Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is Genesis 4-7. After that I’ll address what some people see as difficulties in those chapters. We’ll do a top ten. I’m calling the show “Genesis Q and A”.

Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash

Comments on Genesis 4-7

There are several passages and events in these four chapters that many people find difficult to understand.

Let's do a top ten list, taken in chronological order.

1. Why did God not accept Cain's sacrifice? (Chapter 4)

We are told in verse 3 that "3When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock." Why do you suppose that they brought gifts, or offerings? Could it be that God had instructed them to do so? We do know that very specific instructions were given by God to Moses for several different types of offerings. Is it difficult to expect that God, in this very early period of human history, would instruct Adam and Eve's sons to give offerings with specific instructions as to what would be expected, or required?

And notice the language. "Cain presented some of his crops..." Whereas Abel brought "the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock." The KJV says  Abel "...brought the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof." Many translations say words to the effect. The fat was considered the best part.

So Cain brought "some of his crops", and Abel brought the best parts. It seems as if Cain was lackadaisical about his offering, whereas Abel's offering was wholehearted. 

God sees and cares a great deal about the state of our heart, especially when it comes to our offerings.

Note that there is the implication that Cain knew that his offering was not what God required, because when He saw that Cain was unhappy that his offering was not accepted, God said to him, "You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

"You will be accepted if you do what is right..." Cain knew that his offering was not right.

2. When Cain went to the land of Nod, who did he marry? Chapter 4

If Adam and Eve were the first humans, and Cain and Abel were their only children, how could there be anyone else?

In Genesis 5:4, we are told that Adam (and by inference, Eve) had other sons and daughters. So Cain married one of his sisters. At this point in human history, the gene pool was still pure enough that this would not be a dangerous thing. It was not until God gave the Law to Moses much later, that God forbade the marriage of close relatives.

3. How could lifespans be as long as those recorded in Genesis 5? 

There are two factors that could be at play. 

a) The purity of the gene pool. Much of the disease that plagues us today, including the disease of aging can be attributed to genetic anomalies that have crept in over the generations. When DNA is replicated, errors occur in the code. 

b) Also remember that the genealogy of Adam recorded here is before the flood. It is quite likely that the Earth's atmosphere was very different before the flood. Remember the description of the creation. After God created light and dark on the first day, on the second day God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”

So there was a great deal of water above the Earth and on the Earth. This water canopy above the Earth would have shielded the Earth from the harmful rays of the sun, protecting the inhabitants on the surface of the Earth. Lifespans after the flood decreased dramatically.

4. How could all of humanity actually be descended from just Adam and Eve? (Chapter 5)

One writer has estimated that if Adam did indeed live 930 years,