Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 4-7.

We have two key stories in today’s passage.  The first is the story of Cain and Abel.  Actually,  first I want to note the reason Eve gave Cain his name.  She says that she named him this because she acquired him, or brought him forth, with the aid of the Lord.  In this way she acknowledges that it was by God’s grace that she gave birth.  We also should give God credit for that which we acquire.  Whether they be children or material goods, we only acquire anything in this world with the aid of God.  Which brings us to the story of Cain and Abel.  Cain was angry because God looked with favor on Abel’s offering, but did not look with favor on Cain’s offering.  Essentially, Cain was jealous of his younger brother.  God confronted Cain over his anger, and told him that if he did what was right he would be accepted.  However, if he did not do what was right, sin was just waiting to take him.  Unfortunately, Cain did not heed God’s word and instead killed his brother.  We must heed God’s words to Cain and do what is right so that we may rule over sin, rather than allow sin to rule over us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 4-7.

As I was reading today’s passage the first thing which struck me is that the genealogy in chapter five does not tell us that the sons named were the first born.  Before today I had never realized that the passage does not make any claim that Enosh was Seth’s first born son, the same being true for each of those listed after this.  So, while the passage definitively tells us that Seth was Adam’s third born son (after Cain and Abel), it makes no particular claim about the birth order for the rest of those listed (except that they each had younger brothers and sisters).  The other thing I never before realized is that the passage seems to imply that Seth was Adam’s true heir.  The wording of the passage seems to suggest that Cain lost his rights as the first born son because he killed his brother, which made Seth the eldest remaining son to Adam.

While none of these thoughts seem to me to have any spiritual significance, they are what came to me as I read this passage today.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 4-7.

My first thought when I started today’s blog was, “How long until I forget that it is no longer 2021?”  followed by, “How long until I do not have to think to type 2022 instead of 2021?”

I find it interesting that in today’s passage that the account gives so much information about the descendants of Cain.  If the story about Noah and the Flood is to be taken literally, no one alive today is a descendant of Cain.  This would seem to make the fact that the sons of Lamech were the first to do certain things of no particular significance.  If all of their descendants perished in the Flood, why is it significant that Jabal was the first to be a nomadic herdsman? Or that Jubal the first to make and use stringed and wind instruments? or that Tubal-Cain was the first to make metal tools?  Then, while discussing the events which led up to the Flood, the account speaks of the Nephilim.  They were apparently the offspring from when the “sons of God” had children by the daughters of humans.  This would not be significant, except that the passage seems to say that there were Nephilim on the Earth after the Flood.  All of this makes me wonder if we are intended to take it literally when later in the passage it tells us that every living thing which dwells on the land perished in the Flood.  I want to be clear that I am not saying that I believe that not all life that dwells upon the land and was not in the Ark perished in the Flood.  I am merely saying that these little comments make me wonder.  Much of this ambiguity stems from the fact that the Bible was written in Ancient Hebrew, and, based on what we know from more recent languages, it is probable that many words used in the Bible changed meaning to one degree or another from the oldest time they were used in the Bible to the most recent time they were used.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7. I have decided to switch from suing the New Living Translation to using the New International Version because, all in all, I prefer the NIV.

Once again I am unsure where I am going with today’s blog.  However, today I see several things I want to touch on which I do not see any connection between.  The first was something which I first thought of yesterday.  In yesterday’s passage it mentioned that God had given every seed bearing plant as food for mankind.  Then in today’s passage, Abel is a shepherd who brought an offering of the fat portions of some of the firstborn of his flock.  God found this a more acceptable offering than Cain’s offering from among his crops.  I am unsure of what significance this has, but it feels rather significant.

A little later the passage tells us that the “sons of God” married the daughters of humans who they found attractive and had children by them.  This provides the context in which the writer tells us that human wickedness had become so great that God decided to unleash the Flood.  We have no other references which give us any insight into who these “sons of God” were, nor what connection there was between them taking human women as wives and the wickedness of humanity.  One thing I find interesting is that the passage tells us that the “Nephilim” were the offspring of these matings between the “sons of God” and human women, which happened before the Flood.  Later, the Israelites encountered descendants of the Nephilim when they entered Canaan to conquer it.  Did the Nephilim survive the Flood? Or, did more “sons of God” mate with human women after the Flood?
The final thing I want to touch upon is that the passage tells us that Noah walked faithfully with God, which appears to be unique among the people of his time.  Although, we should note that Noah’s great grandfather was Enoch, who walked faithfully with God, then was no more because God took him away.  Also, Noah’s father and grandfather died just before the Flood, so we should suspect that they were similarly faithful to God as Enoch and Noah.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7.

Before I continue with what my thought experiment means for understanding this passage there is something important I want to point out, actually two things.  At harvest time, Cain presented some of what he had harvested as an offering to God, while Abel presented the best portions of the firstborn lambs.  Cain then got upset because God was more pleased with Abel’s offering.  Why was God more pleased with Abel’s offering?  The passage does not make it clear, but I believe the difference was that Cain just offered some of his harvest, while Abel offered the best of his increase.  Then, when Cain was angry, God gave Cain a piece of advice we should follow ourselves.  If we do what is right we will be accepted by God.  As importantly, if we do not do what is right it will leave time for us to do what is wrong.  Let us fill our time doing what is right so that we do not have time to sin.

Now continuing my thought experiment, although now I will extend it to the idea that for the most part the Bible is true.  So, if the Bible is true, the flood story is true.  Which would mean that everything we know about what happened before that comes through Noah and his family.  It would also mean that the our oldest common male ancestor can be no further back than Noah, while our oldest common female ancestor could be Eve.   Interestingly enough, modern genetic science posits that the common male ancestor of all living humans was significantly more recent than the common female ancestor of all living humans.  I also find this interesting.  God had already established a list of animals which were the only ones approved for human consumption.