In our last article, “He Speaks in Volumes,” we were introduced to the first ten members of Christ’s lineage and their ability to form an evangelical statement from the meaning of each member’s name in the pre-flood world. If you remember, the collective meaning of their names forms the following sentence: “Man appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the Bless God shall come down teaching His death shall bring the Despairing rest.”
We also discovered in the last article, that Christ’s genealogy is traced back to Seth, which is Adam’s third son, who is oddly not his firstborn son. This is important to note because Cain’s lineage represents the firstborn line of the family. This is why his genealogical record is listed first in the book of Genesis. (Gen. 4:17-22). This is significant because the firstborn line in ancient societies holds a legal position in the family, which still thrives today in Mid-Eastern cultures. This will be explained fully in subsequent blogs. For now, keep that in the back of your mind as we go along.
With respect to Abel, he is generally considered the second son of Adam and Seth, the third. Unfortunately, Abel is the genealogical record due to his death at the hands of the older brother. This omission in the "books" assumes that Abel had no heirs, thus no contributions to the family line. Such a fatal omission is understood in Judaism as being “blotted out” of the book of God.[1] Now, hold that thought because we are going to come back to it in a moment.
The plot thickens in the Cain and Abel story when Eve gave birth to a new son of Adam. She called his name Seth, "for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. (Gen. 4:25). Most people skip pass this statement still thinking this new son is Adam's third son. But this is not the case. This new son, Scripture states, was appointed as the "replacement" line of Abel who holds the younger position of the family.
The framework of the first family intentionally divides Adam's offspring into two categories, who are then viewed that way prophetically on the stage of human history. Why? Because Adam is the father of us all. The two categories of the Adamic family represent the family of mankind. The two categories of the family of man (remember "man" is the meaning of Adam's name) are: (1) The firstborn line (as represented by Cain), and (2) the younger line (as represented by Abel, who was replaced by "another seed.")
When we consider Christ’s family tree traces back to Seth (the replacement line of fallen Adam or fallen man), we suddenly realize that Cain and Abel are excluded from the record. Again, such a fatal omission is understood as being “blotted out” of the book of God.[1] The absence of Adam’s first two sons within the holy lineage forces us to view the circumstance as an eternal loss.
More importantly, when we consider that out of Adam’s three sons of record, Seth’s line is the only line that survived the flood and finishes with Christ, who is eternal life itself. The Biblical framework of the first family is not only deliberate but immensely profound. We are to understand that Adam’s two lost sons represent the two lost lines of the family of man, who in turn, represent all lost family lines of the earth. With that breathtaking thought, Christ’s mission “to seek and to save” takes on a whole new dimension.
Are you starting to see a familiar plot line here? If not, stick with me as we wade through this some more. At this point, we are going to jump to this question: Does the firstborn line of Adam (the "Cain-line" as we like to call it) have the same ability to form a statement like the Christ-line? In this article, we will answer that question and maybe a few more.
Below is a new chart that lists each member of the Cain-line in their sequential order as recorded in Genesis.
The Cain-Line Genealogy Chart (Gen. 4:17-24)
No. Name *Meaning
1 Adam Man
2 Cain Acquired
3 Enoch Dedicated, Teaching/Instructing/Disciplined (witness)
4 Irad Fugitive, City of Witness, Fleet
5 Mehujael Smitten by God
6 Methusael Who is of God
7 Lamech Powerfully Humbled or lowered (The Despairing)
8-10 **Jabal, Jubal Leading/Conducts, Flowing Stream,
and Tubal-Cain Joyous Trumpet Sounds of Jubilee,
Flowing forth from Cain/World/Earth
*Collective, general, and/or contextual key sources: Abarim Publications, Meaning and Etymology of the Names (2011); Jones' Dictionary (1990); BDB Lexicon (1906); The Complete Word Study Dictionary (1992); The Scripture Lexicon (1797); and Strong’s Concordance (1890).
**Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Leading, Flowing and River for Jabal, Joyful Sound, Music and Jubilee for Jubal, and Flowing Forth of Cain for Tubal-Cain.
Cain-Line Summary Statement:
“Man, acquired [as a] dedicated teaching fleet of witnesses [decline as] fugitives, smitten by God, who is of God, powerfully humbled [as] “the Despairing,” leads a joyous jubilee”
This new chart clearly demonstrates that the members of the Cain-line also have the ability to form a sentence just as we saw on the Christ-line Chart, which was note in the intro above and also published in the previous article, "He Speaks in Volumes." Taking the Cain-line's summarized statement above at face value, this line has a shaky start, yet concludes on an evangelical note about being humbled into a second group of “the Despairing.” Such a message appears to go against our current popular view of how Cain is virtually “irredeemable.”
Because both Cain and the Christ-line share a common message about “the Despairing,” this can only mean that both statements are meant to be compared together. Since two is the number for “witness,” (see the numbers chart, which was also published in the previous article) what if their “testimonies” given in this pre-flood generation are meant to serve as validation and as a witness to the fuller story of HIS-Story? If this is true, this discovery will present a challenge to the popular theological viewpoints of our day.
But, before we can understand the message of the Cain-line, we need to take a look as to why Cain is considered traditionally the “taboo” line and is so easily written-off by Christianity. Once we have a general background of Cain and his firstborn line, then we can better determine if the Cain-line has some merit as a key player to HIS-Story. So, stay tuned to the HIS-Story Channel to learn why Cain is considered the cursed line in the next article.
Footnotes:
[1] Ex. 32:32-33; Rev. 20:15.
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