Bible Reading: Genesis 4:1-5:32
I feel very culturally distant from a lot of what is going on in these passages. There are definitely way more questions here than answers for me. Overall it seems like the narrative is showing us the fallout of the fall, an intensifying of rebellious humanity. Cain kills, Lamech kills. Adam’s descendants all die (bar one). The repeated refrain, ‘…and then he died’, seems a deliberate literary device reminding us of the penalty of sin announced in 2:16. But there are details of hope, small, seemingly insignificant details, which tell us that God is not done yet. Notice some of these details of hope:
It’s fascinating that God still communes with people – he clearly talks with Cain and Abel. In fact Cain decries his having to flee the ‘presence’ of God as part of the curse placed upon him for the murder of his brother. There was still a form of access to God which is remarkable.
Out of the destructive line of Cain come constructive cultural developments – farming, music, metalwork. Not all of the ‘goodness’ of creation is gone.
Around the birth of Seth people began to call on the name of the Lord. The people are not so darkened that they have no impulse whatsoever to desire and want relationship with God.
Enoch walks with God and then he was no more (weird little section of the Bible!). Echoes of Adam walking in the Garden with the Lord. The absence of the refrain, “…and then he died” springs hope of an alternative ending to the story.
And finally the birth of Noah signals comfort from the curse that hangs over these passages so heavily.
Hope in the details. Hope that God is not yet done, there is better to come. Hope for me that as I experience the curse in this world, either through my own sin, or by the sin of others, I can know that God is not yet done, there is better to come. Hope that there is one who walked with the Lord for me, a greater Enoch. Hope that there is one who doesn’t just comfort me in the midst of the curse, but one who lifts the curse from me, a greater Noah. Hope in Christ.
Tomorrow’s Reading is Genesis 6:1-9:29
The Honest Bible 