Genesis 4 and 5
Oh, parenting. So many joys, so many heartaches.
And where did it start? Here. Chapter 4.
Adam and Eve have just been kicked out of paradise. They are facing the consequences of their sin. Adam is working long hours out in the fields. And Eve? She experiences the pain of motherhood. I have always wondered, does that refer to the labor and delivery? Or is it just what one feels as a mom her whole life through? (That's rhetorical...I don't have a clue what the answer is...)
So here they are with these two sons. And both sons bring forth gifts before God. For whatever reason, God rejects Cain and his gift. I have heard different theories about why but just reading it at face value, I still am not positive why God rejected Cain's gift. This may be where knowing Greek comes in handy. Well, if you have a Greek Bible. Knowing Greek with my very English Bible probably wouldn't help a lot.
Anyway, what does Cain do? He gets angry. He feels rejected. That is so true in human life. When something of ours is rejected, for whatever reason, we feel rejected. Someone doesn't e-mail me or text me back? I take it as a rejection of me. I don't get chosen as Teacher of the Year (not even Mother of the Year), I feel rejected and hurt. Well, kind of. But you get the idea.
What happens next? The first murder. Cain. I always remember who killed..."Raising Cain".
He killed his own brother.
Now I have to be a Mommy for a minute. The Bible doesn't elaborate about what Eve said or did. I just imagine what pain she must have experienced. She lost a son. But she didn't just lose one son, she lost two. One to death, one to wandering the earth in punishment. How her heart must have hurt to not have protected one son. And how torn she must have felt. Because murder or not, Cain was her son too. And we love our kids. No matter what they do. We don't always like what they do, but we love them as people anyway. They are our kids. That is our job.
Chapter 5 gives some genealogy information. What struck me in this chapter was the age of the men when they had their children (and how long they lived). I mean, Seth was 105 years old when he had his son Enosh. How on earth? I am hitting a "big birthday" that is nowhere near that age, and I don't know some days if I have the strength nor the energy to do this motherhood gig. How did a 105 year old man handle a newborn baby?
To me, one of God's mysteries.
I haven't read ahead yet but judging at the names mentioned at the end of Chapter 5, I am thinking Noah will be making an appearance at any point...
Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 6-8
More later,
Reba
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