Scripture Daily

Context No. 2080 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 4:15-26: in context

15The LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” The LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him. 16Cain left the LORD’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18Irad was born to Enoch. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. 22Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. 23Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 24If Cain will be avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times.” 25Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the LORD’s name.

The chapter traces the line of Cain into a darkening world. His descendant Lamech boasts of escalating violence, killing a man for merely wounding him and vaunting a vengeance far beyond Cain's. The world is growing more violent, more corrupt. But at the very end of the chapter, alongside this darkening, a quieter and hopeful thing is recorded. Through Seth, given to replace the murdered Abel, a son named Enosh is born; and then this: at that time men began to call on the name of the LORD. Amid the spreading corruption, people began to seek and worship God.

The contrast at the end of this chapter is striking. On one side is Lamech, boasting of disproportionate vengeance, the violence of Cain's line escalating, the world darkening. On the other side, almost in a whisper, is the note about Seth's line: at that time men began to call on the name of the LORD. As evil spread, a remnant began to turn to God, to call on his name, to worship and seek him. The darkening of the world was not the whole story; alongside it, and against it, the calling on God began. There is hope here for those who look at a darkening world and despair. It can seem, as we survey the spreading corruption and violence of the world, that evil is simply advancing unopposed, that the Lamechs are multiplying and no light remains. But Scripture places alongside the darkening this quiet, hopeful note: that even as evil spreads, God preserves a remnant who turn to call on his name. In every age of darkness, there have been those who began, or continued, to call on the LORD, to seek and worship him, a light that the darkness did not extinguish. I have reserved for myself, God told Elijah in a later dark time, seven thousand who have not bowed to Baal; and so, Paul says, there is a remnant according to the grace of God. This steadies us against despair over a darkening world. The spread of evil is real, as real as Lamech's violence. But it is not the whole story. Alongside it, God preserves those who call on his name, who seek and worship him, a remnant that persists even in the darkest times. And this is an invitation as well as a comfort: to be among those who call on the name of the LORD, to seek and worship him even in a corrupt age, joining the remnant whose calling on God is a light the darkness cannot put out. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, Scripture says, will be saved. Amid a darkening world, men began to call on the name of the LORD; and we are invited to be among them, calling on God as a light in the darkness of our own age.

When I survey the spreading corruption and violence of the world and am tempted to despair, as though evil were advancing unopposed and no light remained, can I take hope from the quiet note that amid a darkening world men began to call on the name of the LORD, trusting that God preserves a remnant who seek and worship him even in dark times, and let it move me to be among those who call on his name, a light the darkness cannot put out?

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