Rev. Eric Landry - October 9, 2016
Genesis 4 and 5
The Flood - Genesis 4 and Genesis 5 have separately traced the lineage of Adam and Eve’s living sons. Cain’s family (the seed of the serpent) are described in Genesis 4 as making their way apart from God and his promises, pushing back against the curse by establishing themselves in cities and by glorying in the work of their hands. Seth’s family (the seed of the woman) are described in Genesis 5 as succumbing to death but always looking forward in faith to the promise of the Gospel first announced in Genesis 3:15. Genesis 6 records the tragic story of the intermingling of these two families. Rather than keeping the faith, the sons of God (men from the family of Seth) intermarried with the daughters of men (women from the family of Cain), and the resulting moral degeneracy grieved God to his heart. It seems as if the serpent has finally won, that even God’s promise of rescue is about to be snuffed out through the flood waters of judgment. But one man finds favor in the eyes of the Lord, and through him our own hope for a future is renewed. This Sunday, we begin an in-depth look at the flood narrative of Genesis 6-9 by considering the problem of covenant faithlessness in the prediluvian world and our own.
