In Genesis, what follows immediately after the Fall, and then the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, are mainly births and deaths, all in fulfilment of God’s prophecies in the preceding chapter. As parallel chapters, Genesis 3 and 4 contain many common themes and words: descriptions of sin (Genesis 3:6–8; compare with Genesis 4:8), curses from the ’adamah, “ground” (Genesis 3:17; compare with Genesis 4:11), and expulsion (Genesis 3:24; compare with Genesis 4:12, 16).
The reason for these parallels is to highlight the fulfillment of what went on before, the prophecies and predictions that God had given to Adam and Eve after the Fall. The first event after Adam’s expulsion is full of hope; it is the birth of the first son, an event that Eve sees as the fulfillment of the promise that she heard in the Messianic prophecy (Genesis 3:15). That is, she thought he could be the promised Messiah.
The next events—the crime of Cain, the crime of Lamech, the decreasing life span, and the increasing wickedness—are all fulfillments of the curse uttered in Genesis 3.
Yet, even then, all hope is not lost.
Thought question: Compare the life span of antediluvians (Genesis 5) to that of the patriarchs. How would we explain this decreasing of the span of human life? How does this degeneration counter the premises of modern Darwinism?
Cain and his legacy (Qtr 2 - Week 3: 16 April) Part1
Cain and his legacy (Qtr 2 - Week 3: 16 April) Part2
Audio recordings are available 5-10 minutes after the show has aired.