Cain's Line

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Genesis 5:4 says that later Adam begot more sons and daughters. But Cain and Abel stand out from the other descendants because they represent the two manners of life. One manner of life begins with “gain,” and the other manner of life begins with “vanity.” From Cain and Abel two lines on this earth developed and two different realms were produced. The first realm, from the line of Cain, is the satanic kingdom. The second realm, from the line of Abel, we call the divine, mystical realm. These two realms are always struggling and fighting against each other.</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      Cain and Abel both learned the story of the fall of man from their parents, yet their reaction was very different. From his parents' speaking Cain only heard God's commandment to live off the ground. Abel saw a vision of depending on God for salvation, as signified by the garments God prepared for his parents. Cain lived according to what he heard, while Abel lived according to what he saw. In our Christian life we may have heard many things, but until we see them in our spirit they are not really ours. They are not yet our vision. They are not yet our revelation. Our life should be affected not merely by the things we have heard, but by the things which we see in our spirit. When we live according to what we see in our spirit we are living in the line of life.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Cain Being Sent Away from God's Presence</I></div> <bR> <div>      After Cain murdered Abel, God came to him and asked, “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain responded, “I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). Cain, who had tried to do everything according to God's commandment, became so cruel and so evil. Then God said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to Me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand” (Gen. 4:10-11). Even the earth itself had sympathy for Abel. God judged Cain by strengthening the curse on the ground and driving Cain away from His presence: “When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you. You will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth” (v. 12). Cain's reaction was, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Now You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground, and from your face will I be hidden; and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me” (Gen. 4:13-14). At that time human beings could still see God, but Cain would not see God anymore. Cain would become a fugitive and a wanderer. This caused him to fear for his life.</div> <bR> <div>      Cain is a typical human being, in that all human beings are complicated. That is the reason God has so much sympathy towards us. For example, in one part of our heart we love God. In another part of our heart, there is no God. Cain was this way. Part of him loved God, but part of him was a murderer. From his birth, since his father first told him what to do, Cain did everything according to God's commandment. Now when God said that he would be a wanderer and a fugitive, Cain's response was, “How will I see You? If I don't have You I can't survive. Without You, without Your presence, without Your protection, I will be killed.” Isn't this a good prayer? This shows us that human beings are not so simple. Cain was afraid that whoever found him would slay him because he had lost God's presence and protection. God heard and answered Cain's prayer by giving him a mark for his protection. “And Jehovah said to him, Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark on Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him” (Gen. 4:15). Then Cain was sent away from God's presence.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Cain's Wandering in the Land of Nod</I></div> <bR> <div>      After God put a mark on Cain and sent him away, Cain began his life of wandering. “And Cain went forth from the presence of Jehovah and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16). The name “Nod” means “wandering.” After leaving God's presence Cain began to wander. Wherever he went he was a wandering person. This can be true of us as well. Whenever we depart from God's presence we have a wandering existence. It doesn't matter what it is that we do. When we live apart from the Lord, we are wandering. This is a basic principle of the Christian life. For example, if we don't have God's presence, and we say, “I'm working on my Ph.D.,” God would answer, “You're wandering.” If we say, “I'm making some money to prepare for my future,” God would say, “You're wandering.” Even if we say, “I'm engaged,” or “I'm about to get married,” when it is apart from God's presence we are wandering. Without God, everything we do in life is wandering. This is the line of Cain. He departed from God's presence and ended up in the land of Nod, the land of “wandering.” </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>The Learning on the Line of Knowledge is Fast and Productive</I></div> <bR> <div>      The line of Cain continued with his descendants. Cain begot Enoch, whose name means “learning.” Learning the spiritual things on the line of life is very difficult, while learning the non-spiritual things on the line of knowledge is much easier. Cain's name implies “I gain” and Enoch's name implies “I learned.” Anything on the line of knowledge can be gained and learned very quickly. Anything on the line of life, however, takes us much more time to learn. The learning of worldly things comes rapidly, but the learning of spiritual things comes through years of pursuing.</div> <bR> <div>      For example, how well do we really know the Bible? How well do we really know how to preach the gospel and shepherd the saints? How well do we know how to build up the church? All of these things take time to learn. If we were learning from Cain's line we would have gained many “Ph.D's” already. But when we are learning to follow and serve the Lord, even after forty years there will be no degree waiting for us. We will still be learning. We must always remember that the things of the world can be learned very rapidly. How does this apply to us? Whenever we immediately have the clarity about something, we should know that it is probably not from the Lord. Whenever we hastily decide, “Now I'm clear - now I'm going to do this,” then that is the line of Cain. Only the learning on the line of knowledge comes fast.</div> <bR> <div>      The learning on the line of knowledge is very productive. Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch (Gen. 4:17). This means that a city came out of Enoch, out of the learning on the line of knowledge. A city is actually God's desire. It is God's ultimate intention to have a holy city, the New Jerusalem. But the first city in the Bible was not built by God's people. The first city was built by Cain, the one God sent away from His presence. Cain's line is very productive, and everything on Cain's line moves quickly. We see this also with the name of Enoch's son, Irad. The name “Irad” means “rapid” or “fast.” “Cain” means “gain.” Cain begot Enoch, “learned.” Then Enoch begot Irad, “fast.” Everything on the worldly line, everything gained and learned on the line of knowledge, comes quickly.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Mehujael: “God is Combating”</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>The next person on this line is Irad's son Mehujael. Mehujael's name means “God is combating.” The name “Mehujael” indicates that God was struggling with the human beings on this line. God wanted to remind them not to go so fast. Eventually God came in and struggled with them. God's heart for the people on this line was, “If you keep doing this, you will get hurt. You are ruining yourselves. Don't go so fast. Slow down.” Even with the line of Cain, God came in and was fighting. This is the significance of “God is combating.” Many times we ourselves can get caught with religious things. We can become extremely zealous. We may think that it is a good thing to be zealous, but it can be too much in the principle of the line of Cain. When we go too fast, when we learn too fast, or when we think that once we do a certain thing zealously we will have gained something, then we are on the wrong line. The things on the line of life never come that easily or that quickly. When we go too fast, then God comes in to combat. God's combating is for us not remain on the line of knowledge, but to return to the line of life.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Methushael: “Man of God”</I></div> <bR> <div>      Out of God's combating in the line of Cain, another son was born. Mehujael had a son named Methushael. The meaning of Methushael is “man of God.” For some reason, out of God's combating, a man of God was born. This is hard to understand. How can there be a man of God on the line of Cain? God's combating seemingly produced a man of God in the wrong line. However, we must see that Cain's descendants never departed from the line of knowledge, which belongs to the satanic realm. Satan, God's enemy, was still the ruler of this line, even with Methushael, the man of God. We know this because eventually Methushael begot Lamech, a boastful murderer. Even with God's combating, producing a “man of God,” this line was still under the ruling of Satan.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Lamech: “Powerful” and “Overthrowing”</I></div> <bR> <div>      If we continue down the line of Cain's descendants we eventually come to Lamech. “Lamech” means “powerful” and “overthrowing.” Lamech represents the outcome of Cain's line. He was a wild and evil man. Lamech murdered a man and then boasted to his wives, “…I have slain a man for wounding me, even a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold” (Gen. 4:23-24). This is the result of the line of Cain. It is shocking that out of someone who had such a strong desire to keep God's commandment came descendants who could fall to this low point. This should be a strong warning to us all. Cain and Abel believed in the same God, but one was in the line of knowledge and one was in the line of life. After Cain murdered Abel his descendants became even worse. Lamech was not only a murderer, but he was proud of it. He boasted in his killing. This is the ultimate manifestation of evil on the line of knowledge.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Good Becoming Evil on the Line of Knowledge</I></div> <bR> <div>      Cain's original desire to keep God's commandment was good. We need to see that good and evil are not necessarily opposites. Anything good from the line of knowledge can end up becoming evil. Many things which begin right can end up very wrong. This is why in church history the ones who have persecuted the Lord's people the most are the religious ones. Religious people try to keep God's commandments, yet without life. They may end up persecuting and even killing the ones who follow the Lord on the line of life. The original desire of religious people may be good, but the outcome can be so evil. The good things on the line of knowledge can easily lead to evil. This is what happened with Cain and his descendants. Eventually Lamech was the ultimate manifestation of evil from the line of knowledge.</div> <bR> <div>      Cain wanted to keep God's commandment, but eventually he became a murderer and was driven from God's presence. However, God still protected Cain and told him, “Whoever kills Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.” Then Cain's descendant Lamech also became a murderer. But what was Lamech's response? His response was not repentance. He did not ask the Lord for mercy. Instead Lamech cried out, “Whoever kills Cain shall be avenged seven times, but whoever kills me shall be avenged seventy-seven!” The line of Cain, which began with the desire to keep God's commandment, resulted in someone so evil. The line of Cain began with something proper, but ended up with Lamech boasting in murder. On the line of knowledge something good can easily become evil.</div> <bR> <div>      We should pray to the Lord, “Lord, have mercy on me. I don't want to live by my knowledge of what is good and what is evil. I don't want to live by my logic. I don't want to live by what is reasonable, or by what everyone else thinks is proper. I realize that apart from You any good thing can become evil. Lord, only You can save me. I want to live by You. Please keep me in the line of life.”</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>The Sons of Lamech Producing Human Culture and Society</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>In Genesis chapter four the line of Cain ends with Lamech and his three sons. Human civilization in its entirety developed from Lamech's descendants. Lamech's first son was Jabal, which means “moving.” Jabal was “the father of those who dwell in tents and raise cattle” (Gen. 4:20). Jabal's life was for making a living. Lamech's second son was Jubal, which means “playing.” Jubal was “the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe” (v. 21). He was a musician and his life was for entertainment. Lamech's third son was Tubalcain. His name seems to mean “coppersmith.” Tubalcain was “the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron” (v. 22). He designed weapons for self-defense. These are the three sons of Lamech.</div> <bR> <div>      The line of Cain resulted in Lamech, and from Lamech came human civilization. With Lamech's sons we see the three things which dominate the human race. Jabal signifies making a living, Jubal signifies making our lives enjoyable, and Tubalcain signifies defending ourselves and attacking others. This is what makes up the existence of the world. The outcome of the line of Cain was three separate lines of human existence. Whatever we do in the world belongs to one of these three lines. Whatever we study, or gain, or pursue in the world eventually will bring us to one of these three sons of Lamech. Making a living, entertainment, and self-defense are the controlling elements of human existence.</div> <bR> <div>      All of human culture and society came from the sons of Lamech. This is significant, because Lamech was a murderer. When it is without God the human race is a killing race. Human history is just a history of killing. In principle this is true throughout society. In universities, in businesses, in professions, people are filled with competition. People think, “For me to survive, you must die.” They “kill” one another to get ahead and even boast in their success. This is because human culture is the product of the line of Cain.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Satan's Control of Human Society through the Line of Cain</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>We must see that human culture and society are completely ruined by Satan. No human being can escape. Either we are for making a living, or we are for enjoyment and entertainment, or we are for attacking and defending. Whatever we do in our human life Satan “corners” us into one of these three things. We cannot escape this. Every human being realizes, “I need to make a living, I need entertainment, and I need to protect myself.” Everyone is cornered. The whole earth with its human culture lies under the hand of Satan. There seems to be no escape, because Satan controls everything. Through the line of Cain and the three sons of Lamech, the evil one has control over every God-created human being. The three lines of Lamech's descendants indicate that wherever we are and whatever we do we cannot get away from Satan's  control. As long as we are a human being living in human society, we are under his control. Satan controls the human race by our struggle for our existence, our enjoyment of entertainment, and our attacking and defending. This is the manifestation of the line of Cain.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>God's Use of the Line of Knowledge</I></div> <bR> <div>      The only positive aspect of human civilization is that when man invents something, even though it is from the line of knowledge, God is still able to use it. Sometimes God even takes over what is produced by the line of Cain. This is true on both a small and large scale. For example, God uses the inventions of mankind. Man under Satan's control may invent many things, such as new methods of communication, or new computer technology. But then God can use these inventions for Himself. God's people on the line of life use the inventions from the line of knowledge for the furthering of God's purpose. </div> <bR> <div>      This principle is also true on a greater scale. The first city in the Bible was Enoch, built by Cain, but the last city in the Bible is the New Jerusalem. First, fallen man built a city. Then God said, “That is very good. Now let Me show you a real city.” Even today God has His testimony in so many cities which man has built and which Satan controls. In the cities of Satan there are the churches of God. Eventually these churches make up one city, the New Jerusalem. We have to admire God's wisdom. Satan always corners man, but God always has a way to work with man. Satan may control all of human society through the line of Cain, but God still has another line of mankind, the line of life. This line can use the items produced by the line of knowledge for the fulfillment of God's purpose.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>A Return to the Line of Life</I></div> <bR> <div>       Even though Satan has control over the human race, and even though his kingdom seems so prevailing, at the same time God is still doing something hidden on the line of life. Everything Satan does through the line of knowledge is clearly manifested. But what God does through the line of life is not so outwardly visible. Everything on the line of life is hidden, but it is precious in God's sight. At the end of chapter four of Genesis, after recording all the descendants of Cain, the Bible returns to the line of life. “And Adam knew his wife again; and she gave birth to a son and called his name Seth; for, she said, God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, because Cain slew him. And to Seth also a son was born, and he called he name Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of Jehovah” (Gen. 4:25-26). The next chapter of Genesis is a new beginning on the line of life.</div> <bR> <div> Return to <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="verdana" ><A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Two Manners of Life (Genesis 35)"><U>Previous Page</U></A></FONT></div> </td> </tr></table></body>