What Happens When a Society Rejects God? | Genesis 4:16-26 | Mikey Brannon

What Happens When A Society Rejects God?

Grace Christian Fellowship

Mikey Brannon

October 13, 2024

[Gen 4:16 ESV] 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. • Went away from the presence of the Lord.

o 4:6-7 Cain is filled with rage against his brother, but is gracious to him and gives him an opportunity to repent.

o How sin is conceived (like a baby) in Gen 4:6-7, James 1:14-15

o God uses vivid language to describe his sin (4:7) “crouching desire”. (ref. 1 Peter 5:8)

o Cain’s biggest issue

 Cain conceived the sin of murder in his heart

 His desire for sin was greater than his desire for God

 While cain was religious, fundamentally he was a non-believer!

• Knows God personally

• Talks with God

• Still does not trust God’s words

 Cain is the first cursed person. (4:11-12)

 The result of the curse is that Cain is forced to become a wanderer, a nomad, a homeless vagabond.

 Notice Cain willingly gives up religion and relationship with God, in order to rid himself of the precepts that come along with it. This is the choice of the sinner.

o “East of Eden” – Genesis language shows that as one moves Eastward they are moving further from the presence of God.

o “Land of Nod” Nod means wanderer, exile, or fugitive.

[Gen 4:17 ESV] 17 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. • Even this vile sinner found a wife to marry. Cain obviously married one of his sisters. Together they have a son named Enoch.

• “Built a City” - It is not what we expect the vagabond to do, establish a city. It is as if he says, I’ll show you God, I’ll settle my on place and I don’t need you to help. But even the name of the city suggest it is futile.

• The Hebrew verb tense suggests that Cain didn’t just build a city, but that he was continually building a city. Essentially we can picture Cain endlessly working to buid this city, but never finishing it, until he eventually turns it over to his son to whom it is named Enoch.

• This city that Cain would build would be common a city of apostasy and of the inhabatens present and future would be rejecters of God, and they will eventually be drowned.

[Gen 4:18 ESV] 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. • Our sin doesn’t just affect us but it affects others around us, and even future generations.

• In Chapter 5 and 6 we get 2 genealogies here in our text we have a genealogy of Cain, and in the next chapter we have the genealogy of Seth. More on that later.

• This geneology traces Cain to one of his descendants Lamech. Lamech is the arch type evil representative of what has come from Cain’s apostasy.

• Enoch means “dedicated”. Cain running from the curse God has placed on him attempts to build a city and he names his Son and his city “dedicated”. He dedicates his son to his city. As if his son may finally be able to stop running and wandering.

• Talk about how sinners try to find comfort somewhere other than God.

• Enoch is cains big dillusion.

• Our kids are not fooled by our dillusions are they, its very interesting what Enoch names his son, Irad, which can be loosely translated city dweller

• Then you have Mejujael and Methusahael, which scholars say means something like, God Blots out and violence to God

• Do you see the direction from cain to -> city dweller-> outright violence to God this is trendline of the society.

[Gen 4:19 ESV] 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. • The apostate generation culminates with a picture of a man named Lamech (conquerer).

• Instantly we encounter an issue with Lamech. He has 2 wives.

• We know that God has already established marriage as a union between 1 man and 1 woman. Any other version of this union is a sinful corruption. (Gen. 2:24)

• Some people encounter polygamy in the OT and they say see the Bible is wrong it condones things like that. Or that the Bible is inconsistent on its view on marriage. Not true.

• Whenever polygamy is shown in the OT it always results in hurt and devastation. (Abraham)

• As we can see here in our example text the Bible doesn’t come out and make a moral statement about polygamy here. Because it doesn’t need to. That is the entire point of this geneology.

[Gen 4:20 ESV] 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. • The “bal” brothers: Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal

• Stem bal means to produce

• Society was a great at producing things

• We have world leading agriculture, invention of music, of musical instruments, iron working, bronze instruments of all kinds

• Jabal was a shepherd who likely tended sheep. People in the city need someone else to produce meat and garments, so what we see here is the first glimmering of the agricultural industry.

• Discussion about how long they lived in this society Adam lived 930 years. In fact did you ever realize Adam almost lived long enough to see the birth of Noah. Cain lived 730 years.

[Gen 4:21 ESV] 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. • Jubal, invented music, and the first instruments. Can you imagine what an accomplishment, Chris Karpus level stuff here. They had likely had figured out things like scales, and chords, and how to construct various instruments to create harmonies.

• Now many of us in this room are musicians. How many of you feel like you have enough time to practice your instrument? How many of you feel like you have mastered it and there is nothing else to learn? Imagine if you had 700 years to work on it. Do you think you would be pretty good?

[Gen 4:22 ESV] 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. • Tubal-cain in a similar way had perfected the art of metal working. He is the father of blacksmithing and was the master of the craft. In a similar way having so much time on the earth to master the craft.

• These 3 sons were epic leaders of a godless city.

• Application: I wonder what outsiders would have said about the city of Nod as they passed by. Great city! Technological leaders, Innovative, Wealthy, luxurious? Does this sound like a cursed city to you?

• A society without God is striving to find satisfaction in something else, but they will ever find is emptiness.

• This is a society who works and works for the one thing they will never have, rest. Sabbath. Because they have rejected the ultimate rest. (Matthew 12:8)

[Gen 4:23 ESV] 23 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. • Lamech becomes the poster boy for how far from God this society has come.

• Brags to his wives about his murderous rampage

o Notice how he speaks to his wives. How far has this Godless society gotten from what Adam first spoke, “bone of my bone flesh of my flesh”

o Murder of man

o Murder of a child

o In both instances Lamech brags about his brutality

o What we can observe here in this society that is far from God there is no longer an appreciation for human life.

o Why is murder such a heinous crime in the first place?

o Gen. 1:27, Gen.9:6

o So what we see in a society that is far from God, there is a loss of appreciation for human life

o Another way to say this is that the value you we place on one another comes from the value that we place in God.

o Another way to say this is, Love God, Love People

[Gen 4:24 ESV] 24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold." • The reference here is back to verse 4:15.

• Remember God had promised Cain protection of his life. Word got around.

• In hindsight now that we have studied this passage I think God allowed Cain to live just so that the fullness of his wickedness would play out. It would have been to easy for him to die. So Cain spends hundreds of years trying to outrun the curse, only to die in his futile attempts. It is a much more worthy punishment.

• Lamech makes a mockery of God’s curse. He is vile, and wicked, he even brags about his wickedness. This city is lost indeed.

• What a terrible story if it ended here!

[Gen 4:25 ESV] 25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." • Able the presumed line of redemption is dead. Cain is unfit and cursed. The last time things looked this dark were after the fall.

• We think back to the promise (Gen. 3:14). And in God’s graciousness we find hope. This verse gives us hope.

• Adam and Eve have another son who can help fulfill the promise of Genesis 3:14, Seth.

• Seth is not the one to crush the head of the serpant, but we will find out in the next chapter exactly where is line will lead, ultimately to Christ, the ultimate head crusher. Luke 3:38

[Gen 4:26 ESV] 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. • Even in the early days apparently outside of the line of Cain people had begun to stray from God

• Enosh marks a period of revival where people began to again call upon the name of the Lord.