Where Do We Come From?预览

Making Progress?

“Lamech said to his wives: ‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.’” (Genesis 4:23)

After Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, he had children and grandchildren. His family turned out to be very progressive. They built cities, raised cattle, designed musical instruments, and worked bronze and iron. Apparently, they made plenty of progress! But there was another side. Lamech, one of Cain's descendants, is described as the epitome of arrogance and wickedness. He bragged that he took the law into his own hands and killed people over a small matter. So that's how far it had come; people not only sinned, but also were proud of it. They reached a new moral low.

Genesis 4 also tells us that Adam and Eve had another son: Seth. About his descendants it is not written that they invented or built things. However, it does say, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” (Genesis 4:26) This family valued a personal relationship with the Lord God and developed ways to worship and honor Him. This was characteristic of them, just as cultural and handicraft advancement was characteristic of Cain's family.

Which of these two families would you most like to belong to? Where would you feel most at home? What do you think—can cultural, scientific, and industrial progress also go hand-in-hand with serving God?