Adam and Eve
God existed for all eternity. He apparently had other creation (such as the angels) before He started to create earth. Bible scholars speculate that there was some long period of angel history before God created the earth and the human race. This is all theory (because the bible does not explicitly spell the time frame out) but many scholars think that the angels had some very long period of time where they had free will, and that this took place before the Genesis 1 account of the creation of the earth.
One of the angels, Lucifer, decided that he would rather be worshipped than to worship God, and he rebelled against God and became Satan or the devil. About 1/3 of the angels rebelled along with him, and they became fallen angels (or demons).
God created the heavens and the earth in "the beginning" -- whenever that was. For a long time the earth was "formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Gen 1:2). At some point in eternity, God decided to fine-tune His creation of the earth. He spoke it into being. (e.g., He prophesied and called forth creation, which demonstrates the power of the prophetic word). God created time, the Heavens and the earth, the land masses and oceans, all of the vegetable and animal life on the earth. Then He created a man, Adam, in His own image.
Adam and Eve
Right from day one, God expected man to be a relational creature. The instant He created Adam, He evaluated His work and said (Gen 2:18), "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." So He caused a deep sleep to come on Adam, and God literally did surgery on him to remove a rib. Gen 2:21 says, "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh." From that rib, God created the first woman, Eve. Ever since that first day of man's creation, God has expected man to be in relationship (with each other and with Him). And that is an area (our relationship with others) that Satan loves to attack and interfere with. One of his favorite strategies against the Church is to sow strife and division. Another of his favorite strategies is to foster suspicion and competition.
The bible does not show passage of time clearly. Genesis chapter 2 ends with the creation and Eve and Genesis 3 is the account of the fall of man. You might get the impression that man was created on Saturday and fell on Sunday. But that is not the case. We know that from Gen 3:8 that God was in the habit of walking in the garden with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. So we know that some time has elapsed between the creation and the fall.
Let me share my own personal theory with you.
God told mankind to be fruitful and multiply and fill and subdue the earth (Gen 1:28-30). I believe that Adam and Eve did this in the garden for quite some time. I believe they had several children who were born, grew up and then left the garden to go fulfill this commission of God.I think this is why there were other people out there when Cain was cursed for killing Abel. (We will look at that in more detail in the next section.) However, the point is that when God cursed Cain, he complained "I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me" (Gen 4:14b). If the only people alive on the face of the earth at that time were Adam and Eve and Cain, then Cain would not have said "whoever" -- because there would not have been a "whoever" to worry about, only his parents. And God agreed that there were other people there, because He said He would put His mark on Cain so that no one would kill him (Gen 4:15). Also, Cain went out from the Lord's presence and took a wife and had children. How could Cain have found a wife (Gen 4:17) if there were not any other people at that time?
I believe Adam and Eve remained in the garden for a long time and had many sons and daughters. The kids, when they grew up, left the garden and set out (probably in small groups) to form communities and to obey God's command to be fruitful and multiply. So I believe that Adam and Eve were in the garden for a very-very long time before the fall (recorded in Genesis 3) like at least 100 years and maybe substantially longer.
I believe that they ate regularly from the tree of life and that kept them young and healthy. The reason I believe that is because Gen 3:22-24 says, "And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.' So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." Once man had sinned, God cut off access to the tree of life so that he would not continue eating from it and live forever. I suspect that Adam and Eve did not begin to age until they were not allowed to eat from the tree of life anymore.
Now, there is a problematic side to my theory. Gen 5:3 says that Adam was 130 years old when he had his son Seth, and Gen 5:5 says that Adam died at age 930. So one might argue that Adam and Eve could not have lived a really long time in the garden because he was only 130 when he had Seth, and he had Abel and Cain who grew up before he had Seth. (In that case, it is difficult to explain the existence of the many other people who were already alive when Cain slew Abel.)
There are two plausible explanations to Gen 5:3-5. First, childbearing in the Garden was not under the curse. So, Eve may have been pregnant most of the time and having one child after another, fulfilling God's commission to her. If so, she would have been able to have many children during that hundred year period. Many of those kids had time to grow up and leave the garden to go subdue the earth in those first 100 years.
Or, perhaps God counts Adam's age from the time he was denied access to the tree of life -- instead of from the day that he was created. In that case, he could have lived thousands of years in the garden and eaten from the tree of life during that time. The bible does not tell us how old Adam and Eve were when they sinned.
Of course, you do not have to buy my theory because it is just that -- a theory. You are free to come up with your own understanding of how Cain and Abel are the first of Adam's offspring that the bible mentions. Yet when Cain murdered Abel, there were already several other adult people on the earth, one of whom Cain married and had children.
Now, let's go back to Adam and Eve's story. They lived in the Garden for some period of time and enjoyed communion and relationship with God. God regularly walked with them and talked with them in the cool of the day. They were innocent and holy. God had given them specific work to do, including ruling the creation and being fruitful and multiplying. We must assume they did both of those things because they were sinless and therefore in obedience to God.
However, right from day one, God wanted man to willingly serve and obey Him -- God valued free will and desired that with our free will we would choose His ways. Now, man can't have/exercise free will if there is not a choice available to him. So God set up a choice for man; He put two special trees in the Garden. The first was the tree of life. When they ate of it, it was roughly equivalent to the fountain of youth, keeping their bodies young and healthy. (They had to choose to eat of it to stay young/healthy, but that choice was a very easy one for them to make.) The other tree was the knowledge of Good and Evil. God put one -- and only one -- restriction on man. He was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And He gave an explanation in Gen 2:17, "for when you eat of it you will surely die."
We do not know how long they lived in the garden under that restriction without even thinking about violating it. It was probably a very long period of time. Then the serpent (who was possibly a dragon before it was cursed) tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Her husband was right beside her when this occurred (Gen 3:6). She ended up eating the fruit. Please note that the fruit worked -- once they ate it their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked and tried to clothe themselves. Their sin was NOT in knowing good from evil. The sin was in intentionally choosing to disobey God.
God wanted a relationship with man, even after we fell. That is why He came to meet them in the garden in Gen 3:8. God is all-knowing, He already knew that they had sinned. Yet He came and approached them, even calling out to them when they hid from Him. Once man was "caught in the act" of disobedience, God pronounced some judgments. But even in that initial judgment, there was the promise of redemption. He addressed the serpent first, changing it's physical form to crawl on it's belly. And at that moment He promised the coming of Christ, who would redeem man from the fall. He said, in Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel." That was the first prophecy of Jesus coming to die for our sins and break the power of sin and death over us (1 Cor 15:22-26, 45-57).
God cursed woman by making childbirth painful and difficult. He did not take away her mandate to be fruitful and multiply, He simply made that task much more uncomfortable and difficult. He also put the woman in submission to man (they had been equals before then) because she was the one who made the bad decision to disobey God and then got her husband to do it too. Then God cursed Adam by making it difficult for him to make his living. He did not remove the mandate to subdue the earth, He simply made it much harder for him to fulfill that mandate -- by the sweat of his brow" (Gen 3:19).
After God pronounced judgment on them, He proceeded to take care of their immediate needs. He "made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them" (Gen 3:21). God also cut off access to the tree of life so that they would begin the natural process of aging and dieing. God continued to be with them, even after God cut them off from access to the tree of life. We see that Adam and Eve still looked to God as the source of all they had in Gen 4:25. They were probably very grieved after Cain murdered Abel -- this is the first death recorded in human history, and it was a very premature death. But God comforted them in their grief by giving them another child to replace the murdered Abel. And this is what they say about it, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." They recognized God as the source of their blessing.
I believe that Adam and Eve lost the deep intimacy and unlimited access to God they had previously enjoyed when they became soiled by sin. But I believe that they still had some type of relationship with God, and that they desired to please Him and honor Him even after the fall. That is why they taught their children to bring offerings to God (Gen 4:3-5).
Cain, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah
Our last lesson looked at the creation and the lives (and fall) of Adam and Eve. Now let's look at some other key players from the early beginnings of human history: Cain & Abel, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah.
Cain and Abel
Cain was the first recorded birth after the fall. He was the first child born under the curse, where childbearing had become painful and difficult. So I suspect that Eve had a special love for this son, she had paid such a high price to produce him. However, in spiritual terms, Cain was also the "firstborn," and a result of that was that the generational sin/curse (rebellion against God) probably passed to him more strongly than to his subsequent siblings.
Eve had a second son, who she named Abel. Both boys grew up. Abel became a shepherd or herdsman. Cain became a farmer. Both young men decided to bring an offering to God from the fruit of their labors. One offering was accepted and the other rejected. There is a popular teaching going around that God accepted Abel's offering because it was an animal sacrifice, but God rejected Cain's because it did not involve the "shedding of blood." Unfortunately, that is an erroneous teaching -- and there is a bible precedent for fruit and grain offerings in the law.
The bible tells us why one offering was accepted and the other rejected. Genesis 4:4b-5 says, "And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell." The issue, in God's eyes, was not the offering itself, but the heart of the person bringing the offering. God respected Abel -- that is He found Abel's heart and character pleasing. But Cain was a man of questionable character and motives, and God (who looks on the heart) found his attitude/motivation unacceptable, so He would not receive his offering. We get some hint of what Cain was like from his response -- he was mad at God and at Abel.
God interacted with Cain about this in Gen 4:6-7. God tried to explain to Cain that the issue was not the offering itself, but the person who brought the offering. God told Cain to get a handle on his anger and to "do well," and then both he and his offering would be accepted. God warned him that "Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." However, Cain did not rule over it. In a fit of rage, he murdered his brother Abel. As a result, God pronounced a curse on him that he would be a fugitive and a vagabond.
Gen 4:16 says that Cain "Went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden." He was separated not only from his family and close relatives, but also from God. He married and had a son and built a city. The "generational curse" (rebellion against God) seemed to pass down his family line, and his descendents were wicked and ungodly. His great-great-great grandson, Lamech, murdered and boasted about it.
Seth
Shortly after Abel's death and Cain's exile, Eve became pregnant with Seth. The bible does not tell us a lot about Seth, except that he was God's provision and comfort to Adam and Eve for the pain that another's sin had inflicted on them. His very existence was a prophetic statement that God will take care of us when someone hurts or wrongs us. Adam and Eve had two sons living with them. One had been murdered and the other exiled and instantly they lost both sons. And the sons were more than just companionship -- they helped out with important chores. Suddenly there was no one to till the family farm and no one to take care of the herds. This was more than just an emotional loss, it was also a physical hardship for Adam and Eve. Seth became the father of the godly line that God preserved through all generations. Seth grew up and had a son. And Gen 4:26 says, "Then men began to call on the name of the Lord."
Enoch
Enoch was Seth's great-great-great grandson. Remember how Cain's great-great-great grandson Lamech was particularly evil? Well, Enoch was exactly the opposite of that. He may have been the most Godly man to ever live. He was very close to God and incredibly pleasing to Him. Genesis only tells us a little about Enoch. Gen 5:21-24 says, "When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."
We find new testament commentaries on Enoch. Hebrews 11:5 says, "By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."
The only other piece of information we have about Enoch in the Bible was that he was a prophet (Jude 1:14-15).
All we know about Enoch from the bible is that he was a prophet who walked very closely to God, and God liked him so much that He took him to heaven without having him die. Enoch was in the prime of his life when God took him. From this knowledge, we make assumptions about the type of relationship (deep friendship) that Enoch must have had with God. We can be encouraged that God is willing to be close friends with His servants. And following the example of Enoch, we can strive to walk closely to God and please Him.
There are books that claim to be written by Enoch. Some people feel they are forgeries written by 1st century believers. Others feel the books of Enoch are authentic. Even if they are authentic (really written by Enoch), these are not considered as a part of the Bible, and therefore we can't give these writings the same authority of Scripture. But his writings are very insightful and they tend to agree closely with scripture in a lot of areas. The book of Enoch reads a lot like the Bible. It is highly prophetic and there are passages in there that track very closely with things that are in the New Testament. For instance, the Book of Enoch Chapter 46:1-2 gives a vision of God the Father that looks very similar to John's vision of Jesus in the book of Revelation, and a description of what sounds like Jesus standing next to Him.
Here are some of the things we learn about Enoch's life from the Book of Enoch (Which may not be authentic):
- Enoch was a prophet and had many visions.
- Enoch had his first vision when he was a youth (when he was learning to write before he was married).
- Enoch interacted directly with angels on many occasions.
- God sent Enoch to prophecy against the rebellious angels of Gen 6:1 who married the daughters of men. Some of the fallen angels repented and asked Enoch to pray for them, but God would not forgive them.
- Enoch lived apart from his family in the valley of the righteous for a prolonged time and had many supernatural encounters with God and with angels.
- Enoch was sent back for a year to his family to instruct them in what God had shown them.
Methuselah
There was a lot of wickedness during Methuselah's life. Genesis 6:1-2 says "When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God [Angels] saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose." Gen 6:4 refers to another race of "Nephilim" (a.k.a. Giants). The Hebrew word also means "fallen ones." It is not clear if this is referring to the offspring of these human/fallen-angel marriages or if it is referring to the fallen angels themselves. But the point is that the Nephilim were very wicked. They were somehow associated with fallen angels. The fallen angels and Nephilim corrupted mankind and, as a race, we became so wicked that God wished He never made us.
There were only a very few righteous people alive at this time, and they were Enoch's offspring. Methuselah was Enoch's firstborn son. Because of his father's holiness and intimate relationship with God, God blessed Methuselah. His very life and existence was a type of prophetic intercession. God wanted to destroy mankind, but he held back as long as Methuselah lived. And God did not cut Methuselah's life short to usher in the judgment. In fact, He did the exact opposite. God blessed him with a very long life for his father's sake. In fact, Methuselah lived longer than any other human being. He even outlived his son Lamech, who was born when Methuselah was 187 years old. Methuselah was 969 years old when he died.
And the flood (God's judgment) began less than 2 months after he died. Only Methuselah's son, Noah, and his immediate family (wife, sons, sons' wives) were spared from destruction.
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