PCIM

hey Tim,

Genesis is my favorite study. It is the beginning of our family tree and the basis of how to study the Bible. as I was reading one of your puzzler questions you answered it most correctly.

Q. I have read my Bible thru twice and still have a question , where did Cain's wife come from? It mentions Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel and how they were created then in genesis chapter 4:17 it says and Cain knew his wife. [DE Benson]

A. Don't be shocked by this but there could be no other answer then another child of Adam & Eve, one of Cains sisters or even a niece or cousin! No, don't get on your high horse about brother and sister or cousins marrying here. There wasn't a corruption in the gene pool with man at this time! As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that Adam and Eve had as many as a hundred children after Cain & Abel. Look at the passage below the one you mentioned: Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. This was after Cain slew Abel and who is to say how many children were born immediately after these two boys!

I try to teach in my classes to understand that the bible was not written in chronological order. God picked out those events that He wanted to give mankind as history and as future events leading up to the coming of Christ.

you hit the nail on the head. a lot of people believe that Cain and able are the first born. but understanding that the males in that day were the carriers of the family tree. and in most cases the women were not mentioned. there is nothing to say that girls were not born first or many girls and boys born to Adam and eve before the story of Cain an able was mentioned in the bible. the event here was sin coming out of man, the history of the first murder, and a lesson in consequences for sin among other lessons learn.

as I study the bible I see a pattern of God pulling out events and people that He wants us to know and understand. times that follow through history to the coming of Jesus. scripture says of Jesus that if very thing was written down the world could not contain them.

John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

I would surmise that the same would stand true for the whole history of time designed by God.

remember when it said that Cain went to another land and found his wife? this term " another land most often indicates a place were people live, a city or community. then this would have to mean there where people living to the age of having children etc.

another truth you gave was that the gene pool was pure at that time. up until the book of Leviticus inter marriage was allowed.

Lev 18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

God said be fruitful and multiply. but sin began to multiply as well and the gene pool and intermarriage was forbidden. we today have laws against incest as we call it. but in the time before Christ the girls were given unto marriage at an early age. even pre set marriages as they were yet babes or you children. we have to set our minds out of today's laws and understanding and set our feet in that time to understand and study scripture more correctly.

God is not the author of confusion, man is. or should I say satan working through man. all of mankind's generations started with Adam and Eve. the blood line and our family tree starts there.

remember it is ok to read between the lines when seeking the truths of scripture. there are hidden nuggets in those pages.

Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Tommy Carlton

The gene pool was clean, and Adam and Eve lived a very long time. Even by the time of Abraham, it was still ok to marry close kin. I can understand this.
I have pondered something else, in keeping to the subject of the "clean gene pool". Maybe someone could add their understanding to this.

Abraham and Sarah had the same father but different mothers. Twice in Genesis Abraham told Sarah to tell the kings of the country where they were staying to tell them she was his sister, out of fear that they would kill him, and take her as wife. The first ruler, Pharoah in Egypt, in Chapter 12, thinking she was only Abraham's sister, took her because she was "fair", as the Word says.

The second time, in chapter 20, Abimelich of the Philistines took her (the Word says God spoke to Abimelich in a dream, and would not allow him to sin). This was after Genesis 18:11, where it says...Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age...

I have wondered, in my modern way of thinking, what would cause this king to desire a woman "old and well stricken in age"?
UNLESS...he recognized in her genetic traits that were fast disappearing at that time.

Well, that's an interesting question, Mableloretta! We ARE told that Sarah was very beautiful (and possibly quite young-looking). And we don't know how old Abimilech was either!

However a question that amazes me even more: how quickly the sins of the fathers came to haunt their children! Look further in Genesis (I think it's maybe chapter 24, will post definite passage tomorrow), where Isaac does exactly the same with Rebecca!
Don't kids ever learn from parents' mistakes?

Love,
Graceblest

Graceblest wrote:
"However a question that amazes me even more: how quickly the sins of the fathers came to haunt their children! Look further in Genesis (I think it's maybe chapter 24, will post definite passage tomorrow), where Isaac does exactly the same with Rebecca!
Don't kids ever learn from parents' mistakes?"

No, we can pass on other kinds of knowledge, but each generation has to find the right moral path for itself. We teach them by word and example. By seeking God's rightousness, they come to the right path.
(This is not mine, I read this in a essay written by a famous preacher.)

I didn't remember reading that about Issac and Rebecca. Thanks, Graceblest. That is so mysterous that this same thing would happen again. One thought has come to me. As God was preparing the way for His Son, the enemy was trying somehow to sow some weeds into that early garden. But God touched the hearts of those kings, put some fear into them, and made them say..."get out of here! What are you trying to do to me?"
It's quite a mystery.

Tommy has always been a thoughtful brother when it comes to understanding the scriptures. Maybe we can get him to post some mre reflections when he has the time.