Genesis 4:17-26 (NLT)

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. Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.

Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents. 

**** Interjection *** Genealogy is super important, but can be quite boring to read.  Just wait until we get to numbers! Ha!  Remember the Bible is true stories that tell us God's love for us from Creation to the very end of times (until this world is destroyed).  And so, genealogy, as boring as it is, gives us concrete evidence that what the writers of the Bible are telling us are true.  Mose's wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, also called the Pentateuch.  These were true stories, about our ancestors, that were passed down from generations down to Moses (We will get to Moses soon).  

His brother’s name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute. 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. 23One 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.

24If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times,

then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!”

**** Interjection *** As you can see the line of Cain was a wicked generation.  Lamech takes two wives and becomes a murderer.  We will also see with genealogy how sin is passed down from parent to child.  However, it's ultimately the choice of each individual of the path they take towards God or away from God.  Deuteronomy 24:16 says, "Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin."  But we see with genealogy in the Bible that many take the paths of their parents, making parenting such a great responsibility that God gives us for our children.  

The Birth of Seth

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

**** Interjection ***  So Adam and Eve have another son named Seth.  Again, genealogy being important, we will see that Noah (who all people come from today) is from the line of Seth.  This is the first place we see God called "Lord"

I asked my Pastor to shed some light on the myth about the Bermuda Triangle, and his thoughts are that Genesis 2 tells us that it was between the Tigris and Euphrates, which places it in the middle east.  However, after Noah and the flood, the topography of the land changed, which could change the course of the rivers.  It's also possible that these two rivers were simply named after the original Tigris and Euphrates.  And the other two rivers mentioned in Genesis 2 are completely unknown after the flood.  Therefore any theory about the location of Garden of Eden is merely speculation.

Genesis 4:1-16

Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of theLord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

**Interjection***  So here we have the first offspring Cain and Abel.  They both brought an offering to the Lord.  Why do you think God accepted Abel's offering but not Cains?  He brought an offering didn't he?  (An offering is like a gift for God).  The reason is because Abel gave his very best to God.   He gave the fat portions from the firstborn of his flock.  Don't you want to give the ones you love your very best?  Well Cain brought an offering but it wasn't his best.  His heart was not right and soon we will see how God judges and sees to ones heart, because of what Cain does next.  

8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^d While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

***Interjection***  Cain was jealous of Abel and he killed him!!  Cain's heart was full of sin and wickedness.

9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

***Interjection*** Wow! What was the worst punishment for Cain? To be separate from God's presence. It's like us... we will be restless until we seek God's presence.  We need God and we need to know Him to feel satisfied.  Nothing else in this world will truly fill the void in our life like God. 

15But the Lord said to him, “Not so^e ; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,^f east of Eden.

***Interjection***  It sounds to me like God created other human other than Adam and Eve.  Hmmm....
What do you think?

Genesis 3:21-24

21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

***Interjection**** Do you remember when Adam and Eve first realized they were naked?  They sewed Fig leaves to cover themselves.  But after God finds them in their disobedience, HE makes their covering that's way better than fig leaves.  He covers them with sewn animal skins.  This is just like in our life.  We try to cover our shame with work, good deeds, even addiction... basically any idol (when our hope is in something or someone other than God).  But God's way is always better and it's by His doing, not ours.  He covers our sin with the blood of Jesus Christ!  If we rest in that, then our life will be an outpouring of Him and we will have peace in ANY circumstance.  

22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings[e] have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 

****Interjection*****  This is where we see the trinity!  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - all three in one God.  I've highlighted the "us" that indicates Jesus being with God even in the beginning. 

Remember when we talked about God's blessing in the curse?  God didn't want Adam and Eve living forever in these tainted bodies and minds.  

23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Being banished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were not allowed back to the Garden of Eden.  God stationed BIG angels (mighty cherubim) to the east of the Garden and a flaming sword to guard the tree of life.  Paradise Lost!

*****Only speculation****  Some seem to think that the Garden of Eden is under the Bermuda Triangle!!  I think this is a pretty cool theory. Next week I'll explain other speculations.

Genesis 3:14-20

God first looked at the serpent and said "“Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust

all the days of your life.

15And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring^a and hers;

he will crush^b your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

---- Interjection ---- This is the very first time that we see where God is already planning our redemption from our sin.  This is the first time we see where God gives us clues to what Jesus will do on the cross.  The serpent is being cursed, but Satan is being cursed ultimately. "he will crush your head" - refers to Christ crushing Satan at the cross and winning back humanity to God (for those who believe in His son).  "and you will strike his heel" - I believe refers to the pain it took to get to the cross and the sacrifice Jesus made for us to crush the devil.

The curse of woman:

16To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

----Interjection---- Childbearing is VERY painful, and so is everything leading up to and after childbirth for a woman - from puberty, to birthing, to menopause. This is our curse because Eve disobeyed God.  You don't have a choice in this if you are a woman.  Women have been trying to gain their rights in this world all the way back to day one.  This is because of what Eve did.  Man has always ruled over women and even today.  You can thank Eve for that :)

17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

19By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

20Adam^c named his wife Eve,^d because she would become the mother of all the living.

----Interjection----  Adam was cursed by not being able to eat that fruit.  God now curses the ground because of Adam's sin.  This means that man will now have to work hard for his food and it will produce thorns and thistles.  This means that the ground will work against Adam, meaning he will have to make a living working the fields just to produce his food.  We see this VERY true for men.  They are always worried about money and food and making a living.  You can thank Adam for listening to Eve and disobeying God for this.  We can see how man today feels like he can never get ahead no matter how much money they do or don't have, they always feel the need more.  This is due to the curse.  We also see how the ground works against man.  In America, we've tried to get around famine by genetically altering food, but it still works against us as we lose the valuable nutrients by doing this.  The ground is cursed by God and man will always sweat trying to make it produce the food we need to live.  Then God curses man (and woman) with death.  We were created from the dust of the ground, and to the dust we return.  We know this is true because we know that bodies decompose when they are dead and buried.  

Genesis 2:25- 3:13

2:25Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

The serpent was the most shrewd animal that God had made.  He asked the woman, “Did Godreally say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
"Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”


“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

So the woman, thinking it will make her wise took from the tree of knowledge and ate it's fruit and gave some to her husband Adam.  After they ate the fruit, they looked down and saw that they were naked.  So they sewed fig leaves together to make loincloths to cover themselves.  

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool^c of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”  And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

This is original sin.  The serpent is the devil who deceives Eve.  How does he get her to eat from the tree of knowledge?  Well he lies to her, questioning what God REALLY said.  He tells her that she won't die, like God said.  This is how we are deceived, by listening to the lies of the devil questioning God.  The devil deceives Eve by telling her that God is holding something back from her and Adam... to have their eyes opened, being wise like God, seeing good and evil. 
 

Genesis 2:10-25

When God created man (Adam) He put him in the Garden of Eden, where there were all sorts of plants and fruits and trees that God gave him.  A river flowed from the land of Eden, and split off into 4 rivers... Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates. In the Garden of Eden God placed two trees - one was the tree of knowledge and the other was the tree of life.   God told Adam that he could eat from any plant or tree in the entire Garden except just one tree and that is the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  (ONE SIMPLE RULE)

Then, God said man should not be alone, so he created all kinds of animals from the earth.  God had Adam name all the animals, yet He said the animals were not good enough.  Adam still needed a companion, a helper.  So that's when God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep.  He took one of Adam's ribs and made Eve.  

23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,
    and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
    because she was taken from ‘man.’”

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

Genesis 2

God created people in His own image.  Have you noticed that only man has the type of thinking power that can build, invent, deep think and grow?  Well that's because God created men in the image of Himself.  His ways are far higher than ours, yet He created us to be like Him (not God, but like Him in the sense of thinking).  He also told man to multiply and subdue the earth, being masters over the fish and birds and all the animals.  He gave us food from the earth (plants) and animals to have dominion over.  We can look at creation and see how this account in the Bible is true!!  We eat from the earth still (even though food is in grocery stores, it all ultimately comes from plants and animals).

Man was created from the dust of the earth, and God breathed breath / life into man.  He saw man was alone, so He created a companion for man - Woman.  Man (Adam) named all the animals and plants.  God created woman from Adam's rib.  Adam called her woman because she "came from" (wo) man.  Her name was Eve.

Next we will talk about how Adam and Eve disobeyed God and how sin (wrong doing) entered into life of man and woman.

Correction from last lesson:  I said that Job was without sin.  This is not true. What I meant to say was that his friends were accusing him of a sin resulting in his suffering.

I did not put out a lesson last week because we were moving :)

Genesis 11:10-26

Shem’s Descendants

10.These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11.And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters. 12. When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13. And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 14. When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.16. When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17. And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters. 18. When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters. 20. When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21. And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters. 22. When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23. And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters. 24. When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25. And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters. 26. When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Here we see a genealogy from Shem to Abram, and this text is important to show his lineage from Adam, to Seth, to Noah, and down to Shem (one of Noah's 3 sons.)  Also, take note that lives started to shorten from Genesis 5.