Genesis 4:25-26
2006.Aug.09 17:28
Calling on Jehovah
Read Genesis 4:25-26 | Full Chapter
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.” 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.
(Genesis 4:25-26, NASB)
This is a busy two verses. If I remember to, there are three things I particularly want to comment on:
- That Eve considers Seth to be in the place of Abel.
- The concept of generations.
- The bit about “Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”
Upon the birth of Seth, apparently Eve and Adam’s third son, Eve says “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel.” I’m not certain why but I find this really interesting. Maybe it’s the business of one person taking the place of another (a la Christ’s sacrifice, creating life in us where we were once dead in our sin). Eve perhaps is placing the hope of humanity on Seth, seeing as how she and Adam botched the tree business, and their first two sons were separated from them due to fratricide.
As in the story of Cain, we now see the branching away from the initial nuclear family, with the birth of Seth’s son, Enosh. Throughout the Bible, we see generations going back to Seth (being the patrilineal ancestor of Noah). This connection of generations reminds me that I have a blood connection back to Adam and Eve, and that this is an ancestry I share with all humans. Generation by generation we fall. Generation by generation we can be accepted back as God’s children in repentance.
The sharing of the message of repentance and the truth of Jehovah is an essential function some part of each generation must perform. A result of the separation from God due to sin is the need for humans to encourage each other and share the Word with each other. By the time of Enosh, this seems to be coming into practice. " To call upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 4:26, NASB) is otherwise translated as "preaching in the name of Jehovah" (Genesis 4:26, Young) or “to proclaim the name of the LORD” (NIV in footnote). I may be quite misinterpretting this, but my reading is that by the time of Enosh, there becomes a distinction of people who proclaim God to others.
In other words, I find this passage quite interesting but don’t really know what to make of it. Then again, that’s okay; that’s part of learning.
