The Active Faith of Adam and Eve

A Devotional Series from Genesis

Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)

4/24 Reading Portions: Numbers 1; Psalm 35; Ecclesiastes 11; Titus 3

Genesis 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.”

ORDAINED

If you recall, Eve’s utterance from the first verse of this chapter was an expression of Adam and Eve’s faith, trusting in the promise of God to save mankind through a Messiah (Gen 3:15). They believed that their firstborn, Cain, was that Messiah, naming him קַיִן (QA-yeen), from the Hebrew root קָנָה (qa-NAH), which means “gotten,” or “possession,” because she had received a possession, or rather they now possessed salvation from God. In other words, they believed that they had “gotten” saved. If Cain was the promised Messiah, what were they to do? They may have thought that they need not do anything. After all, why would the Messiah need their help? In their thinking, God, by His grace, had already fulfilled his promise. But Cain was not that promised Messiah. His selfishness and self-absorption would become evident in the work and the wickedness of his hands.

Now, Adam and Eve may have had other children before the murder of Abel by Cain. So, perhaps the first male child conceived and born after the death of Abel was Seth. Eve’s utterance again demonstrated their faith in God’s promise of a Messiah, since she named the child שֵׁת (shāt), which means “appointed,” “substituted,” or “ordained.”

With Seth, their faith was not passive, but instead active. Although they believed in God’s promise of a Messiah to come, they must raise this child in the fear and admonition of God Almighty. They must take up their personal responsibility with their offspring and not let the rest of their children go the way of Cain. This gospel responsibility is entrusted to every parent, especially to the fathers, as it is written,

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

Why does this responsibility exist? Why can we not just let God’s sovereign grace run its providential course? Because the parents are blessed when they exercise gospel responsibility in raising children, since we receive the blessed opportunity to be as our heavenly Father (as much as sinners saved by grace are able), ministering to our children in the same way our everlasting Father ministers unto us. Hallelujah! What a Savior!