—Genesis Chapter 4!DO 273010/90

—Bible Classtime with Grandpa!

1. PTL! Who wants to pray for our Bible Study? (Techi: I'll pray! Amen, thank You Jesus! Thank You for this Bible class, Jesus. We pray that You'll please bless this time, Lord, & help us to really learn from it & to be good students. Help Grandpa & give him wisdom, Lord, in Jesus' name. Thank You Lord! Praise You Jesus!) Amen!

2. We haven't studied this 4th Chapter of Genesis yet, have we? So we'll study it tonight & we'll probably have a test on it tomorrow night. (David: It's quite interesting!) Bless & help us‚ Lord‚ in Jesus' name.

Cain & Abel!

3. Verse 1, "And Adam knew Eve his wife." You mean he hadn't met her before? (Kids: No, no!) Well, surely he knew a lot about her by this time, right? What does this really mean? (David: He made love to her.) Right, that's literally what it means. He knew her. "And she conceived, & bare Cain, & said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." This is recounted rather rapidly here, but it took a lot longer than this, of course.

4. Verse 2: "And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." (David: They weren't twins, were they?) No, it says right here‚ "And again she bare his brother." Cain was the eldest & Abel was the youngest. (David: Were they at least a year apart?) Probably. He greatly multiplied her conception, so she had two to begin with.

5. And another verse later on will tell you that she bare other sons & daughters also. (Techi: It's in Genesis 5:4.) Good for you! How come you're so smart? (Techi: Well, the other night my eyes fell on that verse, so tonight I knew where to find it! "And he begat sons & daughters.") Right! Good for you! Techi is telling us that in Genesis 5:4, Adam & Eve also had other sons & daughters.

6. "And Abel was a keeper of sheep." Well, that was a pretty good job. Don't you think it would be a lot easier to keep sheep than to farm? So either Abel was told to keep sheep, or he decided that was an easier job, since he was the youngest. "But Cain was a tiller of the ground." Did you know there are two kinds of tillers? To be a tiller means to work the ground‚ & the other kind of tiller is the long handle of the rudder on a boat.

7. Verses 3-5: "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock & of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel & to his offering: But unto Cain & to his offering‚ He had not respect." Now why was that? Wasn't that the fruit of Cain's labours? Wasn't that just as good as the fruit of Abel's labours? (Techi: No.)

8. When first reading this you think maybe it's unfair‚ right? (David: Yes.) But obviously the Lord had commanded that they offer a sheep. You may say, "Well, Cain didn't have any sheep!" But he could have swapped some of his fruit & vegetables for one of Abel's sheep‚ couldn't he? (Kids: Yes!) Because the sheep offering was to be a sign of what? (Kids: Of Jesus.) Right, of the offering of Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb.

9. (Techi: Grandpa, why would Abel raise sheep if he couldn't eat them? Because wasn't this before God let them eat meat?) Yes, that's right. Well, they could make clothes out of their wool. (Techi: Oh‚ yes, that's true.) I presume they did, because wool makes very good cloth. It's the warmest thing to wear besides furs. That's a point I never thought of at all before! See what brilliant minds you kids have? (David: It's fun to discuss it together.) Yes!

10. (Verse 5:) "And Cain was very wroth." What does "wroth" mean? (Techi: Angry!) Right. "And his countenance fell." What does that mean? Did his face fall to the ground? (David: He had a scowl on his face, a frown maybe.) Yes, he was angry & downhearted, his countenance fell. It usually means you're looking kind of glum & you feel dumpy. (Techi: When your mouth is up it's a smile, but when it's fallen it's a frown.) Right, that's one way of expressing it. He was no doubt doing a lot of frowning!

11. Verse 6-7: "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? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, & thou shalt rule over him." (Techi: What does that mean?) Cain was just about to kill Abel, right? (Techi: Yes, but what does "unto thee shall be his desire"?) Well, it's just like God said to Eve, the same thing, that her husband was going to be her boss. If you kill somebody‚ you sure are their boss, right?

12. (Techi: But what was significant about the Lord saying that?) He said, "If I didn't accept your offering, it's because you have committed some sin." Cain undoubtedly had been told what kind of sacrifice to make‚ but he was jealous of his brother & he didn't even want to trade him for one of his sheep, because his brother had the sheep & he didn't. So you can understand why he may have decided, "Well, God said I must offer a lamb as a sacrifice, but I don't have to offer a lamb, I'll just offer bananas & peanuts & stuff." So that of course displeased the Lord, because the Lord had undoubtedly ordered them to sacrifice a lamb.

Cain Murders Abel!

13. Verse 8: "And Cain talked with Abel his brother."—Obviously they weren't just talking! "And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, & slew him." Just think, Adam & Eve's sins were already beginning to come back on them!—Their first child was a murderer! Think of that! How horrible!

14. Verse 9: "And the Lord said unto Cain‚ Where is Abel thy brother?" Do you suppose the Lord didn't know? He knew, but He was just testing Cain, to see if he would tell the truth. "And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?" (Techi: That's silly, to lie to the Lord.) Apparently they didn't know the Lord had special powers & that He knew what was going on. (Techi: Yes, like when Adam & Eve were hiding themselves because they were naked.) Yes.

15. Verse 10: "And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." In other words, He had such obvious evidence that He knew Cain had killed him. "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* & a vagabond** shalt thou be in the Earth." In other words, the Lord was going to curse his crops & he'd be an outcast. (*Fugitive: One who flees, a runaway. **Vagabond: One who wanders from place to place.)

16. You can imagine that Cain's father & mother would have been very upset that he killed his younger brother, so he was apparently cast out of the family & was a fugitive & a vagabond. Maybe he had to run, because maybe his father was going to kill him for it! The Mosaic Law later said, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"—Deut.19:21. If he was a fugitive, somebody must have been chasing him, & who else could be chasing him but Adam? If he wasn't actually going to kill him, he was certainly going to punish him.

17. Verse 13: "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; & from Thy face shall I be hid; & I shall be a fugitive & a vagabond in the Earth; & it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me." In other words, everyone that finds him is going to want to kill him.

18. Verse 15: "And the Lord said unto Cain, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." (Techi: Why was that? Did the Lord want him to live & suffer for his sin?) Apparently. Anybody that tried to kill Cain, the Lord was going to punish them.

19. "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." (David: He was just being sort of merciful to Cain?) Yes, the Lord was having pity on him. (David: What did Cain mean by "everyone that findeth me"?—Because wasn't there only Adam & Eve?) Well, Honey‚ Cain's brothers & sisters‚ other children of Adam & Eve, were multiplying on the face of the Earth. (David: Oh, yes, that's right.) So the Lord was having mercy on him & forbidding anybody to kill him, even though he had killed his brother. (Note: In the 130 years from Adam's creation to Abel's murder, a good many generations had arisen, with a total population probably of many thousands.)

20. (Techi: Did you mention something about some sort of mark upon him? What was the mark?) Probably something like a birthmark, like Gorbachev has on his head, so that everybody would know who it was & that they'd better not kill him! It was his identity mark.

The Presence of the Lord!

21. Verse 16: "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, & dwelt in the land of Nod, on the East of Eden." Now how could you go out from the presence of the Lord? (David: In spirit maybe.) Well, if the Lord was able to walk in the Garden with Adam, Who do you think that was? (Techi: Jesus.) Probably Jesus. In theology they call that a theophany. Angels that could take the form of a human body are theophanies. The theologians have got to have a term for everything, you know! Well, it's good to have a handle on things.

22. But anyway, most Bible scholars agree that this was probably Jesus in His human form that was walking with Adam & Eve in the Garden, etc., & therefore Jesus was apparently sticking around there with Adam, the first family. After all, think of all the things they had to learn!—All the things He had to do to help them even survive! He probably taught them how to make a fire, how to make clothes, etc.

23. (Techi: Imagine‚ Jesus teaching how to make a fire!) Of course! Why not? He made a fire & cooked fish for the Disciples one time on the shore of the lake! (See John 21:9.) So He certainly would try to help Adam all He could, wouldn't He?—Even though Adam had been a bad boy. You've never been that bad a boy, David, although I got pretty mad at you one time! But I still tried to help you, & look how good you turned out! So who knows? We don't know if Cain ever repented, but he certainly acted like he was sorry. (Techi: Maybe he was just sorry for being caught.) So if he went out from the presence of the Lord, the Lord must have been sticking around near where Adam & Eve were, right? (Kids: Yes!) OK!

The Descendants of Cain!

24. Verse 17: "And Cain knew his wife." His wife? Where did he find his wife? (David: Well, he already had a sister that he married, right?) We're only told about Adam & Eve's boys, but there could have been a lot of girls between Cain & Abel. (David: That's right!) (Techi: So she must have gone with him because she was in love with him.) (David: Or because they were already married maybe?) Yes.

25. "And Cain knew his wife; & she conceived‚ & bare Enoch: & he builded a city, & called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch." Well, in those days it probably wasn't a very big city. We're not talking about a big city like New York or Tokyo! (David: Yes‚ it's not as though he was building Rome or something!) (Techi: He builded a city, ha!) What we're talking about is probably a little village. They probably had several different families there, Cain's descendants & whatnot, & in those days there began to be people, & wicked people, so it probably had to have a wall around it. Even little villages sometimes have walls. And he named it after the name of his son, Enoch. (Techi: So Cain built the city?) Yes, & I'll probably ask you on your test, "Who built the first city?"

26. (David: Grandpa, we're probably not told about the girls, because obviously Cain had a wife here. But do you think we're not told about a couple of other boys too?) Oh, yes, of course! Look at that 4th verse in the 5th Chapter. (Techi: "He begat sons & daughters.") Sons & daughters! The ones we're told about are just the main ones that became famous. (Techi: Like Seth.) Right. Then later they had others. (Techi: Maybe there were only three boys & all girls?) Honey! It says right there in the fourth verse, "He begat sons & daughters"! (Techi: The sons could be three boys, right?) "And he begat sons & daughters." He'd already had the other three boys‚ but that obviously shows that he had sons & daughters besides these.

27. Most Bible teachers & Bible authorities who know more than I do figure it means that besides these three boys, they had other sons & daughters. But these three boys were important because of the events which took place. (Techi: Yes, because it says, "And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: & he begat sons & daughters.") Yes, all right!

28. (David: Imagine, living 800 years!) (Techi: He lived for 930 years.—Gen.5:5.) Yes, how about that! (David: It's amazing what a memory he must have had!) Well, he'd better have had a long memory! (Techi: That's almost a thousand years!) To live that long you would really have to have a long memory. I've lived 72 years & my memory is already getting bad. (David: The scientists say we only use a small portion of our brains.) (Techi: What is the rest for?) When you start living a thousand years, you're going to need more of it, right? (Techi: I wonder how long Eve lived? Women usually live longer than men.) We're not told in the Bible.

Lamech & His Wives & Children!

29. Verse 18: "And unto Enoch was born Irad: & Irad begat Mehujael: & Mehujael begat Methusael: & Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, & the name of the other Zillah."

30. You know when the Family was just beginning, people wanted to change their names to Bible names. And since they didn't even know the Bible very well yet they'd say, "Well, we don't know the Bible, you tell us a name." And what Deborah would do is she'd hand them a list of all the names in the Bible—as they're listed in the back of some of your Bibles—& she'd say, "Just pick one out!" And some of them picked out some of the worst characters in the Bible to name themselves! (Techi: Like Jezebel or something.) Yes, they really did! It was really funny. So I later told them in one of my Letters, "If I were you, I'd change my name! That was a bad character." (See ML #24:39.)

31. So what were Lamech's wives' names? (Kids: Adah & Zillah!) (Verse 20:) "And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents & of such as have cattle." (David: So did he sort of start the nomadic strain?) Yes. "Nomad" applies to any people that drift around with their cattle. And in Israel & the deserts of the Mideast they call them Bedouins.—Or nomads, right. (Techi: And Gypsies?) Well, the Gypsies are nomads too, but they don't always have tents & cattle. Nowadays they mostly live in caravans. In England, some are so old-fashioned they live in nice cute little decorated horse-drawn covered wagons.—Cute little houses with a little bedroom & a little place to cook & eat. They're quite small compared to most caravans today‚ & they're horse-drawn by two horses. (See picture in WND 142, page 7.)

32. Verse 21: "And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp & organ." God was giving gifts to people already. He gave them the gift of music! And what was his name? (David: Jubal.) (Techi: Like jubilee!) Yes!—And what was the name of the Bedouins' father? (Kids: Jabal.) I used to have a Bible with a column down the middle of the page that told you what all of these names meant, but I don't think it makes that much difference. We don't have to know what the names mean.

33. Verse 22: "And Zillah"—that's who? (David: Lamech's other wife.) "She also bare Tubal-cain‚ an instructor of every artificer (craftsman, metalsmith) in brass & iron." He made brass & iron tools & probably plates & bowls, & all kinds of things like that. (Techi: And horseshoes maybe?) Yes. "And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah."

34. Now I don't necessarily expect you to remember all these names, I don't know that it's that important, but I might ask you...(Techi: Jubal and Jabal?) Yes, and what were their talents, what were the things that they did. Jabal dwelt in tents and kept cattle. Jubal was a musician who handled a harp and organ. I wonder what an organ was like then! Maybe it was a mouth organ.

35. And I might ask you what Tubal–cain did, all right? You're going to have to really almost memorise these‚ aren't you? "And his sister was Naamah." I don't know whether that's important, but anyhow, it tells you about her. (Techi: They usually don't tell about the sisters, do they?) She must have been pretty important, maybe extra beautiful or something!

36. Verse 23: "And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah & Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, & a young man to my hurt."—He must have killed somebody. "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy & sevenfold." (Techi: So he killed Cain?) No! He said if those that kill Cain are going to be avenged sevenfold, those that kill Lamech should be avenged seventy & sevenfold!

37. (David: Do you think he killed two people? Because he said, "I have slain a man to my wounding, & a young man to my hurt"?) Well‚ I don't know‚ but I just have always surmised that that was the same guy. (Techi: He could have killed two, because it says "whosoever killeth Cain will be avenged seven times more.") Yes, but the Lord set a mark on Cain so they wouldn't kill him. They were told not to kill him. (Techi: Well, they might have...) Honey, you could guess & add to the story whatever you want to, as long as we don't know, but let's try to stick to things we do know. OK?

Seth—Appointed!

38. Verse 25‚ "And Adam knew his wife again." Ahem! "And she bare a son, & called his name Seth." (Techi: Seth means "appointed.") Have you got one of those reference columns? (Techi: It doesn't have every single name, only the very important names.) So it says what Seth means? (Techi: Yes, it means "appointed.") "For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."

39. "Appointed," that's important! There is significance in that name. He not only appointed him, but he was sort of anointed, because he was to become what famous person's forbearer? (Techi: Jesus!)

40. Verse 26: "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; & he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the Name of the Lord." Things were getting so bad I guess they were learning to pray. (Techi: Or maybe his son was a special guy.) Well‚ we don't hear much more about Enos.

God's Mercy on Cain

41. I think one of the outstanding things about this Chapter to me is that despite the fact that according to Mosaic Law (which was to come later), if anybody killed anybody, they were supposed to be killed, that the Lord was really very merciful to Cain. He punished him, but He didn't kill him. Praise the Lord!

Genealogies!

42. Do you think you've learned enough about this Chapter now that you'll be able to answer some questions on it tomorrow night? (Kids: Yes!) This is our last class of the week, & your homework assignment for the weekend is Genesis Chapter 5! OK? Do you know what they call this account here in Chapter 5? It has a technical word. It's a genealogy. It's telling you who married who & how many years they lived until they had a son & what his name was, etc.

43. And all of these are important because you can figure out approximately how long ago the Creation was from these genealogies & the stories, see?—How many years they lived until then & how many years until the Flood & how many years after the Flood, etc. And the genealogy goes right on up until you get up to the date Solomon's Temple was dedicated, & then you're in recorded ancient history. From then on, secular history tells you the Temple was dedicated in 1012 BC, at least according to our calendar today.

44. You don't have to remember that right now‚ but if I ask you, "What is the significance of the genealogies of the Bible, what do they tell us?"—The answer is that they tell us how many years before Christ these men lived, & by figuring back through these, they give us the approximate date of Creation. That's particularly important‚ right? (Kids: Yes!) All right!

45. (Techi: So Grandpa, how do you figure out that Seth was a forerunner of Jesus?) Well, the genealogies in Genesis go through Abraham. And in Matthew it goes from Abraham all the way through the genealogy of Christ. (Techi: Oh, great!) (David: So-&-so begat So–&-so.) (Techi: Yes‚ I always liked that part when I listened to Matthew on tape!) OK, who is going to pray?

46. (David: Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord for this class that we had. Thank You Jesus how we learned about Cain & Abel & the first people in the World. Help us to be able to study, Lord, & answer these questions on the test tomorrow. Help us to keep learning about it, Lord, in Jesus' name! Thank You Lord!) Amen! God bless you!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family