Pastor's Comments June 8, 2012

While exiled on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John saw in VISION “The World to Come” (Hebrews 2:5):

for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. . . .” Revelation 21:1.

In this writing I intend to focus on the fifth part of the third area of “This present evil world, The Family of Cain (Genesis 4).

2) Genesis 1:1-2 And followed by: The creation of the Antediluvian World; and much later in time, God’s perfect creation wrecked

In this present writing we will continue with the ancient history of the pre-Flood world; a world that was just as real as is this one today! A world of humanity that began with Adam and Eve but over about 2,000 years came to its final end—perishing in a worldwide flood brought on them by their Creator God because of their abominable sins against Him.

In the past couple of writings we have seen how the world of human reason, coupled with the greatness of sin, began after Adam and Eve disobeyed their Creator God and chose the Tree of Good and Evil, the way of human reason for their life-style.

Had they chosen the Tree of Life, it would have given them revealed knowledge of how to have the good and happy way of life from God’s Spirit and His laws.

Some years later, Cain killed his brother Abel as already has been made known why in the last two writings.

Cain was then sent out from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod (wandering).

He and his wife began making their way in life with continued disobedience to God. Needless to say, they were very unhappy and bitter while blaming God for being unfair to them.

Their children were reared in that kind of environment. As the result the whole family went from bad to worse as we also have seen in the past writing.

Even though these historical beings lived so long ago, we must not neglect to learn the lessons from the sins they committed as well as the evil they perpetuated on the world that bought about the Flood by which all humanity drowned with the lone exception of Noah and his immediate family and their wives, eight people in all; otherwise, we will perish as well.

In this writing we will once again follow Cain’s descendants through the writings of Roy Shultz who was aided by Dr. Herman L. Hoeh in his research and writings.

And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he (Cain) built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch (not righteous Enoch, 5:18-24). To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot LAMECH . . . and as for Zillah, she also bore TUBAL-CAIN . . . (Genesis 4:17-18, 19, 22).

Social Studies Department, Imperial Schools at Pasadena, Pasadena, California, 1967

“The descendants of Cain were the key figures in the events that brought the flood upon the world. What did they do to bring world society to the point of universal saturation in sin? To answer this it is necessary to closely examine Lamech and certain individuals in his family.

Lamech was the sixth individual in the line that began with Cain. Notice also that he was contemporary with Enoch, the sixth preacher of righteousness in the obedient line of Seth and Enos.

Now read Genesis 4:19. Here is a list of the line of Cain from his own son Enoch down to Lamech. But that is all this is – a simple, unadorned list. God does not have anything special for us to learn about these people till the times of Lamech and after. There is nothing significant about this line till Lamech and his family came to prominence in the centuries immediately preceding the flood.

But after the simple list in verse 18. The Bible gives special emphasis to Lamech, his two wives and four of his children -- a total of seven people (verse 19-24). Now it should be realized that Lamech had 77 children (Josephus' Antiquities I, II, 21), yet only four of them are mentioned here by name.

God emphasizes these points in the Bible that are important in aiding our overall understanding of what is significant in history. Insignificant factors are not included. What is so important about Lamech, his two wives Adah and Zillah, Jabal, Tubalcain, Jubal, and Naamah?

To answer this vital question, let's make an initial study of these individuals. Consider Lamech first. He took TWO wives. God, the author of lawful marriage, created only ONE wife for Adam. But Lamech decided this was not good enough for him. He became a practiser of bigamy. (the commencement of this practice in the later pre-flood society could be an indication that the male population was reduced because of the constant fighting and widespread violence in that day.)

On top of that, he was a man who practiced brutality. Read his statement in verses 23-24. This is a famous bit of pre-flood poetry, the earliest poem ever recorded. The last part of verse 23 may be translated "... I have slain a man wounding me and a young man for bruising me." In other words, here was a man who said, "I kill people who get in my way," this is a major point in understanding Lamech's true character. He was a man of VIOLENCE. This poem is in the Bible for a reason. God did not have Moses insert items like this into scripture merely to take up space.

One of Lamech's two wives was Zillah. Why was she famous in pre-flood society? Why does God call special attention to her in Genesis 4? Her very name is significant -- Zillah means "shadow" or "darkness." In ancient Greek myth she was known as "Demeter." But, according to "Smith's Classical Dictionary," she was sometimes called Black Demeter.

Scientific facts make clear why Zillah was a famous woman. These scientific facts answer the major question, "how did the different RACES originate?" As already shown in our study of Genesis one, God created KINDS of living things -- plants, animals, humans -- and each kind reproduced after its kind. Cattle reproduced cattle, dogs reproduced dogs. Apples reproduced apples, roses reproduced roses, and humans reproduced humans. Contrary to evolutionary theory, this scientific fact has never changed. One kind has never developed into another kind. However, WITHIN EACH KIND THERE ARE VARIETIES! There are many varieties of cows, chickens, dogs, peaches, roses. One KIND cannot interbreed with a different KIND -- but varieties can interbreed. These matters apply to human beings as well.

How did these varieties originate? They were not here at the original creation during creation week. At that time God created only the major KINDS. Adam named every kind in part of a single day. It would have taken him weeks to name every variety. Science has learned that each kind will divide into new varieties SUDDENLY, by a law of nature called mutations. God set LAWS in nature so that on rare occasions each kind reproduces distinctive varieties for beauty and for the benefit of mankind.

Just what is MUTATION? It is the sudden change that occurs, rarely, but never the less has occurred down through time, in the structure of reproductive cells of a parent stock. This law, set in motion by God, in a certain generation of parent stock, SUDDENLY reproduces a new variety! When it suddenly reproduces a new variety, this variety will continue to reproduce after its variety indefinitely. The Negro race is a mutation from Adam's stock. It originated in a certain generation after Adam. This is also true of the oriental or yellow race. The white, black, and yellow races all existed before the flood!

Now the importance of Zillah is becoming clear. It is likely that Zillah was the first truly black woman in human history! This factor alone would have made her famous. Being the wife of Lamech made her even more well known. Not until the time of Lamech did the first true black mutation occur in the human family.

Jabal, notice in verse 20, was a cattle man. He is described as the "father" (King James Version), of those who led this type of life. However, this word may be translated "teacher." He was not, after all, the first individual to raise cattle. Abel and Cain had done this centuries before. What was special about the fact that Jabal was a cattle raiser? Notice that he also lived in tents, so he practiced a nomadic way of life. He was following in the way and methods of Cain.

Cain, remember, forced the ground. He wanted to always get the most for the least. Jabal, then, must have been trying various methods of raising cattle that were CONTRARY TO GOD'S LAWS IN NATURE. He probably "force-fed" them to fatten them up faster. He might have tried methods of cross-breeding to develop new types of stock with characteristics he wanted in order to make a profit. It is these people of the line of Cain and the family of Lamech who had a particular impact on the society of their world and this impact was a NEGATIVE one. Their influence was contrary to God. This will become more and more apparent as the story unfolds.

Jabal's brother was Jubal. He was the developer of music. This does not mean that there had been no music before. But it means that he developed music that had a dominating influence on society. His kind of music set the pattern for all the music in his time and after.

What kind of music was it? The word "handle" in verse 21 means "to use unwarrantably" or to "profane." (number 8610 in the Hebrew dictionary of Strong's Concordance.) Jubal was putting music to a wrong use. His music was the kind that became popular. But what is popular is almost always mediocre. Our radio tells us that every day. His music was not inspiring and uplifting; it was the type that wandered aimlessly. The best example would be to think of oriental or gypsy music which is often no more than a meandering noise. It should be pointed out that music, as we know it, did not come into vogue until after 1500 A.D. When all our modern instruments, which are highly complex, came to be invented and perfected. Jubal, however, did bring into use the two basic kinds of instruments -- those which are plucked and those which are struck in order to make the sound. Jubal's music went well with. A nomadic way of life -- it wandered purposely and never really came to rest anywhere.

And now, Tubalcain. The phrase of verse 22 "an instructor of every artificer of brass and iron" takes on real significance when rendered as, "Tubalcain, a hammer or forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron." (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown commentary) he was manufacturing WEAPONS.

Josephus backs up this conclusion with his statement that Tubalcain "was very expert and famous in martial (military) performances." He also tells us that he was an individual of great strength. In other words, Tubalcain, the original Vulcan, was the first man to develop THE ARTS OF WAR -- military tactics. And he was the first to use brass and iron to make weapons such as spears, knives, and swords for the purpose of conquest. Tubalcain and Smelting

The full implication of Tubalcain's work should be discussed at greater length. On the basis of the time element of the pre-flood generations as illustrated on the chart, man is pictured here in Genesis 4 as having developed metals at a very late stage of pre-flood history. In other words, this development came along within the lifetime of Noah, or in the last third of the duration of this sinful society.

This means that for centuries there was stagnation in the line of Cain. The family of Cain took centuries to make any cultural improvements and arrive back at the level which Cain had enjoyed before his banishment. Realize that Cain was never pictured as a forger of metals, nor was his son Enoch. Not until many generations had passed was this highly technical skill developed.

Man could have experimented with this kind of skill on a limited basis at an earlier time. But not until Tubalcain came along was there anyone who was an actual forger -- one who smelts out the metal from its natural state and purifies it. This art of creating a super-heated fire, one of many hundred degrees of temperature, did not occur in a short time. This took centuries to develop and perfect. Adam and Cain, in early days, never had anything of this type.

Notice that Tubalcain worked with brass and iron. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. He could also have bronze which is an alloy of copper and tin. Thus he had copper, copper alloys, and iron. This does not mean he learned to smelt these metals all in one year or less. He probably learned how to purify the copper first and from there worked up to the knowledge of iron; iron requires a much higher temperature than is needed to reduce copper. But since this famous man lived for several centuries he had ample time to accumulate this knowledge.

A major reason why Tubalcain was so famous was that, for a great length of time, he was the only person that possessed this knowledge of smelting and forging metals. He kept this knowledge to himself -- he kept it a secret, there was no publication of knowledge here so that anyone could make his own little forge. In fact, the whole story of Lamech's family is the story of a limited family group that possessed advanced technical knowledge which they abused. And Tubalcain used his crafts and skills to make war on other people who did not know how to refine metal and make weapons! A fuller description of his activities will be presented shortly.

The Bible also states (verse 22, last part) that Tubalcain had a sister named Naamah. Nothing more beyond this is revealed about her in the Bible. Yet God has her mentioned here for a purpose. He wants to call our attention to this famous woman so that we will look for knowledge about her in other sources. Remember that she was the daughter of Zillah. NAAMAH WAS ALSO BLACK.

Jewish tradition shows that Naamah was famous as a weaver of cloth. She was the member of the family of Lamech that invented textiles and influenced the clothing styles before the Flood. She is the Athena of Greek tradition. She undoubtedly caused women to dress improperly and immodestly. This was the influence she had upon the society of the pre-Flood world. But she also influenced the post-Flood world. She did not perish in the Deluge because she married Ham and was therefore on the Ark.

Notice the over-all pattern: Jabal used wrong methods as a cattle raiser. Jubal perverted music. Tubalcain made a wrong use of metals and led men to make war. Naamah developed popular and improper clothing styles. In short, all the physical and technical developments which wrongly influenced society came from the family of Lamech in the line of Cain! And also notice that these developments flourished in the generation just prior to the Flood when the population of the earth was exploding All these factors and influences synchronized to lead the world down the path to destruction.

Recall, now, that the foregoing was intended only as a preliminary over-view of the family of Lamech to set the stage for emphasizing their full impact upon their world. Now it is time for more details about these disobedient individuals.

Lamech was a "pioneer" -- in the wrong direction. He was not only a strong, violent man who practiced bigamy. He was the first man to initiate RACIAL INTER-MARRIAGES. Notice, again, Genesis 4:19. Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah. Zillah was of the line of Cain. Racially she was of non-white stock as was probably Lamech. It was perfectly all right for Lamech to marry Zillah. But Adah was very probably of the family of Seth. She came from the white line before the Flood.* (* This statement appears in the 1961 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Article "Lamech".)

In marrying Adah, Lamech had DARED to bridge the gap between the races. He had rebelled grossly against God -- and did it knowingly. But according to ancient sources, this act greatly pleased the descendants of Cain. They wanted to mix the races. Their goal was to make one world, one society, racially and religiously. They did not want to remain separated as God had prescribed for their benefit. This fact is specifically revealed in Genesis 6:2, which will be analyzed shortly. But Lamech was not only a bigamist and a crasher of racial barriers. He was also a murderer. He killed for a purpose. His goal was to be the leader of the world in his day -- so he killed those famous individuals who challenged him for this position.

Notice, again, the pattern in Genesis 4. Though this is a very brief summary, we are still told quite a bit about Cain through verse 17. Then six verses (19-24) are devoted to Lamech. But the five individuals in between are simply listed in verse 18. The implication is that THE TWO KEY INDIVIDUALS ON THE WORLD SCENE WERE CAIN AND LAMECH. Cain, obviously, was the great Patriarch in his line since he was the original ancestor of them all. Recall that he was born somewhere around the year 3950 or approximately one half century after his parents left the Garden of Eden. Then, knowing the great length of life in that world, he probably lived over 800 years. Lamech was contemporary with Enoch. If Lamech lived a normal span of life his approximate dates would be 3300 to 2500. In other words, the lives of Lamech and Cain could have overlapped by some three centuries. Though Lamech was the sixth from Cain, their lives still met!

All of this makes logical the Jewish tradition which says that LAMECH KILLED HIS ANCESTOR CAIN! Lamech was a strong man and leader who let his strength and power go to his head. He wanted to be the world leader in his time. His arch rival was the great Patriarchal leader of the family, Cain, the Cronus of mythology. He challenged Cain for that leadership and Cain was killed as a result. If Lamech had been patient, Cain would have died reasonably soon anyway since he was aged even for that era. But Lamech undoubtedly did not want to wait any longer than necessary and, when the opportunity came, he got rid of Cain!

At this point, recall the story of Cain's famous walled city, Enoch, which was discussed in the previous chapter. Remember that this city was not only destroyed in the Flood – it was destroyed at another time centuries before. It's famous wall was smashed and then rebuilt! Apparently Lamech not only wanted to get Cain out of his way but he wanted to take over his famous city as well. Thus he and his forces must have attacked Cain's headquarters, broke through the wall, killed Cain and others with him, and got control of the city! This was probably one of the most famous episodes in the story of the violence that filled the pre-Flood world. (Gen. 6:11).

Lamech had more than one reason for killing his notorious ancestor. Read this interesting statement in Josephus: "Lamech was so skilful in matters of divine revelation, that he knew he was to be punished for Cain's murder of his brother ...." As a result, Lamech carried a centuries-old grudge against Cain. He blamed Cain for bringing a curse (Gen. 4:11-12) on the world and on his descendants -- including Lamech himself -- and he wanted to get revenge! Actually, this was a fitting end for Cain. He had murdered Abel but had not been executed for his crime. God let him go.

In connection with this it is necessary to contrast government before and after the Flood. God did not institute human government before the Flood. There were no agencies set up among men to take vengeance on criminals. God simply let people go their own way. But after the Flood God told Noah that society should punish criminals, that murderers should be executed (Gen. 9:6).

Thus Cain was allowed to live on after his crime. God wanted him to develop his way so people could learn by hard and lasting experience that such methods lead only to suffering and death Nevertheless, God's way of judging always is that eventually the penalty must fall! Sooner or later all must pay for their crimes! Cain was no exception. And God's instrument of punishment was Lamech! Cain, then, lived a long time. But, finally, he was replaced by Lamech as the great ruler in the world. Lamech took over the place that had been held by the great Patriarch of this line of people. This made him a man of world-wide fame and influence, the "Zeus" of his time!

Now it is time to pay attention to another key figure of the pre-Flood world, Tubalcain, the son of Lamech by Zillah. A preliminary look at the family of Lamech showed that he was a man famous for his military exploits and that he made weapons of warfare out of brass and iron. He was a strong man and a leader, a force to be reckoned with! The story of the tactics, exploits, and travels of Tubalcain provides us with an incomparable insight into the world as it was before the Deluge!

Tubalcain, we are told in an account by Diodorus of Sicily, made a military campaign over all the inhabited world. This campaign lasted for several years. But Tubalcain's method of conquest was unique, to say the least! Though his motives were entirely selfish and dishonest, he had to make conditions appear innocent, harmless and friendly. So he chose a very unusual kind of army. His army was composed of women! It was a very clever ruse.

Tubalcain wanted to gain popular acclaim. To accomplish this he led his band of women around from place to place and organized festivals which included eating, drinking, musical contests, and entertainment. He taught men how to make wine and other alcoholic beverages. All this was done under the name of culture and social refinement. He said he wanted to increase people's aesthetic tastes. Needless to say, the majority thronged to meet him. To add to the total effect, the band of women carried wands wreathed in ivy and vine leaves with a pine cone at the top. This too was designed to contribute to the aesthetic flavour of the over-all image they were successfully putting across to the masses. But, as we shall see, these wands had a dual purpose.

Tubalcain not only brought the populace "culture" -- he also brought them religion, his kind of religion. He had secret rites or mysteries into which he initiated both men and women. However, there were separate rites for the men and separate ones for the women. Thus he also used secrecy to appeal to the natural curiosity of gullible people. Tubalcain's method was to appeal to human nature by methods which were labelled "culture," "refinement", "religion", and "liberty". But actually HE WAS SPREADING DRUNKENNESS, BRIBERY, IMMORALITY, AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION! A prime example was in the religious phase of his campaign. There were those who said that he was leading his band of women around because he was sexually immoral and that his secret rites were designed to seduce the wives of other men. This, of course, was the truth. Therefore such sceptical people had to be eliminated. How were these impious doubters exterminated? They were torn limb from limb by the woman followers of Tubalcain.

There were reasons why women could be guilty of such horrible deeds. Tubalcain had such far-reaching success because he had "supernatural powers". In other words, he was demon influenced and often demon possessed! As a result, his women followers were not "normal" either. They were actually frenzied women who were not in control of their own minds! Thus, by his evil spiritual influence, Tubalcain was able to make them do whatever he wanted. Note also that their demonic condition would cause them to have much more strength than they would normally possess.

History provides a modern-day example of this in the case of Hitler's effect on the masses. He influenced them by his Satanic oratory. And it was not unusual for women in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's to go into frenzies at the presence of the Fuehrer! The women were more vulnerable to this influence than the men.

Tubalcain was actually guilty of religious persecution. He exterminated anyone who did not agree with him. In short, he was simply trying to do what Cain and the family of Cain had consistently tried to produce -- one race (through racial intermarriage), one religion, one government, one society, ONE WORLD! There was to be no opposition to this dictatorship! Tubalcain's Military Expeditions

Tubalcain did more than use his army of women for seducing the masses with festivals and secret religious rites and for religious persecutions. He also used them as warriors. His method was extremely deceptive! When he wanted to surprise a ruler whose area he intended to conquer, he would distribute to the women, instead of their wands, spears tipped with iron but covered with ivy for camouflage! Then, when everything looked harmless and no attention was being paid to these women, they would attack and kill their unsuspecting victims!

On his long campaign Tubalcain led his army over the Near East and into Europe. They wandered from India to Arabia, through North Africa, and up into Greece, Thrace, and other areas of Europe. This shows there were no national boundaries as exist today. That world was not divided into nations and countries. There were no established national governments. God had set a boundary for Cain but this was no longer respected by the populace as the world became more and more lawless. God did set a boundary but He did not try to enforce an "Iron Curtain"!

When Tubalcain returned from his campaign with a large amount of booty and spoil, a great parade, a triumphant procession, was held. Everyone was informed of his great triumphs and successes. This shows that Tubalcain was operating in a world in which the population was now great enough that one could establish fame and a reputation. This could not have been true in all the earlier centuries before Lamech and Tubalcain. But now, as the world was getting more and more lawless, and as the population was multiplying rapidly, men could become famous leaders in the eyes of the masses.

This gives us a picture of the world in the several centuries prior to the Flood. Personages in the line of Cain were establishing themselves as famous strong men, leaders and heroes. And, in the Bible, God calls our special attention to some of these. More will be said on this as the pre-Flood story reaches its culmination. This is not to say that Tubalcain was the only man to lead an army. Nor may he have been the only one to use women as he did. Others may well have later copied his methods, both in the pre-Flood world and after. Also he must have used male soldiers in many cases. But his activities give us an insight into the kind of society that world had.

It is interesting to note that, since Tubalcain was a violent and immoral man, he had a wife befitting his character. She was a promiscuous and licentious individual who was no more faithful to Tubalcain than he was to her. In the statues depicting her (she is called Aphrodite by the Greeks later) she is pictured either with no clothes above her midriff, or with no clothing at all. She too was a very unpleasant and distasteful individual! And Tubalcain richly deserved her as a wife!

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