Some hold the notion that the Old Testament is filled primarily with doom and gloom. But the more I read through it, the more I am inclined to strongly disagree with that sentiment. We've already seen how God graciously gave man everything even though He knew that he would fall into temptation and disobey Him. Furthermore, God pronounced a shadow of the gospel of Christ (called the proto evangelion which is Greek for pre-gospel) in Genesis 3 right after the fall. In the chapters for today's reading, we see the themes of grace and eternal dwelling with God woven throughout the narrative.
It's hard to believe that Adam and Eve could recover after such a devastating failure. But God's mercy shown to them (the announcement of the serpent's demise and the sacrifice of the animals for the sake of covering their nakedness) made a deep impact upon how they would regard Him outside of the garden. For instance, when Eve gives birth to Cain, she states, "With the help of the LORD, I have brought forth a man." Eve acknowledged God's intervention in her conception of Cain (3:20) and in the delivery process. God was there from beginning to end. Though man was ultimately destined for death, God allowed for a glimmer of hope through new life. Notice also that the word LORD is the personal name for God seen in Exodus 3:14. God is not distant, but rather even in the midst of man's depravity and pain he reveals himself as Immanuel, God with us.
From the very beginnings of man's history outside of the garden, we witness the sinful depravity of his heart. Cain's brother Abel shows remarkable faith in that he offers God something even though there is absolutely no obligation for Him to accept it. God is holy and perfect, so what can man give to Him that is of any worth? Hebrews 11:4 explains that Abel came with an attitude of faith or trust. I personally believe that somehow, God's mercy in His acceptance of man even in his sinfulness was communicated to Abel. Abel had a trust relationship with God based on His one-sided grace of acceptance. This is actually gospel faith; we come to God based not on our merits, but on God's acceptance of us despite our depravity. To Cain, who lives by his own merit, this idea of offering by faith does not make sense. Furthermore, he seems to think it scandalous that God would not accept his offering, especially as the first born. Instead, God chooses the offering of the second born (btw, does this theme sound familiar?) Cain seems to think that somehow God is obligated to accept his offering, for why else would he become angry and despondent? What we see in Cain is a deeply rooted sense of pride. This is in fact what caused the downfall of Adam and Eve. It's the self-centered idea that we know better than our Creator. Cain could not control his pride and thus he rejected God's counsel to defend himself against deadly sin which was ever-looking to devour his soul. Cain slew Abel out of jealous pride and furthermore shunned God. Even after all of this, even in Cain's self-centered defense against God's punishment for murder, (“My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”) we see God's unbelievable mercy. He relents and mercifully protects Cain from harm.
I often like to single Cain out as the most selfish, murderous sinner in the early history of mankind. But I realize that I'm no different. How many times have I become jealous of my brother due to my pride? How many times have I felt as though God was obligated to do something for me? How many times have I neglected to care for my brother as though I were not somehow responsible for him? In my sin, I am the same murderer. Apart from the graces and mercy of God, I am the same self-centered, restless wanderer. It is only by his grace through Jesus Christ that I stand and can offer something of worth to him.
Sin is serious business though. We see the legacy of Cain in his descendants. They look impressive due to their ingenuity and social progressiveness. But then we begin to see the depravity of their culture. Polygamy springs up through Lamech. Furthermore, he promotes excessive vengeance (4:24). He reveals the wounded heart of man. In our woundedness, we become senseless and often want to take vengeance into our own hands, showing no mercy. This reminds me of the character from the movie Colombiana.
The early history of man seems to take another tragic turn. However, God primarily rules history. Thus, Adam and Eve conceive again and give birth to Seth. This is the beginning of a line of descendants who would begin to call on the name of the LORD. Eventually we see Noah come through this line. Through this, we see that God's promise in Genesis 3:15 is coming to fruition through His merciful providence. We also see a foreshadow of resurrection and eternal dwelling with God through Enoch's ascension.
As a side note, I have always wondered about the long lifespans of the figures in the account. Recently, science has revealed how it might have indeed been plausible for early man to live that long. Click here if you are interested in reading further about this.
The account of Seth's line ends with an introduction to Noah. It was prophesied that his life would bring comfort to the people.
I love the history that Genesis presents. In it, we see the early development of the psychology of sin and man's evil machinations. But at the same time, we see God's gracious providence. Thus we see hope for us all and that despite the way our world seems to be endlessly spiraling downward, God is in control of our redemption.
What stands out to you the most in these two chapters?
On what basis do you come to God?
How do you handle pride, which is innate to mankind?
Can you see God's sovereign working throughout history, even our current U.S. history?
hope to hear your thoughts soon.
It's hard to believe that Adam and Eve could recover after such a devastating failure. But God's mercy shown to them (the announcement of the serpent's demise and the sacrifice of the animals for the sake of covering their nakedness) made a deep impact upon how they would regard Him outside of the garden. For instance, when Eve gives birth to Cain, she states, "With the help of the LORD, I have brought forth a man." Eve acknowledged God's intervention in her conception of Cain (3:20) and in the delivery process. God was there from beginning to end. Though man was ultimately destined for death, God allowed for a glimmer of hope through new life. Notice also that the word LORD is the personal name for God seen in Exodus 3:14. God is not distant, but rather even in the midst of man's depravity and pain he reveals himself as Immanuel, God with us.
From the very beginnings of man's history outside of the garden, we witness the sinful depravity of his heart. Cain's brother Abel shows remarkable faith in that he offers God something even though there is absolutely no obligation for Him to accept it. God is holy and perfect, so what can man give to Him that is of any worth? Hebrews 11:4 explains that Abel came with an attitude of faith or trust. I personally believe that somehow, God's mercy in His acceptance of man even in his sinfulness was communicated to Abel. Abel had a trust relationship with God based on His one-sided grace of acceptance. This is actually gospel faith; we come to God based not on our merits, but on God's acceptance of us despite our depravity. To Cain, who lives by his own merit, this idea of offering by faith does not make sense. Furthermore, he seems to think it scandalous that God would not accept his offering, especially as the first born. Instead, God chooses the offering of the second born (btw, does this theme sound familiar?) Cain seems to think that somehow God is obligated to accept his offering, for why else would he become angry and despondent? What we see in Cain is a deeply rooted sense of pride. This is in fact what caused the downfall of Adam and Eve. It's the self-centered idea that we know better than our Creator. Cain could not control his pride and thus he rejected God's counsel to defend himself against deadly sin which was ever-looking to devour his soul. Cain slew Abel out of jealous pride and furthermore shunned God. Even after all of this, even in Cain's self-centered defense against God's punishment for murder, (“My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”) we see God's unbelievable mercy. He relents and mercifully protects Cain from harm.
I often like to single Cain out as the most selfish, murderous sinner in the early history of mankind. But I realize that I'm no different. How many times have I become jealous of my brother due to my pride? How many times have I felt as though God was obligated to do something for me? How many times have I neglected to care for my brother as though I were not somehow responsible for him? In my sin, I am the same murderer. Apart from the graces and mercy of God, I am the same self-centered, restless wanderer. It is only by his grace through Jesus Christ that I stand and can offer something of worth to him.
Sin is serious business though. We see the legacy of Cain in his descendants. They look impressive due to their ingenuity and social progressiveness. But then we begin to see the depravity of their culture. Polygamy springs up through Lamech. Furthermore, he promotes excessive vengeance (4:24). He reveals the wounded heart of man. In our woundedness, we become senseless and often want to take vengeance into our own hands, showing no mercy. This reminds me of the character from the movie Colombiana.
The early history of man seems to take another tragic turn. However, God primarily rules history. Thus, Adam and Eve conceive again and give birth to Seth. This is the beginning of a line of descendants who would begin to call on the name of the LORD. Eventually we see Noah come through this line. Through this, we see that God's promise in Genesis 3:15 is coming to fruition through His merciful providence. We also see a foreshadow of resurrection and eternal dwelling with God through Enoch's ascension.
As a side note, I have always wondered about the long lifespans of the figures in the account. Recently, science has revealed how it might have indeed been plausible for early man to live that long. Click here if you are interested in reading further about this.
The account of Seth's line ends with an introduction to Noah. It was prophesied that his life would bring comfort to the people.
I love the history that Genesis presents. In it, we see the early development of the psychology of sin and man's evil machinations. But at the same time, we see God's gracious providence. Thus we see hope for us all and that despite the way our world seems to be endlessly spiraling downward, God is in control of our redemption.
What stands out to you the most in these two chapters?
On what basis do you come to God?
How do you handle pride, which is innate to mankind?
Can you see God's sovereign working throughout history, even our current U.S. history?
hope to hear your thoughts soon.
Comments
Post a Comment