Transcript The name - Amazon S3

Last week we considered some interesting insights in the
life of Cain and how his attitude of heart developed into a
lethal mix that led to the Flood.
Interestingly enough we find a similar conclusion in the
life of Esau with this biblical warning.
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God;
that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble,
and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or
godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for
a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when
he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he
found no place for repentance, though he sought for it
with tears.” Heb 12:15–17
1
This poses a very serious warning against the practice of
allowing selfishness to cohabit in our human souls, which
carries the potential of unimaginable destruction.
We will come back to Esau and finish our thoughts on him
later, but for now we need to finish with Cain as our
example of how all of this kind of rebellion actually began.
2
“Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,
and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Ge 4:16
First we are going to deal with how Cain’s attitude towards
God was reflected in the names he gave to his children
and the place he settled. His attitude was also passed on
to his children and all his heirs as can be seen in their
names.
Then we are going to deal with what it means to “go out
from the presence of the Lord”.
3
“Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,
and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Ge 4:16
The name “Nod” means “wandering or exile”. There are
many scholars who see flagrant rebellion in all of Cain’s
actions following his banishment from the family.
If God said he would be a wanderer, why is he building a
city? There seems to be some mockery in this, but it is
just a guess. However, rebellion is clearly revealed in the
names of his sons and grandsons, and down the line.
4
“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.” Ge 4:17
The name “Enoch” means “initiated”. Not only did he
name his son after his independence, but he even built a
city and named it by the same name as his son. And if
God said he would be a wanderer, why is he building a
city? Clearly Cain is NOT seeing his weakness nor his
dependence upon God.
Scholars are well agreed that Cain set out to be the
antithesis of everything the family of righteousness
determined to be, even in their names.
5
“The name Nod denotes a land of flight and
banishment, in contrast with Eden, the land of
delight, where Jehovah walked with men.” Keil &
Delitzsch
“His son he named Hanoch (consecration),
because he regarded his birth as a pledge of the
renovation of his life. For this reason he also gave
the same name to the city which he built, inasmuch
as its erection was another phase in the
development of his family.” Keil & Delitzsch
6
I found this on the name Methushael, the great-greatgrandson of Cain.
“… the use of šʾl in a nominative form is also
unusual in personal names. On the other hand, the
use of a proper name in construct with a term such
as “man” is paralleled in Methuselah and seems
possible in this case, Sheol being understood as
the name of a deity. The name would then mean
“man (i.e., devotee) of the god Sheol.”
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
7
In fact, Delitzsch goes so far as to say:
“Even if we do not regard this city as “the first foundation-stone
of the kingdom of the world, in which the spirit of the beast
bears sway,” we cannot fail to detect the desire to neutralize
the curse of banishment, and create for his family a point of
unity, as a compensation for the loss of unity in fellowship with
God, as well as the inclination of the family of Cain for that
which was earthly.”
“The powerful development of the worldly mind and of
ungodliness among the Cainites was openly displayed in
Lamech, in the sixth generation.”
Lamech wrote a song about killing a man who wounded
him. This anger and sensitivity to any form of being
rebuffed has fully matured.
8
“Some of these names resemble those of the Sethite
genealogy, viz., Irad and Jared, Mehujael and Mahalaleel,
Methusael and Methuselah, also Cain and Cainan; … For the
names, though similar in sound, are very different in meaning.
Irad probably signifies the townsman, Jared, descent, or that
which has descended; Mehujael, smitten of God, and
Mahalaleel, praise of God; Methusael, man of prayer, and
Methuselah, man of the sword or of increase.” Delitzsch
9
The point is that rebellion against God becomes an agent
for irreparable hardening of the heart. The longer it
remains, the harder the heart becomes.
We started into this last week when we read that Cain
“went out from the presence of the Lord”. We
acknowledged that this is impossible since God is
omnipresent, so what does this really mean?
10
Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to
bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the
face of the ground; and from Your face I will be
hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the
earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Ge 4:13–14
Last week we pointed out that God never said that Cain
was to be thrust out from the face of God. Lange says that
Cain, in his pride, put that upon himself. The truth is that
what God imposed on Cain was nearly identical to what
God imposed on Adam and Eve in their sin. In fact, God
went after Adam and Eve when they tried to hide from the
presence of God, so we know banishment from God’s
presence is not something that God imposes on people in
this life.
11
Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to
You could even argue that God put Israel aside or divorced
bear!
Behold,
You
have
driven
me
this
day
from
the
Israel as a nation, putting them in charge of all their own
face ofand
thethe
ground;
and from
I will
bethe
choices
consequences
ofYour
their face
choice.
But
hidden,isand
I will
be best
a vagrant
and
a wandererison
the
reason
clear.
Man’s
chance
of repentance
seeing
the
heavy
consequences
of independence.
is the
earth,
and
whoever finds
me will kill me.”SoGeto4:13–14
purpose of God’s isolation of Cain – REPENTANCE!
Last week we pointed out that God never said that Cain
was to be thrust out from the face of God. Lange says that
Cain, in his pride, put that upon himself. The truth is that
what God imposed on Cain was nearly identical to what
God imposed on Adam and Eve in their sin. In fact, God
went after Adam and Eve when they tried to hide from the
presence of God, so we know banishment from God’s
presence is not something that God imposes on people in
this life.
12
“The reservation of the heart still unbroken in its
selfishness and pride, makes the self-accusation, in
this kind of repentance, an accusation of the doom
itself; it is “the sorrow of the world that worketh
death.””
“Out of the sentence
of his own conscience,
through which God lets him become a fugitive and
a vagabond, Cain makes a clear, positive, divine
decree of banishment. Thereby does it appear to
him a heavier doom that he must go forth from the
presence of the adamah in Eden, than his
departure from the presence of God (though before
he had put the latter first); and, finally, they are both
to him the harder punishment, since now “every
one that finds shall
slay
him.””
Lange
13
“The reservation of the heart still unbroken in its
selfishness and pride, makes the self-accusation, in
this kind of repentance, an accusation of the doom
In other words, it is not God who pronounces all of these
itself;
it
is
“the
sorrow
of
the
world
that
worketh
threats, but rather the warped mind of Cain who accuses
death.””
of the sentence
of his own
conscience,
God“Out
of unfairness,
and constructs
a case
against God in
his own
madness.
through which
Godself-centered
lets him become
a fugitive and
a vagabond, Cain makes a clear, positive, divine
decree of banishment. Thereby does it appear to
him a heavier doom that he must go forth from the
presence of the adamah in Eden, than his
departure from the presence of God (though before
he had put the latter first); and, finally, they are both
to him the harder punishment, since now “every
one that finds shall
slay
him.””
Lange
14
“It sounds partly as a complaint, and partly as a
threatening; for it is the specific expression of the
morose self-consciousness that it flees from the
presence of God, whilst it maintains, in order to
have some plea of right, that it has been forced to
do so. When I lose the face of my home, then also
am I compelled to flee from the face of God.” Lange
The only way to reach out to a heart as hard as Cain’s was
to let him pronounce his own sentence and determine
whether or not he could live under it.
So Cain did not go out from the presence of the Lord,
since God is omnipresent. Cain shut God out of his heart.
15