A Godless Socieety

Genesis - Rescuing our Biblical Worldview  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Just when you thought it couldn’t get ANY worse, we read Genesis 4:16
Genesis 4:16 KJV 1900
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Cain rejected the grace of God offered to him, and turned his back on God, literally. He went out from the presence of the LORD. Church, let me say that you cannot escape the presence of God — He is omnipresent — therefore it is impossible to go out of His presence. It is not, however, impossible to turn away from God. That is EXACTLY what Cain did. My friends, I’m afraid, this is exactly what America is doing too! We are turning our back on God!
We read in this chapter that he left God’s presence and then he and his wife have a child. Now, here is an interesting question: From where did Cain get his wife? Most scoffers ask this because they assume that there were only four people on the earth — Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. However read Genesis 5:4
Genesis 5:4 KJV 1900
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
I proposed last week that Cain and Abel weren’t the first/only children of Adam and Eve, just their first sons. Evidently they had had many daughters, therefore, Cain had to marry his sister. There are some obvious questions to discuss here, the first is “EWW, gross!” OK, that’s not really a question but still, gross! We must keep in mind that the early generations of Adam and Eve had not yet lived long enough to have any genetic mutations, the gene pool was fairly pure, and other than that, what choice did he have.
Later on in the OT, when the law is given, we will see that such close marriages are forbidden, but this is long after Cain’s day, long after the flood and the dissolution of the vapor canopy, and we have seen the breakdown of the gene pool — lifespans are shortened, diseases and deformities are increasingly more common, etc. But, let’s not get distracted with the issue of Cain’s wife, because it is not his wife that is important here, it is his son and the godless society he begins.
The godless society of Cain is based on the rebellious idea that “We will not have God to rule over us.” There are two characteristics of a godless society, The first is, it is...

Man-Centered v. 16-17; 20-22

God is not at the center, man is. Everything revolves around what man wants, and what man wants is almost always sinful. Have you ever wondered what would happen in a society devoid of God? Genesis 4:17
Genesis 4:17 KJV 1900
17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
Do not confuse this Enoch with the Enoch who walked with God! This Enoch was not taught about God. His name means “initiated” or “consecrated”. But consecrated to what or to whom?
If Cain turned his back on God, then you can rest assured he did not consecrate his son to God, nor did he consecrate the city named after his son to God! This society was built in the land of “Nod” - wandering. To wander is to move around directionless, lost. Does that not perfectly describe the world we are living in today? People just wandering around, going nowhere, but “having a good time.”
In a man-centered society we do our own thing, and that thing is nearly always to do the opposite of what God says. Notice how the generations devolved -
Enoch’s son, Irad (fugitive - possibly a reference to Cain being a fugitive) had a son named Mehujael
El - God
Mehujael means “smitten of God”
Mehujael had a son named Methusael “man from God”
Methusael had a son named Lamech who had three sons notice they wandered away from in such a short period. They began to ignore...
God’s Provision
Genesis 4:20 “20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.”
The idea is that they had plenty of cattle, but for what purpose?
Worship
Food
What are wrong with these purposes?
They were contrary to God’s plan!
What were they worshiping if they had turned away from God?
They must have had their own religion
Funny, how Cain was against sacrifice to God, but his descendants must have been OK with sacrificing to something!
It wasn’t until after the flood that God commanded we eat meat!
This society got ahead of God’s plan.
They were raising cattle - sheep, cows, camels, goats, etc. and were evidently eating some of them.
Of course, they did not have any concern for what God would think of this!
They had completely turned their backs on God’s provision and on...
God’s Purpose
Genesis 4:21 “21 And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.”
I love music. I spent seven years in band, I love to play my guitar, but music has its place.
Music was intended to bring honor to God, but music can also be used to bring to dishonor to God
Just listen to some of today’s popular songs and artists and you will know what I mean
There is no reason to think otherwise in this verse
If their society had turned its back on God then the music they were producing, do you think it was God-honoring?
They turned their backs on God’s provision, His purpose, and on...
God’s Person
Genesis 4:22 “22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.”
It doesn’t take too much imagination to understand he was making idols for worship.
But not only that, think of the implications of this verse:
Many believe this ancient society was very technologically advanced
Definitely it was far more advanced than we think it was.
They were saying to God by their accomplishments - look at what we have done without you!
A godless society is a man-centered society that says, not just look at me, but look to me! Consider the communist revolution in Russia. They did not storm in and confiscate Bibles and board up churches, they ran to the rescue and said, “Let us help you! You poor thing, these wealthy elites have kept you in bondage for too long. You can trust us, we will make things right.” Once the gained the people’s trust they still did not make religion illegal. No, their next step was to disarm the public, after all, who needs their own gun when the government is there to help? Then, after gaining the people’s trust and making them feel safe they made religion illegal, after all, who needs a God you cannot see when you have a government that can handle all your problems. Not only is a godless society man-centered, but, lastly, it is...

Morally Bankrupt v. 18-19; 23-24

Genesis 4:18–19 KJV 1900
18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. 19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
How many times have you heard that the Bible is book that marginalizes and objectifies women? How many times have you heard someone declare, as if they knew what they were talking about, that the Bible condones slavery? Or, the Bible promotes polygamy? The answer to all of these is simple: no it doesn’t.
It was not God or His Word that brought any of these problems into the world, it was man’s sin! In Genesis 2:23-24 we read...
Genesis 2:23–24 KJV 1900
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his WIFE: and they shall be ONE flesh.” God’s plan was that of monogamy. One man. One woman. For life. Guess what, that is still God’s plan today.
We see in Genesis 4 the first recorded instance of polygamy and the result was it took man even further away from God! A society that turns its back on God turns its back on morality. This is seen in the way society views marriage and life. Read Genesis 4:23-24
Genesis 4:23–24 KJV 1900
23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt. 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
There are two institutions which God holds very dear, marriage is one, and life is the other. I am not saying the man who hurt Lamech was innocent, but I am saying two things: First, the death penalty would not be given to man until after the flood in Genesis 9, and second, even by the standards handed down in the law of Moses, Lamech was guilty of murder. A society that does not respect life does not respect God.
Conclusion:
Church, there are some clear parallels between the society Cain built and the world we are living in today. What we need now, is the same thing they needed then — to repent and to turn to God. Last week’s election did not solve anything, it merely bought us some time…maybe.
Do you want to see something grand? While Cain was building a society apart from God, Adam and his wife were building one for God! Genesis 4:25-26
Genesis 4:25–26 KJV 1900
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
Do you know what we need more than anything else today? For men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Your greatest need today is to call upon him, Romans 10:13
You cannot know Him until you call upon Him, and the only thing keeping you from knowing Him is you. To
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