Day 2: Genesis 4-6

(The previous post covered the beginning and end of the 1st Dispensation.)

Genesis 4

(Chapter 4 Began the 2nd Dispensation - Pre-Flood. The 1st Dispensation failed because Adam and Eve did not have understanding because they did not have the knowledge of good and evil. This dispensation gave people hundreds of years to develop understanding and experience about God.)

¹ And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man with the help of Jehovah.

(It looked as if Adam and Eve did not have intercourse until they left paradise. The following story was referenced in Hebrews 11:4 as proof that Abel was an example of faith to us. The following story was also referenced in Jude 1:11 because Cain was an example of someone who was destroyed because he was without reason. 1 John 3:12 referenced this story to prove Cain hated his brother.)

² And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah.

(Cain brought God an offering. Not only was this not a bad thing, it was a good thing. This was a right what.)

⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
⁵ but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

(God had respect on Abel and his offering. God had no respect on Cain and his offering. This did not say that God was angry with Cain or that Cain did anything wrong. Respect meant God gave back to Abel, because Abel gave more to God because it was the firstling...his best.)

⁶ And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
⁷ If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it.

(God asked Cain three questions. God's questions to Cain imply that if Cain gave his offering with a right how/why, then he would be "lifted up." In addition, if Cain gave his offering with a wrong or no how/why, then God said that "sin coucheth at the door."

Cain had yet to sin here. The reason God did not respect Cain's offering was not because Cain sinned (he hadn't) nor because the offering came from the ground (which was "cursed"). The issue here was that Cain’s countenance fell because he was more focused on Abel than on God. If God hadn't respected Abel's offering, Cain wouldn't have been wroth. Why was God asking these questions? Did God not know the answers?)

⁸ And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

(Notice, Cain told Abel about his interaction with God. Cain was trying to do the right thing. However, within the same verse, it eventually came to pass that Cain let sin have him. Cain sinned within this verse, not before this verse.)

⁹ And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

(Again, God asked Cain a question. Why would God ask this question? God knew the answer. God wanted to know Cain's response! That was the reason God asked Cain the first three questions. Here, God wanted to see how Cain responded to the sin he committed against Abel. Cain's response was to answer with a question that was a right what with a wrong how/why. Cain was not his brother's keeper. However, he said this to justify why he did not have to answer the question with the actual place where he left Abel dead.)

¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
¹¹ And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
¹² when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.

(Cain responded poorly and was punished. What would have happened had Cain confessed and repented?)

¹³ And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.

(Cain said this punishment was too much to bear. He was afraid to be separated from God and afraid that he would be killed.)

¹⁵ And Jehovah said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And Jehovah appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

(God would punish anyone who slayed Cain sevenfold. To prevent this from happening, God marked Cain in a way that people would know to not slay him. Whatever this mark/sign was that God applied to Cain is unknown.)

¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

(Some people wonder where Cain found a wife. Genesis 5:4 stated Adam "begat sons and daughterS.")

¹⁸ And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methushael; and Methushael begat Lamech.
¹⁹ And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
²⁰ And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle.
²¹ And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe.

(The first biblical mention of musical instruments.)

²² And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
²³ And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me:
²⁴ If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For, said she, God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.

(God appointed Eve another seed because of Abel's death. She named him Seth which meant "compensation," from the root word meaning "appointed.")

²⁶ And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh. Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah.

(People were actively seeking the Lord.)




Genesis 5
¹ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
² male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

(God called their name Adam. The name/word Adam came from the Hebrew word Adamah which meant "dirt.")

³ And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
⁴ and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters.
⁵ And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

(Adam lived to be 930 years old. Remember, this 2nd dispensation gave people hundreds of years to develop understanding and experience about God. Also, the canopy was still intact and would have facilitated the environment needed for people (and animals) to live extremely long lives.)

⁶ And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh:
⁷ and Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
⁸ and all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

(Seth lived to be 912 years old.)

⁹ And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Kenan.
¹⁰ and Enosh lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
¹¹ and all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

(Enosh lived to be 905 years old.)

¹² And Kenan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalalel:
¹³ and Kenan lived after he begat Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
¹⁴ and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

(Kenan lived to be 910 years old.)

¹⁵ And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
¹⁶ And Mahalalel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
¹⁷ and all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

(Mahalalel lived to be 895 years old.)

¹⁸ And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch:
¹⁹ and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
²⁰ And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

(Jared lived to be 962 years old.)

²¹ And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
²² and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
²³ and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
²⁴ and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

(Enoch lived to be a young 365 years old. Why? Enoch was raptured. He represented Christians. The previous verse was referenced in Hebrews 11:5 as proof that Enoch was an example of faith to us.)

²⁵ And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
²⁶ and Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters.

(Methuselah meant "when he dies, it will come." He represented prophecy. He died within a year of the flood.)

(In fact, all of the names in Noah's lineage pointed to prophecy:
Adam = Man
Seth = Appointed
Enosh = Mortal, or Dying
Kenan = Sorrow
Mahalalel = The Blessed God
Jared = Descend, or to Come Down
Enoch = Teaching
Methuselah = His death will bring
Lamech = Despairing
Noah = Comfort)

(If you take all these names in order, you could construct a sentence that reflects the Gospel message – Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the Blessed God [will] come down, teaching [that] His death will bring [the] despairing comfort (or comfort to the despairing).)

(Notice, Adam would have been living at the same time as Methuselah.)

²⁷ And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

(Methuselah lived to be 969 years old.)

²⁸ And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
²⁹ and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.

(Noah represented the remnant that will make it through the Tribulation.)

³⁰ And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
³¹ And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

(Lamech lived to be 777 years old.)

³² And Noah was five hundred years old: And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.




Genesis 6
¹ And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them,
² that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose.

(The "sons of God" in verse 2 were fallen angels who came to earth and mated with human women. Angels are always male. They are meant to protect. The purpose of female angels would be to create, and an example of that would be for them to create more angels. However, there are no female angels. This implied that humans interacted with angels. 1 Peter 3:20 and 2 Peter 2:4 stated these angels were eventually sent to tartarus.)

³ And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.
⁴ The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

(Notice, the sons of angels and women would be mutant DNA creatures. They would look like "pre-historic" man. Recent DNA analysis has shown these "pre-historic" man fossils have a previously unknown DNA.)

⁵ And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
⁶ And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

(At this point in time, the thought process of man was evil: only evil and continually evil. Meaning quantitative and qualitative. God will not make man again.)

⁷ And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.

(The ASV got this right by saying "Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah." Most other translations stated "grace" instead of "favor." This was not the "grace" of our Salvation and it was different from the Greek word charis.)

(Noah was the father of everyone alive. The following story was referenced in Hebrews 11:7 as proof that Noah was an example of faith to us.)

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God.
¹⁰ And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
¹¹ And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
¹² And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

(Some believe that Noah and his family were the only pure humans that remained on earth, that everyone else was a cross between humans and angels. Noah's dad and grandfather died prior to the Flood.)

¹³ And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
¹⁴ Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
¹⁵ And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

(The length of a cubit varies depending on the resource. It has been recorded to be anywhere from 18-25 inches long. In this commentary, we will refer to the cubit as being 18 inches. The ark would have been 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.)

¹⁶ A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
¹⁷ And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon this earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die.
¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

(The first mention of "covenant." Notice, God revealed His entire plan to Noah up front.)

¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
²¹ And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
²² Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

(In addition to the "two of every sort" of animal, they also took food for themselves and the animals.)

(This post covered the beginning of the 2nd Dispensation and God's plan for the end of that dispensation.)

Day 3