4:23,24
Cain killed out of anger and resentment, and then looked for protection from God. Lamech seems to glory in violence. He no longer looks to God for protection, but boasts proudly that he will avenge anyone who attacks him. This again is a feature of humanity as a whole. Pride takes over, instead of looking to the Lord. And when pride takes over it leads to all sorts of violence and other evils. In Matt 18:22 Jesus tells His disciples that they must forgive seven times seventy, or seventy seven times. It is possible that He is looking back at this verse. Avenging seventy-seven times is man’s way, forgiving seventy-seven times is God’s way.
4:25,26
So the line from Cain is leading in a very destructive direction, but God is still at work, and while evil is working, God is doing things as well. So Adam and Eve have another son and call him Seth. Seth means “appointing”. Eve sees him as a replacement for Abel. It is interesting that the words recorded here come from Eve, not from Adam. The Bible places a far greater importance on women than it is often given credit for. Seth had a son and named him Enosh, which means “man”.
“At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord”. Often in the Bible you will see LORD rather than Lord, that is when it is translating Yahweh. Here Lord is simply a title, there is no revelation of who God is inherent in the word. So we have two lines, both coming from sinful Adam and Eve, but one delighting in godlessness, and the other beginning to call upon the Lord.
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