Lamech the Intimidating (Genesis 4)

 Lamech the Intimidating

From the descendents of Cain we get Lamech. He was the seventh descendant of Adam through this line. In the Genesis narrative he mirrors the seventh from the line of Seth, Enoch. Enoch was a man who walked with God.
Lamech, however, is contrasted with Enoch. He inherited the rebellious nature from his ancestor Cain. 
In this way the narrative condemns Lamech.
Let’s see what kind of spirit he shows.

[Gen 4:19, 23-24 NKJV] 19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one [was] Adah, and the name of the second [was] Zillah. ... 23 Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me. 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."


Lamech is the first person recorded in Scripture who took multiple wives. The Genesis narrative seems to condemn this practice. Not only because Lamech is the first to do this, but also in the clear repetition of quarrel in marriage because of it. Man was originally meant to have one wife, like Adam.

He is thus the first person to do this wrong practice. And what kind of spirit is paired with this?

It is clear Lamech loved to rule and intimidate. 

He addressed his wives as if they were base servants: ‘Hear my voice, listen to my speech!’

But his love for taking things in his own hands and being intimidating is also seen in his lust for vengeance.

God had pronounced vengeance for Cain as an act of mercy in his judgment, for protection. God Himself would take vengeance.

But Lamech took vengeance in his own hands and wanted to be even more retributive than God. He had killed a man for hurting him and he loved it so.

Polygamy and this retributive spirit are closely connected in this person. And these traits can be found in the wish of being an intimidating and ruling spirit, wanting to take matters in your own hand.

This spirit can still be found in certain cultures today.

Mercy is a strange thing to them. Lust and the desire to rule and be intimidating is a ruling passion. And it is justified too.

Lamech represents this spirit perfectly in a few verses. We can sort of find the angry spirit of Cain back in him.

And just like Cain he had to ask himself: why am I doing this? Is this a good thing?

Let us take that to heart.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blessing in the Curse: When God Curses (Genesis 3)

When God Curses In Genesis 3 the first curses of God are given. God hates sin and it is in His character and nature to punish it. His principle is against evil. But even in these first curses His love can still be seen. With the thorn comes the rose and God can be graceful in His stern justice. First the serpent is given a curse, who does not even get the time to give an answer for what he did unlike Adam and Eve: [Gen 3:14-15 NKJV] 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You [are] cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." Because you have done this . Done what? Deceived humanity and brought it to destruction. In God’s hate for what Satan did He shows His love for humanity. He actually cared about th...
Read more

Curses for the Genders (Genesis 3)

Curses for the Genders When humanity had sinned God cursed the man, woman and the serpent. We will here look at the curses given to the man and woman specifically since these reveal how people often work. They show how the relation between the two sexes often are. This is not the ideal, since it came from a curse. But it is what it is and God Himself had given these curses for a reason. In fact, in the curse for Adam He explicitly says it was for his own good. For the woman it is said: [Gen 3:16 NKJV] 16 To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire [shall be] for your husband, And he shall rule over you." For this article the last part is especially interesting. The wife would desire the husband. Closely related to this and what may explain which kind of desire this is, is that the husband would rule over the wife. Now this rule has often been abused. But when it is within God’s law it is a...
Read more

Loneliness and Marriage (Genesis 2)

 Loneliness and Marriage On the sixth day God created men. But this did not make it perfect and very good yet. Something was missing. [Gen 2:18 NKJV] 18 And the LORD God said, "[It is] not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Adam, the first man, was still alone. To put this loneliness into perspective Scripture gives this context: [Gen 2:19-20 NKJV] 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought [them] to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that [was] its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. The animals could not relate to Adam. They could not be His ‘helper’ or sustainer. No one was comparable to him. Not only are animals a different species, they were on a different level too. They did not have his intellige...
Read more