HOW IS IT WHAT BE V: BOYS WILL BE BOYS AND BEGIN THE BEGATS

I wish you would bear with me [while I indulge] in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me [as you read this]. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy because I have promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that, even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of [your sincere and] pure devotion to Christ. For [you seem willing to allow it] if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted. You tolerate all this beautifully [welcoming the deception]. (2 Corinthians 10:1-4 AMP)

I am about to write what will cause the world to call me foolish. ignorant or crazy. Take your pick. That is okay, I think the world is wrong, too. I would rather be be told I was on the wrong side of history than be on the wrong side of God.

In the beginning God created the Earth and the Heavens in six days, six 24-hour days. Do you accept this?

Or do you accept a different gospel, tolerating the idea it took millions of years for what now exists to evolve by chance Do you welcome this deception?

Yeah, a lot of so-called intellectual and highly educational people will laugh at me, because once I thought like them. After all  I was kind of a highly educated person myself. I didn't know jack about God and His ways, though.

Even after I was saved, I still believed that a long period of time was required for creation, eons in fact. But how could I explain this versus Genesis? At first I jumped on the Gap Theory, that all this prehistory stuff existed and then somehow was wiped out. There must have been a great gap in time when the earth became void and dark and then God reinvented it to make it good.

Well, that doesn’t show much faith in the power of God, does it?

Then I assumed each creation day actually represented many, many years in order to squeeze in all those dinosaurs and cavemen. But I realize that cannot be. As a matter of faith I must believe in a literal six days of 24-hours or not in the Bible at all. If I can't believe in the Word of God, how can I possibly believe in God?

Everything God created from minute one was originally good. Sin hadn’t entered the world at the beginning and neither had death or the presence of thistles and thorns. Man did not have to scuffle for food. We cannot reconcile what is taught us in Genesis with centuries of animals and peoples killing and eating each other. We can’t even reconcile that in all that time there was no rain. Sin would have certainly entered the world well before Adam and Eve and in fact the salvation through Christ would never have happened. Where is our faith if we do not believe in six 24-hour days of Creation?

Do you believe Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea on dry land? (Exedus 7:10-12) Do you believe Joshua did the same at the Jordan River? (Joshua 3:14-17)  Do you believe in talking donkeys? Numbers 22:21-35) Do you believe the sun and moon stood still for a battle? Joshua 10:12-14) Do you believe God could create a fish large enough to swallow a man, then spit him out after three days? (Jonah 2:1-10)

Do you believe a virgin could give birth? Do you believe Jesus could have been crucified to death, buried and rose on the third day? Do you believe Jesus is coming back to Judge this world? If you can believe in all this, then how can you not believe God created the world in 6 days?

And how can you believe in Adam and Eve?

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:28-31.

Now a question sometimes arises. Did Adam and Eve go to Heaven? In early Jewish belief one could be forgiven by God for sin by practicing Teshuva, which literally means “return”.  The act of Teshuva includes:

• regretting/acknowledging the sin

• worrying about the future consequences of the sin

• acting and speaking with humility

• acting in a way opposite to that of the sin (for example, for the sin of lying, one should speak the truth)

• understanding the magnitude of the sin

• refraining from lesser mistakes for the purpose of safeguarding oneself against committing greater mistakes

• correcting the mistake however possible

• pursuing works of compassion and truth

• refraining from committing the same mistake if the opportunity presents itself again

• teaching others not to engage in the same behavior

This is according to a part of the Talmud called the Nedarim and was outlined in The Gates of Repentance by Rabbenu Yonah of Gerona (pictured right). He died in 1263. He wrote Sha’arel Teshuveh, Gates of Repentance, around 1250, although it was not published until 1505. 

Did Adam and Eve follow this path of Teshuveh? Again, we do not know. 

We know that after eating the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, a typical vain effort by man to hide his sin. However, God then killed some animals to provide hides as their covering. In my opinion at this point God instituted blood sacrifice as the means for forgiveness of sin. Teshuvev may have been a nice set of rules to follow, but only the blood of Christ is a true covering for sin. For centuries blood sacrifice of animals acted as a temporary repreive. The story of their sons is important in understanding this.

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. (Genesis 4:1-2)

“Now Adam knew?” Knew what? His wife. Didn’t he already know her? But this is the Scriptures way of saying he experienced that mysterious intimacy we call intercourse. It other words, they had sex.

He had sex with his wife, Eve. Wait a minute, his wife Eve? When did this happen? Didn’t the Bible tell us Eve was created to be Adam’s helpmate? Yes, it did, but back there in Genesis 2 right after God formed the woman from Adam’s rib, he married them. They became husband and wife. 

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed or embarrassed. (Genesis 2:24-25)

There you go, the first marriage and thus when you marry, a man and a woman, they are joined as one flesh. Sin had not entered the world yet, so they didn’t notice they were naked. Notice also, Adam had his children by Eve, no one else and they remained together the rest of their lives, as marriage was meant to be, so when you fall in love and think about marriage, choose carefully, friends. My wife and I have been joined together for almost 58 years with a lot of help from God.

Now it says Adam had sex with Eve and she conceived. That doesn’t necessarily mean the first time they did it she conceived. It says Adam knew her and he could have known her many times. It says Eve conceived and that may have been after several attempts. At any rate, she conceived and bore a male baby they called Cain. The name Cain means "spear" or "possessed". Interesting choice of name. Perhaps possessed meant that now they possessed a man. Given what will happened can make possessed take on a different connotation.

Note, Eve gives credit to the help of the Lord. Actually, she said with the help of Yehovah (or Jehovah), which made Eve the first person in scripture to call God by his proper name, “Jehovah, the Existing One”.

After a bit, maybe the next year, she had a second son, who they named Abel. The name Abel means "Breath" or "Son". Abel didn’t get quite the attention from Eve as Cain did, but Cain was the firstborn, which probably already carried some weight.

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the

fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. (Genesis 4:3-4)

Why did they do this? I’ll give you my take.  We are already being pointed toward the sacrifice of Jesus; Jesus the Lamb if God. Jesus is always in the background of Old Testament  stories.

When our good buddies, Adam and Eve, sinned, they plucked some fig leaves to cover themselves, but those plants didn’t cut it. To cover their sin, innocent blood had to be shed and so God sacrificed some animals and made clothes for his errant couple. Probably the first deaths. So back to the question did Adam and Eve go to Heaven or Hell when they finally died. Scripture never tells us one way of another. It is my personal opinion that they went to Heaven as long as they continued blood sacrifices to atone for their sins going forward. I believe God instituted the sacrifice at that time.

Why else do we find Cain and Abel bringing an offering to God other than Adam and Eve taught them the necessity of doing it? So, Cain brought an offering of fruit of the ground and Abel brought a firstborn sheep from his flock. This seems logical enough to us. Go back to Chapter 4, verses 1-2 and we discover Cain and Abel’s occupations. Cain grew vegetables and fruit from the ground and Abel herded sheep. Why wouldn’t we expect Cain to bring some fruit and Abel a sheep?

Ah, but there is something different in this description. Cain brought some fruit; it doesn’t say if he picked it fresh or if it had been lying around or if it was the first, second or fifteen batch he gathered. It is much more specific when we come to Abel’s offering, not just a sheep, but a firstborn sheep. 

The Lord said to Moses, Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”(Exodus 13:1-2)

At this point when Adam and Eve had children, this statement that all the first born were to be concentrated to God lay in the future. But past, present and future are always in play with God.

So does 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 lie in the future, but the two comings of Christ were planned at the beginning. As Genesis 3:15 looks forward to the first coming of Christ with His sacrifice and victory over Satan (bruise Christ's heel; bruise Satan's head), so does 1 Corinthians 15 both looks back on Christ’s sacrifice, calling him the first fruits, but looks ahead to his Second Coming when he exacts his final authority.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:20-26)

Christ’s Sacrifice upon the cross was the final sacrifice, but in between man was called to perform a series of blood sacrifices to cover his continuous transgressions. Before Moses, Noah sacrificed clean animals and birds in Genesis 8:20.  "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

 Job also made burnt sacrifices: " And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed[a]God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually." (Job 1:5)

And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:4-7)

See, it seems God gave instructions that a sacrifice was required and Adam and Eve taught this to their sons. Eventually we find Cain and Abel presenting a sacrifice to God. Cain bring some of his fruit and Abel brings a Sacrifice of a first born lamb, which again points to Jesus, the sacrificial lamb for the sins of men. 

God looked favorably upon Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. Why? I would say because Abel gave the offering God had instructed Man to make, a blood sacrifice. Cain did not follow this directive and felt he was justified by presenting some fruit. We see that this fruit offering was rejected and Cain was very angry about it.

Can we say this?

Yes, because look at the patient explanation God gives to Cain. If he was doing what God asked his sacrifice would have been accepted. Yes, he was a farmer, but he could have traded his crops to Abel for a sacrificial lamb, but he didn’t think this was necessary. That is pride.

It isn’t said that Satan whispered in his ear, so the indication is that Cain did this on his own. But the warning is that sin crouches at the door to lead him to even worse sins.

Abel came with offering in obedience to God, but Cain did not obey what he had been instructed. The rejection hurt his pride and caused him to be angry at God and jealous of his brother.

The History Channel chose to grasp at an ancient Jewish claim that Cain killed Abel over a woman. Supposedly the two brothers were to marry twin sisters. Abel was to marry Aclima who was more beautiful than her sister Awan. Cain would not consent to this arrangement and Adam suggested they seek God’s blessing through a sacrifice. Whoever God blessed would marry Aclima. God rejected Cain’s sacrifice and in a fit of jealous rage Cain slew Abel. This is one of the reasons I am not a fan of the History Channel’s telling of Bible stories. They presented this version as fact.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than

Cain, through  which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.(Hebrews 11:4)

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and  whoever finds me will kill me.”

Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Genesis 4:8-16)

There is justice here. Cain receives a severe punishment for murdering his brother, the first murder ever. Cain, the farmer, was cursed to have the ground not yield to him and then to become a wanderer. The worse of the punishment was he was then hidden from God’s face. This is one of the harsh elements of Hell, that God will no longer be available to one. Note that at the end of the passage, Cain went away from the presence of the Lord. Cain had no further hope.

But Cain was also concerned that someone would kill him in retribution.

Here we also see God’s mercy. First God didn’t kill Cain outright. Secondly he placed a mark on Cain that warned away anyone who would threaten Cain, saying they would face an even harsher punishment. We will see in a bit that this warning was known and taken to heart by others.

The Land of Nod was not a place. “Nod” comes from a Hebrew verb meaning to wander. Cain would not find peace on earth. In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus said that Cain continued to be wicked, violent  and a robber. 

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. (1 John 3:12)

Now we come to the “begats".  A lot of people skip the “begats” as boring, but they are not.They are full of information.

Of course there are no “begats” for Abel. This tells us Abel did not live to be married and have children

So the first groups of “begats” we encounter are those of Cain.

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. Genesis 4:17.

Now there is an Enoch in the line of Seth and a number of similarities of names, so be careful not to get confused. This first son of Cain is not the same who wrote The Book of Enoch.

But whoa! Where did Cain find this wife in his wanderings out in the wastelands? Scripture doesn’t say he did. Scripture says Cain knew his wife, meaning he had sexual relations with his wife, but not that he met her after he was banished. He may have married before he killed Abel. Remember he was the older boy.

Now I know in Genesis 5:4 it says, “The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.” Because it says Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth does not necessarily mean he and Eve had all those other sons and daughters after Seth. Sons probably, but they may have had daughters even when they had Cain and Abel. Remember, women didn’t get counted in those ancient times.

Anyway, even though Cain was doomed to wander, he did take time to build a city. Careful in reading this, because it doesn’t say Cain’s son Enoch build a city; it says “he”, meaning Cain built it and named it for his son Enoch.

His wife also had to be his sister. God hadn’t created any other people. There were no cave people bopping around in or out of Eden. And God had told Adam and Eve to populate the earth. The only thing that could have happened in those beginning times was intermarriage between close relatives, first between brothers and sisters and then between cousins.

Ew, that sounds bad. Doesn’t incest lead to all kinds of mutations.

The Egyptians practiced marrying brothers and sisters and this led to the Pharaohs having breasts and hips like women. King Tut (right) was a pretty messed up young man with breasts and female hips, as was his father, Akhenaten (left). But Adam and Eve were created perfect. There were no mutations in their DNA and it took a long time before such mutations took place among they decedents. It was in the time of Moses that God forbid the marriage between close relatives.

To Enoch was born Irad, [The name Irad means “Wild Ass”, so one can infer that Iran followed in his father’s footsteps]

and Irad fathered Mehujael,[the name Mehujael means smitten by God. Smitten can mean struck with a hard blow.]

and Mehujael fathered Methushael, [Name’s meaning is uncertain]

and Methushael fathered Lamech. [ This name means to make low. [There is another Lamech in the line of Seth.] And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah [ornament], and the name of the other Zillah [shadow]. Adah bore Jabal [means mountain] Jabal ; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal [think jubalee]; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

Lamech is the first bigamist. Some commentators called her the first wife of Lamech, and perhaps he did marry her first, but verse 23 indicates he had two wives at the same time.

Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”(Genesis 4:23-24)

So Lamech follows Cain by becoming a murderer. (I thought for a moment we’d go into “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Mama, I've killed a man...")  Lamech’s statement about Cain’s revenge shows that the marking of Cain was made well known and came down through several generations.

The interesting thing about Cain’s decedents is they were of the world, not God.   They were the inventors and muscians. Jabal was a leader of those who lived in tents and had livestock. Jubal was the father of music and Tubal-Cain was the father of industry, working in bronze and iron

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, (anointed) for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh [or Enos, which simply means person.] At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:25-26.

We come to the begats of Adam through Seth’s dependents, the people who did not become the world immediately, but called on the name of God, at least for a while, and then disaster would strike.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Adam and Eve had died spiritually when they ate the forbidden fruit. God had warned Adam if they did this, on that day they would surely die. God did not lie. It wasn’t just spiritual, it was also physical. Before then Adam and Eve could have and would have lived forever, but on the day they ate the fruit they were no longer immortal and became susceptible to death. 

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8

I think we can quote Peter here.  Within the context of how God counts time, Adam did surely die on that day.

When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

Enosh means people, and according to the Torah “And to Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh, then huchal to call by the name of the L-rd.” Huchal comes from the Hebrew word hischil meaning "to begin". Some Jews taught people began the practice of prayer at this time, which they saw no necessity for before the birth of Enosh, they believed God had made up his mind and nothing would change it, so prayer wasn’t necessary. Preaching wasn’t needed either, because everyone was aware of God’s presence and power. 

But then this knowledge diminished and people began to give honor to the stars and planets. A practice of false worship was beginning.

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

Kenan is in the genealogy of Jesus in the line Joseph in Luke 3:37. The name may mean either possession or stronghold.

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

Mahalalel means “praise of God”.

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

The name Jared contained the meaning “rose” and “servant”.

When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

Enoch means dedicated. It is believed Enoch did not die. At the age of 365 God took him alive to Heaven. It says he walked with God.
Hebrews 11:5 attests to this —By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.

Enoch wrote The Book of Enoch. This book has long been controversial and some argue it should be included in the Bible. Two Christian denomination accept it as part of the Canon:  Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, but not by any other Christian groups.

 Part of this Book  is quoted in Jude verses 14-15. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Methuselah means, “when he is dead it shall be sent.”  I have also

read it meant “After me, the deluge”. Either way, right after Methuselah died the great flood came.

When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 

Methuselah was the oldest person who ever lived. He had a son named Lamech. Lamech means “to make low”. Lamech lived a shorter life than the others, only 777 years. He died in the great flood. 7 is the Bible number for completeness and at 777 he completed the antediluvian generations.

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:1-32