Scripture Snippets [Insights from Genesis]

 

CHAPTER 4

• Did Adam and Eve have kids before verse 1? Did they have any kids in the garden? Is verse 1 emphasized because Cain was their first son?

• In verse 2, instead of saying what Cain was first, they say what Abel did (which was a keeper of the flocks) and then says “but” Cain was a tiller of the ground.  Why was the word “but” used and why did it flip flop the sentence structure?         

• In verse 6, before Cain kills Abel, the Lord actually speaks to Cain and tells him to beware because sin is crouching at his door but that he must master it.  Apparently, he didn’t master it and it caused him to kill Abel. In verse 7, it says that Cain told Abel. What did Cain tell Abel I wonder?

• After killing Abel, we see God using questions again with Cain (v. 9) like He did with Adam and Eve, not because He didn’t know the answer but because He wanted Cain to come to terms with what he had done.

• In consequence for killing Abel, Cain’s farming skills were greatly diminished and he would be a wanderer of the earth (v. 12). This situation is the exact opposite of what we learn about in our textbooks, which say man started off as a hunter-gatherer species and then settled down into farming communities.

• God also pronounces a curse on the land again, "Now you are cursed from the ground… when you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you…" (v12). Is this a continuation of the curse God pronounced on Adam in chapter 3? Or is this a newer curse?

• At the revealing of this consequence from the Lord, Cain was terrified that someone would kill him (v. 15) This implies that there were other people living in this world, more than just Adam, Eve, and Abel. Who were these people? Were they Adam and Eve’s other children? As an example of God’s grace, He puts a sign on Cain so that no one will kill Him and also states that if anyone does kill Him, God’s vengeance will rest on him sevenfold. Cain then had a son with his wife (v. 17), who was probably his sister. Cain’s eventually built a city and named it after his son Enoch. This probably means that he no longer was a nomad but had some stability in his location.

• In verse 17, the first city of Cain could be Eridu, where they worshipped Enki. Could be where the Tower of Babel was located.

CHAPTER 5

• This chapter kicks off the genealogy of Adam. I find it interesting that when talking about Adam’s sons, it starts with Seth and does not mention Cain, Abel, or anyone else (v. 3). Was it because of the end of chapter 4 where it says that after Adam had Seth, “men started to call upon the name of the Lord”? When the 10 names mentioned in here are put together it gives a gospel message according to Chuck Missler.

Adam = Man

Seth = Appointed

Enosh = Mortal

Kenan = Sorrow;

Mahalalel = The Blessed God

Jared = Shall come down

Enoch = Teaching.

Methuselah = His death shall bring

Lamech = The despairing

Noah = Rest, or comfort.