Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. – Luke 24:27
Yesterday we found Jesus in the promise Eve declared when Cain was born. Today we’re going to complete our research of Genesis, chapter four.
While we’re gathering the tools for our excavation of chapter four, let’s consider the murder of Abel. We see in Hebrews 12:24, that God’s Word looks back to Abel’s martyrdom and says, “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.“
By looking back at Abel’s murder, we can see that the blood Abel shed pointed to the blood Jesus would shed. Our excavation of Genesis has shown us that many of the earliest documented events foreshadowed God’s future intentions.
Blood Of The Martyrs
An early Christian author, Tertullian, in his book Apologeticus, coined the phrase: “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Apologeticus, Chapter 50). This is a bit of an overstatement, for the seed of the Church is from the blood of Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world. But it does help frame the foundational events that took place in the fourth chapter of Genesis. We’ve already found Christ several times. We’ve also found the headwaters of the martyrs’ blood that first flowed from the sin of Cain to the crucifixion of Jesus, and down to the persecution of the Church.
To complete our expedition of chapter four, we must examine two events. For each event, when we remove the commentaries of contrarians of Biblical truth, we find Jesus.
From Eve to Mary
Seth was born. Genesis 4:25-26: And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
The words of Eve have endured down through the ages so the Spirit of God must be behind these words. Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary states that the meaning of the name “Seth” means “put”; “who puts”; “fixed.” Seth was the replacement for Cain.
Cain lost his inheritance, so Seth, being the next son of Eve, received the first-born inheritance. And it is from Seth that the lineage of Christ Jesus is traced. Once again, we find Jesus here in chapter four. The Word of God is about God’s beloved Son (Matthew 3:17).
Notice, too, that the primary narrative is from Eve, rather than Adam. Even from the beginning of humanity, it has been God’s intent and focus for the Word of God to become flesh through a woman’s conception by the Holy Spirit. We find in Matthew 1:18, “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”
The LORD’s promise was (Genesis 3:15):
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
From Eve to Mary, there is something special about God’s promise that echoed down through the generations of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, David, and finally, by an angel, to this young virgin, Mary. “So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30)” and Mary’s response, in faith, ““I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38) We do a disservice to God when we relegate women to a lower spiritual place than men. (Someday I’ll write a devotional about how “weaker” does not mean “lesser”.)
A Foreshadowing Of The Church
God is always tidy. He doesn’t leave loose ends or scraps. We saw this in Mark 6:43, “And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” We saw this same trait of God with His message to Mary. The promise given to Eve and fulfilled in Mary.
As we begin putting our excavation tools away, until next time, we should take note that the final statement in chapter four says, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Since there are examples of individuals communicating with God before Genesis 4:26, the implication here is that believers began gathering together to call upon the name of the LORD. This seems to be a foreshadowing of the Church, the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7).
There is so much packed into chapter four. But one thing we can declare is that we found Jesus, we also found a martyr, faith, and the future Church all hidden in plain sight. Praise God! “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” – 2 Corinthians 1:20
Photo by Walter Chávez on Unsplash
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https://rockexcavationservice.org/2019/10/23/who-is-god/
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