren.

How do people know that you're a Christian? You love your fellow Christians. That's the mark. In John 13, 34, and 35, Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

By this, all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. So let me repeat this. The defining mark of a Christian is that we love our fellow Christians. Does anyone want to argue or debate that with me?

I don't think so. It's pretty clear here. And yet, who are these people out there, I love God, but I have no use for the church. I love God, but I can't stand church people. Have you heard stuff like this?

They need to read this passage. If you don't love your fellow Christians, sometimes we can get on each other's nerves, I understand that. Sometimes we say and do the wrong things that bother people, that's going to happen.

But we love one another, don't we? If somebody doesn't love their fellow believers, they can say they love God, but the Bible says something different. So while we might not like a person, what they say or do, Christians are to love others, just as we love Christ.

Remember in Matthew 25, what Jesus said? He said, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. So what you do to others, it's the same as if you're doing it to Christ.

So when Cain did this to Abel, it's as if he did it to Christ. So if you do something hateful against another Christian, you're doing it against Christ. All right, let's go back to Genesis chapter 4. A lot of implications from these Old Testament stories.

Again, people think, oh, Cain and Abel, I heard that when I was six years old in Sunday school. Other people haven't heard a sermon on it. Probably some people wouldn't preach a sermon on it, but there's always lessons to learn.

And I think the first 10, 12 chapters of Genesis are just so vitally important that we preach them. But what's the title of the message? Yeah, Cain and Abel. Cain was the first murderer. He killed his own brother.

So we should love one another as brethren. When we dislike someone, dislike leads to anger. Anger leads to hatred. Hatred leads to murder or death. I don't want to sound like Yoda in Star Wars, but that's true, okay?

Jesus said in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

You see how Cain's anger, he did something wrong, he became angry, and that anger led to hatred and murder. That's the way that, that's where that road goes. Genesis chapter 4, look at verse 6. So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry?

And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? So do the right thing and I will accept you. But if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

And that's what we need to know today. Yes, sin is like a lion crouching, just waiting there to devour us in any moment. We should rule over it, amen? So Cain clearly has a choice. Every person has a choice.

Cain chose to give in to his anger. In Matthew 23, 35, Jesus depicts Abel as the first martyr. Basically, Abel is the first person to die for doing that which was right. He was the first person to die simply for obeying God.

So God approaches Cain and he asks him, hey, where's your brother Abel? Where is he? And what does Cain say? Sarcastically, he says, what, am I my brother's keeper? Now, some people have taken from this that yes, the Bible is teaching we should be our brother's keeper.

Well, we should look out for one another. Sure, that's good enough, but that's not what is happening here. Cain is being sarcastic. And I think it's a play on words because Abel was a keeper of the sheep.

It was his job to constantly know where the sheep were at all times. So Cain is saying, well, is it my job to know where my brother is every moment? So this is not some profound statement. This is Cain being sarcastic.

The Lord says, the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. In other words, yeah, I'm not asking because I want to know. I'm just letting you know now I do know what you did. Like with Adam, when God asked the question, where are you?

Or have you eaten from the tree? It's not as if God doesn't know. God knows the answer. What's he trying to do? He's trying to get a response, hopefully the right response that, wow, I'm sorry. Please, please forgive me.

God always wants a response of contrition. He already knows what we've done wrong. He wants repentance. Jesus would often do this. He would say things to people, not because he wanted to know or because he didn't know.

Jesus was trying to draw out of people an expression of faith, an expression of repentance. Look at verses 11 and 12. Cain is a farmer, right? So this is the curse because Cain does not do the right thing.

God curses the ground that it's no longer going to produce. Starting in verse 16, this is titled The Family of Cain. It says, Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.

And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. Okay, now this is where we get into the fun section of the passage.

Okay, it's all been serious up until right now. But sometimes when teachers go over this, a precocious Sunday school student will stop and say, wait a minute. Cain knew his wife and they had, wait a second, hold on.

So let me get this straight. God created Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. You know what the question is. Where did Cain's wife come from? Like, what's happening here? And then the second question, where did all these people seem to be living in the land of Nod?

Because his wife apparently was living with these other people in the land of Nod. Where did these people come from? Where did Cain get his wife? Now, the first question is pretty simple. Some people don't like the answer, but it's pretty simple.

Cain must have married a relative. See, here's the thing. That's the response and that's probably what I would have said up until last week. That Cain married a sister. That's not necessarily true. Here's why.

We know Adam and Eve had other children. We get the impression that Cain was the firstborn and then Abel. Point is, they had other sons and daughters. Technically, he could have married a relative. It didn't have to be his sister.

And if it wasn't, that would be good. It would make us a little more comfortable. But isn't that a problem? That's another issue. Well, isn't that a problem? Number one, this was a different time. Number two, they had no other choice.

All there was was relatives. Number three, marrying close relatives became forbidden under God's law when God gave the commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai. So, another common question. Marrying a relative, wouldn't this have caused genetic defects with Cain and his children?

The argument is that when Adam and Eve were created, they were created perfect.

Right?

It took time for things to start to degenerate. So, the idea is that Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, at this moment, would have had very few genetic imperfections. So, later on, when this would have become a problem at Mount Sinai, that's when God commanded against it.

Now, I realize there might be some people who just can't accept this. They just can't accept this idea. But keep in mind, who did Abraham marry? His half-sister. Who did, I know you're not supposed to point this stuff out.

Some people prefer that I didn't. Isaac and Rebecca, what were they? Cousins or something. So, again, this was a different time. You cannot take things in the Bible and take them from their context and put them into 21st century America and then judge them based on our standards.

If you did, imagine what they would say about us. Let's just throw that out there. So, one thing about the Bible, it doesn't tell us everything. Here in Genesis, we're getting the overview, we're getting the highlights.

If you think about it, it tells about Cain and Abel in one verse, and the next thing you know, they're full-grown adults. So, there was all these other children being born that we just don't know about.

But based on all this, what's the takeaway? To bring this message to a close, what do we learn from all of this? That's really what's important for us. Well, we learn a few things about the first family.

We learn about the devastating effects of rebelling against God. Verses 18 through 24, we learn about further generations. And there's this man, Lamech. So, Cain killed his brother, and then he tried to cover it up.

Lamech kills a man, and now he's bragging about it. So, you can see that when man rebels against God, things continue to get worse and worse and worse. And, of course, that will happen until you get to the time of the flood, when things get so bad that God has to basically destroy the earth and humanity and start over.

So, that's one lesson. When people rebel against God, continue to rebel against God, things get worse and worse. But skip ahead to verse 25, and this is where we will close. I like to close on something positive.

I like to close on a statement of hope. So, Abel, the godly son, is what? He's gone. He's dead. The wicked son, Cain, his descendants are waxing worse and worse. But now, a new son is born to Adam and Eve, and his name is Seth.

And from Seth, a new godly line would come. Look at Genesis 4, verses 25 and 26.

It says,.

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and named him Seth. For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. And as for Seth, to him also a son was born, and he named him Enosh.

Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. And we need to pray that God would raise up a new generation of people who love God and obey God. Men, women, and children who would call upon the name of the Lord.

Amen?

Let's close. And Lord, how thankful we are for your grace. And how you raised up a new generation of men who knew you and called upon your name. And Lord, I pray that you would raise up a new generation of men and women saved by the blood.

And Lord, we would turn this thing around, bring revival to the churches, and bring righteousness back to our land. I pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.