Sunday School - Roger Phipps - From Creation to Deluge

[0:00] I, some of the lessons that I'm learning I don't really like, right? Of course, it's easy when I look in the Word of God to say, well, that was written for my instruction and my warning, but I would never have done it that way.

[0:20] But that's not really true, is it? Anyway, as we go on, we see now not only the fall, but we're going to see the next generation.

[0:34] And it's not going to get better, is it? So let's look at Genesis chapter 4. Would somebody be willing to read verses 1 through 5, please?

[0:47] Yes. Okay.

[1:33] Now, that never happens to me, is it? Not exactly in this method. So let's look at this for a moment.

[1:45] But God's still relating with Cain and Abel pretty much the same way he related with Adam and Eve. This is still a theophany, isn't it?

[1:56] Because he's still going to talk directly to them, and they're going to see him as being with them, or so I read it.

[2:09] So what happens then? Now, by the way, is Cain the firstborn? It appears so.

[2:24] We assume that Cain is the first child of Adam and Eve. We aren't really told that he's the first. We know that she conceived and bore a son and called him Cain and said, I've gotten a man by help of the Lord.

[2:40] We're not told anything else. But I've always, in my mind, assumed that Cain was the firstborn. Now, during this time, though, this isn't right after his birth.

[2:57] These boys now are not, when this is happening, they're not five years old, are they? They're adult people.

[3:08] They're out. Well, they're working. They're working. And what does Cain do for a living?

[3:19] He's a crop farmer of some sort. We don't know what, but he's a farmer.

[3:33] Abel is what I would call a farmer, but he's a herdsman, right? Now, we are not told any more than this.

[3:47] But sometimes I start to jump in and imply things, don't I? Well, I was going to tell you what you were implying. You were implying that God told them to bring a blood sacrifice, and Cain, he didn't do that.

[4:04] He didn't bring a blood sacrifice. Are we told that they were told to bring a sacrifice at all? No. This was a voluntary thing as far as we know.

[4:17] Now, were they told what to bring? Well, we're reading into it when we say they were, aren't we?

[4:30] Because we are not, it is not revealed that they were told to bring one or that they were told what they needed to bring.

[4:42] Now, by this time, all we do know is that animals are being killed by men. Because how do I know that?

[4:57] What? What does it say? Abel brought an animal of his flock and the fat thereof.

[5:10] Now, how do you get the fat out? They don't hold still while they're alive. That's pretty hard to get it out while they're alive, isn't it? So, by this time, he's killing animals.

[5:23] Okay. Now, why did Eve name her son Cain?

[5:34] It's not really a trick question. It's just a reminder to me.

[5:44] We're not told. We're not told. We're not told why she named him that. Now, I might, if I didn't have footnotes in my Bible from a scholar that actually tells me what the name means, I might jump to the conclusion that she said that Cain means I've gotten him of the Lord, right?

[6:09] But that's not what the name means. So, we're not told. Nor are we told why she named Abel Abel.

[6:20] We're not given that information. So, Cain and Abel are not mentioned in chapter 5 of the generations of Adam.

[6:34] They're not mentioned there. But we do know that Adam had to be younger than 130 years.

[6:44] Because if you jump up to chapter 5, you see that his age is given. And we're assuming, now, we. That means me.

[6:57] We are assuming that the age of Adam is always reckoned from creation. That's my assumption. So, that in chapter 5, when it says that Adam was 130 years when he begat Seth, that that means from creation.

[7:20] 130 years from creation. So, we're not, we don't know how old Adam and Eve are at this point with Cain and Abel.

[7:31] Now, we do know that they had children. And they had more than Cain and Abel. And they had more than the children that are named in chapter 5.

[7:43] They had, they were prolific. And they lived a long time. The average age up through Noah is going to be 907 years.

[7:57] That's a long time. And they were vigorous for almost all that time. It, there is, I can't, I should have had it.

[8:16] But I don't have it with me. There is a quotation from Andy Rooney. Some of you remember that name.

[8:27] He said it, I'm going to butcher it now because I don't remember it exactly probably. He said, it is, it is interesting that everyone, everyone is excited about living a long life.

[8:48] But very few are excited about old age. These people lived 900 years. That's a long time.

[9:01] That's a long time. Okay, so, the famous question is, where did Cain and Abel get their wives? Yeah, they had to be sisters.

[9:15] Well, they didn't absolutely have to be, but almost certainly were. Somebody had to have a sister and a brother. So, at this point, at this point, we have two parents original.

[9:30] And now we're looking at the first generation. Now, in the process of time, is what it said, they brought, they brought their sacrifices or their offerings to God.

[9:46] What was God's response to Abel? What was God's response to Abel's? It was accepted.

[10:01] He had, the literal is there, he had regard, or it's a respect. He had respect for the offering.

[10:14] He regarded the offering. What was Abel's response to God about that? We aren't told.

[10:30] That's another one we're not told. Okay. Now, what was God's response to Cain? I'm sorry?

[10:44] No regard. Actually, now, disrespect is a made-up word fairly recently. You have respect, and then you have despise.

[10:58] But we've kind of connotated despise to mean kind of a hatred kind of thing. But, literally, God regarded Abel's sacrifice, and he despised Cain's sacrifice.

[11:15] Now, why? Because he did not, somewhere along the way, he didn't believe in God. He didn't do what God wanted him to do. He didn't follow God's command.

[11:28] Somewhere along the way, he disarrayed him. How do we know that? Because God looked on it. It was unfavorable. God was, you know, not. Okay. God did not favor the sacrifice.

[11:41] That meant he didn't like it, for some reason. For some reason, he didn't like it. We do know why. Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 4.

[11:53] Somebody look that up. Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 4. What does it say?

[12:08] What does it say? Okay. So, God regarded.

[12:28] Here we do know at least this much. Anything else I'm reading into it, but here I do know. Abel's sacrifice was accepted because it was offered by faith, or in faith, or trusting God, or believing God.

[12:47] Abel, or Cain's was rejected. Contextually, Cain's was rejected because he didn't bring it in faith. Well, it's going to get better, right?

[13:07] Okay. Okay. So, for some, we're not told anymore. We're only told this. Cain did not honor God with faith, right?

[13:22] Abel did. Cain did not. Anything else, I'm really speculating, but we aren't told, by the way, that this is a sin sacrifice.

[13:35] This is just an offering they brought. So far as we're told. Could it be a correlation between faith and faith? At this point, there is.

[13:48] Because he brought, he brought it, but he brought it without faith. By the way, the correlation between faith and works is an important thing.

[13:58] And it is an important thing when God gives the law, the Mosaic Covenant. But it's an important thing for me to remember, too. There are things.

[14:09] All of the scripture is given so that I have some instruction, even in this dispensation of grace, right? And I should be paying attention.

[14:19] One moment here. And as we approach it, I remember in the prophets, God says to Israel, well, let me back up a moment and ask you a question.

[14:38] It's rhetorical because you know the answer. Did God command sacrifice in Israel? In the Mosaic Covenant. Did God command sacrifice? Okay.

[14:49] Did he command it in certain ways? Okay. Did he command certain feasts? Did he command one?

[15:01] He commanded certain feasts and then he commanded one fast. And that was what? The Day of Atonement.

[15:13] With the goat and everything. The single fast was the Day of Atonement. The rest were feast days.

[15:24] Were they commanded? Okay. I just want to remind myself of this. Were they commanded to bring offerings at certain times of the year?

[15:36] For instance, the offerings of the first fruits, the offerings of the harvest, right? As well as sin offerings. In the prophets, because of their syncretization, I know I didn't pronounce that right.

[15:56] Their influx of paganism into Judaism.

[16:08] That is, they worshipped idols on some days and they went to the temple with their sacrifices on other days. And God says, because you worshipped me with your mouth, but your heart is far from me.

[16:28] I'm going to paraphrase this. I hate your sacrifices. I hate your new moon festival. I, your sacrifices stink, he says.

[16:42] Why? Because their heart was not in it. What happened, why was Cain rejected? His heart wasn't in it.

[16:54] He didn't have faith in God. So, we do know that much. Cain's sacrifice was rejected because he really didn't believe it.

[17:09] Somewhere along the line, he didn't necessarily believe God. Now, back to my temptation in the garden as I sat with Eve.

[17:24] What did Satan say to Eve? Did God really say? God really knows that you won't really die.

[17:38] You won't really die if you do that. God's not really to be trusted. He knows that if you eat that fruit, you'll be like him.

[17:48] God's not. Now, we get to Cain. Somewhere along the Cain. Somewhere along this line, Cain's not believing God.

[18:03] It won't take very many. As we go along, you already know. It's not going to take very many generations to get pretty perverse on the earth. okay yeah yeah and back then too in the times of the Old Testament he had to eventually prove that by an action by a word that's when he took his son Isaac up to the to the sacrifice in a way he ended up having to prove that belief that faith well according to Romans and according even even there he did it but it doesn't say that he that that credited him as righteousness it was his faith that was reckoned as righteousness and faith without the works

[19:18] Terry we are yes you mean to the for the Jews later in the Mosaic Covenant or now it we're not told actually during what we do know is that the that for Israel in the Mosaic Covenant they were commanded for grain offerings and drink offerings and and libations they were commanded for all many sorts of all every offering you can imagine and some that we can't because they were they Nathan and Jamie had to redeem the firstborn because he belonged to God the firstborn of your animals and the firstborn of your own flesh were dedicated to God and if you wanted to keep your son you had to redeem him that that set the stage for the great redeemer and my redemption because when God's son was there

[20:52] God for went the redemption of his own son and he sacrificed for me so in answer to that we're not told but I would say yes just from understanding I'm just having a difficult time trying to figure this out Cain and Abel were some of the first people on earth right their mother and father knew God they knew that he was in charge they certainly taught their sons that he was in charge they knew no different that God was in charge so why did Cain not believe that he was a child we're not told that other than the fall was a complete and utter fall it just seems to me that other than being a rebellious child he well we're going to see what kind of a man what he felt was the best he had because he was a farmer right there is no there is no place in God's word that I can go to that says that an offering to God had to be blood we do know with later on he's going to say without the shedding of blood there's no remission of sin but there's no indication here that this is a sin offering you have to read into it to get there and I'm a little bit loath to read into it that far we do know something of

[22:46] Cain's nature because we're going to see it in these next verses even more clearly than we see it now but if if if God had required a blood sacrifice Cain and Cain rebelled against that I don't know what I do know is that Cain didn't believe did not honor God with faith God himself provided the very first blood sacrifice God himself did it because he killed an animal to provide skins for the clothing of Adam Eve yeah I'm that's a metaphorical sacrifice but it does it gives us a picture of what's going to happen in Christ he put the skins on him but but but so so he killed an animal and that's what you're when I think of a sacrifice

[23:58] I'm thinking of I would say that's probably my misconception because I'm thinking that the animal is slain to cover my sin and there's no indication other than my my reading into it there's no indication that God killed that animal in the place of killing Adam because Adam's still going to die yes okay so let's go on we we don't know that much about the sacrifice or the offering I'm calling it a sacrifice because it's it's delivered and the animal was slain it's an offering brought to God so before I go to the next verses though what was

[25:01] Cain's what was Cain's response to God's despising his offering two things there that I need to learn he was very angry and his countenance fell now nobody here has ever been in this position I know but you know someone who has someone who habitually breaks a law they have no regard they habitually steal they habitually are violent and a policeman has to arrest them whose fault is it from

[26:03] I'm the criminal who do I blame who right this happened to my nephew he's an officer he got called to and this is only one time but the worst call you can get as a police officer a domestic violence call he goes to the place on a domestic violence call almost certainly somebody has to go to jail so this guy's beating up on his wife and John puts him in the cruiser and on the way to the station what's the guy say you're ruining my life now who lacked faith pardon me

[27:11] Cain who got angry Cain and we're going to we're going to see keep that in mind did he get angry about what he had done was he angry with himself we're going to see we're going to see this progress so but two things here that that that set my mind thinking turn to Proverbs chapter 22 please Proverbs chapter 22 verses 24 and 25 and I'm going to I'm going to step out on a limb here and I'm going to ask Abby to read these verses to us please chapter 22 24 and 25 that's an important thing to remember you see you you probably have known someone who's been in this position he gets angry with other people sure yeah he says bad things about other people but to me he's really nice to me what happens someday you're going to be the target right that's an important thing to remember that's an important lesson people who get angry angry because they did something wrong and they're angry at someone else for it they're blaming other people they're getting angry are dangerous to you now that doesn't mean don't associate with them because you have to go out of the world that just simply means make no intimate friendship otherwise what's going to happen

[29:39] Abby you'll find a snare to your soul to your life it's going to hurt you it will hurt you something's going to happen the other the other one was about countenance proverbs while you're there go to 27 verse 17 would someone else please read that one these are proverbial statements that God has given us for wisdom 27 17 this is a common one iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another iron sharpens iron and that works both ways when you're cutting meat you have something beside you you have a steel why to keep to keep the blade sharp so that the work's easier that's that's the picture that he's given as iron sharpens iron so a man's countenance sharpeneth that of his brother whether it's a good countenance or in this case his countenance was downcast whether it's a bad one you've all how many of you have heard the expression if you don't have anything good to say about someone what okay if you don't have anything good to say about someone come sit with me you you know yeah

[31:25] I I'm kind of I like to get angry kind of person be careful he says here be careful about your associations because a person's countenance sharpeneth that of his brother so I can take that both both in the positive and the negative that is it's my responsibility to be a good iron and it's it's in my best interest not to be a bad one or not to associate too closely with a bad one usually when you're working in the garden the gloves get dirty the dirt doesn't get very glovey there there is there is a principle even in the even in the day of grace in the day of grace to the

[32:29] Corinthian church Paul said be careful a little leaven leavens the whole dough right so it doesn't take much yeast to raise the dough but if you're not careful he says you're going to allow something to fester and to build Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 please this has to do with my anger and this has to do with my behavior in the church he said there are times you're going to get angry but what but sin not and finish it why don't give what don't give

[33:35] Satan a foothold don't give the place don't give the devil a foothold in your life that's what he's talking about and that's to the church that's specifically to me isn't it so um and and just drop or actually go up a few verses to verse 15 and 16 what is my responsibility okay speak the truth in love now by the way in the context that truth has to do with the true truth of doctrine it doesn't mean oh I think you're shirts ugly that's not what he's talking about it it has to do with here's the way the world views life this is the world view of the world and this is what your view ought to be what should

[34:49] I be talking the Christian ought to be speaking this worldview right that's what he's that speak the truth in love and keep going why so that the whole body what what that's called edification right my responsibility is to speak a Christian worldview to my brothers and sisters so that we all mature so that we grow up there's also a warning that goes in there about if otherwise if you make a habit of teaching bad stuff or not teaching at all what's going to happen well people are going to get tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine every little thing is going to sound good and usually if it sounds real pleasing to my flesh it's

[35:55] I better watch out that's a flag right away isn't it now that assumes that I ought to be walking with the Lord so that my conscience is not seared so back to here we're ready for verses six through eight and we'd better do it fast so you read them God asks a question of Cain God's asking a lot of rhetorical questions here what's he ask Cain what is God gives Cain some counsel about this what is God's counsel to Cain about his anger what if you do well you'll be accepted right you'll be accepted do the right thing

[37:08] Cain if you do the right thing you'll be accepted if you do ill what and its desire is to have you but you must master it now let's be careful because here at this point at this point God has not given many commands and he has not required much he has what we do know that he has required is an obedience and faith that much we know so this isn't well you're born with the capability of resisting sin that's too broad a spectrum of sin here this is a you did the wrong thing do the right thing this is don't miss the mark business so sin is crouching up your door but it is you have a moral responsibility

[38:20] Cain to do what master it control yourself you have a moral Cain do the right thing and you'll be accepted but if you neglect and I can safely read into that if you persist in this attitude sin's going to have you right you're going to miss it so you have a moral responsibility Cain so what does Cain do what does Cain do with this council he he says I've learned my lesson right what's he do hey come on over to my tent Abel I let's have dinner together

[39:21] I'm going to talk to you did Cain learn from now he's talking to God God's talking to him and he still didn't learn it so when I look in God's word am I ever tempted to say not in my case this is my case is different this doesn't really apply to me so Cain murders Abel and I'm going to stop because it is quarter till and if I go to the next one it's going to go a long time so let's finish with these maybe in any case in any case we know this

[40:44] Cain did the wrong thing Abel did the right thing Cain got angry so instead of fixing what I did wrong I'm going to destroy the person who's doing right we don't see that in in our lives today do we we don't see that going on around us oh instead of fixing what I'm doing wrong I'm going to silence those who are doing right or make I'm going to woe God says woe to them who call evil good and we do know this as bad as it gets and it's going to get worse but we do know who's in control and there is a vindication for

[42:02] God's people in the end they will God says I will well I will show myself he will display and there is and we'll we see the theme reiterated throughout scripture we see it as early as here there is a day of reckoning there is a day of reckoning anyone else have a great morning oh by the way next week there will be no Sunday school class okay so keep your ears tuned for news have a wonderful day