Cain’s Family
16 March 2014 AM – Genesis 4:16-24 – Gen 14 – Scott Childs
Introduction: One of the questions that scoffers often raise is “Where did Cain get his wife?” As Christians, we do not need to panic at such question. We need to carefully study the Bible.
Transition: This morning we are going to look at Cain’s wife, Cain’s city, and Cain’s brother. As we do, I will point out principles that apply to our lives today.
I. Cain’s Wife (16-17)
A. Facts we must remember
Before we answer the question “Where did Cain get his wife?” I want us to consider nine facts that Ken Ham points out in his book, The Answers Book, p. 177
1. Adam was the first man (Gen 2:7…)
2. Adam lived for 930 years (Gen 5:5)
3. Eve was given the name because she was to be the mother of all living (Gen 3:20)
4. Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters (Gen 5:4)
5. Everything was very good when first created (Gen 1:31)
6. This goodness was marred when “By one man sin entered the world” (Rom 5:12, cf. Gen 3)
7. The creation was cursed by God (Gen 3:17, cf. Rom 8:20-22) because of Adam’s sin.
8. Abraham was married to his half-sister (Gen 20:12)
9. The laws of incest had their origin only at the time of Moses (Lev 18-20).
B. Cain’s wife had to be a very close relative
1. Adam and Eve are the first and only people God created.
2. Adam and Eve had many children. Even after they begat Seth at age 130, they lived another 800 years and continued to bear children (Gen 5:4).
3. Cain’s wife had to have been a daughter of Adam and Eve or the daughter of one of their sons.
4. The genetic problem with this is resolved when we remember that Adam and Eve had perfect genes. The genes of their children would have been nearly perfect though they began to degenerate.
By the time of Moses (about 2,500 years later), degenerative mistakes would have accumulated to such an extent in the human race that it would have been necessary for God to bring in the laws of brother-sister (and close relative) incest (Leviticus 18-20). Ken Ham, 182
5. Evolution has an even greater problem. It claims that every living thing came from a single cell.
II. Cain’s City (17-24)
A. His place
1. Cain moved to the land of Nod away from God’s presence (16). No one knows where Nod was because no one knows where Eden was.
2. Cain knew his wife (sexually) and they had a son named Enoch (17). The name “Enoch” means “dedicated” or “commencement”. This name may indicate that he planned a new manner of life.
3. Cain built a city. The word “city” simply “refers to a permanent settlement without reference to size or claims” TWOT
B. His posterity
1. God records for us six generations from Cain. I found the following online Bible history timeline that is very helpful: http://timeline.biblehistory.com/home
2. Two of the names end in “el” which refers to God. It seems that Cain’s family believed in God as long as Adam was alive.
3. Lamech, Cain’s great, great, great, grandson appears to begin a departure from God.
a) He is the first to marry two wives (19). God ordained monogamy.
Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
b) Polygamy was never God’s original plan for man, though God tolerated it for a time.
C. His prosperity
1. In the 6th generation from Cain, we see his family becoming herdsmen, inventers, musicians, craftsmen, and metalworkers (20-22).
Henry Morris in his Defender’s Bible states, Evolutionary archaeologists have attempted to organize human history in terms of various supposed “ages”–Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, etc. The Noahic record, however, indicates that early men were very competent in brass and iron metallurgy, as well as agriculture, animal husbandry, and urbanization. … Modern archaeology is confirming the high degree of technology associated with the earliest human settlers all over the world.
2. They were becoming a prosperous society, but they were leaving God out of their lives.
We must be careful with prosperity because it often turns the heart away from God. Proverbs 13:7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
3. Lamech also commits murder. It is difficult to say from the text whether he is expressing remorse or boasting (23-24). Either way, we see the progression of Cain’s family turning away from God.
III. Cain’s Brother (25-26)
A. Seth is born to Adam and Eve
1. Adam and Eve are 130 years old when Seth is born. We do not know how long after Abel’s death that Seth was born.
2. Seth was not likely the third boy born to Adam and Eve. If they only had two boys and a girl (Cain’s wife) in 129 years, that is not very prolific nor is it very likely. Jewish tradition has it that they had 33 sons and 23 daughters! Josephus, quoted by Ken Ham, p. 179
a) Perhaps he was the first born after Abel’s murder.
b) Eve’s comments (Gen 4:25) imply that God in some way told her that Seth would take the place of his godly brother Abel and continue the promised godly seed (Gen 3:15).
c) It appears that Eve was faithfully looking for the promised Messiah.
B. Seth has a son named Enos
1. It was during the lifetime of Enos that men began to call upon the name of the LORD.
a) This does not mean that no one prayed before Enos was born.
b) More likely it means that he started public worship with his family and godly relatives.
2. Cain’s family led by Lamech and his three sons turned away from the Lord, but Seth and his family strengthened their faith in God.
3. Public worship is very important. Throughout the Old Testament we see God’s people gathering for public worship. God ordained the local church in the New Testament as a called out assembly to gather for public worship. The New Testament local church is not just an optional place to visit for a spiritual uplift. It is the God-ordained institution for our age. It is to be the Christian’s spiritual family and his place for public worship, singing, prayer, instruction, reproof, rebuke, and exhortation. Every Christian ought to be an active member of a Biblical local church.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Conclusion: This morning we learned where Cain got his wife. We learned about his family and saw how they began to turn away from God. We found Bible evidence against evolution, that man had the skills to invent and create all sorts of tools shortly after creation about 6,000 years ago. We noted the danger of prosperity. We saw how God provided a godly line for the then-future Messiah. We also learned of the importance of public worship.
Perhaps God has identified a need in your life this morning, if so, let Him have His way. If you are not a true Christian, there is no better time to settle that than before you leave today.
Song: Have Thine Own Way – 388