Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #17 of Genesis, chapter 4 and we will read Genesis 4:17-18:

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. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

I will stop reading there. In our last study we asked the question: Why is God recording this information regarding Cain and his family and descendants? This passage from verse 17 through verse 24 is a fairly good deal of space in the Bible. There are some very important things in the Bible where God only devotes a couple of verses, but this is a fairly large passage where God is taking the time to tell us about Cain and Cain’s family.

We read in Genesis 4:17:

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.

Then we are told about Enoch’s children and his descendants and it is fairly detailed as the Lord tells us of the work that some of them did. As we wonder about this and try to understand what God has done, I think an important verse that will help us is Psalm 49:10-12:

For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

Again, it says in verse 11, “They call their lands after their own names,” and we do learn that Cain begat Enoch and builded a city that he called after the name of his son Enoch. The name “Enoch” means “to dedicate” or “to train up.” There is that famous proverb: “Train up a child in the way he should go.” The name “Enoch” means to dedicate or to train up.

We are going to find several names in this passage and I am not sure of all the spiritual meanings of these names. Cain called his city after the name of his son. That is what men of the world tend to do, as they call their land after their own names. It is their quest for immortality. They want to be remembered. They want longevity. They want a continuing place in this world and they think they can obtain it, to some degree, through a city or a land that is called by their own names. And, yet, it is not long lasting, ultimately. In this world the name of cities change and even the names of countries change. Where is the land of Nod where Cain settled and where he built the city Enoch today? If that land would have continued for any length of time, it would have been destroyed in the flood of 4990BC in Noah’s day, which was 6,023 years from creation. All the events we are reading about in the beginning chapters of the Book of Genesis took place on the other side of the flood and the events and details existed before God destroyed the world by the flood.

So, Cain built a city and called it after the name of his son, but God summed up their efforts in Psalm 49:12: “Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.” They are gone. The beasts die and cease to exist and so it is with unsaved mankind. It is not that way with the children of God, as we read in Hebrews 13:14:

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

The child of God understands that this world is temporal and the things of this world are temporal and they will not last or endure for any real length of time. They certainly will not last into eternity, so we have “no continuing city” here, but we do seek one that is to come, as it says in Hebrews 11:8-10:

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

And there lies the big difference between the child of God and the child of the world and between the nations of the elect and the nations of the world. The nations of the world concentrate on building a city in this life. This is where they live. This is their only focus and concern, but that is not so with God’s elect. We have no continuing city here, but we desire a city whose builder and maker is God and we understand that this city is “Jerusalem above” and we have citizenship there and we will one day enter into that city and live for evermore in the new heaven and new earth. This is a completely different mindset than the people of the world possess.

Cain was a man of the world. He had already been driven out from the kingdom of heaven, so his focus was on the things of the world and he built a city and called the city after the name of his son Enoch. It goes on to say in Genesis 4:18:

And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

I will just tell you the meaning of the name if it can be understood. The name “Irad” likely means “wild ass,” but that is not certain. The name “Mehujael” means “destroyed or blotted out of God.” This name would be fitting for this family because he is a descendant of Cain who was cursed of God. The name “Methusael” means “man or friend of God.” The meaning of the name “Lamech” is unknown. A deeper meaning of this verse is difficult because God is giving us a list of descendants. One thing we notice is that if we include Cain in this line, he would be the first and Enoch, the second; Irad was the third; Mehujael was the fourth; Methusael is the fifth; and Lamech would be the sixth generation since Cain. The number “six” in the Bible points to “work” and the Bible tells us of the “way of Cain” and it relates to a works gospel. He had put in much effort for his offering and, yet, God had not respect unto his offering and that is how it is with a lot of religious people that put a lot of effort into doing good works, but God never has respect unto the works of man because man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the faith and work of Jesus. So this understanding is one possibility.

If we do not count Cain, then Lamech would be the “fifth” generation and the number “five” points to atonement and in the atonement there is one goat that is offered up that pictures the Lord Jesus and there is one goat that was the scapegoat that was driven out with his sins upon him to wander in the wilderness. That is what God did with Cain when He drove him out and Cain was bearing his own iniquities, exactly as it was stated in Leviticus, chapter 16 where the sins of Israel were placed upon the head of the scapegoat that was released into the wilderness. Cain is in the wilderness, as “Nod” means “wandering” and he had these five sons that followed, which could point to the atonement, but, unfortunately for him and his descendants it was that aspect of the atonement in which unsaved men bear their own sins because there was no blood shed for them by Christ. There was no acceptable offering made for them and, therefore, they must suffer the wrath of God.

With either the number “six” or the number “five” we can see the spiritual meaning. Then it goes on to say in Genesis 4:19-22:

And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

As far as the names of the people, Adah appears to mean “defense” or “shade.” The name “Zillah” identifies with being “adorned.” The name “Jabal” is Strong’s 2989 and it is from Strong’s #2988, a word that means “stream,” as in a stream of water. The name of “Jubal” is Strong’s #3106 and it is the same as Strong’s #3105, a word for “river.” What is also interesting is that Jubal is closely related to #3104, which is the word for “jubilee.” It has the same consonants, but the vowel pointing is different. The name “Tubalcain” is one of the more complicated names and I am not sure what it means. The sister of Tubalcain was “Naamah” and it means “pleasant” or “sweet.”

Again, we wonder why God is giving us this information. This is detailed information, like the names of the wives of Lamech and the name of his sons – Jabal, Jubal and Tubalcain. Then God tells us that Jabal was the father of those that dwell in tents and have cattle and Jubal was the father of those that handle the harp and organ and Tubalcain was an instructer of artificers in brass and iron.

I think we can see a couple of things. One of the things I think we can recognize is that God made man as an intelligent creature and a curious creature in regard to the creation around them. As man lived on the earth, he began to look around at the creation and he saw that God had placed certain things within the creation that could be developed into objects that could benefit mankind and serve mankind in living more comfortably on the earth. He looked around and he saw trees and rocks and various metals, like brass, iron, silver and gold and other things in creation. Slowly, over the course of history man has uncovered various uses for things found in the earth. For example, when man saw the trees he learned to cut down the trees and found all kinds of uses for that wood; he could burn it or he could fashion it into a table or chair or a bedframe or even a house.

So, the intelligent creature made in the image of God began to utilize the creation in creative ways and to form and fashion things, like Tubalcain who was an instructer. The word “instructer” means to “whet” something. He was a whetter of artificers and the word “artificers” is tied to a smith, a craftsman or an engraver. They would have formed metals into other objects that are useful, for example, and some men have that gift or skill and his brothers had talents in other areas. Jabal had cattle and lived in tents and Jubal was a musician and it would appear that he was also the one that developed the harp and the organ and began to play musical instruments. This is the naturally creative side of mankind because man was patterned after the Creator. Of course, the Almighty God of the Bible and Creator of all things is able to create from “nothing” and that is the big difference between the Creator and man. Man can make things from what already exists, but God created them from nothing. Man is limited and he cannot create like God does in creating something out of nothing and, yet, man does reflect the image of the Creator through his ability to design and fashion things.

When we see the cities that men have built and we see computers and radios and televisions and cars and trains and airplanes, there is an enormous array of material things that man has made through God-given ability. Man has been able to get things to work electronically and some of these things are very complex. We mentioned earlier that Cain built a city and we know that what man builds is temporal and limited and it will not last, but we can see the reflection of the Creator in these things, even though man’s creativity is tarnished. In other words, you do not find animals building and creating things to the degree that man is able to do so. Yes, some atheist might say, “Beavers can build a dam,” but we are not talking about things that God programmed into various creatures. We are talking about a wide spectrum of creative ability to construct and develop things using intelligent design to form and fashion things in order to use them. That is an ability that God has placed within man.

Man’s progress in this area was very slow over most of earth’s history for thousands and thousands of years, but in recent times God allowed man to speed up the development of cities and communication through collective knowledge and now man thinks he is really something and he really does not need God at all, but it is what God permitted in order to get His Gospel to the nations, so it was a necessary thing to allow these advancements. And, yet, with all these advancements, man still cannot speak and create something from nothing. God is the one that has given man his abilities and God placed these things within the creation and allowed man to discover them and form and fashion them. Man does have that creative part of him that reflects His Creator and because man is able to build something that is super-technical, he thinks he does not need the Creator. That is the fallen nature of man as his pride gets in the way.

Again, we see that early man was beginning to learn and develop and form things and this is to be expected because man is unlike any other creature. He was made in the image and likeness of God.