After the heartache of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve had a third son. This devotional reading looks at the birth of Seth.
Nuggets
- Adam and Eve had a third son.
- Seth had a son he named Enosh.
- Circumstances in the world were very bad some time after Enosh was born.
- Humans chose to worship God corporately.
The rest of Genesis 4 dealt with Cain and sin. Starting with these verses and beyond, the chosen line is discussed. Seth is the one from whom that line comes.
So, let’s jump from sin to righteousness.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the The Influence of Sin series
The Birth of Seth
“Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, ‘God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.’ When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name” (Gen. 4: 25-26 NLT)
Adam and Eve had a third son.
Ooo, baby. I bet, in a way, this birth was bittersweet. At least, Eve felt that way. “… ‘God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” (Gen. 4: 25 NLT).
I hope Eve stated that in praise. At that time, Eve was 50-50 in raising kids. She may have had some trepidation in the back of her mind.
Come on. Eve was human. She probably couldn’t have felt differently.
This is especially true if Eve still had fallout from being the first to sin. She opened the door for Cain to have the ungodliness he showed.
It looks like Eve named all of her children. Remember what she said when Cain was born. “… When she gave birth to Cain, she said, ‘With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” (Gen. 4: 1 NLT).
Hopefully, Eve did see Seth as a child of hope and love, as Bonar said. Well, his name does mean set, placed, or appointed.
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Yes, Eve sinned. Yes, Cain sinned.
God is more interested in repentance than judgment. Giving us the ability to repent was what the cross was all about.
Don’t get me wrong. Judgment for sin will occur on the Day of the Lord.
Eve knew God patiently allows us to turn back to Him. Her faith was shown front and center here.
- “So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help” (Isa. 30: 18 NLT).
- “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (II Pet. 3: 9 NLT).
We have to remember God’s punished for Eve when she committed the original sin. God promised her redemption through One of her descendants. “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3: 15 NLT).
Yeah, Seth was the anointed one.
Seth Had a Son
Seth had a son he named Enosh.
We don’t know much about Seth’s son Enosh. Here is what we do know.
- Seth was 105 years old when Enosh was born (Gen. 5: 6).
- Enosh was not an only child (Gen. 5: 7).
- Enosh was 90 years old when his son Kenan was born (Gen. 5: 9).
- Enosh had a number of sons and daughters (Gen. 5: 10).
- Enosh was 905 years old when he died.
At That Time
Circumstances in the world were very bad some time after Enosh was born.
Hambleton told us about that. He wrote, “There were evidently two parties — the children of men and the sons of God — the men of this world and the men not of this world — the faithful in Christ Jesus and the unbelieving and ungodly.”
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No, this isn’t a Cain v. Abel deal. This is a daughter of men/sons of God issue.
That is talked about in Genesis 6. We touched on this when we were wondering where Mrs. Cain came from but said we were going to wait. I think we need to figure it out now.
- “Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives” (Gen. 6: 1-2 NLT).
- “In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times” (Gen. 6: 4 NLT).
Oh, yeah. Who are the sons of God, and who are the daughters of men?
Some think the sons of God were fallen angels. That is what the word Nephilim, the word used to describe the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men, means — fallen.
“We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” (Num. 13: 33 NLT).
I know. That verse muddied the waters. Sort of.
The Anakim (descendants of Anak) were also the descendants of the Nephilim. So the way I see it, the Nephilim is like their race (mixed race giants) with the Anakim being a specific branch of the family tree.
Does that seem fanciful? Some think so.
Part of me says that explains a lot. If some are descendants of fallen angels — angels that left Heaven with Satan — that explains the great divide between worldview people and disciples.
Some believe the Nephilim to be descendants of Cain. That would describe the divide as well. I can see, at this point, the only societies would be the line of Cain and the line of Seth.
Geikie had another explanation. He wrote,
“On the other hand, it is continually used of heathen idols, and hence it may well point in this particular case to intermarriages between the adherents of idolatry and the daughters of the race of Seth, and a consequent spread of heathenism, far and near, with its attendant violence and moral debasement.”
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I could see that if Geikie would have said intermarriages between the daughters of adherents of idolatry and the sons of the race of Seth. Those practicing idolatry would not be called the sons of God.
Geikie seems to have recognized this himself. He felt we should interpret this to be “… ‘the sons of the godly race’ took wives of ‘the daughters of men.’” In other words, godly disciples intermarried with ungodly worldview people.
But again, I can see that referring to the line of Seth and the line of Cain.
Since this is from Genesis 6 — right before the flood — we know that things became even more corrupt.
But we also know that God does not want His chosen people to intermarry with non-believers.
- “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?” (II Cor. 6: 14 NLT).
- “You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you” (Deut 7: 3-4 NLT).
C. H. M. thought this uniting was a exceptional form of evil. Of course, my mind went to disciples who compromise with the worldview. It may not necessity be a marriage, but it is an association God does not want us to foster.
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The desire of the godly for the ungodly is understandable. We still have that today — and not just for a marriage partner.
That is the pull of sin, the attractiveness of it.
Calthrop made an interesting observation— and very correct. The godly have marching orders to witness to the ungodly.
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- “And then he told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone’” (Mk. 16: 15 NLT).
- “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28: 19-20 NLT).
We start off with the right attitude and zeal, and we get pulled over to the dark side.
We all have opportunities to choose to sin. It is imperative that we have discernment to choose between right and wrong.
Worship the Lord by Name
Humans chose to worship God corporately.
I’m confused. How can the people in Genesis worship God by name when they didn’t know His name until Exodus 3?
But was that correct? Who did Eve call to when Cain was born? “… When she gave birth to Cain, she said, ‘With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!’” (Gen. 4: 2 NLT).
Adam and Eve praised God by the name of which they knew Him.
Anyway, we should focus on the worship, not the name. Hambleton thought this was the first time they said they were God’s people. They openly aligned themselves with God.
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Remember what we said in the last devotion. “… I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected — even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me” (Ex. 20: 5 NLT).
First generation was Adam. Second generation was Seth. Third generation was Enosh.
We shouldn’t think that they hadn’t individually worshiped God through prayer before this. That is probably the first corporate worship.
This is logical. “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Rom. 10: 9-10 NLT).
Vaughan stated that prayer is both an instinct and a mystery. It is probably safe to say that – at least once in our lives – we have raised our faces up to the sun to let its rays wash over us.
In that instance, we are raising our faces to God, the Creator of the sun. We are thanking Him by enjoying His creation.
Surprised that non-believers have that worship? Vaughan argued they did. He wrote,
“Even in the depth of lost knowledge and depraved feeling, the instinct of prayer will assert itself. … Just as the instinct of nature brings the child in distress or hunger to a father’s knee or to a mother’s bosom, even so does created man turn in great misery to a faithful Creator, and throw himself upon His compassion and invoke His aid.”
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Ooo, baby. Put someone in a difficult situation. Just watch them calling out for protection, success, and provision.
Oh, but isn’t prayer a mystery! How does God hear us? How does He hear everyone at the same time? How does He know what is going to happen when we haven’t made the choice – not even gotten into the situation that offers the choice?
Vaughan addressed that, too. How can we say the answer came from us when we have all these questions? How can we say it is anyone but God when the answer we get is something we didn’t thought of before?
Prayer didn’t have to wait until Matthew 6. It was an Old Testament habit.
Think about Elaine-speak of what Vaughan said. Abraham was considered righteous. That was pre-Christ. That was not pre-prayer.
Making the Connections #1
Prayer is something we don’t understand fully. Look what Vaughan said. He wrote,
“The idea of holding a communication with a distant, an unseen, a spiritual being, is an idea too sublime, too ethereal for any but poets or philosophers to have dreamed of, bad it not been made instinctive by the original Designer of our spiritual frame.”
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One issue, I think in these days, in the communication part. We have trouble communicating.
It could be social media. It could be scrolling. It could be video games.
It could be feelings of not fitting in. It could be bullying. It could be being introverted.
If we have trouble communicating one-on-one, how are we going to communicate with – second issue – a spiritual being.
Yep, God is unseen, but He isn’t distant. He is near to us.
- “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deut. 31: 8 ESV).
- “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Heb. 13: 5 ESV).
- “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deut. 31: 6 ESV).
- “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (Josh. 1: 5 ESV).
- “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41: 10 ESV).
- “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1: 9 ESV).
- “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13: 5-6 ESV).
- “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen. 28: 15 ESV).
Ooo, baby. How many of us feel we are poets and philosophers? Like, none.
God doesn’t want us to be what we are not. He wants us to come to Him as we are. Then, He will grow us to be more like Him.
Making the Connections #2
Oooo. Look what Hambleton said. He wrote, “Religion never flourishes without diligent and faithful use of the appointed means of grace.”
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Belief in God doesn’t flourish without constant and obedient use of the grace God gives us in that moment.
Making the Connections #3
A change was needed in their worship. I applaud them for making that change.
They evaluated what they were doing, saw that something was wrong, and fixed it.
Why is it so hard for us to change?
How Do We Apply This?
- Participate in corporate worship services as well as individual worship activities.
Father God. You can turn heartache into hope. Lord, You used feeble, sinful people to fulfill Your promise. Thank You for using us – feeble, sinful people – for Your work. Amen.
What do you think?
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