Tag: Genesis 4

Great

Posted on by jovial_cynic

And I will make you into a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing;
Genesis 12:2 (NASB)

In Genesis 12, God mentions this word “great” twice to Abraham, and if you’ve been following along, you know this means we should look more closely. Perhaps there is something here.

God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
Genesis 1:16 (NASB)

The very first time this word shows up in the Scriptures, it also shows up twice: the two great lights. And there is a mention of governing. Ruling. Something you expect a great nation to do well. So this feels related.

And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:21 (NASB)

But in the same chapter, this word comes up again. The great sea creatures. Or perhaps great sea creature, which the rabbis suggest is the Leviathan: the great trouble of God’s people. And yet… given greatness. Authority. Like a kingdom of the sea. Or of darkness.

So we have these links between greatness and authority, and that all makes sense, although some will scratch their head at the Leviathan, unwilling to accept that the Serpent was also created by God. That’s fine.

But it’s the next instance of great that caught my attention.

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure!
Genesis 4:13 (NASB)

Cain murdered his brother, and God assigned a punishment: the ground will no longer yield fruit. You will wander forever.

The verse says: וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן אֶל־יְהוָהגָּדוֹל עֲוֺנִי מִנְּשֹׂא

“My punishment is too great to endure!”

We read this in English, and it feels like a complaint: “You are too harsh!” And then it appears that God provides a protection over Cain, to prevent anyone from killing him.

The rabbis see something else here. Something greater.

The word “punishment” is an odd translation choice. It is the Hebrew word עָוֹן (“ah-vone”), which means “iniquity.” It is almost always translated that way in the rest of Scripture.

So in actuality, it reads: “My iniquity is too great to endure,” and in these words, the rabbis see a question, not a statement.

Cain is not saying that it is too great for HIM to bear. He is asking God: “is my iniquity too great for YOU to bear?”

Cain knows the story: his father Adam brought death to ALL humanity through disobedience, yet God covered him. He continued to bless him. He continued to loved him.

So Cain asks God: Is my sin too great? Can I not also be redeemed?

And in response, God covers Cain, this time with a mark to protect him from death.

Perhaps this is God’s greatness: Even though Adam brought death to us all, God has authority over death to redeem. Even though Cain brought death to his brother, God has the authority to restrain death from seizing Cain.

You have not met someone God cannot redeem. He can save you. He can even save me.

Abel’s Offering of Meat

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, as I gave the green plant.
Genesis 9:3 (NASB)

Prior to Genesis 9, humanity wasn’t given meat to eat. The rabbis debate the reasoning and implications, but what stands out in my own reading is that Abel sacrificed a lamb to God in Genesis 4. I can only assume this was a burnt offering. A cooked offering.

But he didn’t eat it.

Have you ever roasted lamb before? Have you smelled it?

It’s hard to fathom the depth of self-control and restraint required to present something wholly to God like this, and not reach my hand out and take some for myself. But perhaps that’s part of the story of Abel. Maybe there’s a lesson in there about not reaching out your hand and taking what belongs to God. And this points us right back to a certain Tree in the Garden of Eden.

After the flood, all food is permissible, although the rabbis note that God prohibits some food later, so the permission granted here may not mean all animals. Regardless, what was previously withheld by God can now be enjoyed within the context of the Genesis 9 Covenant.

Cursed or Cursed

Posted on by jovial_cynic
The ground was cursed back in Genesis 3, and some people read Genesis 8 to assume that the curse has been lifted because the earth was wiped clean with the flood.

However, this word “curse” here in Genesis 8 (kalal) is *not* the same as the one in Genesis 3 (arar).

The Lord smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
Genesis 8:21 (NIV)

The Genesis 8 kalal means to make light or to render insignificant. To treat as worthless or despised.

The Genesis 3 arar means cursed and suggests a binding, or a punishment.

So when we read that Adam was a worker of the ground before sin entered the world, and then told that he will toil and struggle with the ground after sin, we see a change – the ground is cursed. Bound up. Not fruitful like it was before.

In Genesis 4, when we read that Cain was a “tiller of the ground,” we are supposed to see it and go “uh oh…” because we already know that the ground is cursed. And Cain’s labor leads to murder.

So when we read Genesis 9 and we see that the curse of Genesis 3 is perhaps not abated by Genesis 8, we should be startled to see how Noah is described.

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
Genesis 9:20-21 (NIV)

We should expect things to go sideways. And they do.

Perhaps

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Genesis 1-2: God is our Father.
Genesis 3-4: We turn away from Him. We’re like a son who demands his inheritance and leaves.
Genesis 5: Time passes. We wander until things get so bad we need to come home.
Genesis 6-7: The father runs to meet us and brings us back into the house.

You’re on the Boat

Posted on by jovial_cynic
If you read the Bible and you don’t know God loves you with the greatest love, the words will sound like hell.

You’re going to see yourself cast out of the garden.
Marked for death.
A random name in a list of names.
Left off the boat as the flood rises.

But that’s not the story.

He left the garden with you.
He shielded you from vengeance.
He knows your name.
He carries you in the boat.

It is your story. It is the story of His great love for you.

End of Days

Posted on by jovial_cynic
The Hebrew in Genesis 6:13 says something wild. Look at these two translations: the Youngs Literal Translation (YLT) and the NIV:

The first thing you may notice is that one says “all flesh” and the other says “all people.”

And God said to Noah, `An end of all flesh hath come before Me, for the earth hath been full of violence from their presence; and lo, I am destroying them with the earth.
Genesis 6:13 (YLT)

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
Genessi 6:13 (NIV)

But look at this word “end.” This word, when it isn’t connected to a specific time (like “end of 40 years,” or “end of his reign“) has a much more… eternal meaning.

I. end
1. end, at the end of (of time)
2. end (of space)
H7093: קֵץ (qēṣ)

There are two places in the Torah where this word is not connected to a specific time. Here, and back in Genesis 4 when Cain and Abel offer an offering to God.

This is an eternal image. This is not only our past. It is our present and future.

This passage can be read: “the end of all flesh is before me because the earth is filled with violence through the works of the flesh. I will destroy all flesh with the earth.”

If you read my Ish/Isha (flesh/spirit) post about Genesis 2-3, you’ll see a connection here.

If the Flood is a symbol of death & picture of baptism, where the flesh dies and is raised again by the Spirit of God, the destruction of the flesh is not disaster. It is what we long for: Not the death of wicked people, but the death of our sinful selves… so we can live.

Violence Against Women

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The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4 (NIV)

The actions of the “sons of God” here are written in stark and glaring contrast to Genesis 4:1, where it says that Adam knew his wife Eve.

I believe the text is describing violence.

Patterns in the Ages

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Genesis is full of patterns that are intended to draw your attention; breaks in the repetition should make you stop and ask, “Why?”

Genesis 5 lists the ages in the generations between Adam and Noah, and a few stand out. The youngest, the oldest, and the one with the strange number.

Methuselah lived the longest – 969 years. His name is linked to his long life, which was not just for his benefit, but for the benefit of humanity as God restrained the Flood until after Methuselah died.

Enoch notably never died.

And Lamech? He shares a name with a notable man in Cain’s genealogy. Cain’s Lamech is man of seventy-seven-fold vengeance. But the Lamech of Genesis 5 goes down a different path. Not one of vengeance, but of Comfort.

So many Sevens

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Genesis 4:23-24 (NIV)

Seventh from Cain, we have Lamech boasting a 7-fold to 77-fold vengeance. I mentioned previously that Jesus flips this with this a 7-fold to 77-fold forgiveness.

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.
Genesis 5:28-31

Eighth down the line from Seth in Genesis 5, we have a different Lamech, tied to the number 777.

Lamech’s son is Noah: Comfort.

In Hebrew numerology, 7 means completion. Perfection. But 8 symbolizes new creation. A new order.

It’s so fascinating. It’s like the numbers tell us about God creating a new order, undoing vengeance and overcoming it with forgiveness to bring us comfort.

Abel’s Wife

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Perhaps Abel was married.

Consider the law of the Kinsman Redeemer:

If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.
Deuteronomy 25:5-6

This law defines how to be a “brother’s keeper.” Perhaps we’re told that Cain left and knew his wife (Genesis 4:16-17) specifically because he wouldn’t marry Abel’s wife in order to continue his dead brother’s name.