Civilization Without God

Genesis 4:17-24

Cain departed from the presence of God after his sentence for murdering
Abel was announced. As a result of his separation from God from that time until the flood, his descendents would steadily move farther into sin. A big debate down through the ages has been “Where did Cain’s wife come from?” Genesis 5:4 declares, “And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters.” Since there were no other humans it is obvious his wife had to be one of his sisters, We can only speculate how many other children Adam and Eve had in the next eight hundred years.

“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.” (Genesis 4:17)

As the oldest son, Cain was influential among Adam’s family, and he started the first city, attracting many of his brothers and sisters to settle there. Undoubtedly, Cain and his wife also had many other children as they would have lived several hundred years. There is, however, no indication that Cain would never die, as has been claimed by some Mormon teachers. The prophecy was only that anyone who killed him would be punished, severely. It is a direct contradiction of Genesis7:21. “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man.”

“And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.” (Genesis 4:18-19)

Here we have a partial listing of Cain’s descendants. It is the only record we have of the other humans. Since all Cain’s and Adam and Eve’s other descendents except Noah’s family were killed as a result of the flood, modern man has little direct connection to them. It is probable that some of the so-called predecessors of the human race were in fact true humans descended from Cain or other of Adam’s children, and were killed by the flood. The entire genetic pool, except for those individuals who were in the ark, was lost in the flood. While we know that some of the discoveries were fraudulent, none present any real conflict with scripture. Why do we make it an issue when the Bible explains it?

Six generations after the creation of man, we find the first known incident of polygamy, by Lamech, probably about the time of Mahaleel or Jared, about four to five hundred years after creation. About the same time some of the major discoveries were developed.

“And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.” (Genesis 4:20)

Abel had been the first to herd sheep, but he had been killed by Cain, who focused on raising plants. Jabal, Lamech’s son developed the first nomadic culture, almost completely dependent on animal husbandry. They would have been responsible for many of our domesticated animals. The technology was adopted by other groups and passed to modern man through Noah’s descendants.

“And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” (Genesis 4:21)

About the same time his brother Jubal developed the concept of musical instruments to artificially produce pleasing combinations of sounds. Adopted by others, it was passed to us through Noah’s family and has played a major part in human life since it was first developed.

“And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.” (Genesis 4:22)

Jubal and Jabal’s half brother Tubalcain developed processes fro smelting and casting metals, using both iron and brass. Adoption of this technology spread unevenly, depending on the availability of natural resources. Even in the twentieth century, there were cultures who did not have access to iron or metal tools. The so-called stone, bronze, and iron ages were more dependent on availability of resources than about development of the technology. The Babylonians worshipped Tubalcain as Bilkhan, the god of metal working. Later the Romans worshipped him as Vulcan.

“And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. “ (Genesis 4:23-24)

Cain had committed the first murder. As the population grew, the lack of respect for human life also grew and violence began to spread. Lamech killed a younger man who was trying to hurt him. If the punishment for killing Cain was so severe, Lamech thought that one who acted in self defense should be much more protected.

By Noah’s day, the level of violence had gotten far worse. Genesis 6:11 states, “…and the earth was filled with violence.” What Cain had started would eventually result in the destruction of his entire race, although some of their developments would be passed on.