Session 4: Week 2

6 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

Some say sons of God were evil sons of Seth. This is what’s taught in most seminaries, but is inconsistent with other Old Testament scriptures. They teach that the daughters of Adam really mean the daughters of Cain, and the intermingling of these two lines brought about evil, but that’s not what scripture says. It says daughters of Adam. The Seth teaching emerged in the 5th century because the idea of angels procreating with humans is uncomfortable and unorthodox. Augustine embraced this view and that’s why it became the orthodox view.

The angel view is radical and unorthodox, but it seems to be what Scripture is teaching us based on other scripture verses using the words “sons of the gods.”

Job 1:6, 2:1

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

 בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים Sons of the Gods

2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 

בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים Sons of the Gods

In these verses angels were referred to as the sons of God in English.

The Hebrew for sons of God is בְנֵי-הָאֱלֹהִים Sons of the Gods. This translates as Sons of the gods.

Why do you think the English translators of the Bible changed the translation here?

Now let’s review our studies in Genesis 1:26-27:

ים  (the letters yud and mem – pronounced eem) on the end of any Hebrew word makes it a plurality.

Because of this I used to think that Elohim referred to God as a plurality, but the Lord has exposed me to some other streams of thought that make more sense to me now, and I believe this passage fits into that same narrative.

For those of you new to our study, Dr. Michael Heiser is a biblical scholar and Hebrew language expert. He says Elohim couldn’t be referring to only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, based on Psalm 82. He believes that the word Elohim refers to a divine council. I tend to agree with him now.

Psalm 82 calls the council ( עֲדַת־אֵל , adath-el) and describes “gods” or spirit beings under the authority of Israel’s God.

Verse 1 states: “God (אֱלֹהִים , elohim) stands in the council of El/the divine council (עֲדַת־אֵל , adath-el); among the gods (אֱלֹהִים , elohim) he passes judgment.”

Dr. Heiser says that Elohim does not refer to the Trinity—because Psalm 82 describes how Israel’s God accuses the other אֱלֹֹהִים (elohim) of corruption and sentences them to die “like humankind.” God the Father would never accuse, sentence and condemn God the Son, or the Holy Spirit.

Let’s take another look at the “elohim” of the Hebrew Bible. They share a certain characteristic: they all inhabit the non-human realm. As created, the elohim are not part of the world of humankind, the world of ordinary embodiment. Dr. Heiser believes that Elohim—as a term—indicates residence, not a set of attributes; it identifies the proper domain of the entity it describes.

The idea that sons of the elohim took wives from the daughters of men goes against the natural order of God’s creation. This is the back story to what made everything so evil and why God had to bring the flood to destroy everything on the face of the earth.

We have to remember that the ancient Israel worldview was a supernatural worldview where concepts about the spirit realm weren’t as foreign as they are to our scientific minded age of logic and reasoning.

What difficulties do you think our age of reason presents us in the realm of accurately interpreting the Scriptures?

Genesis 6:³ And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 

The Hebrew for this verse is different. Let’s look at it:

So it seems from God making this statement that the sons of God procreating with the daughters of men was destroying the genetics of humankind and causing evil spirits to usurp God’s spirit in mankind; and because of that God shortened man’s lifespan.

What thoughts do you have about this?

 ⁴ There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Again, here we see a difference in the English and Hebrew words used. Giants as opposed to Nephilim. Naphal as a verb means to fall, so nephalim means the fallen ones. The nephalim became supermen who were very strong and very terrifying. They show up after the flood too.

All ancient cultures on earth have stories of giants, supermen or “gods”… Greek Titans were demi-gods who were partially celestial and partially terrestrial, they rebelled against their father Zues (not the creator) and were condemned to Tartarus (Greek for a dark abode of woe – the darkness, the pit, the unseen world)  – “as far below Hades as earth is below Heaven” – in Homer’s Iliad.

Other cultures that have these kinds of legends include Sumer, Assyria, Egypt, Incas, Mayan, Gilgamesh, Persia, Greece, India, Bolivia, South Sea Islands and even the Native American Indians spoke of the Star people who came down; and who were 3 times the size of a man and were so swift and strong that they could run alongside a buffalo could take the animal in one arm and pull off a leg and eat it as they ran. Bones were found to support those stories.

If you want to read more about this Steven Quail has written a book called the Encyclopedia of Giants. Watching the You-Tube video that I’ve put for this week of the teaching by Chuck Missler about Genesis 6 you’ll see pictures of giants from that book.

There are hundreds of skeletons of giants and records of people who were 10-13 feet tall, but they’ve been covered up.

Remember that Scripture teaches that the inhabitants of the spirit world include Yahweh, the lesser gods of His council, angels, demons, and the disembodied dead. They may cross over into the human world—as the Bible informs us—and certain humans may be transported to the non-human realm (e.g., prophets; Enoch). But the proper domains of each are two separate and distinct places.

Within the spiritual world, as in the human world, entities are differentiated by rank and power. Yahweh is an elohim, but no other elohim is Yahweh. This is what an orthodox Israelite believed about Yahweh. He was not one among equals; He was unique. The belief that Yahweh is utterly and eternally unique—that there is none like Him—is not contradicted by plural elohim in the OT.

The ancient Hebrew sages understood the angel view of Genesis 6. The offspring of the angels and the woman were supernatural and  unnatural. They were giants. Goliath was one of them. Think about this. Who built the ancient monuments that defy explanation? Stonehenge, the great pyramids; also there are palaces and temples with rocks the size of boxcars that come from miles away that no one knows how they’re built.

The new testament confirms the angel view three times:

Jude 6-7

⁶ and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. ⁷ In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions, just as angels did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

1 Peter 3:19-20

¹⁹ In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison^[y] 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people^[z]—were saved through water. 

2 Peter 2:4-5

⁴ For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment; ⁵ and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

You won’t understand what happened after the flood, and most of the prophecies in the entire old testament if you miss what’s going on here. This is an important foundation to understanding the old testament. Here are some examples. In the OT you’ll run into the Rephaim. The word means dead ones, or walking dead. These are  the spirits of the dead nephilim who inhabit people in order to continue to try to thwart God’s plans on earth.

After the flood there are at least four tribes that God instructs Joshua to destroy: Rephaim, Emim, Horim, Zamsummim. It’s hard to relate to this unless you know this backstory and that there’s a gene pool problem.

Satan has always tried to oppose God’s plan. God’s plan was to give land to Abraham’s descendants through the line of Isaac. In those days he had those giants and these days he has the PLO and the UN. 😉 You can study the bible from cover to cover and see this played out. As God revealed in Genesis 3:15 that there would be a redeemer through the seed of the woman Satan knew he had to deal with the human race. In this passage it also talks about the seed of satan. This is what we’re seeing here in Genesis 6 and on throughout the Scriptures. In essence we are in a seed war.

How is this all challenging your view of the Scriptures?

Here are some attempts of satan to thwart God’s plans. Remember the destruction of the male line in the book of Exodus by Pharaoh? The population of Canaan (giants and the like) were put there strategically to keep the Israelites from entering the promised land. Once God reveals that a savior would come from David’s line there’s a constant attempts to wipe out those lines, but there’s always a servant or someone who hides one of the kids so God’s plan can play out. Even in the Persian empire Haman wants to wipe out the entire Jewish race to thwart God’s plans to keep the Messiah from returning. We see the same thing today.

Let’s look at Numbers 13 when Moses sent out the men to spy out the land of Israel.

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!” ³² So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. ³³ We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”

Og the King of Bashan (Deut. 3:12; Joshua 12) was known as the king of the giants.

Think about this: In the New Testament  Mary (Miriam) is impregnated by the Holy Spirit in contrast to the daughters of Adam being  impregnated by evil spirits. In light of our study today what new thoughts come to mind in relation to this?

Genesis 6:5-7

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent 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 He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

What’s very interesting is that Yeshua told us in Matthew 24:37-39 that as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. What do the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and Hevron have in common? These were the areas that Joshua failed to exterminate the Rephaim. These are the modern day territories that remain in dispute within the land of Israel.

This passage of Scripture in Genesis 6 is often glossed over quickly when we read the Word; however I believe this is of utmost importance, especially as we get closer to the end of days. There are many teachers out there who examine this topic of the Nephilim and the role they play in the world in days gone by and the present and future.

What other thoughts do you have about all this?

CHUCK MISSLER – GENESIS 6

Session 4: Week 1 

5 These are the family records of the descendants of Adam. On the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God; ² He created them male and female. When they were created, He blessed them and called them man.

Here in Genesis 5 God is reminding us of some things relative to His creating mankind. First, He’s reminding us that our story is not about us as individuals per-say. Mankind’s story is about people in generational lines. We stand as a collective. Our society has become so individual focused. God, because He is eternal sees things from a much broader perspective. The Hebrew word translated descendants is Toledot. In a Hebraic mindset thinking about things from a family perspective ties in with Yeshua’s instructions to us to make disciples. God wants what He does in our lives to be carried out through generations. This applies to all believers, married and single. How are you going and making disciples in your life?

Remember that man was the only being God formed out of something. He spoke all creation into existence except for man, which He formed out of the dust in the ground. What symbolism does this carry?

God created humans in His likeness. He wants us to know that He can identify with us, because we were made like Him. In what ways do we demonstrate our likeness to God?

When God created us He blessed us. The blessing He invoked again points to the descendants and generations. Do you remember the first blessing from Genesis 1:28  28 And God blessed them; and God said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.’

It’s interesting that God called our (male and female) name Adam. He gave us the same name as He gave to Adam. This seems to point to our equality in His sight. One of the main reasons we study Scripture is to learn about God and His perspective on things. When we’re born-again our goal is to shift our wrong beliefs and to align our minds with God’s perspective. The fact that men and women are equal in God’s sight based on His name for us is an interesting observation. Jesus did a lot  in the New Testament to confirm this fact. What story pops into your mind to validate this?

Let’s continue on in Genesis 5:

³ Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Adam lived 800 years after the birth of Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So Adam’s life lasted 930 years; then he died.

⁶ Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived 807 years after the birth of Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁸ So Seth’s life lasted 912 years; then he died.

⁹ Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived 815 years after the birth of Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So Enosh’s life lasted 905 years; then he died.

¹² Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived 840 years after the birth of Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So Kenan’s life lasted 910 years; then he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel lived 830 years after the birth of Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So Mahalalel’s life lasted 895 years; then he died.

¹⁸ Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived 800 years after the birth of Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So Jared’s life lasted 962 years; then he died.

²¹ Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. ²² And after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. ²³ So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah was 187 years old when he fathered Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah lived 782 years after the birth of Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So Methuselah’s life lasted 969 years; then he died.

²⁸ Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son. ²⁹ And he named him Noah,^[d] saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”³⁰ Lamech lived 595 years after Noah’s birth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ³¹ So Lamech’s life lasted 777 years; then he died.

³² Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now here’s where the Bible gets very interesting and proves that its writer is God. In this chapter is a hidden message that tells the story of the Gospel in the names of Adam’s descendants. Let’s look at the meaning of the names:

That’s rather remarkable:

Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

Here’s the Gospel hidden within a genealogy in Genesis! This fact demonstrates that in the earliest chapters of the Book of Genesis, God had already laid out His plan of redemption after the fall. The Bible tells God’s story and God’s story is a love story written in blood on a wooden cross erected in Judea over 2,000 years ago.

It’s fascinating that the Bible is a supernatural message system. Every number, every place name, every detail every jot and tittle is there for our learning, our discovery, and our amazement. Truly, our God is an awesome God.

It is astonishing to discover the unity of these 66 books, penned by 40 authors over thousands of years.

It is remarkable how many subtle discoveries lie behind the little details of the text. Some of these become immediately obvious with a little study; some are more technical and require special helps.

As we begin our online Bible study in session 4 with this reminder and with our eyes toward the love of God, the cross of Christ and the fact that we were created in God’s image I pray that we find great joy and peace that we not only keep to ourselves, but share with others in our lives. Let’s pray…

CHUCK MISSLER – A HIDDEN MESSAGE

Session 3: Week 6 

Genesis 4:23-26

²³ Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. ²⁴ If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

Cain had eight children. Lamech was the fifth son. As a reminder, his name means “poor, made low.”

Adah – an assembly

Zillah – shadow; the tingling of the ear

In ancient Israelite culture names reflect the character traits of a person. Here in verse 23 of Genesis 23 we see that Lamech followed in the footsteps of his father and murdered someone. As a result, he would indeed be humbled and become poor and made low.

The Hebrew word translated as avenged is נָקַם

…to avenge, take vengeance, revenge, avenge oneself, be avenged, be punished

It’s the same word as used in Genesis 4:15 “And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken ^H5358 on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” (KJV)

In verse 23 we see that Lamech killed someone for physically hitting him; unlike his father, Cain, who killed for what seemed like no external reason.

In Lamech’s arrogance he declares that if is father got vengeance 7 times, his would be 77 times. Remember that 7 is the number of completion, 77 then refers to doubly complete – though actually impossible because complete is complete – it implies Lamech’s certainty of his own innocence for having killed a man.

The English word vengeance is a principal translation of נָקַם

It’s interesting that behind the Hebrew usage of that word stands a sense of the solidarity and integrity of the community as a whole. In our society we’re very individualistic.  In the Hebraic world survival was and is still based on being part of a community. In the case of a murder being committed,  it was the entire community that had been damaged by the offense, and there must be a restoration by some deed of retaliation or punishment. The range of meaning extends beyond “vengeance” and/or “punishment” to a sense of “deliverance.” This middle eastern cultural mindset can be applied today and can give us understanding when we see terrorist activity that’s provoked by some other event that has occurred. The community feels like it has a right to execute vengeance for a supposed wrong that they perceive has been committed.

I’m going to go on a bit of a tangent right now:

Very interesting…. wikipedia says this: “The Qur’an states that the story of Cain and Abel was a message^[7] for mankind, as it had told them about the consequences of murder and that the killing of a soul would be as if he/she had slain the whole of mankind.”

With that statement I can’t help but wonder why we see so much killing in the name of Allah.

It then goes on to say “But the Qur’an states that still people rejected the message of the story, and continued to commit grave sins, such as slaying prophets and other righteous people. All the prophets who preached since the time of Adam were persecuted, insulted or reviled in one way or another. With some righteous men, however, the Qur’an states that people went one step further, in attempting to slay them or indeed slaying them. As for the slaying of the righteous, it says “As to those who deny the Signs of God and in defiance of right, slay the prophets, and slay those who teach just dealing with mankind, announce to them a grievous penalty”.^[8]

In fact the Qur’an says in that passage [21] Surely (as for) those who disbelieve in the communications of Allah and slay the prophets unjustly and slay those among men who enjoin justice, announce to them a painful chastisement.

There’s so much twisting of the muslim message in our modern western culture to make it seem attractive to westerners. I’m putting this in here and bringing this up as a warning. When people look at these biblical stories, Islam also looks at them and uses them to try to make people believe that Allah is the God of the Bible and the Muslim religion has the same types of beliefs and ideals and Judeo/Christian faith. These are fabrications and lies.

OK, back to Genesis 4…..

The dictionary defines murder as the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

Killing is defined as an act of causing death, especially deliberately.

Is there a difference between murder and killing?

What does scripture teach us so far about the penalty for murder?

We all know Jesus’ commands to us about murder. We read them in Matthew 5.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. ²² But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You moron!’ will be subject to hellfire.

It’s interesting that Yeshua, in talking about murder, brings up brother being angry with brother. I wonder if He was alluding to Cain and Abel. Never thought about that before. He probably was, as that first act of murder became the evil seed in the soul of mankind. It was the place in time where murder entered into the human equation and is a grave sin that we’re still dealing with the consequences of today.

²⁵ Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶ A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh.

Seth – put; who puts; fixed

Some say Cain’s lineage produced all the wicked of the earth that were killed in the flood while Seth’s produced the righteous and all of surviving humanity. Noah was in the line of Seth, and ultimately then Abraham and Yeshua would be too.

God gave Seth in place of Abel. What does this show us about the character of God?

After that Enosh was born to Adam and even though his name means mortal man; sick; despaired of; forgetful – Scripture tells us that at this time people began to call on the name of Yahweh.

This seemingly trivial statement is actually profound. What does calling on the name of God imply?

These four verses that complete Genesis 4 happened many years after Cain had murdered Abel and had been sentenced by God to be a wanderer. There’s so much underlying information in them that it almost boggles the mind in trying to uncover it all. Isn’t that the beauty of Scripture! In it is a wealth of treasure for those who take the time and apply the energy to seek it out.

VENGEANCE

Session 3: Week 5 

Genesis 4:1-22

Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.”² Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 

 יָדַע Yada = was intimate (to know)

Now hopefully you’ll think twice before using the phrase “yada, yada, yada.” 😉

The first two sons of Chava and Adam were Cain and Abel. Abel was a shepherd while Cain, the eldest worked the ground. They had very different life experiences.

What do you think would be the major differences between being a shepherd and being a farmer?

³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord.⁴ And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,⁵ but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering.

God gave the example in Genesis 3 regarding his standards for  offerings when He covered Adam and Chavah with garments made out of skins. This was an object lesson teaching that there needed to be blood shed for an offering to be acceptable in His sight.

In what ways can you use this truth to share the Gospel with people in your life today?

Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? ⁷ If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”⁸ 

This is a beautiful picture that even though Adam’s family was cast out of the garden of Eden God still had personal relationship with them. He talked to Cain. He gave Cain instruction and keys to walking in victory. God was never going to leave or forsake them. It’s the same today. God is with people even when they’re unaware of His Presence. The true beauty in our relationship with God is when we can hear and obey His instructions and then avoid pitfalls that He sees before us.

How have you ever seen this played out in your own life?

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

It seems like Cain was premeditating Abel’s murder. Then the unthinkable happened. He did kill his own brother. What a sad day for humanity. The sin of murder entered into the family line bringing generational curses that are passed down even to this day. God was watching though and Cain’s sarcastic comment to God about his own brother reveal something to us about Cain’s character. What do you see from the comment “Am I my brother’s guardian, or keeper?”

¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! ¹¹ So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed. ¹² If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain would never again be able to work the land and see the yield of food for his family. This surely was great punishment.

¹³ But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! ¹⁴ Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. ¹⁶ Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

As a result of killing his own brother more shame entered Cain’s life, forcing him to hide from God’s presence and be a restless wanderer on the earth. It seems like this would cause people who ran into him to desire to kill him.

This shows us that there were more people on the earth at this time and that people had their allotted land to live on. Wanderers were probably thought of as thieves and threats, and therefore dangerous.

It’s interesting that God was vowing to protect Cain.  Why do you think God did that?

What do you think the mark was that God put on Cain to protect him?

The Line of Cain

¹⁷ Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. ¹⁸ Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. ²⁰ Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen. ²¹ His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. ²² Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

Cain – possession
Enoch – dedicated/disciplined
Irad  – wild ass; heap of empire; dragon
Mehujael – who proclaims God
Methushael – who demands his death
Lamech  – poor; made low
Jabal – which glides away
Tubal-cain – the earth; the world; confusion – possession
Naamah – air; pleasant

This very first listing of the descendants of Cain gives us an interesting picture through the meaning of their names. One could look at these names and see a hint towards God’s plans for Messiah in that we could read them like this:

“Even though mankind became like a wild ass, possessed and dedicated to the dragon, all of creation (even the dragon) would one day proclaim God and demand His death because He was poor and made low. Messiah would glide away from the world and leave it in confusion. But ultimately the earth and the world is God’s possession and one day He would bring restoration to the confusion and make the air pleasant again.” 

PRINCIPLE OF THE FIRST

Session 3: Week 4 

Genesis 3:20-24

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. ²² The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

וַיִּקְרָא הָאָדָם שֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ, חַוָּה:  כִּי הִוא הָיְתָה, אֵם כָּל-חָי. Verse 20

In English it doesn’t make sense why Adam would call his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living, but in Hebrew it makes more sense. Chavah (Eve’s Hebrew Name) (Chai = Life). Chavah essentially means giver of life.

In verse 21 we read something I’ve never seen before. It was the Lord God who made Adam and Eve clothing out of skins. Now I have heard it taught that this showed the necessity for an animal to give of its life to cover mankind, which is a foreshadow of the Son of God giving of His life for the final atonement of our souls. It is interesting that in Hebrew the word for atonement is actually Kipur.

To help you understand the word atonement think of at-one-ment. It’s a process by which our relationship (at-one-ment) with God is restored.

How else would you describe atonement?

In Genesis 3 it shows us that atonement is made by God Himself. He is the one who covers mankind. In this case in the garden God makes כֻּתֹּנֶת Kutonet for Adam and Eve. Kotonet are tunics, undergarments or long shirt like garments usually made of linen. It’s interesting that in Leviticus 19:19 God commands the children of Israel to not wear any clothing with mixed materials. I wonder if this is because God wanted us to remember that it was He that provided the covering and we need add nothing to it.

It’s also interesting that part of the biblical dress for the priests included a linen undergarment, or tunic. I’ve never thought about this before but this was probably a reminder of their role in making atonement between God and the people of Israel through the sacrificial system.

Exodus 28 ³⁹ “You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash. ⁴⁰ Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty. ⁴¹ Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint, ordain, and consecrate them, so that they may serve Me as priests. ⁴² Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist^[s] to the thighs. ⁴³ These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.

In Genesis 3:22 God affirms that man had become like the Elohim, knowing good and evil. For those new to this study I encourage you to visit the teachings of Dr. Michael S. Heiser specifically his Divine Council teachings.

This gives greater understanding to the Scripture saying “man has become like one of Us knowing good and evil.”  Next God sends Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden so that they don’t eat from the tree of life and live forever. In Genesis 2 we read about this tree when God talks about making the trees.

It’s interesting that when God gave Adam the commandments about the trees He didn’t mention the tree of life.

What do you think would have happened to Adam and Eve if they would have eaten from the tree of life before they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

God was sending man out to work the ground from which he was taken. Every day of his life Adam would be reminded that God had created him from the ground and now in punishment he was having to work that same ground in order to provide food for himself and his family.

The last sentence in Genesis 3 is quite a fascinating picture to see in your imagination. Think about this:

He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

This is the first mention of cherubim in the Scriptures. It seems that we can say that the cherubim were symbols of the mercy of God. While the flaming sword in the Garden of Eden symbolized God’s justice and power, the position of the cherubim, to keep them from re-entering the Garden, and living forever knowing good and evil was a sign of God’s mercy.

Why do you think God didn’t want us to live forever knowing good and evil?

In Exodus 25:22 we see the cherubim being involved with the restoration of God’s relationship with man in the tabernacle in the holy of holies. “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all My commands for the Israelites”

Interesting that now there’s a picture of 2 cherubim. FYI, cherub is singular and in Hebrew cherubim is plural.

Cherubim were also embroidered into the veil in the tabernacle as we read in Exodus 26:1. “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and crimson yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.”

Here too is a reminder of the cherub being a guard between God’s presence and the people of Israel. It’s amazing that when Yeshua died that veil was torn down symbolizing the restoration of our relationship with Almighty God. What followed was once of my favorite scenes from the New Testament.

Here it is from Matthew 27. ^{50 “}Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.⁵¹ Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. ⁵³ And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.”

So while the first Adam was sent from the garden to experience death as an exile from God’s Presence, the second Adam’s death restored mankind’s ability to enter God’s Presence and allowed mankind to experience life. Truly a reason to rejoice. Yeshua brought us resurrection life and a restoration into God’s Presence. HalleluYah.

As I close with this thought and I declare my praise to God I want to remind us that studying God’s Word is truly an act of worship in and of itself. Remember this as you go through your week studying the word of God. As we study we worship the One we are studying about.

White linen garments of the priests