Genesis 4:16-24 for Sunday, May 27, 2007

Translation:
(16) And Cain went out from before the Lord and dwelled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (17) And Cain knew his wife and she became pregnant and bore Enoch. And Cain built a city and named the city after his son, Enoch. (18) To Enoch was born Irad, and to Irad was born Mehujael and to Mehujael was born Methushal and to Methushal was born Lamech. (19) And Lamech took for himself two wives. The first was named Adah and the second was Zillah. (20) And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. (21) His brother was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. (22) And Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal Cain, forager of all tools of copper and iron. The sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah. (23) And Lamech said to his wives
"Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice,
wives of Lamech.
Hear my words,
for I have killed a man for bruising me and a youth for striking me.
(24) For Cain is avenged sevenfold and Lamech is avenged seventy times seven.

This may seem like a boring piece of scripture. We usually skip over the long sections of genealogy because it doesn't seem to apply to us and the names are hard to read. However, there is still a message to be learned in this scripture.

We read of seven generations in the genealogy of Cain. The narrative reads quickly, but in real time, many years had passed since Cain committed fratricide. The memory could have easily been forgotten, but it wasn't. In a matter of two verses, we come to Lamech and begin to hear his story. The narrative moved quickly through Lamech's relatives, but slows up when we come to Lamech so we hear more detail about who his wives were and what their children did for a living. More importantly, we hear of Lamech's own deeds: killing a man for bruising him and a youth for striking him.

Clearly the memory of Cain is not forgotten. Part of Cain's punishment was banishment from the garden, but there is also a memory of God's words over Cain "Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." Cain was not forgotten and even many generations later, Cain plays an important role in Lamech's life.

As we prepare for Sunday's message, I invite you to think about some of your own extended family. Who are your grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins? Who were your great-grandparents? Their parents? How do they play a role in your life? Even if you do not realize it, they have had an impact on you. Lamech probably never met Cain before, but Cain's actions still had an impact on Lamech's life. Even in our society, where families may life thousands of miles apart, we still feel the impact of our own extended family.