When I was young, I was afraid of nothing. Now that I am getting older, I am afraid for my children due to the increasing violence that is in the world.
Civil government is becoming too powerful interfering in so many things in the life of its people. It wants to know what's going on in the minds of its people. This is especially true in advanced countries. We read a lot of this stuff these days. And that is why one critical concern today is the privacy of people.
On the other hand, there is a movement that wants to abolish civil government. They think that they can live better without it. They do not realize that civil government came into existence in the first place to arrest the spread of sin in the form of crimes in society.
In this article, I would like to share with you how the world deteriorated from its original condition. We learned from Genesis 1:1-2:3 that God created this world perfect. And then we also heard that paradise was lost based on Genesis 2:4 to 3:24. Now in Genesis 4:1-6:8 we see a world that is full of violence. Based on this reflection, let us see how violence starts and becomes widespread.
Violence tends to increase once it is started.
The first recorded violence in biblical history was committed by Cain against his brother, 4:1-16. This is a sad story between brothers. God's acceptance of Abel's offering made Cain jealous which ended in the latter's killing of his brother. Cain was conquered by sin which turned him into the first murderer in human history. And then we read in 4:17-24 how the violence started to grow through Cain's descendants. Certain names in the list show how sin had turned Cain's family into a proud and threatening clan.
In contrast to Cain's family, we see Seth and his descendants who started the worship of God even amid violence. Comparing these two genealogies, we see a sharp contrast in the characters of their members. Representatives among them were Enoch and Lamech. Notice that in both families, we find these two names. However, the difference in their characters shows that we are dealing with two kinds of men. In Cain's line, Enoch was a symbol of a proud city (Genesis 4:17). But the Enoch of Seth's family was a person who walked with God (Genesis 5:24). This is also true with the two Lamechs. Cain's Lamech was a murderer and an autonomous man (Genesis 4:23-24). By contrast, Seth's Lamech named his son as a prayer to God, Noah (Genesis 5:29).
Relevance to Moses' Time
Moses wrote this material so that the Jews of his time would associate Cain and his family with the Egyptians and Abel, Seth, and the Sethites with themselves as the people of God. Moses did this in several ways. One of them was the worship of God. We know God accepted Abel's worship. During Moses' time, the command of God concerning worship was clear. Moses told Pharaoh:
The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God (Exodus 5:3).
Like Cain, Egypt showed that it had no true knowledge of the living God. Pharaoh refused to allow Israel to worship God. Other connections include the themes of murder, protection, location, and occupation.
Violence is also increasing in our time as what happened in the ancient world.
In the ancient world, violence filled the whole earth in two ways: through the "sons of God" (verses 1-3) and through the "Nephilim" (verses 4-8).
Ascertaining the identity of the "sons of God" is among the most difficult tasks in interpreting the book of Genesis. Even though the situation is like this, in the history of interpretation we have at least three reasonable identifications of the "sons of God:"
First, the sons of God may be Sethites who married women descended from Cain.
A second option is that the sons of God may be angels, and the daughters of men are mere humans.
A third option is to understand the sons of God as kings or noblemen who took peasant women. I see this as a good alternative for in the Ancient Near East kings were often called sons of God, just as the son of David is called God’s son in 2 Samuel 7:14 and Psalm 2:7.
Even though we are not sure about the exact identity of these characters, the Bible is clear about their actions:
The sons of God ... married any of the daughters of men they chose" (Genesis 6:2).
This is not an ordinary language in the Old Testament for legitimate marriage. It strongly suggests that neither the women nor their families consented to these relationships. Rather, the sons of God, who may have been powerful noblemen, forcefully took women without their consent. We can see here a situation where violence had grown to the extent that the violence against women had been widespread.
When I was in South Korea in 2014, I stumbled upon a report about Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group in Nigeria. The group has been kidnapping hundreds of high school girls. As of March of that year, the Nigerian government to prevent further crimes has already ordered the closure of 85 schools.
God is not happy with such spread of violence against women. As in the days of Noah, God grew tired of rampant violence. And so he declared that he would bring judgment upon mankind.
The "Nephilim" also played a big part in the growth of violence. Some versions translated it as "giants" and others as "warriors" or "warlords". Moses specifically described these Nephilim as “heroes of old, men of renown.” The term “heroes,” or "hagiborim" in Hebrew, denotes warriors or powerful soldiers. These men were known for their exploitative warfare and violence as they inflicted terror. The violence that began when Cain killed his brother Abel and continued in Cain’s descendant Lamech, had reached even greater proportions as the Nephilim soldiers threatened violence during Noah's time.
Violence in the 20th Century
The 20th century was described as a very violent century due to the popularity of Marxist ideology. Wikipedia reported that 85 to 100 million people died under communist regimes. Increasing militarization is also evident in our time. The world witnessed what happened to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. I am not sure how true it is that in the US there are reports that cages are being built in case civil unrest becomes uncontrollable.
God delivers his people from a world full of violence.
The Good News is God does not tolerate violence indefinitely. During the time of Cain, he raised Seth and his family to establish the worship of God. In Genesis 6:1-8 when the "sons of God" and the Nephilim were filling the world with violence, God raised Noah.
During Moses' time, this message of hope and deliverance was so important. As God had used Noah to deliver Israel’s ancestors from the Cainites, he had already used Moses to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. Also, just as God had used Noah to bring deliverance from the Nephilim, he was about to use Moses to deliver the Israelites as they faced the threat of Nephilim in the land of Canaan (Remember that the unfaithful spies reported that the land of Canaan was a violent and threatening place, and that among the inhabitants of Canaan was Nephilim).
Relevance during the New Testament Period
Let us see the relevance of this message during Christ's first coming. We read in the New Testament that Jesus suffered violence while he was still on earth. He was persecuted. As he ministered to the outcasts of society, he bore their grief and pain. And ultimately, the climax of violence perpetrated against Christ was his death on the cross. In this light, it is not surprising that one way the New Testament describes the suffering of Jesus is to compare his death on the cross to the death of Abel (Hebrews 12:23-24).
Christ’s death was even more significant in the eyes of God than the death of Abel. Jesus’ death was no ordinary event. His death atoned for the sins of his people because he suffered in the place of everyone who believed in him.
Jesus spent most of his public ministry proclaiming a message of hope — the gospel, the message that one day the suffering of life would be over for those who followed him. Jesus’ devotion to this gospel message appears throughout his teachings. However, Jesus did not simply teach the good news of hope for deliverance. Through his death and resurrection, he accomplished the deliverance which he announced. Because Jesus was the perfect son of David, his death made atonement for the sins of God’s people. His death paid the price for sin so that his followers would no longer have to fear the terror of death.
After the ascension of Christ, the gospel of the kingdom has experienced tremendous growth. However, the world will also constantly oppose the growth of God's kingdom until the final day. And that's why Christians are called to persevere and to remain faithful.
At the second coming, we will see the end of violence and renewal of all things. When he returns, he will grant his people endless blessings of life and peace. Our deliverance will be full and final. This hope of final deliverance in the second coming of Christ appears throughout the New Testament. It expresses the pinnacle of Christian belief. We long for the day when the trials and difficulties of this world will be replaced by the life-giving wonders of the world to come. Suffering will be exchanged for joy. Struggle will be exchanged for victory. And death will be exchanged for everlasting life.
Conclusion
Though we see the increase of violence in different parts of the world, we know that only the gospel of Jesus can provide peace to mankind. We learned that though from the time of Cain to Noah, God's perfect world had been corrupted by human sin and filling it with violence, God provided a message of hope and deliverance. Likewise, in our days, the world will continually oppose the growth of God's kingdom. Ultimately, at the Second Coming of Christ, all violence will be ended and there will be everlasting peace.