In everything that we have read so far, we have only met the first generation after Adam and Eve. Our next passage, however, will span hundreds of years across several generations. First, we will read about the genealogy of the line of Cain in Genesis 4, and then about the line of Cain’s brother, Seth, born after Abel’s murder. Although we don’t think of genealogies as interesting reading material, these passages have something important to teach us about the future of humanity as a whole, and about God’s people in particular.

So far in the book of Genesis, we have seen the glory and beauty of creation in its original form, with the man and the woman assigned a mission and joined in the first royal marriage. But after Adam and Eve rebelled, their firstborn son murdered their other son, Abel. The narrative is at a point of significant tension, where the situation on earth could go in divergent directions. Will humanity embrace the depravity of Cain, or will God raise up a faithful remnant yet? This is the question that our text will tackle.