Genesis 4.25-26-Epilogue, A Godly Remnant Who Began to Pray to God
Tuesday September 6, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 4:25-26-Epilogue, A Godly Remnant Who Pray to God
Lesson # 22
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 4:25.
This evening we will study Genesis 4:25-26, which will complete our study of Genesis 4.
On Sunday morning we studied Genesis 4:17-24, which dealt with the line of Cain and the origins of the cosmic system of Satan and then, in Genesis 4:24-25, Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit goes back to the beginning.
The reason for this is to show that in spite of the ungodly direction Cain and his descendants took, there was still hope.
The line of Cain through tyrannical Lamech is presented to show the origins of Satan’s cosmic system and the consequences of such a society.
Now in Genesis 4:25, the story goes back to the birth of Seth to reveal the progress of the line that would produce the “Seed” the Lord Jesus Christ who was promised to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15.
Cain and his descendants were unbelievers who founded and developed a society that was totally independent of God and inspired by the devil whereas Seth and his descendants were believers.
Genesis 4:25 reveals that Adam and Eve had another son after the death of Abel, who they named Seth who in turn had a son named Enosh and then in Genesis 4:26, the Scriptures state that after Enosh’s birth, men began to call upon the name of the Lord, which is a reference to prayer.
Genesis 4:25-26 stands in marked contrast with Genesis 4:17-24 since the latter emphasizes human accomplishments and human boasting in the line of Cain whereas the former we have the humility of the line of Seth calling upon the Person of the Lord in prayer.
Genesis 4:25, “Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, ‘God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.’”
“Seth” is the proper noun sheth (jv@), which is pronounced shayth and means, “appointed one, one given for a set purpose.”
Eve gives this child this particular name wishing that this child would replace or be a substitute for Abel who was murdered by Cain, therefore, we could interpret Seth’s name to mean, “substitute.”
By giving this child the name Seth, Eve was demonstrating her faith in the Lord to deliver on His promise of a “Seed” a Child who would deliver her and her husband and children from the sin nature and Satan.
The fact that the name “Seth” means, “substitute” expresses Eve’s faith that it was through this son that God’s promises would eventually be fulfilled.
According to Luke 3:38, Seth and Enosh and Adam began the line of Christ through Mary.
Luke 3:38, “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Notice, how the Lord comforts Adam and Eve who have been devastated by the loss their first two children, Cain and Abel.
Abel, of course, was murdered by Cain who was in turn banished from the presence of the Lord!
2 Corinthians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”
2 Corinthians 1:4, “who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
In contrast to the earlier naming of Cain, Eve now credits God alone for giving her a child.
In Genesis 4:1, Eve names her first child “Cain” and states that she had “gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord,” whereas here in Genesis 4:25, she simply states that God and God alone gave her Seth.
Genesis 4:26, “To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”
“Enosh” is the proper noun `enosh (vw{na$), which is pronounced en-ohsh and means, “weakness” and in his weakness he turns to God in prayer.
The name “Enosh” symbolizes the consciousness of human impotence and weakness, which in turn makes man aware of his total dependence upon God and such awareness, drives men to pray to God.
The name that Seth chose for his son expresses his awareness of the frailty of human life and his need for redemption and a Redeemer.
The godly line of Seth manifests its faith through prayer to God.
Genesis 4:26 records for us that men first began to pray to the Father after the birth of Enosh.
“Then” is the temporal adverb `az (za), which is pronounced awz and with the perfective verb chalal (ll^j), which is pronounced khaw-lal, “to begin” marks the next event that took place after the birth of Enosh.
“To call” is the verb qara (ar*q+), which is pronounced kaw-raw and is a reference to prayer and is in the “hophal” stem indicating that something “caused” men to begin to pray to God or we could say that they were driven to pray to God.
The first reason why men were driven to begin praying to God was that they recognized that they were weak and impotent as a result of possessing an old sin nature, which they received at physical birth and is symbolized by the name “Enosh” (Rm. 5:12-19).
The second reason why men were driven to begin praying to God was because of the presence of ungodly men like Lamech and his sons who did not respect God and were violent.
Therefore, this reference to prayer is a prayer of deliverance from not only from the enemy within, the old sin nature, but also from enemies without, ungodly men that are slaves to the cosmic system of Satan.
Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
Genesis 4:26, “To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”
“Name” is the noun shem (sv@), which is pronounced shame and refers to the authority, majesty, power, excellent character and nature of the Person of the Lord.
“Lord” is the proper noun Yahweh (hw *hy+), which is pronounced ye-ho-vaw and is the personal name of God emphasizing that He is the redeemer of mankind and is used in His relationship to His covenants or contracts with men whereas Elohim, “God” emphasizes the transcendent character of God.
The term “Lord” is applied to the Father (Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21; 20:42) and to the Son (Rm. 5:11; 1 Cor. 15:31) and the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17).
In Genesis 4:26, the Father is in view since all prayer must be addressed to the Father (John 14:13-14; 16:23-27; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 2:18; 3:14; 5:20; Col. 1:3, 12; 3:17; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 1:6).
Luke 11:1, “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’”
Luke 11:2, “And He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.’”
Luke 11:3, “Give us each day our daily bread.”
Luke 11:4, “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Prayer must be made in the name or Person of or through intermediate agency of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:13-14; 16:23-24; Eph. 5:20; Col. 3:17).
The believer is to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because it is through the merits of His impeccable Person and Finished Work on the Cross and Advocacy with the Father as well as the believer’s union with Him that gives the believer the privilege to boldly approach the throne of God in prayer.
John 16:23, “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.”
Praying in our Lord’s name means that we are to pray to the Father consciously aware of our exalted position where we are seated at the Father’s right hand because of our eternal union and identification with Christ.
Ephesians 2:6, “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
John 16:24, “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”
John 16:25, “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.”
John 16:26, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf.”
John 16:27, “for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”
Prayer must be made in the power of the Spirit or by means of the power of the Filling of the Spirit (Eph. 2:18; 6:18; Jude 20).
Jude 20, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”
Prayer is an opportunity to engage the Father in conversation, which means talking to Him and listening to Him.
Prayer is one of the means that God has given the believer in order that he might enjoy and experience fellowship and intimacy with Him.
Prayer is an expression of the believer’s worship toward God, as well as an expression of his confidence and total dependence upon the character and integrity of his heavenly Father to meet both the spiritual and temporal needs of himself and others.
Every church age believer is commanded in Scripture to pray (Mt. 7:7; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17).
1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Make it your habit to pray.”
There are five essential elements to prayer: (1) Confession (2) Thanksgiving (3) Worship (4) Intercession (5) Petition.
Confession: 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Thanksgiving: Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”
Worship: Psalm 18:3, “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”
Intercession: Ephesians 6:18, “By means of every kind of specific detailed reverential prayer requests, all of you make it your habit to pray at each and every opportunity while in fellowship with the Spirit. Now, for this very purpose, all of you make it your habit to stay alert (in prayer) with every kind of persistent specific detailed requests with regards to each and every one of the saints.”
Petition: Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Prayer is asking for what God wants and must be according to His will in order to be effective and productive for God.
1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
1 John 5:15, “And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
Answered prayer demands faith on the part of the believer (Mt. 17:20; Ja. 5:15).
James 1:5, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
James 1:6, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”
Answered prayer demands perseverance on the part of the believer.
Matthew 7:7, “Ask repeatedly, and it will be given to you; seek repeatedly, and you will find; knock continuously, and it will be opened to you.”
The Scriptures do not command a set time for prayer or length, but rather the believer is to pray day and night, nor does the Scripture command that a certain posture accompany prayer since it is the attitude of the heart, which is important to God, thus it can be accomplished sitting, standing or kneeling down.
The believer is to not only pray as an individual but also a part of a corporate unit in the local assembly as an expression of unity (Acts 12:12; 16:25; 20:36).
Prayer is to be an expression of love for God and others (Mt. 5:21-24; 43-48).
Prayer solves problems (Kgs. 17:1; cf. 18:36-46; Acts 12:1-17; Phlp. 4:6).