2B30
© Jeff Stacey | Last updated: 27 September 2016
2B30. Most people responded with no heart-commitment to God:
They did not obey God’s two basic requirements
2B30(title) Most people responded with no heart-commitment to God
Despite God’s clear instructions, most people ignored them and did what they knew was NOT right. This revealed that they obviously had no heart-commitment to God.
Cycle 4
2B30(a) Cain murdered his younger brother Abel
Cain did NOT rule over his humiliation and anger but let these sins develop. Finally he lured Abel away and brutally murdered him! Gen 4:8.1 Despite God’s CONDITIONAL offer of grace and acceptance, Cain had responded with no heart-commitment to God. He rejected God’s offer and warning and disobeyed His two basic requirements.
Cycle 5
2B30(b) Cain indignantly lied to God
In response to God’s question about Abel’s whereabouts, Cain replied dishonestly and defiantly Gen 4:9b. This indignant lie showed that Cain was still very angry. He even tried to disclaim any responsibility for Abel although he had just murdered him! He obviously had no heart-commitment to God.
Cycle 7
2B30(c) Cain’s descendant Lamech ignored God
There is no mention of any further responses to God by Cain. But Lamech also showed no heart-commitment to God. Firstly, he married two women and had children by them, ignoring God’s intention that a man should have only one wife Gen 2:24. Secondly, without any remorse he told his two wives that he had murdered a young man and could suffer revenge Gen 4:23. Yet he defiantly boasted that if anyone murdered him they would suffer ten times greater avenging than a person who might have murdered his notorious ancestor Cain! Gen 4:24.
So the line of Cain continued to show no heart-commitment to God. They disobeyed and rebelled against Him and fell into deeper sin and evil. This meant that the sins of Cain were leading to the development of a whole sinful clan.
Cycle 10
2B30(d) The “sons of God” married the beautiful daughters of humans and had children by them
The “sons of God” did marry the beautiful daughters of humans. But these marriages apparently embodied great evil in some form Gen 6:2-3.2 Children were born to them and were later described as “the Nephilim” Gen 6:4 [see 2B24(a)(xi)].
Obviously these “sons of God”, whoever they were, had no heart-commitment to God.
Cycle 11
2B30(e) The Nephilim were honoured
The Nephilim were regarded by their contemporaries as heroes! Gen 6:4b. Presumably this was because they were giants and great warriors.3 So their evil origins were overlooked.
It is apparent that those who honored them had no heart-commitment to God.
Cycle 13
2B30(f) Almost all people became controlled by God’s Enemy and totally corrupt
The Earth’s population was increasing. But despite God’s warnings and Noah’s example, the people’s sinfulness continued to deteriorate. Their ethical awareness only resulted in greater evildoing. They had no heart-commitment to God.
This almost universal rejection of God was a perverse outcome. They could see the obvious benefits in Noah’s life of being accepted and favoured rather than opposed by God. But apparently the people were so attracted to doing evil that they just disregarded Noah, God, their own consciences and the inevitable consequences!
Ultimately the whole nature of the people and their communities had become totally evil, the very opposite of what God had intended Gen 6:5. The freedom of choice that God had given them was a power too great for them to handle! So their capacity to choose was not really free any longer. They were in bondage to the evil desires of their hearts, basically “addicted” to sin, driven by their sinful inclinations.
As God had warned, IF they did NOT obey His two basic requirements THEN they would be controlled by God’s Enemy [2A12]. That was what had happened!
FOOTNOTES
1. The Hebrew meanings of their names seemed appropriate. Cain meant “get” and Abel meant “frailty” or “temporary”!(Return to reading).
2. As seen here in a negative sense, a close connection between the sexual and spiritual is again apparent [1B28(b) and 1B30(b)].(Return to reading).
3. There is only one other mention of Nephilim in the Bible, Numbers 13:31,32,33. There they were described as “stronger than we are” and “people of great size” who made the visiting strangers “seem like grasshoppers”!(Return to reading).