The Legacy of Cain

Anyway, well, let me have you, turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 4. We're gonna come back for today. Into our study of the Book of Genesis. And as we continue in our verse by verse study of Genesis, we come to Genesis chapter 4, verse 16, and my goal this morning is to try to cover verses 16 through 24.

And if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be The Legacy of Cain, The Legacy of Cain. In 1776, the year that our nation was founded, over in England during that very year was a young man named James Taylor. And he was doing some chores in his barn the morning of his wedding, day. He was not a Christian, but as he was doing chores in his barn on that particular morning, he was feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility that he was taking on.

In marrying a wife. He had heard enough of the gospel. To know what Christ had done in order for him to be saved, and he had seen a transformation in his neighbors since they had become believers in Jesus. And as he walked about in his barn and just pondered the heaviness of what he was about to enter into, the Lord came upon him and regenerated him.

James Taylor then and there, while doing chores in his barn, That morning surrendered to Jesus Christ and believed in him as his Lord and Savior. And as he was doing so, the words of Joshua and Joshua 24:15 pressed themselves upon his mind and James Taylor made those words his own resolve, and the words are these, as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord. He was so caught up in what God was doing in his heart in those moments that he lost track of time and he ended up being late for his own wedding.

Eventually, he heard the bells of the church ringing, and he realized the lateness of the hour.

So he got dressed real quickly and he ran to the church where the bridal party and everyone else awaited, and he had just enough time to inform his bride that he had just become a Christian. She was not happy about that at all. Well, they ended up getting married, and it wasn't long thereafter when she too became a Christian, a believer in Jesus. They had children, whom they went on to bring up in the nurture and the discipline of the Lord.

They served the Lord throughout the days of their life, and James Taylor and his wife lived the Lives that shaped their children as well as their grandchildren. Their impact extended to their great-grandchildren as well. In fact, their great grandson was also named James Taylor, James Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China. Hudson Taylor impacted the lives of millions of people in China and around the world during his lifetime, but he also Continued the legacy of his great grandparents and passing down his faith down to his children and they to theirs, and so on.

One of Hudson Taylor's descendants, 5 generations removed, who is living today is a woman. Named Mary Previte, who lives in the United States and has given her life to ministering to troubled youth at the Camden County Youth Center for over 20 years. I believe that's in Philadelphia. She also served as the president of the New Jersey Juvenile Detention Association and also served in public office.

Mary Previte is the great, great, great, great granddaughter of Hudson Taylor. She knows that her life has been forever and deeply marked by the decision that her ancestor made 8 generations ago. Not too long ago, she wrote these words that you see on the screen behind me. She said, Hudson Taylor's great grandfather made a vow on his wedding day in 1776.

He said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I have watched with interest how the family passed on that vow and that legacy from one generation to the next. And it's a beautiful thing to see the vow of one person in 1776 rippling through generation after generation. Amen.

I begin my message this morning by talking about The Taylor family because the story of Cain that we find here in Genesis 4 begins with Cain doing the opposite of what James Taylor did on his wedding day in 1776. Cain refused to worship God in a way that was acceptable to God. Also, the specific story that we'll be looking at today of Cain and his descendants begins with the narrator telling us that Cain went out from the presence or the face of God rather than moving toward God as James Taylor did in 1776.

The outcome for Kane ended up being quite different from that of James Taylor and his descendants.

We will end our story today listening to the words of one of Cain's descendants who was a very different person. Than Mary Previte. We have studied the story of Cain and we have seen the sad tale of how Cain and Abel presented their offerings to the Lord. Abel gave the very finest and first and the fattest of his flock, and he presented them to the Lord, but Cain merely gave from some of the fruit of the ground.

Nothing exceptional about it. God accepted Abel's offering, but he rejected Cain and Cain's offering. Cain gets angry about this and ends up ignoring God's efforts to guide him in making the right choice in this situation. And Cain ultimately kills his brother in cold blood.

God confronts Cain, he exposes Cain's sin. He pronounces a curse upon Cain in connection with the ground. He tells Cain that he will be a wanderer and a vagrant over the span of his lifetime and that the ground will no longer yield up its strength to him. We've studied all of this.

Cain complains about his judgment being too burdensome. To bear and God responds to his complaint by promising him that he will be Cain's personal protector. He promises that anyone killing Cain will have sevenfold vengeance visited upon them in return, and he puts a mark on Cain such that anyone finding him would not kill him. All of this.

is a marvelous grace from God. God lets Cain live and even pledges to be Cain's personal protector. What follows that we'll be looking at today is the story of Cain and his descendants post murder and post-sentencing. What we will observe is continued grace from God, mingled with human depravity.

Sadly, rather than the kindness of God toward Cain, producing a lineage of kind and humble and gracious people, we find that the 5th generation from Cain features a descendant that is far worse than Cain, a vindictive man. We will find a man who takes God's gracious gesture of protection toward Cain and basically says, that ain't good enough for me. I'll take care of myself. Let me read the passage to you beginning in verse 16 and then we'll begin to, to break it open.

In Genesis 4:16, the text reads like this. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch, and he built a city and called the name of the city Enoch after the name of his son. Now to Enoch was born Erod.

And Erod became the father of Mehujael and Mahujael became the father of Methhuhael and Methhuhael became the father of Lame. Lame took to himself two wives. The name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other Zillah. Ada gave birth to Jabal.

He was the father of those. Who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and the pipe.

As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal Cain was Nema. And Lame said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, listen to my voice, you wives of Lamec, give heed to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me and a boy for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamec seventy-sevenfold.

This is the word of God and may God help us to understand His word to us today. Here's how we'll break things down. You should have an insert that's in your bulletin. We're gonna make 6 observations about Cain and about his descendants as this passage unfolds.

We're gonna notice, by the way, that it's not all bad. We're gonna see evidence of the common grace of God. There's some good things that we're gonna find. In our passage mixed with depravity.

6 observations about Cain and about his descendants. Observation number 1, we see in verse 16 that Cain leaves the presence of Jehovah. And he wonders. Cain leaves the presence of Jehovah, and he wonders.

It says, then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, which we saw that word Nod means wandering. He settled in the land of wandering east of Eden. Guys, this is a bad start. If you're reading a story about a man's family, and his descendants, and that story begins with the words, he went out from the presence or literally, he went out from the face of Jehovah, you can take that as a bad sign.

That's a horrible start. And by the way, what is said in this passage is what always happens when you go out from the presence of the Lord. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and he settled. And where he settled was in the land of wandering.

That's what always happens whenever you go away from the face of God. You settle, and where you settle, is in the place of wondering, going from one place to the next with nothing able to satisfy you like Jehovah could. James Taylor's family story begins with him coming to God in salvation. And resolving, as for me and my house, we will serve, we will worship the Lord, but that's not how Cain started.

He started by going away from the face of Jehovah. He goes out from the presence of the Lord and he dwells in the land of wondering and look at what happens next, which brings us to the second observation, and that is that Cain begins to enjoy the blessings of family. He begins to enjoy the blessings of family. It says in verse 17 that Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch.

Nothing is said in the passage about where Cain got his wife or simply told that he had relations with his wife and so some read a passage like this and they ask the question, where did his wife come from? My answer is he got his wife from the same place that Seth. got his wife from, and that is from among the descendants of Adam and Eve. We know from Genesis 3:20 that Eve is the mother of all the living.

So we know that whoever Cain's wife is, she is someone who descended from Eve. We don't know when or how long Cain would have wandered about before he met his wife. Maybe she found him or maybe he found her, but ultimately they became husband and wife. The genetic pool at this point in history is as close to perfect as can be.

Siblings and cousins simply had to marry at this stage of human history. It was not until later in human history. That incest was specifically prohibited in the law of God. We see in verse 17 that Cain experiences the blessings of sexual relations with his wife, and he experiences the blessing of her conceiving and actually giving birth to a child.

And they named their child, how we, we basically say Enoch. The Hebrew is Hanuk, Hanuk. You are familiar with the word Hanukkah, Hanukkah, which speaks of the rededication of the second temple in Jerusalem during the time period between the Old and the New Testament. The word Hanukkah is from this root word Hanuk.

It's the same root of the name that is given to Cain's son, and the word means dedication. That's what Enoch or Hanuk means or Hanukkah. It means dedication. And some writers suggest that this could indicate some decision on Cain's part to make a new start.

A new beginning after having given birth to his son. It might be an indication of repentance on his part. I don't know, but he names his son. Dedication.

Ponder the grace of God here in Cain's life, the common grace of God. Cain killed his brother, yet God lets Cain live. He provides for Cain a wife. He allows Cain to experience physical intimacy within marriage, and he gives to Cain and his wife a child.

God gives the gift of brand new life. To this man who took a life in cold blood. This is the grace of God, the common grace of God. And perhaps Cain really meant it when he named his son dedication.

What we do know is that Cain really loves his son. Look at what he does for his son. That brings us to the third observation, and that is that Cain occupies himself with building a city for his son. He says, and he built a city and called the name of the city Enoch after the name.

Of his son. It's just something every dad would like to do for their child, right? Build a city for their child. I remember many years ago, When my oldest son was about 10 years old, asking him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he thought about it for a moment and he, he said, one of two things, Dad, I'd like to either be a pastor of a church or a dictator of a country.

I don't know how those two got connected in his mind, but Cain may have asked his son, what do you want to be? Well, I'd like to be a mayor of a city. So Cain built for his son a city. Now, this doesn't mean in the passage that Cain had a child and then started building a city.

Right away. There's a lot of time that's being covered here, that's being collapsed into very few words. Remember, life spans were really long during this time period. As one commentator says, the construction of the city by Cain will cease to surprise us if we consider that at the commencement of its building, centuries had already passed since the creation of man and Cain's descendants may by this time have increased considerably in number.

Also, when we think of a city nowadays, we tend to think of a modern city. but in ancient times, the city was first and foremost a place that was well fortified and would offer protection to its inhabitants. And it was also a place that was well supplied with water. And so the same commentator suggests here that we think this way, that the word for city does not necessarily presuppose a large town, but simply an enclosed space with fortified dwellings.

In contradistinction to the isolated tents of the shepherds. Cain obviously found an ideal spot that was well watered and that would lend itself to protection and fortification, so he begins to build a city. The text literally says Cain was building a city. It doesn't say literally he built a city as if he finished it, but he was building a city.

And the language there might indicate that Cain never finished the city himself, but that it was finished by Enoch and by his future descendants. What we do know is that Cain called the name of the city Enoch or Enochville after the name of his son. Cain did not name the city after himself. But after his son, so that his son could take the lead in finishing the city and providing for the governance and the growth of the city in the years to come.

There's actually something here to like and appreciate about Cain. Kane has a vision. Kane is the first person to establish the idea of a city in human history, and it's actually a good idea. We live in the city of Riverside.

There are many benefits that we experience from living close together in a city under a city government and places of business that address our needs. We benefit From the abilities and the giftedness of other people and the services that they, they render and that we can render for them. In the life and the fabric of city life. This whole scheme was first thought of by Kane.

Kane saw the value of community, at least on this level, and he no doubt trained his son and prepared him to be the leader of the city. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this. Kane did not want his son to live the life of wondering that he himself had lived up to. This point of his life.

Some see this city building by Cain as an act of defiance on Cain's part. God had told Cain, you're gonna be a vagrant and a wanderer, and yet, some think that in defiance of that, Cain settles and he builds a city in defiance of God's decree, but I, I don't know that this has to be the case. This is probably just Cain trying to get life set up for his son, Enoch and his future descendants. God never promised Cain that his future descendants would forever be vagrants, right?

He just made that promise to Cain and so Cain begins building a city and he names it after his son, clearly wanting his descendants to have a life of settledness in community. that he had not enjoyed up to this point of his journey. Now, as the story of Cain's descendants continues to unfold in the passage, Cain is blessed with grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great, great grandchildren and so forth, as we've already read. But eventually we come to a descendant.

Of Cain, 5 generations removed from Cain, who is specifically said to have done something that was noteworthy, and that leads us to the fourth observation regarding Cain and his descendants, and that is that Cain's descendant will see that his name is Lamec, married two wives. He marries two wives. So we see some of the lineage beginning in verse 18 as the generations unfold. It is interesting that we don't know anything about these individuals, but if you look at the name Mahujael and Methushael, both of those names end with the word Ale, which is the Hebrew word for God.

Some writers suggest that it's possible that there might have been in this lineage, some belief. In God as indicated by these names, but we don't know that, obviously, for sure. What we do know is that we get down to a man named Lamec, who is 5 generations removed from King. This guy is a really bad apple.

what we observe about him in verse 19 is that he married two wives. This is the first instance of polygamy in the Bible, indicating that in all likelihood, Lame was the first to practice polygamy. Obviously, this was not God's original design. God's original design was stated in Genesis 2:24, a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his what?

Wife, singular. Lamak has left his father and mother, and he has cleaved to his wives, plural. We don't know much about these women except for the fact that they were named Ada and Zillah. the name Ada means ornament, probably indicating that she was a beautiful ornament in this particular family.

We have our own Ada here at Cornerstone. and then there's Zillah. which means shade. which might indicate the refreshment that was found in her.

Just think of finding a refreshing shaded spot in the scorch of summer. That's putting the most positive spin on Zillah's name, that we can put to today, if you want to name your child Ada, that would be great. That's a beautiful name. Zillah would be a horribly unfortunate name for a woman, especially on her wedding day.

Because everyone would call her bridezilla. Right? Uh-huh. And honestly, ladies, you would be a bridezilla yourself, right?

If you were being given to a man. who is already married and is receiving you as his second wife. But as the story of scripture continues to unfold, we see that Lame's decision to marry two wives, that this practice of polygamy eventually became very common, so common that the likes of Abraham and Jacob and David and Solomon and many others practiced polygamy. It seems that polygamy simply became a part of the cultural air that people breathe, and it was viewed as acceptable even though it was not God's original design.

More will be said about Lamec and his wives in a few moments, but let's move on to a 5th observation that we can make about Cain and about his descendants, and that is that Cain's descendants develop a culture with many positives. Yeah, one of the things I love about scripture is, and, and different writers pointed this out, that A non-objective made up telling of the story of Cain's descendants would have probably featured only negative, right? But what we find is negative, but we also find positives that are stated here.

There's every indication that this is an objective retelling of history.

And it's not all bad of what we find here. Verse 20 Ada gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. Jabal is said to be the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

As Henry Morris says, Jabal invented The tent, thus enabling him to carry his home with him and develop a nomadic lifestyle. And he goes on to say that he also developed formal systems for domesticating and commercially producing animals. This is a good positive development on many levels. At the very least, he was raising and tending livestock to provide milk and skins for clothing and also using animals as beasts of burden.

But it's also possible that at this point, people were starting to eat animals. Perhaps Jabal was raising animals for food in this way, even though it would have been a violation of God's will for mankind at this point of human history. God does not allow the eating of animals until after the flood. Either way, the writer of Genesis wants us to know.

That Jawal was a trendsetter. He made advances in these areas that influenced what other people started doing. Other people learned from him and started doing the same thing that he was doing. And then there is Jubal, who became, the text says, the father of those, all those who play the liar.

And the pipe. The name Jubal means sound. So it's not surprising that Jubalal had an ear for music. He invented the lyre and he also invented, the text says the pipe.

When you think of the lyre, think of a stringed instrument like an ancient guitar or a portable harp. this Hebrew word that is translated liar in this passage shows up in the Psalms as an instrument to be used for praising and worshiping God. In fact, write down Psalm 150 3, where the Psalmist says, praise him, praise God with the lyre. So this instrument that was developed by someone who is by all indications a pagan.

is an instrument that God is pleased when it is used in the worship of Him. God does not discount this instrument simply because it came from someone from the line of Cain. When you think of the pipe, think of a flute or some wind instrument. That you blow into.

This word that is translated as pipe is a generic term covering all kinds of wind instruments. In Job 30:31, you might want to write this reference down. Job indicates that he himself made use of both the lyre and the pipe, and both of these Hebrew words are used. Prior to Job's suffering, He used his harp and lyre to make happy music, but now he says, my harp is turned to mourning and my flute to the sound of those who weep.

I play my instruments very differently now that I am suffering, Job says. My point is that these instruments were invented by people in the lineage of Cain, yet they are viewed as gifts from God through the genius. And the inventiveness of man, and thus they are instruments that are perfectly legitimate for God's people to use in celebrating and even in worshiping God. Now in calling Jubal the father of those who play the lyre and the pipe, the narrator of Genesis is telling us that he was the father of musicians and the originator of their art.

This is where it started. Then the text tells us about Tubal Cain, who became the forger of all implements of bronze and iron. Apparently, Tubal Kane figured out how to gather bronze and iron and then melt them down and forge them into metal instruments that could be used for farming or as weapons of war. And then lastly, there is Nema, and her name simply means pleasant.

Nothing is said about anything that she did or accomplished other than she was just pleasant. That's not so bad. As this section of scripture draws to a close, the focus, now turns back from Lamech's children back to Lamec, which leads us to the 6th and final observation that we will make about Cain and his descendants, and that is that Cain's descendant, Lamec in particular, demonstrates great savagery. He demonstrates great, savagery.

If you count Adam as the 1st generation, then Lamec is the 7th generation from Adam. And the writer of Genesis is giving Lamax some space in the narrative in order not simply to tell us about him. But probably to give us a representative sampling of where the human race in general was at this particular point. In time.

And it seems from the narrative here that Lemec has written a poem or a song and he wants to share it with both of his wives together. Virtually every commentator you will read will tell you that what Lemec says here in This text has all the earmarks of, of poetry. There's parallelism, there is cadence, and there is irony. So this is a poem or song that Lamec wants to share with his wives.

Most women would love for their husband to write a poem and want to share that poem with them, and Lamech has written a poem. And he calls to both of his wives and says, sit down. I would like to share with you this poem or this song that I have written. But if Ada and Zillah were expecting a hallmark moment, they would be sorely disappointed.

Observe how the poem begins. He gives to his wife a twofold order. Listen to my voice, you wives of Lamec, give heed to my speech. He seems to really want his wives to hear what he has to say so that they can learn something very important about him.

He seems insistent that they be reminded that they are his wives, and we will see why that might be in just a moment. As he speaks to his wives, he says to them, listen to me for or because I've killed a man. In other words, he's saying, it is fitting that you should listen to me, since I have killed a man. It is the fact that he has killed that makes it such that his wives should listen to him.

Imagine that ladies. Imagine saying to your husband, why should I listen to you? And imagine him replying by saying, you should listen to me because I have killed a man for hurting me. That's what Lamec is doing here.

In the poem, Lamak is boasting about the fact that he has killed a man. Why did he kill him? Because the man wounded him. He's boasting in the fact that he did not just recompense the man according to his offense, he went above and beyond the offense and killed the man for merely inflicting a wound upon him.

He then restates what he has done. He says, I, I've killed a man for wounding me and a boy for striking me. It's possible that he's talking about two murders, two people that he's killed. The greater likelihood is that he's just simply restating what he just said, and he's giving us some idea of the age of the man that he killed, and that is a lad.

Or a young man, this Hebrew word that is translated. young man is a word that could speak of anyone up to the age of 40. So, basically, it was a youth, someone in the prime of their life with their full life ahead of them. Maybe they were so young that they were vulnerable, making his killing of this lad all the more reprehensible, or, or he could be boasting about the fact that this was a youth, someone who is at the prime of their strength, and I killed them anyway.

Whichever way you go with that, the point is, here is a young man who has his whole life ahead of him and Lame says, I killed him. Why? Because he hit me. He hit me and he wounded me.

This is the heart of Lamec being revealed. The language that he uses here is interesting. If you write down the reference Exodus 21, Exodus 21. verses 24 and 25, we have what's called the lex talionis, which is a fancy way of speaking of the law of revenge that is found in the Old Testament.

And we're familiar with this expression, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. This law was intended to protect people from escalating conflicts by overreactions and excessive retaliation that would never, ever stop, creating terrible vicious cycles. And the last two types of injury on the list are wound and bruise. And Lamme in Genesis 4 is using both of those words, the word wound.

And the word bruise in Genesis chapter 4. He basically says, I've killed a man for wounding me. I've killed a young man for bruising me. Lame is indicating here, he's basically saying, I don't live by this law.

The Lex Talionis. I don't live by the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Lamec's attitude was, if you injure my eye, I will kill you. If you break my tooth, I will kill you.

Lamec had a high self-esteem. He thought so highly of himself that a mere wound to his body was equivalent in value to the life of the person who inflicted that wound. His attitude is like some of what we see in news stories from time to time where someone has killed another person and when asked why they said because he looked at me funny. That's lameex attitude.

Nothing in this passage is, nothing is said in this passage about any weapons, but Lame is probably waxing bold here because of the weaponry that his son Tubal Cain has developed. As one writer says, it would be far more plausible to picture Lamec as handling a newly forged sword or swinging it boldly about his head and uttering the sonorous bit of poetry. As he does so, he's feeling invincible with this invention of his son, and he can execute vengeance now. This is Lame saying to his wives, don't mess with me.

If I'm willing to kill a man for wounding me, if I'm willing to kill a boy for striking me, then imagine what I would do to you if you mess with me. Lame then says in verse 24, if Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lame 77fold. This is Lame's way of saying, I don't get even, I get ahead, way ahead. God promised generations ago that he would avenge Cain.

sevenfold, but I don't leave vengeance to God, Lime says. God's promised vengeance is not enough for me, and I don't need his help anyway. I take vengeance onto myself. And when I do so, I don't repay sevenfold, I repay seventy-sevenfold.

As one writer says, the arrogance and the presumption of Lamec are unbelievable here. The spirit of self-sufficiency here expressing itself overleaps all bounds, making it one of the most ungodly pieces ever written. Such are the achievements of human culture, divorced from God. Now why does Lamec write this poem?

And why does he insist on sharing it in particular with his two wives? Why does he insist that they listen very carefully to this poem? Henry Morris may be right when he makes this suggestion. Listen to what he says.

There is a possible suggestion in Lamec's poem that there were other men around trying to seduce Lame's wives or even trying to take them from him by force and that Ada and Zillah were not too averse to such developments. This would explain why Lamec's threats were directed especially to the hearing. Of his wives. In fact, it could be that the man that Lamech has killed was the man who was messing around with his wives.

Regardless, this threat by Lamec is the opposite of Jesus Christ. Lamec's threat is vengeance, seventy-sevenfold vengeance. Jesus though, gives us grace, and he calls upon us. To do the same.

In the New Testament, Peter asked Jesus, how often should I forgive those who sin against me? 7 times? Jesus says, no, 70 times 7, 70 times 7, 490 times. Jesus gives this answer because he is the opposite of Lame.

Lamak is the seed of the serpent, and his attitude is to take vengeance seventy-sevenfold and what one writer calls an avalanche of vengeance. Jesus though is the seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15, and his attitude is to forgive not just 77 times but 490-fold as it were. Lamech threatened overwhelming multiplied vengeance upon Anyone who so much as injures or hurts him, Jesus experienced us bruising and wounding, and even killing him. And he lavishes upon us in return, 490-fold grace.

As one writer beautifully says, Lamec's ecstasy of anger was answered by the grace ecstasy of Christ's forgiveness, that you and I are the recipients of if we have turned to Jesus and put our trust in Him. Aren't you glad Jesus is not like Lame? But he's the exact opposite of Lame. Lamec would fashion himself to be a strong man here.

But he's actually a weak man. It's actually the stronger person who can be wounded and bruised and give grace and not retaliate. It is the weak person who resorts to having to exact revenge on those who wrong him. It is the weak person who has to write things like this about himself and about his exploits and about what he will do to anyone who injures or messes with him.

Lamec is a very weak man. who must resort to threats like this and boasting like this in order to keep his wives. Just as we wrap things up this morning, let's collect our thoughts around some of the things that we see in this passage. Let me just throw 4 quick things that you, when we, when we look at this text, we see the common grace of God.

We see life and marriage and children and city and a culture and and advancements, some of them wonderful that we benefit from even today. God is being good to Cain and to Cain's descendants. We also see in this passage that pagans are capable of culture that have redeeming features and value. We see a culture here that features beauty and utility that can even benefit God's people.

We see marriage and childbearing and city planning and building and musical instruments, agriculture, and even the ability to write. poetry and to sing. Key's lineage makes advances in the arts, and in industry, and craftsmanship, and in agriculture. These are good things that the writer of Genesis wants us to know about.

As one writer says, when the writer, when Moses is describing the sons of Lame as the father of all who? He didn't just say they, they made these instruments, but they're the father of all who play these instruments. That language. Being used, the writer is acknowledging the debt and he prepares us.

He's teaching us something about our mentality, preparing us to accept for ourselves a similar indebtedness to secular enterprise, for the Bible nowhere teaches that the godly should have all the gifts. We would read this and expect to see even in total pagans, the image of God being displayed in them in marvelous ways and them being able to create things that are of great benefit. And blessing to us even as the people of God. As another writer says, Genesis is making the point that through the disobedient line of Cain, many of the world's significant cultural discoveries emerged.

This point may provide another illustration of the grace of God at work in this fallen line. They too have an important and wholesome contribution to make to God's world. So we see that pagans are capable of culture that has redeeming facets and features to that culture. but there's a 3rd observation that we can, make, a third thought that we can ponder as we look at this narrative, and that is that obviously culture doesn't make righteous.

We see that the pagans, those who don't know Christ, are capable of great beauty and achievement and invention to improve life in this world, but we're also by this passage. Delivered from the notion that culture has the power to redeem. That culture alone can make people better in their hearts. We see in this text that culture obviously does not mitigate against man's sin.

There is development of culture in this passage in agriculture and industry, and yet at the apex of all of these developments, we see a savage man. Named Lamec, using his poetic gifts to write a savage poem about killing a man for merely wounding him and boasting about his overwhelming retaliation against anyone who would dare to mess with him. This shows us that culture and the arts and industry and technological advancements do not change the human heart. In fact, Lamec is probably all the more bold in his confidence and savagery, precisely because of the instruments of iron and bronze that he now has in his possession with which he can execute vengeance upon anyone who messes with him.

So apparently cultural progress does not bring with it moral advancement. One writer says it this way, the flowering of culture and invention does not restrain the escalation of sin. So we're delivered from the notion like, man, these countries that are just full of conflict and strife and rampant evil, if we could just bring, computers into this country and everyone can have an, an iPad or a laptop and whatever else, whatever other benefits. And it's good to want to bring those benefits, but we just got to make sure that we don't fall into the delusion of thinking that culture and technology and advancements have any power to redeem the human heart.

Any culture. I love what R. Kent Hughes says, neither low culture nor pop culture nor high culture can redeem. No combination of agricultural abundance.

The arts and technology can save society. Nazi Germany in its day considered itself the repository of culture, high art. The leader in technology and the master of abundance, all the while the Third Reich enslaved helpless people and performed unspeakable barbarisms. Take the advancements that we experience in our world today.

Just in nuclear technology that brings many benefits, providing energy. Even benefits in nuclear medicine, and yet with that same technology, Man can create a hydrogen bomb that can destroy hundreds of thousands, millions of people. The microchip is a great advancement. You can use the microchip to help you find your dog when it's lost.

But the microchip can also be used to guide a smart bomb right through your window and take your life. Think about it. If advances in technology could redeem humankind and make man better, then one would expect that the 20th century, which was the last century, would have been the most noble century of peace in the history of mankind, right? But we know that the opposite is true.

The 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history, and the 21st century is not shaping up to be any better at all. So we enjoy culture, we relish it, we celebrate it. We see that believers and nonbelievers alike are capable of reflecting the image of God. And accomplishing great inventions and advances in technology, and we can receive that and celebrate that and be thankful for it, but at the same time, we know that these things don't redeem the soul and they don't restrain sin.

The last thing that we see here is that the choices that we make in this life impact not only our future destiny. In heaven or hell, but our choices that we make impact future generations. We see that the sins of fathers are passed down to their descendants, usually in intensified form. Lame is like Cain, only he's so much worse.

Cain succumbed to sin. Lamec gloried in it. And parents, it just might be that the sins that you succumb to in this generation will be the very sins that your children and grandchildren will actually glory in. And is that not exactly what is happening?

In 1776, James Hudson Taylor made a decision. In a barn that ended up rippling through the last 8 generations over these past 240 years, marking even his descendants who are alive today. The decisions that you and I make in our lives today will shape not only our own souls and our own eternal destiny, but will also shape the generations to come. So I ask you, what will you choose?

What will you choose? Will you go out from the presence of the Lord like Cain did? And set about to building your life outside of his presence and away from his face, or will you move toward the face of God and surrender to Him and believe in His Son, as James Taylor did in 1776? Will you walk with God or will you walk apart from him?

Will you believe in Jesus, or will you reject Jesus, and then live your life accordingly? Will you walk in the grace of God and be a humble and forgiving person? Or will you be a bitter and a vindictive person who gets even with anyone who wrongs you? Your decisions on these things will shape you.

They'll shape your eternal destiny, and they will mark the generations to follow you as well. So be wise and think through these things, learn from a passage like this. And if you've never come to know the Lord, if you've never believed in Him, this is the day, as James Taylor did in his barn in 1776, just come to God, believe in him and cry out to him to be your Lord and Savior, and then live your life walking with Him. Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Lord, I'm just so sobered by How fraught with significance the decisions that we make are. I feel that as a parent and as a husband. Lord, if you don't come, There, there will be hundreds of thousands of descendants of mine on this planet. Who will be marked in some way, whether consciously or not, by how I've lived my life and by the choices that I've made.

And that's, that's heavy, Lord. Forgive me for all the ways that I have failed. And have walked apart from you and have not moved towards your face, but rather moved away. Lord, help us, all of us in this room to make choices today.

That are mindful of how significant these choices are. And how great the impact will be. And may we not go out from the presence of the Lord, but may all of us, even today, just turn to you right now and enter into the presence of the Lord and say, I wanna live my life before the face of God because as the psalmist says, literally, in his face is fullness of joy. And that's where I want to be.

Thank you for your word and for all that it teaches us of these things, leaving us with so much more to ponder, so much more than we could take the time to ponder aloud in this service. You're a good God and we thank you for the gift of your word and all that it teaches us. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you, receive these funds, do much with every penny that is given for the glory of Jesus, for the advancement of your holy word, and for the spread of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We commit ourselves to you in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.