Genesis 4:25-5:32

Bible Study Lesson for Wednesday, April 22

Usually on Wednesday nights, some in our community get together to share prayer requests, we pray together, and I bring a Bible lesson for them. Last week, we covered Genesis 4:9-24, so I will pick up today where we left off. First I’d like to talk about prayer requests. Online communication being what it is, I would rather not get into specific requests in this space, and will leave that for the more private communications that the church has with each other. But I do want to remember a few general prayer requests: -our government, those making decisions on our behalf -those in the medical community -those in food service, grocery stores, and other essential businesses -teachers and students still figuring out what the closures of schools means for them -prisoners and prison guards -first responders -those whose life and income has been disrupted by the current crisis. I also want to remember all of those suffering from Covid-19 and the communities that it is affecting, including our own. Take a moment to pray for these folks now before we begin. Now I hope you will take a moment to read and reflect on Genesis 4:25-5:32 before I offer my thoughts. Last week’s selection from Genesis concluded with the story of Lamech, a descendant of Cain the murderer. Though Lamech had three sons, the genealogy of Cain’s effectively ends with him. Genesis 4:25 pointedly rewinds the clock to the third son of Adam, Seth. Because of what happens in the next few chapters, Seth becomes the vehicle of redemption. Seth becomes the ancestor of humanity, as all other life gets decisively removed from the story by the flood. One thing the previous genealogy shows us is how human life based on violence, vengeance, and self-protection is doomed to extinction. Seth’s genealogy, contrasted with Cain’s, is characterized instead by a reliance on God’s providence.

4:25-26 - The Generations of Adam Cain’s line has been a diversion. But there are lessons we can learn from it. The story of Cain’s line begins with Cain being jealous of God’s preference for his younger brother Abel. Cain’s response to this was to get rid of the obstacle, to remove Abel from the story, perhaps thinking that God would have to choose Cain as though he were “the last man on earth.” But God’s will cannot be overcome with evil. God responds by granting Adam and Eve another son, Seth. Seth’s line begins with his son Enosh and the genealogy includes a note about the growing piety of people: they “began to invoke the name of the Lord.” 5:1-2 - Starting Over It might not come through in your Bible, but Genesis 5:1 echoes Genesis 2:4, which is the beginning of the second account of creation. In Hebrew, this signals a return to the focus on the story of God’s work in creation. The story of Scripture revolves around Creation, Fall, and Redemption. Creation and Fall have happened, but immediately after the Fall, God begins the process of redemption. Luke’s gospel makes this clear by tracing the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam through Seth. 5:3-8 - Seth and the Image of God One aspect of this genealogy that captures my imagination every time I read it is that Adam “fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image.” If you will recall, Adam and Eve were created “in the image” of God, and according to God’s “likeness” (Genesis 1:26 and 5:1). Here, on one level, Adam reveals that procreation is one way that humans can accomplish godly work. On another level, I think we see how humans begin to drift away from God’s likeness. Sin is gripping the world and the main characteristic of sin is that it corrupts. Humans are no longer capable of bearing the uncorrupted image of God in their offspring. An analogy from everyday life is evident if you have ever made a copy of a copy on a copying machine. The lines of the original grow fainter and fainter the more copies you remove yourself from the original. This is one of the miracles of the Incarnation of Jesus and the necessity of the Virgin Birth. God interrupts the corruption of the image of God by fathering Jesus. Because he is also Mary’s son, Jesus is a descendant of Seth, as well as the Son of God. In Colossians 1:15, Paul makes this plain by saying that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” It was necessary to restore the image of God in humanity to show us what redemption looks like. To use New Testament language, to be found “in Christ” is to have this image restored in our own lives. Another thing that we notice in this passage is the length of life allotted to humans before the flood. We will return to this theme as we work out the outcomes of sin and the flood, but for now let me just say I would caution you against the impulse to find too much significance in numbers. I do not think there is a “code” to crack here. Rather, the gradual shortening of life presents one more piece of evidence as to the decay of creation by Sin having its full effect. 5:9-20 - Enosh-Jared The line from Enosh to Jared is a formulaic genealogy. The formula is “[Father] was [number 1] years old when he fathered [son]. After his birth, [father] lived [number 2] years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of [father] were [sum of numbers 1 and 2]; and he died.” In this and subsequent genealogies, it is helpful to be aware of this formula so we can see when the narrator throws us a curveball. This usually means the narrator has something important to say and we should pay extra close attention. 5:21-24 - Enoch Rightly, Enoch has inspired a lot of reflection in the history of this text. There is a prophetic tradition that is not a part of our Bible attributed to Enoch, which is quoted in the Book of Jude, verses 14 and 15. Additionally, Hebrews 11:5-6 interprets the story of Enoch thus: “By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and he was ‘not found, because God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God.’ And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Enoch plays an interesting part in the genealogy: as the seventh generation after Adam he is presented as a righteous, faithful man. This contrasts with Lamech, the seventh in line after Cain, who is a man of violence. Enoch’s “walking with God” speaks to a life of “long faithfulness in one direction” as Eugene Peterson would say, and his reward was that he was able to forgo death. 5:25-27 - Methusaleh Between Enoch and this genealogy’s Lamech stands Methusaleh, who is well known for his 969 years of life, the longest in Scripture. Beyond this Scripture is silent, but when you total up his years of life he outlives his son Lamech by five years, and interestingly he dies in the year of the flood. 5:28-32 - Lamech and Noah The Lamech in this line presents an interesting contrast with the Cain genealogy’s Lamech. Again we have a quotation to interrupt our genealogy, but whereas Lamech-Cain speaks of violence and retribution, Lamech-Seth speaks of his son Noah with hope: “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.” As for what Lamech might mean, we will have to wait and see. But this serves as the contrast between the hopelessness of the Cain family line and the hope for redemption in the Seth genealogy. A final interruption of the genealogy presents a springboard for a familiar story. Noah alone in this genealogy has more than one son named. Like Lamech-Cain, he has three sons. Noah will present us with a definitive break in the story of Creation, as we move to a new chapter in the Bible’s story of humanity. But that will wait for next week. Conclusion The fourth and fifth chapters of Genesis present us with two possibilities for human life. Cain’s descendants take the path of violence, seeking to ensure their place among the peoples of the earth. This way of grasping and fighting results, ultimately, in death and division. The Seth line begins with the grace of God. Eve says,“God has appointed me another son instead of Abel, because Cain killed him” (Gen. 4:25). Anyone who has lost a loved one—and particularly a child—understands that she doesn’t mean that Abel has been replaced. But there is a curious grace that allows life to go on after loss. Love continues and multiplies. There is a hope for the future, even out of family strife and division. Out of the depths of human sin, God sends deliverance. Noah will be a prime example of God’s redeeming grace. But he will not be a perfect example. That will have to wait for Jesus.