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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. The Lord said to him, Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. What was the mark that God set on Cain?
A lot of books written about it. We don't know. That's the best answer.
You can conjecture all you want. It just says a mark. Maybe it was a mark only God could see, sort of like invisible ink. God just says, you're a marked man. It could just simply be that. God made a promise. In fact, the word sign could also be translated pledge or promise. It could be simply that God made a declaration that you're a marked man. And because of what you just said is a possibility, is true, I'm going to make sure that you're marked, you're set aside. Or it could have been a physical mark of some kind.
It wouldn't be the first. If you've read the Bible before, you're familiar probably with Ezekiel chapter 9. In Ezekiel chapter 9, God tells the prophet to go through Jerusalem, actually a man with an ink horn, and mark on the foreheads a mark, a sign, of all of those that mourn or sigh over the wickedness done in Jerusalem. Those who are brokenhearted because their culture is so decayed and so corrupt.
And they go, oh, I hate it. I hate the sin that's around me. God says, find those people and mark them so that when I wipe this city out, they'll be spared. The second case of a mark on the forehead is in Revelation chapter 7.
Remember that, 144,000. God said to the angel, mark them. Put a mark, a seal, on their forehead so that they would be protected during the tribulation period.
So it could be either or, physical mark or simply a pledge, a declaration. Then Cain went out, verse 16, from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod. I find that when I preach, some people dwell in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Nod means wanderer. This was the land that he inhabited, called the land of the wanderer. And Cain knew his wife.
Now, wait a minute. Where did Cain get his wife? It's always the big question.
It's funny. There are predictable questions that people have in Genesis. They're so interested in this man's wife. Where did Cain get his wife? Well, look over to chapter 5, verse 4. After he begot Seth, that is Adam, the days of Adam were 800 years and he had sons and daughters.
And that's a long time to have a lot of them. So no doubt, and I have no problem with it, Cain married one of his sisters, which at that time wasn't a problem. It wasn't a genetic danger zone. Today, if you have close interbreeding, there's all sorts of genetic problems that occur. The gene pool is polluted.
It lowers IQ among lots of other problems. But before pollution had fully entered the human race, this is close now to the very spring of life itself. This is the offspring of the first man and first woman. And so it was much purer then, and by necessity, he could have married a sister. Now, if you were going to drink water from the Rio Grande, would you rather go up to Colorado at the base of Mount Canby, where the origin of the water is pure and fresh and drink from it there, or would you rather drink from it in New Mexico or Mexico or Texas after it has run its course past several cities and absorbed the pollutants from those civilizations and animals? No way.
And so too, the human race over time has been polluted as time went on, so the effects prohibit, for a lot of reasons, this kind of activity, but back then, not a problem. And he built a city, and he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. And you go, oh, isn't that sweet? What a great relationship he has with his family.
Now, don't be too quick. God told him he'd be a wanderer. Now he's trying to settle down and build a town, as if to defy the sentence that was leveled against him by God, sort of like what will happen at the Tower of Babel.
I'm going to build something that reaches heaven. To Enoch was born Erod, and Erod begot, not a great word. It's a Bible word, begot.
If you have an old King James, begot. Mahuja'el and Mahuja'el begot. Mathusha'el and Mathusha'el begot Lamech, seventh from Adam on the side of Cain. Lamech took for himself two wives, and the name of one was Ada, the other name was Zilpah, or Zilla, and Ada bore Jabel. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal.
He was the father of all those who played the harp and the flute. As for Zilhah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craft in bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Ne'ama.
The first bigamist was Lamech. He had two wives. Now, God said, for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined into his wife singular. This is the first time, and it's in the line of Cain, that two wives are taken by one man.
So this is where it all started. He's the first bigamist. Now, he has three kids, and one is the head of the Cattle Growers Association. He's sort of the father of all those who are herders.
The other is the music guild superintendent, those who play harp and the flute, and the other one was a metallurgist. So they're doing sort of what God had told Adam and Eve they should do. They should have dominion over the earth and subdue it, but they're now subduing it not for the glory of God but for the glory of self. Now, that's important to understand because this lineage is about to stop as far as recording its future.
It's going to stop, and another one is going to pick up for obvious reasons. Then Lamech, verse 23, said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, hear my voice, wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. I know a lot of guys that do that every night to their wives. He says, for I have killed a man for wounding me. Now, this could be self-defense, or it simply could be, you know, a guy injured me. He brushed up against me, and it hurt a bit, so I killed him.
See, at this point, it's very primitive that the lex talionis has not been instituted yet, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, to limit vengeance. So he says, somebody hurt me, I killed him. Even a young man for hurting me, if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold than Lamech, seventy-sevenfold. Interesting that Jesus told Peter that he should forgive seventy times seven.
Or, some translations, seventy-seven times. One is revenge, the other is forgiveness. Verse 25, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, appointed. For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. As for Seth to him, also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
I want you just to think about this. They had a child named Seth, that was a happy day for them, but up to this point it was very sad for them. Adam and Eve lost two sons. They lost Abel, he was murdered by Cain, but then they lost Cain because God exiled him.
So as parents, they lost both their children. But now Seth has come, now a godly line, and we have in these two chapters the difference between the godly line of Seth versus the ungodly line of Cain. Now the line of Cain will be dropped off, now the line of Seth will be picked up.
Because Seth is the one through whom God will send his promise. Genesis 3.15, a son born of a woman who will eventually destroy the kingdom of the serpent, of Satan. So the godly line, the line of Cain, is given. And it says men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Or some translations suggest they began to call on the Lord by name. And the word Lord is Yahweh, they began to call on Yahweh by name. They referred to this one as the God who is the I Am, they began to call on him by name. So chapter 5 is the genealogy of the line of Adam through Seth, Cain is now dropped.
Now we're picking up a godly, not a godless culture, and it will end with Noah, who is also godly, and the flood will be at his time. Francis Schaeffer, I don't know if you're familiar with that name, but he's in heaven now, but he wrote a tremendous amount of books that influenced me early in my Christian walk. And he talked about all of society being two humanities, two humanities.
You're either in one or the other. And what he was referencing is something that Saint Augustine wrote years before in a great monumental work called The City of God. Have you ever heard of The City of God by Saint Augustine? Augustine said that all of the world, all of the human race, is in one of two cities, or societies, we would call them, one of two cultures.
One that regards the love of God over the love of self, and the other one that regards the love of self over the love of God. And he drew many parallels to his day, including Rome, et cetera, but The City of God. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, understanding Genesis is critical to understanding the rest of Scripture. And in his book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, Skip Heitzig helps you discover the meaning and message of this foundational book. Embark on an epic journey to where it all began, so you can understand the amazing story of God's love and our redemption in Christ. You Can Understand the Book of Genesis is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. And so here we see the two humanities, the two cities by these two genealogies. It says this is the book of the genealogy of Adam. So it's the history of man, Adam.
In the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Now we're going to have a genealogy, and I know what you're thinking. Boring.
I mean, what could be worse than reading names of people you don't know, especially names nobody can pronounce, at least in English? That's boring. It's funny that some people would say a genealogy is boring, and yet they'll pour over pages and pages of stock quotes and think it's cool.
Or batting averages. You go, now you're talking. Now, a genealogy isn't boring if your name is in it. And what's great is now we have a genealogy where God is focusing upon those who are faithful to him. And I think God has special regard for those who are faithful to him. And more genealogy that includes faithful names are here than the unfaithful one in the previous chapter.
I think that's a principle. Malachi chapter 3, verse 16. Those who knew the Lord spoke often to one another, and a book of remembrance was written for them in the presence of the Lord. It's as if God is saying, I write a special little book of remembrance for those who are faithful to me, who talk about me, who love to talk about me, and to remember me, I remember them.
Beautiful idea. Now, as we go through this, it's a graveyard. We're sort of like walking past tombstones and it reads, And he died, and he died, and he died. You're going to read that phrase all the way through except for one exception.
A guy who doesn't die. He created them male and female, blessed them, and called them mankind, or in Hebrew, Adam. They were called Adam. They weren't called the Adamses or the Adams family, but just Adam, mankind. In the day that they were created, and Adam lived 130 years and begot a son in his own likeness after his image named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were 800 years, and he had sons and daughters. All the days of Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. Now, I'm not going to deal again with the ages of people. I dealt with that when we were going through the creation story as to the plausibility of people living up to that age with the plausibility of a vapor canopy and the electromagnetic spectrum.
I'll leave that for that study. Seth lived 105 years and begot Enosh. After he begot Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had sons and daughters.
I just want to throw something out to you. When Adam was created on day one, how old was he? He was one day old, but did he look one day old? No, he must have looked like a full-grown man.
What, 20, 25? Fully developed. So, in the first day of creation, there was an age factor built into Adam as there was in the rest of creation. When God created birds in the sky and animals in the ground, he didn't say he created eggs in a nest. He created the birds. When he created plants and trees, he created them with seeds so it could continue. So there was an age factor built into the unit itself.
It just is fun to throw out. It brings up the possibility that God could have done that with all of the universe. I know there is a debate as to the age of the earth. Is it 6,000 years old? Is it 10,000 years old? Is it 20 million years old? Is it billions of years old?
And there's a lot of different guesses. But God certainly could have done to the whole globe what he did to Adam or the birds or the plants, put an age factor in them that made them mature, even though they were much younger than that. So all the days of verse 8 of Seth were 912 years and he died. Enosh lived 90 years, begot Canaan. After he begot Canaan, Enosh lived 815 years and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enosh were 905 years and he died. Canaan lived 70 years and begot Mahalalel. And after he begot Mahalalel, Canaan lived 840 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Canaan were 910 years and he died.
It's a dog eat dog world. Mahalalel lived 65 years, begot Jared. After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had sons and daughters. All the days of Mahalalel were 895 years and he died. Jared lived 162 years and begot Enoch.
Now I slowed down for a reason. Begot Enoch. And after he begot Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had sons and daughters. Did you know, just a little interesting fact, that though Enoch is an Old Testament person, he's mentioned more in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. There's five passages altogether in the Bible that mention Enoch. Two of them are in genealogy. So the three of them that have real substance are Genesis 5.
There's some commentary on it here. Genesis 5, Hebrews 11, and Jude verses 14 and 15. So there are three verses in the Old Testament and two verses in the New Testament. But if you count the words, 51 words in the Old Testament that speak of Enoch, 94 words in the New Testament. So more in the New Testament is written about Enoch than even in the Old Testament.
This ancient, interesting man. Okay, so verse 20, all the days of Jared were 962 years and he died. Enoch lived 65 years and retired. No, no, it says he lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. Now that would imply that he hadn't always been walking with God, but now something happened that caused a turning, a desire to walk with his creator.
And the only event that we can find that caused that was the birth of a child. Isn't it amazing how when you have children, especially raising them in a wicked environment, you sense the need to get spiritual. It's not bad. You sober up. You realize, oh my goodness, this is the environment my child is going to be raised in. These are the values they're going to be exposed to. I better get me to church and put that little boy in Sunday school.
Be careful, though. You can't pass on what you don't have. You have to have a relationship with God yourself and a desire yourself, because if you try to just pawn it off on the child, he'll see hypocrisy.
Kids are good at spotting that really quick. But he walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Now, here's the only break in the book and the chapter that says, and he died and he died and he died and he died, and then we come to Enoch and he didn't die. It says he was not, for God took him. Again, Hebrews chapter 11, and I've marked it.
I'll just read it to you. By faith Enoch was taken away so he did not see death. He was transferred, the word could be translated, transferred. He just was here one moment and in heaven the next, sort of like a rapture. On the earth, didn't die, off the earth. The Bible predicts the event will take place in mass again, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, when the Lord comes back for his church. Those who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord will be translated.
Taken instantly into heaven, the rapture is that. Enoch walked with God, he was not, God took him. Methuselah lived 187 years, begot Lamech. After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years. Imagine being the life insurance company that sold him his annuity.
They had no idea how long this dude was going to hang out. This is the oldest guy in the Bible, 969 years. But it says he died.
Now, you should know something. It says in the book of Jude, I'm going to make this quick. Enoch proclaimed judgment and prophesied judgment to his generation. Preached to them of coming judgment.
Now, how did he do that? The only guess I can come up with is in the name of his son, Methuselah, which means when translated, when he is dead, it shall be sent. Or it could be translated, his death shall bring it. When he is dead, it shall be sent. If you were to do the chronology of his birth and the time of the flood when Noah was 600 years old, you discover that the year Methuselah died was the year the flood came. I mean, who would name his son, when he's dead, it shall be sent?
What kind of a name is that? It's a pronouncement of judgment. He could see that the flood was coming. How could he see that? Well, when you walk close with God for 300 years, God tells you a few things. He named his son that, which would make being his parents a little precarious. Every time the kid got up cold or wanted to go out and play, oh, my goodness, this could be it.
All the neighbors, if they knew about it, would give him vitamins and take care of him. Lamech lived 182 years, had a son, called his name Noah, saying, This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed. And he begot Noah. After he begot Noah, Lamech lived 595 years, had sons and daughters.
All the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. And Noah was 500 years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And so we'll pick it up next time. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will take you back to where it all began so you can understand all of God's Word more clearly.
Pastor Skip's book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
