Eve thought Cain was THE ONE (see verse 1). It does
seem that Cain was the first human baby; maybe not though. This chapter covers
decades, or perhaps even centuries. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born,
so doubtless Cain had dozens of siblings that remain unknown to us (younger
ones for sure, maybe older ones too). Obviously Cain had to have married one of
his sisters or nieces (no problem there at that time since the gene pool was richer then and
there were no cultural norms, precedents or commandments regarding such things…
as of yet). Adam celebrated 930 "made-from-dirt-days" and had sons
and daughters (Genesis 5:4), so I've got no problem with the old "where did
Cain get his wife" question.
To me, the important thing in this passage is the
continuous unveiling of God's redemption plan. He had promised Eve earlier that
one of her children (however many generations removed) would deal with THE
serpent (Genesis 3:15/Revelation 20:2). It seems clear to me that she thought
Cain was that promised seed, or at least the father-to-be of that
descendant. Yet, perhaps as her two most
famous sons grew up, she recognized the reverent spirit in Abel and the
rebellious spirit that was in Cain... and maybe decided that Abel was
actually the promised seed. Wrong again!
Next thing she knew, her "spiritual" son was dead... murdered
at the jealous hands of his wicked brother.
What now?
The chapter closes with Eve's hope, ("God has
appointed me another seed [Seth] INSTEAD of Abel, whom Cain slew" - verse
25), and with a clear picture of God calling out a people for Himself (verse
26). When (in our 3 & 5 to Thrive
journey) we get to the Gospel of Luke (a few of years from now), you will see
that Seth became the great grandfather (well, great x 70) of THE SEED, Jesus
Christ (see Galatians 3:16).
There will be many Cains and Lamechs who live
without regard to God's holy name, but there will also always be a remnant of
believers who offer to Him an acceptable sacrifice of praise and who, by faith,
"call upon the name of the Lord."
God always has some people reserved unto
Himself! Are you one of them?
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