7003 Genesis 3-4

Genesis 3-4

"Now the serpent was more subtle..." (cunning) "...than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made, And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." (Gen.3:1-3). Satan came in the form of a serpent which is translated in the Hebrew as "The shining one." Whether or not it was a snake, as we think of snakes today, it's difficult to ascertain. Surely, it's not the snake that we have today, because this creature was cursed that it would crawl on its belly, and in the Garden it probably had a method of propulsion of itself through the air. There are suggestions that it was actually in the form of a dragon. The Bible speaks of them. Just where do we get the concept of dragons? It could be, at one time, that there was such a creature upon the earth, but now extinct. Maybe as a result of the curse it couldn't survive in the dust of the earth on its belly, without the other method of propulsion through the air.

They use dragons in Chinese parades and it takes many people to make up the dragon. Someone wears the head of the dragon and the rest of the people become the body with a long brightly colored cloth over them and they move as though floating down the street. It is interesting that the great dragon is a name for Satan. Literally, in the Hebrew, it means "The shining one." Satan so often disguises himself as a shining one. Many times, in our concept of Satan, we make a serious mistake in thinking of him as being some horribly repulsive figure. The classic idea of Milton's Satan was a man with horns, dressed in red, carrying a pitchfork with a glaring look on his face. We think we would never be susceptible to that kind of a person, but Satan will come as an angel of light in order to deceive. Satan comes as something attractive and beautiful to the eye.

The Bible tells us that Satan was perfect in wisdom and beauty. Ezekiel 28:15 says, "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." When Satan comes and brings temptation, it isn't something that is repulsive to us but it's appearance is attractive. He makes sin look inviting. It is important to dismiss from your mind the classic concept of Satan with the horns and glaring face, because he does not approach us in this way. He came as a "shining one" to Eve.

He came, first of all, questioning the word of God. I would like to suggest that Satan has not ceased that type of attack and is still questioning the word of God. He is trying through questions to cast doubt on the word of God and on the nature of God. The question that Satan asked Eve, in the Garden, was designed to suggest that there was an unfairness in God because He was holding something back from her. That something was desirable and it really wasn't fair of God. Satan, even today, comes challenging the word of God and in his questioning is the intimation of unfairness. God's holding back from you, something that is desirable. "Did God say, 'You can't do that,' "Oh my, what a shame! If you could only do that, it would be so exciting." There is that suggestion of unfairness in God's word.

Today Satan has expanded "Hath God said" to "Did God really say that or not?" The modern Bible critics: the liberals, the modernists, the infidels, all question whether or not the word of God is, indeed, the word of God. Then they tell you which scriptures are God's word and which scriptures are not God's word. They try to divide the Bible as to inspired and uninspired portions. The moment any man stands up to tell you what scriptures are inspired or uninspired, he replaces the authority of God and then he becomes the authority. God's word, no longer being authoritative, man will tell you what to believe. Look out! You're in big trouble anytime you put your trust in man. Satan has three basic areas of attack: the word of God, the deity of Jesus Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit.

"And the woman said unto the serpent..." Eve made her first mistake when she entered into a dialogue with Satan. The moment you enter into a dialogue with Satan, you're opening the door for trouble. The moment you open your mind to begin to entertain a suggestion of Satan, getting into a dialogue over issues where God has spoken specifically, you're opening the door for some real problems. "And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Now, she's not really quoting what God said. God said to them that they should not eat of it and in the day that they ate of it, they would surely die. Eve didn't make that plain, she said, "...lest ye die." She added to what God said by saying they weren't to touch the tree. There is nothing recorded that God said they couldn't touch it just that they weren't to eat of it. The woman changed God's word a little bit but even slight changes of God's word can lead to some real difficulties.

In verse four, Satan directly contradicts the word of God. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." (Gen.3:4). Satan knew what God had said and while Eve didn't quote it correctly, saying, "...lest ye die," Satan quoted it more correctly in his contradiction. First of all there is the questioning of the word of God and then the contradicting of God's word. Satan follows the same pattern of questioning God's word, contradicting God's word, and then defaming God's character for he goes on to say, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen.3:5). Satan was suggesting that God's motive for forbidding them to eat of that tree was because He was jealous and fearful that they would become like Him. So, Satan is saying that God is withholding something desirable from you that you should have because He doesn't want you being like Him, knowing good and evil. You have now the basis of temptation and these are the tactics that Satan follows to the present day when he comes to us to tempt us. The questioning of the word of God, the contradicting of the word of God and the challenging of the nature and character of God.

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Gen.3:6). John, in summing up the world through which Satan comes to us to tempt us, said, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (I John 2:16). The lust of the flesh for the food; the lust of the eye, delicious to look at; and it was desired to make her wise as God, the pride of life. The Bible tells us that there are three forces against us, working in concert, and they are the world, the flesh and the devil. Here we find all three working against Eve. Her flesh; Satan's temptation, using the world around her as the area of temptation; and the fruit that was forbidden.

The question arises, Why would God put this tree in the Garden? Why would God allow Satan to tempt her? If God had not placed this tree in the Garden, there would have been no occasion for temptation; yet, how would God know that you truly loved Him unless you had a choice? How would God know that you truly wanted to obey Him unless you had a choice? How can you have a choice if there isn't something to choose? So, choice is necessary. We were made in the image of God, self-governing, but there has to be a choice; so, God placed the tree in the Garden. It had to be attractive and desirable or there is really no choice involved. If it weren't appealing there wouldn't be any temptation. So it had to be pleasant to look at, it had to look very luscious and there had to be that stimulation to the pride; "Hey! its going to make you wise like God" and it was all there.

As we look at the temptations in this passage, we find that Satan followed the same patterns when he came to tempt Jesus. The first suggestion of Satan to Christ was, "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread." (Luke 4:3). He came to Jesus when he was hungry, after He had fasted for forty days. The suggestion was that by abiding by the laws of God, God is withholding from you something that you need and is desirable. Why don't you move outside of the law of God, use your power, and turn that stone into bread. God is withholding something that is good for you.

When he took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple he said, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." (Luke 4:9-11). Therein was the suggestion that you can violate the natural laws of God and not be hurt. You won't die, go ahead and jump and as he said to Eve, "...Ye shall not surely die." You don't have to obey God's laws, you won't die.

The third suggestion, as he took Jesus to the high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world, was, "And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it, If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." (Luke 4:6-7). The idea was you can have immediate fulfillment without following God's path to the Cross. It was the same idea that Satan used with Eve, he suggested that Eve could go ahead and partake and have this knowledge of God and that God was fearful and was holding out on them. The immediate attainment and achievement. Jesus was hungry (the lust of the flesh) but there was one vast difference; Eve ate but Jesus didn't.

God was talking of spiritual death. Satan confused the issue by talking of natural death. They did not immediately die physically, but they did immediately die spiritually. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom.5:12). So, there was a spiritual death that took place, which is separation from God.

The first consciousness of sin was one of shame. "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Gen.3:7). They had a sense of shame, something they had not had before. Many of the fossils from the Antediluvian Era show that the plant life on the earth was far more vigorous than after the flood. The water blanket in the atmosphere created a hothouse, universal effect over the earth so that the entire earth had a tropical type climate. They have found fossils of asparagus ferns, approximately ninety feet tall. These same ferns would grow to about five feet in your back yard, if you feed them well. If asparagus ferns grew ninety feet tall, at that time, it is probable that a fig leaf would have been a pretty good covering. We think of a fig leaf today and it wouldn't be much of a covering, but thinking of the vegetation during the Antediluvian Era, it was probably very adequate. They sewed them together as a covering.

Shame and the endeavor to cover their guilt with their own works was the beginning of religion. Man, trying to cover his own guilt by his own works is what religion is all about. Man, doing his best to cover his guilt and thinking to atone, for his evil, by some good work.

As Adam and Eve finished their work of covering their nakedness with the fig leaves, they heard the voice of the Lord. "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." (Gen.3:8). Wait a minute! They've sewed the fig leaves, they're covered. Why are they hiding? It's because they have an awareness that their works aren't sufficient and that there has to be something more. That is why religion can never satisfy a man. There is that consciousness, in every religious system, that we're lacking something yet. Even the rich young ruler who came to Jesus, who had been religiously abiding by the law of Moses, asked, "...What lack I yet?" (Matt.19:20b). Religion always leaves you with the consciousness that you haven't done enough. There is never rest, peace or satisfaction in religion. That is why it is so important that we, as Christians, separate Christianity from religion and not let people classify it as one of the religious systems, for it is not. It's totally opposed to religious systems.

Every religious system begins with a man standing on an earth base and attempting to reach the Eternal God. It is finite man reaching out to the Infinite God. Christianity is the Infinite God reaching out to the finite man and is the exact opposite from religion. Religious systems all have a system of works whereby you may be able to touch God or achieve that desire to reach God by your works; but, Christianity teaches that there is not a single work that will bring you to God. Works are useless in bringing you to God and the only way you can touch God is through faith. You can come into contact with the God, who is reaching out to you, by believing and trusting in Him. You can not trust in your works or in your self. You must trust completely in Jesus Christ for your work of salvation. Man's religious systems began in the garden and continue unto the present day, but there is never a full satisfaction, realizing that we haven't done a good job, such as Adam and Eve as they hid themselves from the LORD God.

The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death..." Spiritual death which separates you from God. Paul, talking to the Ephesian believers in Jesus Christ, said, "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Eph.2:1). Spiritual life is walking in fellowship with God and that's what Adam had lost.

"And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" (Gen.3:9). Our desire and hope in this book is to bring to you a faithful understanding of God, because one of the biggest problems that man has today is a wrong concept of God. It's because Satan is constantly working to give man a wrong concept of God. Most people see God with a big club just waiting for us to make a wrong action so He can bring judgment upon us. He is just waiting to bring revenge or judgment upon every sin or disobedience that we might commit. Not so. When they hear God saying, "Where art thou?" many people hear the voice of an arresting officer. Alright, what have you done? I think if we could have heard God, we might have heard the sob of a heartbroken father whose child had just destroyed himself. The pain of God in knowing what Adam had done to himself and to us, the sons of Adam, who must live in a corrupted world because of the sin that was introduced by Adam.

"And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Gen.3:10). Adam knew that his job of trying to cover himself was not sufficient. "And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" (Gen.3:11). This was the beginning of man's conscience, when he ate of the tree. Before this he was innocent and didn't know good or evil. The knowledge of good and evil did come with the eating of the fruit of the tree. Adam knew what evil was now, but it was too late. He had gone through a one-way door and there was no way back. The door to this vast realm had now been opened and there was no way to shut it. "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" The inner voice of the conscience now began. God questioned, not because He didn't know, because He wanted to draw him out. God often interrogates us, not that He needs knowledge, but He wants to draw us out. Jesus, many times, interrogated people to draw them out, that they might know where they were. Once you see where you are in a situation then you can deal with it.

Here we have the first "passing of the buck." "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." (Gen.3:12). Adam is trying to put the blame on God and Eve. Isn't it tragic that many men today try to put blame on their wives as to why they have failed in some endeavor. May God help us!

"And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." (Gen.3:13). The woman also passes the buck to the serpent. Then God begins to deal with the situation.

As God begins to declare these curses; He is declaring the natural inevitable consequences of sin. So many times we think God is bringing the heavy hand of judgment down, but in reality, He is only declaring what are the inevitable consequences of these actions. This is what these actions are going to lead to. Jesus realized what the actions of the Jews, in rejecting Him, was going to bring to them as a nation. He realized it was going to bring their destruction. He looked at Jerusalem, knowing that they were going to reject Him, and wept because He knew what the consequences of that rejection would be. "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." (Gen.3:14).

Then comes the first ray of hope. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen.3:15). Who is the serpent's seed? The antichrist is called the "son of perdition" and the "seed" of the woman is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." (John 5:43). There will be enmity between them. Jesus will bruise his head, the place of authority, and destroy his power. "...and thou shalt bruise his heel," the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The fact that the bible talks about "her seed" indicates the "virgin birth." The first indication that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. A woman does not possess a seed, she possesses the ovum that is fertilized by the male seed. To talk of "her seed" is a direct reference to the "virgin birth." God spoke of it in Isaiah 7:14b, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Immanuel is interpreted as God with us. An angel came to Mary and told her that she had found favor with God and would bear a son, who would be called the Son of the Highest. Mary, who had never known a man, wondered how this could be and the angel explained the method God would bring to pass the birth of the child.

"Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." (Gen.3:16). God cursed the woman with pain as she would bring forth her children and put her under the rule of the man. Women have been fighting this ever since, but even with all the liberty they have attained the "liberated woman" does not appear to be happy or satisfied.

"And unto Adam He said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen.3:17-19). God is talking of the physical body of man. When Jesus was brought before Pilate and Pilate saw that he could not prevail with the people, he scourged Jesus and delivered Him to be crucified. "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matt.27:27-29). It was interesting that Jesus was crowned, not with a royal diadem but with thorns. Where did the thorns come from? The curse of God on the ground because of man's sin. Here he was to bear the sins of man, fittingly, crowned with thorns for man's sin.

Man, in the beginning was a vegetarian. God formed the body out of the dust of the earth which contains seventeen elements and the same elements are in the body. It is interesting, but, when your soul leaves your body and by what method; we don't know. It is a mystery! We do not understand what happens when a man's soul leaves his body; but, we do know at that moment, the body begins to disintegrate. Immediately upon the soul leaving the body, it begins to return to dust. Returning to the dust is speaking of man's body and not his soul or spirit.

The Bible teaches, for those who believe in Jesus Christ, that at the point that the spirit leaves the body it moves into another body that the Lord has prepared for us. A body that is built by God and not made with hands. A body that is eternal and not temporary. It is vastly superior to the physical body. "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor.5:1).

Paul says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, "For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit, therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; (for we walk by faith, not by sight.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

"...from dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen.3:19b). Speaking of the body and not the real you, which is the spirit. Jesus said, "...In my Father's House are many mansions..." (John 14:2a) and I believe we take that scripture wrong. You're looking for five acres of land and a Beverly Hills type of mansion with bedrooms and baths. Well, you're not going to need bedrooms as there isn't any night there. Your body isn't going to need rest and rejuvenation. It will be perfect. I don't even think you are going to need a bathroom. I believe there will be a perfect assimilation of the heavenly food. We are always thinking in terms of earthly, physical things. The new body will be a whole new concept.

"And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats..." (tunics) "...of skins, and clothed them." (Gen.3:20-21). They chose to clothe themselves with fig leaves and it didn't work. They realized that they were still naked and tried to hide from God. God made them tunics of skin. Where did God get the fur coats for them? He had to kill an animal. So the covering of God was provided by the sacrifice of an animal. "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood is not remission." (Heb.9:22). God's killing of the animal, to make tunics for Adam and Eve, opened the door or was the beginning of the "kopher" or covering for sin. Here, in the beginning, the sacrificial system of the "Law" was started by God.

"And the LORD God said, behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever;" (Gen.3:22). Even at that point there was a possibility of man going on in his human body. God had created, no doubt, in that tree certain chemicals or hormones that would have kept the break down, through mutation of the body cells, from happening and would keep the body perfectly rejuvenating itself on without end (ad infinitum). But, lest man should do that and live corrupted forever in this body, God sent him out of the garden. "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Gen.3:23-24). The word cherubims is plural and cherub is the singular. We are told in the Bible that they are about the throne of God. They are the ones who declare without ceasing, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." (Rev.4:8b). These angelic beings are special creations of God and were placed at the east gate of the garden to keep man from returning and adding to his folly.

"And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD." (Gen.4:1). The word "gotten" is better translated "acquired." Eve named her first born, Acquired (Cain). Believing that this was the fulfillment of God's promise and that God was going to use Cain to bring salvation, Eve named him "Acquire."

"And she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD." (Gen.4:2-3). Now the interesting question: How old were Adam and Eve when they had their first child? Do you suppose they were a year old yet? Perhaps within the first year they had their first child and then their second, third, fourth, fifth, twentieth, thirtieth. Their bodies were in good shape. Today we wouldn't think of having that many children, but neither would we think of living over nine hundred years. "...In the process of time..." probably at this point Abel, when he brought his offering to the Lord, was a hundred and thirty some years old. There is quite a big time span between verses two and three when Abel was born and when he brought his offering to the Lord. Indications are that he was well over a hundred years old.

"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering." (Gen.4:4). Here are the two brothers seeking to approach God. They had the awareness that they had to bring an offering. Abel brought from his flock and Cain brought the fruit of the ground or the works of his hands. "But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell, And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? (Gen.4:5-7a). The indication is that Cain was seeking to come to God on Cain's terms. You don't come to God on your own terms. Abel came to God on God's terms and God accepted his offering. He sacrificed a lamb and brought it to God. God's terms were, no doubt, that they should bring a lamb as an offering. Surely, God clarified that more as time went on and they begin to offer the lambs regularly for their sacrifices. When God brought them out of Egypt, it was a lamb whose blood was to be placed on the lentils of the door that death would not visit their house. Later as God codified his requirements, the Law, through Moses; there was a lamb that was to be brought for a sin offering. So, the awareness of the necessity of this kind of offering was there very early in the History. Abel complied and God accepted it. Cain did not comply, but thought to come to God on his own terms and God rejected it.

Rather than admitting he was wrong, Cain became angry with God. People today are angry with God because He will not accept them on their terms. A lot of people don't want to come to God by the sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ, that God has given. They want to bypass Jesus and just come to God. They think they don't need Jesus, but you can't relate to God without Christ. It is impossible! Jesus said, "...I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). If that's too narrow for you, then you can go sit with Cain over in the corner. You're in no position to dictate terms to God. Who are we to tell God how and under what conditions we will come to Him? We must come by God's way. The way of sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us. We can not change the terms. Cain tried and God rejected him.

God said, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" (Gen.4:7a). If you do well, I'll accept you. "...and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door..." (Gen.4:7b). The word translated lies, in the Hebrew, is crouching like a lion ready to pounce on you. Sin is ready to pounce on you like a lion. In Hebrews it talks about the sin that does so easily beset us. Sin is crouching at your door. "...And unto thee shall be his desire," (Gen.4:7c) or more literally: sin's desire is for you. Jesus said to Peter that Satan had desired him that he might sift him as wheat. Sin is desiring to take control of your life, desiring to rule over you. The rule of sin in ones life is a destructive rule. It brings death and bondage. "...And thou shalt rule over him." (Gen.4:7d). God said sin's desire is for you, but you should rule over it. You can only rule over sin through the power of God's Holy Spirit within your life. "...Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." (I John 4:4b). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, there is no way that we can rule over sin. Desire is not enough. Many people desire to be free of sin and the corruption that is in their lives. They would like to be free from alcoholism, drugs and other forms of sin which hold them captive. Resolve is not enough. How many times have you promised not to do something only to do it again. Why? Because resolve isn't enough. Only the power of Jesus Christ in your life is sufficient to break the chain of sin that is binding you. You should rule over it and you can rule over it if you just submit your life to Jesus Christ. He will give you the power, through the Holy Spirit, to rule over the sin that has been destroying you.

"And Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." (Gen.4:8). The jealousy that Cain had for Abel had turned into hatred because God had accepted his brother and not him. Rather than repenting and coming God's way, he began to hate his brother. The hatred of evil against good, is the same today. Anita Bryant tried to develop a new program on television in Atlanta, Georgia. She broadcast only one night and they cancelled it. Why? Because she had the courage and the righteousness to speak out against homosexuality when they were trying to get a certain law passed in their favor. This is an example of the hatred of evil against good and so it was with Cain. He began to hate his brother because Abel was in God's favor and Cain wasn't.

"And the LORD said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not; am I my brother's keeper? And He said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." (Gen.4:9-10). God knew what Cain had done but was giving him a chance to confess. The Bible says that whoever seeks to cover their sin will not prosper, Cain was seeking to cover his sin with a lie, but whoever will confess his sin will find forgiveness. God's trying to draw out a confession. What have you done?

"And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, my punishment is greater than I can bear, behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the LORD said unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." (Gen.4:11-15). What the mark was, the Bible doesn't tell us.

"And 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..." (Gen.4:16-17a). Now, here is something interesting. Where did Cain get his wife? Adam and Eve, at this point, are about a hundred and thirty-four years old. If they had Cain and Abel in the first couple of years of their existence on the planet and if they had a child every two years after that there would have been at least seventy brothers and sisters. Those brothers and sisters that were born in the early years could have been married and if they had produced children at the rate of one every two years, there could have been several hundred people on the earth by this time.

As we get into the genealogies, there is something very important to note. The Bible does not attempt to give us a genealogy of everyone. In fact they don't say how many sons and daughters there are, only that there are sons and daughters. Another presumption, as we read the genealogies, is thinking the first child named is the first born. This is not necessarily so. The reason that child was named first was that it was going to be in the lineage to bring us to Abraham and finally bring us to Jesus Christ. The Bible is only interested in tracing one family line and that is back to Abraham and from Abraham back to Noah and from Noah back to Adam. Many times it isn't the first born that comes into the genealogy line. David was the fifth child of his parents, but is named because he fits into the genealogy line of Christ. In the abbreviated account of the genealogy, it doesn't talk about David's other brothers, but only that Jesse begat David. That is why the Bible will say someone was a hundred and thirty-five years old and he begat, etc. It doesn't tell you how many children he had before because the Bible isn't interested in those lines. It is only interested in those lines which bring Jesus Christ into the world. So, Cain took a wife. Whether it was a sister, we don't know; but, this would be no problem. The blood strain at that time was pure and close intermarriage would not produce the same problems as intermarriage today would produce.

"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch; and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch." (Gen.4:17). So Cain married and had a son and built a city, starting a new culture.

"And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methusael; and Methusael begat Lamech, and Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah, and Adah bare Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle." (Gen.4:18-20). From this tribe, we get our ranchers.

"And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." (Gen.4:21). Here we have musical genes that developed.

"And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah." (Gen.4:22). This was before the great flood and already there was the knowledge of developing bronze. In archeological diggings, found from these early periods, it is still not known how they combined the alloys to get this kind of bronze. Tubal-cain was teaching them how and had secrets that we don't have today. Israel didn't enter into the iron age until after the time of David, but way back in the beginning they had already developed the capacity of smelting. It's amazing that these capacities were developed so early in mankind, except that, we, again, must realize that these people, being so close to the beginning of God's perfect creation, probably all possessed photographic minds. These men that had all these ideas and the capacities to develop them and the time to do it as they lived for hundreds of years. We would probably be shocked if we could have walked into the homes of the antediluvians. We would probably see conveniences that we don't even have. They were extremely brilliant people, possessing knowledge that we don't possess today, but all of them were destroyed in the great flood.

"And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." (Gen.4:23-24). Lamech is the father of Jabal, the rancher; Jubal, the father of the harp and organ; and Tubal-cain, the instructor in brass and iron. He killed a young man in self defense and if God would take vengeance on anyone who would kill Cain, He would take greater vengeance on anyone who would kill him because of the young man he had killed.

"And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." (Gen.4:25). It is totally impractical to think that they went for one hundred and thirty two years without having another child. The name Seth means "Appointed" and he was to take the place of Abel. No doubt, Abel being accepted by God was going to be a spiritual line, but he was cut off by his brother Cain; so now God raises up a new spiritual seed in Seth. It is Seth's generation which will lead us to Noah, then to Abraham, to David and then on to Christ.

"And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos; then began men to call upon the name of the LORD." (Gen.4:26). The beginning of prayer and communion with the Lord.

Jesus wants to rule over you and give you the power to rule over sin. Sin is like a deadly malady which spreads and corrupts your life. May God give you victory and power as you live through Jesus.