Episode 243 - "God appoints a son" Genesis 4:25-26

Gen. 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.

So last week, we read about what happened through rebellious Cain’s descendants. To put it briefly, the narrative describes it as a “like father, like son” outcome. We are left wondering what hope there is for “the seed of the woman” to crush the head of the serpent. Abel, whose worship was accepted by the LORD, was dead, and Cain’s descendant Lamech, also a murderer, demonstrates even a greater defiance and mocking of God than Cain. This heightens the crisis of humanity’s distance from the presence and fellowship with the LORD.

As chapter four closes with these two verses, it sets up a genealogy of Adam in chapter five that advances the greater narrative in the direction of hope. It is sometimes amusingly said that the only command from the LORD that people have faithfully obeyed is “be fruitful and multiply.” So, Adam and Eve have not failed in this command and have another son. They exercise their God-given authority to name this son Seth. Notice that our text offers an explanation for his name, “for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.’” (Gen 4:25b) How does this explanation fit with this name? The name “Seth” in Hebrew sounds almost exactly like the word that means “appointed.” Let’s stop for a minute and reflect upon the importance of this revelation.

From the standpoint of the greater narrative, this recognizes the crisis that I just identified. Righteous Abel is dead, and Cain and his line continue on a path of rebellion against the LORD. The narrator reveals that Eve identified the problem but somehow recognized that this son had been appointed by the LORD to replace the righteous Abel. How did she know that? Did she just assume it, or did the LORD somehow reveal that to them? It’s not clear from the text. I am inclined to think that if the LORD felt the need to specifically explain that to them, it would be in our Scriptures. Therefore, it seems to me that Eve is drawing this conclusion based on God’s previous revelation and promise that she would have a descendant who would crush the head of the serpent. Why is this important to us? Eve has learned a hard lesson in not only listening to what God says but trusting that the LORD will fulfill his promises. This is beautiful in that Eve is learning about grace. Even though she has messed up, and it has had tragic consequences, she recognizes that God has not disowned her and reneged on his promises. His provision of this son is a gift to her, but also a divine provision to ultimately bring fulfillment of his promise, proving that he is faithful to his word. Awesome, isn’t it?

What do you think? Am I reading too much into this? Consider the next verse. Seth has a son Enosh, and the narrator tells us, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Gen 4:26) Is this not the narrator reinforcing how this appointed line trusts in the LORD? I think so. Our hope in the “seed” is sustained. The crisis is mitigated for now.

Our lesson is to know God’s word and trust that he is good, faithful, and able to fulfill his promise to redeem us to his good plan and life with God.