Genesis Q and A: Genesis 4-7 (LSFAB S13E009)
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[TEASER - 00:00]
Let's do a top 10 list.

[INTRO S13E009 - 00:09]
This is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California. And podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG podcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily - yes, daily - podcast where we'll read through the entire Bible in a year. And this is just the ninth episode of season 13, so if you're new here, you are getting in on the ground floor. But however long you've been here, I'm happy to see you today. Welcome.

Our reading today is Genesis 4 through 7, and after that I'll address what some people see as difficulties in those chapters. We'll do a top 10. I'm calling the show "Genesis Q and A". But before we get into the Word, let's pray.

[OPENING PRAYER - 00:50]
Our Heavenly Father, Lord, I ask that you bless the reading of your Word today. Teach us, Lord. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Alright, are you ready? Let's begin.

[GENESIS 4 (NLT) - 01:03] 
Genesis, chapter 4.

(1) Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” (2) Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. (3) When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. (4) Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, (5) but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

(6) “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? (7) 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.”

(8) One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

(9) Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”

“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

(10) But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! (11) Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. (12) No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

(13) Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! (14) You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”

(15) The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. (16) So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

(17) Cain had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain founded a city, which he named Enoch, after his son. (18) Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.

(19) Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah. (20) Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents. (21) His brother’s name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute. (22) Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, gave birth to a son named Tubal-cain. He became an expert in forging tools of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain had a sister named Naamah. (23) One day Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
listen to me, you wives of Lamech.
I have killed a man who attacked me,
a young man who wounded me.

(24) If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times,
then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!”

(25) Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” (26) When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name. 

[GENESIS 5 (NLT) - 04:40]
Genesis, chapter 5.

(1) This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. (2) He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”

(3) When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth. (4) After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (5) Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

(6) When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh. (7) After the birth of Enosh, Seth lived another 807 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (8) Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

(9) When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan. (10) After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (11) Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

(12) When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel. (13) After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan lived another 840 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (14) Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

(15) When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared. (16) After the birth of Jared, Mahalalel lived another 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (17) Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

(18) When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch. (19) After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (20) Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

(21) When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. (22) After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (23) Enoch lived 365 years, (24) walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

(25) When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. (26) After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (27) Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

(28) When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son. (29) Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the Lord has cursed.” (30) After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived another 595 years, and he had other sons and daughters. (31) Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

(32) By the time Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 

[GENESIS 6 (ESV) - 07:50]
Genesis, chapter 6.

(1) When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, (2) the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. (3) Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (4) The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

(5) The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (7) So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (8) But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

(9) These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (10) And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

(11) Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. (12) And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (13) And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (14) Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (15) This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. (16) Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. (17) For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. (18) But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. (19) And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. (20) Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. (21) Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” (22) Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. 

[GENESIS 7 (ESV) - 10:53]
Genesis, chapter 7.

(1) Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. (2) Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, (3) and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of the earth. (4) For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” (5) And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

(6) Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. (7) And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. (8) Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, (9) two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. (10) And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

(11) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. (12) And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (13) On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, (14) they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. (15) They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. (16) And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

(17) The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. (18) The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. (19) And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. (20) The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. (21) And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. (22) Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. (23) He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. (24) And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. 

[COMMENTS - 13:56]
Well, family, there are several passages and events in these four chapters that many people find difficult to understand. So let's do a top 10 list. We'll take 'em in chronological order. How's that sound?

Number 1. Why did God not accept Cain's sacrifice as we heard in chapter 4?

Well, we're told in verse 3 that “(3) When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. (4) Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock.” Well, to begin, why do you suppose that they brought gifts or offerings in the first place? Could it be that God had instructed them to do? We do know that very specific instructions were given by God to Moses for several different types of offerings when God gave Moses the Law. 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. It said, “Cain presented some of his crops...” Whereas Abel brought “the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock.” And the King James says, Abel “…brought the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof", and many translations say words to that 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.

You see, God sees and cares a great deal about the state of our heart, especially when it comes to our offerings. You've heard God loves a cheerful giver. That doesn't mean somebody who's laughing as they give. It's somebody that wants to, that desires to, that gets great, uh, pleasure in giving to God.

Now note also that there's the implication that Cain knew that his offering was not what God required. Because when God 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.”

There's a lot I could say about how to deal with sin right there, but I need to move on. God said, “You will be accepted if you do what is right…” Cain knew that his offering was not right. All right, Let's move on.

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

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

See there's the problem. It says in Genesis 5:4 that Adam, and by inference Eve, had other sons and daughters. So Cain married one of his sisters. That seems kind of gross to us, but 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.

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

I mean, come on. Well, there's two factors that could be at play.

Number 1, 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, many times errors can occur in the code, and when those errors happen, then the body is not what it should have been.

Also, remember that the genealogy of Adam recorded here is before the flood. It's quite likely that the Earth's atmosphere was very, 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've shielded the earth from the harmful rays of the sun and from outer space. There are rays that that hit earth all the time and were protected from them by our atmosphere, but back then there was much more protection because of that water vapor canopy over the earth, and we'll note that after the flood life spans decreased dramatically.

Number 4. How could all of humanity actually be descended from just Adam and Eve? Again, chapter 5.

Well, one writer has estimated that if Adam did indeed live 930 years and he saw only half of the children that he could have fathered in that time grow up, and if only half of them married and had children, then he could have seen more than get this, a million of his own descendants. And using these calculations by the time of the flood, the population of the earth could have been - are you ready? - 7 billion people.

After the flood, the population, of course, was only Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives. Lifespans were indeed shorter. But given the example here of Adam and Eve, it is not hard to see how the population would've quickly recovered.

And today we have what, not quite 8 billion people on the planet. I think that's correct. I could be wrong there.

Alright, number 5. What in the world are the sons of God or the Nephilim in chapter 6?

Well, the phrase sons of God occurs only three other times in the Old Testament. We've already read two of them in Job, Job 1:6 and Job 2:1, and then it occurs again in Job 38:7.

And it seems clear from those verses that the sons of God were angelic beings of some sort. Translators of the Septuagint translated the, the phrase "sons of God" into the word "angels". What's the Septuagint? It's the earliest Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. So these translators clearly thought that the sons of God were angelic beings.

We do know that some of the angelic beings, including Satan, rebelled against God from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. From Mark 16:5, we know that angels can take on human form. And in Genesis 19, 1 through 5, we learned that the men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to have sex with the two angels that were with Lot, so it's quite possible that angels in human form are capable of having sex.

So if these fallen angels procreated with human women, this could easily account for a perverted evil race. Which contributed to the evil that God saw during the days of Noah and why God decided to wipe out all of humanity except for Noah and his family. God wanted that genetic perversion to be eliminated from the earth.

Number 6. Did God admit that he made a mistake in making man in chapter 6?

We read in Genesis 6:6, "And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart."

Well, we need to remember that one of God's attributes is omniscience. He knows everything, but that doesn't mean that he is uncaring. He saw the evil nature of man. He saw the pollution brought by the sons of man. He saw the violence on the Earth. He saw the pain that mankind had brought on itself, and it broke his heart. It grieved him.

When I see my kids do something that bring them pain, it grieves me. But in the 40 years that I've been a parent, I have never once thought that I should have never had kids. I never thought that it was a mistake. God knew what was coming before he created the universe. He had a plan to bring salvation before he spoke the first words of creation. At the fall in the Garden of Eden, when God cursed the serpent after the fall, one of the things he said was, "He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." This speaks of Jesus' defeat of Satan. "You shall bruise his heel" refers to Satan's wounding of the Messiah. "He shall bruise your head," speaks of the Messiah crushing Satan with a fatal wound.

If God already had a plan, why would he admit to making a mistake? There was no mistake. It just broke his heart when he saw the pain that people were causing one another.

Number 7. How could all of the species on the earth fit on the Ark?

Well, number 1, it was big. It was 450 feet long. That's 150 meters. That's one and a half lengths of an American football field. It was 75 feet or 25 meters wide. It was 45 feet or 15 meters high. It was shaped like a barge. Now, if the Ark carried two of every family of animals, there would've been about 700 pairs. If the Ark carried two of every species, there would be about 35,000 pairs. Now, listen to this. The average size of a land animal is smaller than a sheep. Half of the Ark's capacity could carry more than 130,000 sheep. So if there were 35,000 pairs, that's 70,000 animals, half of the Ark's capacity would carry almost double that. So that would leave more than adequate room for the people, the food, the water, and any other supplies they may have needed.

Number 8. How did Noah gather all the animals? Also, chapter 6.

This one's easy. Genesis 6:20 says, "Of the birds, according to their kinds and of the animals, according to their kinds of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive."

Well, God brought the animals to Noah. Many animals migrate so God just programmed all the animals to migrate to Noah.

Number 9. How could just 40 days of rain flood the entire earth?

Genesis 7:11 says, "In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened." 

“All the fountains of the great deep burst forth.” There were large oceans of water under the surface of the earth, which was released to the surface that day, probably preceded by great earthquakes, and that's not hard to understand. We know of subsurface water even today, don't we? And remember the water that was above the earth. Before the flood, the earth had never seen rain. Now most of the water came down in torrents.

Number 10. But wasn't it just a local flood? Also, chapter 7.

Well listen to this. If the earth were a perfect sphere with no mountains and no valleys, water would cover the entire earth to a depth of two and a half miles. Maybe before the flood. The earth was very close to a perfect sphere. And perhaps the earthquakes that released the fountains of the deep began the reshaping of the earth that we know today.

[COMMENT ON THE SHOW - 26:18]
Well, obviously what I've given you here today are very brief explanations. I encourage you to do your own research if you're interested to know more. Tomorrow is History Tuesday, so our reading will be Joshua 6 through 10. We'll read about the walls of Jericho and the day the sun stood still.

I'd love to hear your comments on today's show. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511. If you're outside the US, put a +1 at the beginning of that number and you can also comment on the show notes page for this episode at lifespringmedia.com/s13e009. Of course, you can email me at steve@lifespringmedia.com and there is a good chance I'll play your audio comment or read your comment on the show.

[SEND IN YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS - 27:05]
Remember that every Wednesday and Sunday we’ll be sharing prayer requests and praises on the show. If you have a need in your life that you'd like the Lifespring family to be praying about, or if God is doing something great in your life that you'd like to, uh, share with the family, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. You'll find it very easy to fill out form there where you can tell me whatever you want me to know about the situation. I'll pray for you in my daily quiet time, and I'll rejoice with you and your praises, and I'll share these on the show. Go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

[HOW DID YOU FIND THE SHOW? - 27:44]
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[SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW - 27:55]
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[OUTRO S13E009 - 29:55]
Comment on the show by calling the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511, by going to comment.lifespringmedia.com or by emailing me at steve@lifespringmedia.com. I do want to hear from you. Will you do me a favor? Tell someone you care about about the show. Will you do that?

Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for being here. My name is Steve Webb. See you tomorrow. Bye.