How God Gets The Last Laugh

 Genesis 4

And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

23 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.

24 

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold,
    then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”

On the face of it, Lamech, considered as a son of Cain sounds like a real piece of work, doesn’t he?   Like his great-grandfather, Cain, he comes across as a violent man prone to injustice.   He kills a man for merely wounding him, a young man for simply striking him.    It sounds as if he’s the end of a short genealogical line of violent people.    It’s easy to reach that conclusion & stop there, but I think that if we step back a moment & look at the bigger picture, there’s more to his story than meets the eye. 

Genesis 5

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God[b] after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,[c] for God took him.

25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief[d] from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”30 Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters.31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

I think that what we have here is a more detailed genealogy of humanity spiraling out from Adam & Eve.   Seth encompasses both the children of Cain & Abel.  The accent on Cain in Chapter 4 & the violence that eventually encompasses the Earth out of Cain is answered by an accent on deliverance in Chapter 5.  

Let’s consider Lamech in light of his recognition that Noah represents God’s relief from the toil & sorrow throughout the Earth.    His wives are Adah & Zillah.   Their names mean “ornament” (Adah) & “shade” (Zillah).    His son’s names are Jabal (stream, watercourse, flowing), Jubal (jubilee, ram’s horn, stream), Tubal-Cain (producer-smith), & his daughter’s name is Naamah (pleasant, beautiful, delightful).   

…So we have 2 perspectives on Lamech. On the one hand, he’s a haughty violent man, descended from a violent man who murdered his own brother.  On the other hand, God gets the last laugh by gifting Lamech wives & a daughter known foe their beauty & adornment and 4 children, one of whom is a father of agriculture & animal husbandry; another who is a musician; & another who is depicted as the father of metallurgy.   These are the tools that lay at the root of civilizations. 

God did not abandon the generation of people personified in Lamech.   Rather, He dug down deep & civilized them.   Out of Lamech came Noah, & out of Noah came Shem, Ham, & Japheth, from whom all the tribes of the Earth came.   From Shem came Abraham & the Patriarchs, & from them Moses, Aaron, & Miriam, & then came the generation of Joshua, & from that generation came David, & from David came Christ, & from Christ came the accomplishment of redemption and in whom we all reside.   We are all God’s offspring & even though Lamech might protest, He will surely deliver us all.  

Thank you for reading.  May God bless us all, each & every one, & “Go & sin no more.”