of

the Pre-flood World

GENESIS 4:17

INTRODUCTION

Genesis chapter 4 gives us a clear picture of life in the world prior to the great Flood. This is almost the only information we have about the first human civilization, which was later utterly destroyed by the great Flood.

The few pre-Flood artifacts that have been discovered by archaeologists attest to the remarkable technological skills of the pre-Flood civilization. They were not near as crude and primitive as the evolutionists have assumed them to be.

The brief Biblical record is still the only fully reliable account we have of the pre-Flood age. It leaves no doubt that the pre-Flood world was substantially different from the one in which we now live.

The pleasant climate, and the radiation-filtering effect of the upper atmospheric water canopy, enabled the people of that age—and probably the animals as well—to live much longer than is now possible.

In addition, the purity of the human genetic system and its bloodstream, with so few mutant genes, together with the absence of disease-producing organisms (which gradually developed through the outworking of the curse) led to humans living much longer than is possible today.

It is estimated by scholars that by the time of the great Flood, the world population would have been at least seven billion people. In order to get this process of multiplication started, at least one of Adam’s sons had to marry one of Adam’s daughters. That would mean that in the first generation, all marriages were brother-sister marriages.

In that early time, there were no mutant genes in the genetic systems of any of these children, so that no genetic harm could have resulted from interfamily marriages.

Many generations later, after the great Flood and during the time of Moses, such mutations had surfaced to the point that such unions were genetically dangerous and the practice of interfamily marriages all but ceased.

Not only did the population increase, from Cain to Noah, but the technological and cultural level advanced as well.

It is interesting to note here that evolutionary anthropologists say that it took millions of years for a civilized society to develop; yet, according to the Bible, the first “civilized city” was in the process of being built by Cain in the very first generation after Adam.

THE DECENDENTS OF CAIN – The godless society

4:17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.

Cain had settled in the land of Wandering (the land of Nod), where his wife (one of his sisters or nieces) gave birth to his firstborn son, Enoch (he is not to be confused with Enoch the son of Jared of the line of Seth who walked with God and was no more because God took him, Genesis 5:18, 24).

In Old Testament times the word “city” applied to any human settlement, whether great or small. Cain had obviously been trying to establish a home in the Land of Nod.

The reference to the city Cain was building suggests that he was trying to defy God’s prophecy that he would be a wanderer in the earth.

Part of God’s judgment upon Cain was that he would be a wanderer, so more than likely out of restlessness he moved on after a little while, leaving his son Enoch (after whom the city was named), to complete the job

Human restlessness can never be ultimately satisfied by outward circumstances. The true need is for change at the center of our lives. What Cain needed is what we all need—a new heart, a radical change in our innermost being.

Deuteronomy 30:6-10 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.

The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Circumcision of the heart is what Jesus called being born again by the Spirit of God. In John 3:5-6 Jesus answered Nicodemus, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water (born naturally) and the Spirit (born spiritually). Flesh gives birth to flesh (natural birth), but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (spiritual birth).

The apostle Paul speaking of “true Jews” said in Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by Spirit.

The Bible can be seen as “a tale of two cities”. In the lineage of Cain we see the beginning of an attempt to build a lasting settlement to the glory of man. The end of such endeavors is nothing but wood, hay, and stubble that will one day be burned up.

2 Peter 3:10-13 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it (all that man has built for his glory) will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth (the eternal dwelling place of believers), the home of righteousness.

God is building an eternal city (an eternal dwelling place) which will be a monument to His glory prepared for those who love Him.

Revelation 22:1-5  Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

To which city do you belong? A city made with hands or a city whose architect and builder is God. You belong to one or the other.

Flee the city of destruction and Flee to the Celestial city of God through His Son Jesus Christ.

As it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Blest are those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.  James 1:12

Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?  James 2:5