BEGINNING OF CIVILIZATION AND MAN'S FAILURE TO PLEASE GOD
 CHAPTER FOUR

Adam and Eve began life under the judgment that God had given.  Genesis 4:1-2, "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.  And she again bore his brother, Abel.  And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."  At this point in their life they were to worship God by means of a sacrifice which is appropriate by faith. (Hebrews 11:4).

Worship of Adam and Eve and their family.  Three things need to be carefully noted in regard to their worship: 

1. There was a place where God was to be worshipped.  This is indicated in Genesis 4:3, "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."  He brought his offering to some particular place.  Genesis 4:4 suggest that Able brought "The firstling of his flock and the fat thereof" to an altar upon which the victim should be offered and upon which the fat should be burned.  Where this place of worship was located is not known for certain but believed to be at the east of the Garden of Eden. 
2. There seems also to have been an appointed time for worship. "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." (Genesis 4:3).  This may point to the Sabbath Day as the day that God was to be formally worshipped. 
3. There seemed to be a prescribed method of worship.  God could be approached and worshipped only by means of sacrifice.  The children of Adam and Eve must have been instructed in the way they were to worship.  From Hebrews 11:4 we learn that it was "By faith Abel offered unto God" His sacrifice.  Romans 10:17 tells us "So, then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  It was by faith and not impulse that Abel brought his offering to God.    Adam and Eve had already learned that "without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22), also see Leviticus 17:11.  Able had heard that God required a blood sacrifice.  Able believed; but, Cain did not.  Able was faithful to follow the teachings that his parents must have given him.  He took his place before God as a guilty, lost, helpless sinner who needed the atoning sacrifice.  He believed God and it was counted unto him righteousness.

Cain must have approached God with a completely different attitude.  He came in his own strength and offered the fruits of his own handiwork.  He rejected the teachings that must have been given to him.  He rejected the need for a blood sacrifice.  He relied on the fruits of the ground that had been previously cursed by God on the day of judgment in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:17).  He came his own way, a way that seemed right enough to him and to his spiritual heirs ever since but a way that was rejected by God.  "... And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering;  but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect and Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell." (Genesis 4:4-5).  Regardless of the reason God rejected Cain's sacrifice it was rejected.  However, Cain was given a chance to repent and make the proper sacrifice with the proper attitude, but, he refused. (Genesis 4:6).  Cain became so angry that he murdered his brother Able.  God punished Cain and banished him from the rest of the family and put a curse on him and his descendants.

Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and caused sin to come into the world, but their actions were multiplied over and over in the descendants of Cain.  Sin became so common to the people of this first civilization that God pronounced a judgment and gave them 120 years to repent and change their ways or He would destroy them.  Things got so bad that God even became sorry that He had created the earth and all that was on it. (Genesis 6:1-7).

THE FLOOD, CONFUSION OF TONGUES AND DISPERSEMENT OF THE PEOPLE

(Genesis Chapters 5:1 thru 11:9)

Adam and Eve had another son and named him Seth. (Genesis 4:25).   The descendants of Seth became "the Lord's people".  This became the lineage that produced the Messiah.  The descendants of Cain, sinful people representing the natural man, began marrying the descendants of Seth, godly people representing the spiritual man, and their off spring were giants that caused sin to grow even more.  But out of Seth came a man named Noah, who loved God and pleased God. 

So God decided to save a remnant of His creation.  He told Noah to build an ark to certain specifications and at the appointed time take his family and two of every unclean animal and fourteen of every clean animal into the ark for safety.  God caused the waters to cover the earth and all that was not in the ark were destroyed.  After 150 days God caused the waters to recede and dry land began to appear.  After a period of time, Noah was sure that the land was dry and he opened the doors and all went out onto the land. 

Noah built an alter and sacrificed some of the animals and birds that God had set aside for that purpose.  God was pleased with the sacrifice and promised never to destroy the inhabitants of the earth that way again.  He sent a rainbow as a sign of that promise.  God then commanded Noah and his family to go and replenish the earth.

After the flood the world was given a new start.  But instead of spreading out and replenishing the earth as God had commanded, they began building the great Tower of Babel in defiance of God.  It was far easier and more desirable to live amid the benefits of civilization than to go to far distant lands enduring the hardships of the pioneer.  They thought they could establish a world-wide empire that would be independent of God.  This sin must be punished.  In judgment God sent a confusion of tongues and scattered them abroad. 

The race was then divided into nations speaking different languages according to Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Shem's sons settled in Arabia and to the east; Ham's sons settled in Africa; and Japheth's sons settled in Europe.   Man tried to glorify himself, but it is God's purpose that man shall glorify Him.

In spite of the wickedness of the human heart, God wanted to show His love and grace.
He wanted a chosen people that would worship Him and be faithful to His commands.     Chapter 5