I began using the terms ‘Side-1 humans’ and ‘Side-2 humans’ in the last part of our study for a couple of reasons. First, it is a demarcation for the descendants of Cain (first child of Adam and Eve) and the descendants of Seth (born to Adam and Eve after Cain killed his brother Abel). We’ll go deeper into that in this part of our study.

The second reason I used the terms is that using them will give us an indication throughout the Bible about the lineage of the promised ‘Seed’ of the woman who would destroy the ‘seed’ of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. I’ll explain more how that will work in the next chapter of our study.

When Sides Line Up

We read about Cain’s side of Adam’s family (Side 1) in Genesis 4:16-24 where five generations are mentioned from Cain. We read about Seth’s side of Adam’s family (Side 2) in Genesis 4:25 – 5:32 where eight generations are mentioned from Seth. Genesis 5 opens with these words –

This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth Genesis 5:1-3

Interestingly, Cain and his family (Side 2) are not mentioned at all in Genesis 5. Also, we learn how the age of Adam when he became Seth’s father and Adam’s age when he died. Genesis 5 is specific about when each man ‘begot’ his son and how old he was when he died. That information is not available about Cain’s side of the family.

Keep in mind that Seth and Cain are brothers, though estranged because of God sending Cain away for murdering Abel. That means Seth’s children and Cain’s children would be cousins. The fifth person mentioned in the lineage of Cain is Lamech, who ‘mocked’ God. The fifth person mentioned in the lineage of Seth is Enoch, who ‘walked’ with God. Remember that the line of Seth began ‘to call on the name of the Lord’ when his son Enoch was born. Jesus Christ, the ‘Seed’ of the woman, came through the line of Seth (Luke 3:38), not the line of Cain.

One the cousins of Lamech ‘the mocker’ was Enoch ‘the walker.’ He was from the lineage of Seth and Enosh, loved and pleased the Lord, and ‘walked with God.’ Enoch’s relationship with God was so special that he did not experience a physical death. God ‘took him’ –

Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:21-24

By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Hebrews 11:5

Enoch’s son was Methuselah, Methuselah’s son was Lamech (a different Lamech than Cain’s son), and Lamech had a son named Noah, saying – “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed” (Genesis 5:29).

When Sides Collide

Genesis 6 introduces us to a world that was in utter chaos.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil  continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. Genesis 6:5-7

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. Genesis 6:11-12

It’s important to remember that God promised that the ‘Seed’ of the woman would destroy the ‘seed’ of the serpent. That had not happened yet, so how would God resolve this problem of a world where both sides of humanity (Side 1 and Side 2) were involved in violence, corruption, and wickedness?

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8

God had a plan to start over with humanity. He decided to destroy every human on earth except for Noah and his family. Noah married a woman when he was 500 years old and they had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Notice that Shem is mentioned first. There’s a reason for that and I’ll explain in a few minutes. God told Noah to build an ‘ark’ that would save him and his family from the ‘destruction’ that was to come. You can read the details in Genesis 6.

In Genesis 7 God told Noah to get himself and his family inside the ark, ‘because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation’ (Genesis 7:1). God also told Noah to take seven each of every clean animal and two each of animals that are unclean – ‘male and female.’ That included birds as well. God said the reason was, ‘to keep the species alive on the face of the earth.’ God said that after seven more days He would cause it to rain on the earth forty days and nights, ‘and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made’ (Genesis 7:4). Noah was 600 years old at the time and did exactly what God commanded him to do.

God was destroying everyone from Cain’s lineage (Side 1) and almost everyone from Seth’s lineage (Side 2), except for Noah, his wife, and sons. The collision of the two sides led to the destruction of the ancient world.

Oh, about Shem. Jesus Christ came through the lineage of Shem (Luke 3:36). God kept His promise. More about that as our series continues.

Next Time

In the next part of our study we will look at what happened when God was finished destroying the world. We’ll also learn how the ‘human sides’ divided one again, but this time the division would be far larger than just ‘two sides.’ We’ll also see how God kept His promise concerning the ‘Seed’ of the woman by choosing another man who experienced God’s ‘grace.’

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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