The Cycle of New Creation Leading to Judgment - The Pattern of Judgments, Part II
Major Cycle #1 - Minor Cycle #1
As stated in Part I, Genesis 1-3 contains a group of 16 themes/events1 which combine to form a particular pattern that is repeated numerous times throughout the Bible. I call this the Pattern of Judgments. The Genesis 1-3 thematic pattern starts with Adonai (God) initiating some form of New Creation and ends with Adonai meting out judgment upon those who have transgressed His commandments in some egregious manner. The first example of this cycle can be seen in Genesis 1-7, where Adonai initiates the cycle with the creation of the heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1-2), and then the cycle is brought to an end with the judgment of Noah’s flood (Genesis 7). Thus, Genesis 1-7 is what I term a major cycle of this Pattern of Judgments. Chapter 8 then starts a new major cycle with a “New Creation” of the earth out of the chaotic waters of Noah’s flood.
Besides the major cycles there are also minor cycles. They are minor cycles because they only contain a few of the sixteen themes presented in Genesis 1-3, as opposed to a major cycle which will contain most of them. Despite this, minor cycles have clearly defined beginnings and endings. Genesis 1-7, is Major Cycle #1, and can be divided thematically as follows:
Genesis 1-3 - The 16 foundational themes for the Pattern of Judgments
Minor Cycle #1 - Genesis 4:1-24
Minor Cycle #2 - Genesis 4:25-5:32
Minor Cycle #3 - Genesis 6:1-7:24.
As you can see, Genesis 1-3 establishes the full array of themes found in the Pattern of Judgments, and then Genesis 4-7 contains three minor cycles. The key to 1) understanding how the pattern repeats itself, and 2) how to perceive this pattern when/as it occurs, is to always thematically connect the events in the Biblical narratives back to the sixteen foundational themes established in Genesis 1-3. So let’s get started by studying Genesis 4:1-16 and thematically connecting verses in this passage to the 16 themes presented to us in Genesis 1-3.
Minor Cycle #1
Genesis 3:16 - Pain in Childbirth
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.” (Genesis 3:16)
This theme is first theme alluded to in Genesis 4:1-22,
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Although not mentioned directly, we know that Eve experienced pain giving birth to Cain and Abel.
Genesis 2:4-9 - Man’s Work in His Ancestral Plot of Land
The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed (Genesis 2:8).
We know that Adonai provided occupations for Adam and Eve. This theme is repeated in Genesis 4:2, where the Torah recounts the occupations of Cain and Abel who have jobs to perform in their ancestral plot of land.
Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground (Genesis 4:2).
Genesis 3:15 – Enmity of the Seed
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” (Genesis 3:15).
The prophesy of Genesis 3:15 states that there will be enmity between the seed (offspring) of the woman and the offspring of the serpent. Immediately, we are challenged as to what this means! Are we to take the simplistic view that this statement means Eve’s children (as well as all mankind) will hate snakes? I think not. I believe there is a direct thematic connection to Genesis 3:15 through Genesis 4:8,
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him (Genesis 4:8).
Cain’s murder of Abel is a fulfillment of the prophetic message first revealed in Genesis 3:15 where Cain is the seed of the serpent and Abel is the seed of the woman. In other words, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman are both human beings. How do we know this is the correct interpretation of Genesis 3:15? How do we know for sure that we are supposed to see Abel and Cain as the two warring seeds spoken of in Genesis 3:15? Finally, how do we know for sure that Abel is the seed of the woman and Cain is the seed of the serpent? In order to confirm that these assertions are correct, we simply need to read Revelation 12:17,
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So who is the rest of her offspring? The answer may be easier to see if we use the KJV translation of Revelation 12:17,
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So, I ask you, where have we read about a woman and the seed of a woman? Genesis 3:15! In other words, is it not obvious that Revelation 12:17 is the key to properly interpreting Genesis 3:15? Could Adonai have made it any more obvious? Revelation 12:17 pertains to how the serpent is trying to kill (make war with) a woman and the woman’s seed. Therefore, the enmity spoken of in Genesis 3:15 is the enmity between the serpent and the woman AND the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. So who is the seed of the woman? Revelation 12:17—those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ! Genesis 3:15 is speaking prophetically of the seed of the woman as the true believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now we know that the seed of the woman consists of those saved by Adonai’s grace, but who are the seed of the serpent? I think it’s pretty obvious that the seed of the serpent must be those who are not saved, the unbelievers of the world. But let’s not take my word, rather, let Scripture define both seeds for us.
In this the children (seed) of God and the children (seed) of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous (1 John 3:10-12).
1 John 3:10-12 makes reference to both seeds! Yes, there are two seeds in the earth. Since the time of Cain, there have been two seeds in the earth—those who have faith in and obey Adonai’s commandments (the seed of the woman), and those who do not believe in Him and don’t obey His commandments. Thus, we have Scriptural proof that Genesis 4:8, the passage informing us that Cain killed his brother Abel, is to be interpreted in light of Genesis 3:15, our major theme pertaining to the enmity of the seed!
Genesis 3:8-13 – Adonai Investigating Sin
9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3:9-11).
Just as Adonai investigated Adam and Eve’s sin, so likewise, He visited Cain and questioned him about his transgression against Abel.
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:9-10).
Genesis 3:14, 17 – The Curse on the Serpent
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. 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
After Adam and Eve’s sin, Adonai made a number of prophetic statements (Genesis 3:14-19) which included two curses, one upon the serpent and one upon the ground. So likewise, subsequent to Cain’s offense, Adonai pronounced a curse upon him.
So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand (Genesis 4:11).
Genesis 3:22-24 – Judgment
22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
Adam’s sin led to his inevitable judgment by Adonai. His sentence? He was exiled from the Garden of Eden. His exile was actually more dramatic than our translations convey. The Hebrew word translated as drove (גָּרַשׁ) in Genesis 3:24 has the meaning to forcefully expel! Furthermore, to ensure Adam would not make his way to the Tree of Life, angels and a flaming sword were stationed to guard the way.
In an amazing parallel, Cain also suffered the penalty of exile.
Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground (exiled). 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD (exiled) and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden (Genesis 4:14a; 16).
He was driven out from the face of the ground, i.e., exiled from the fruit of the field. Again, the words driven out in Genesis 4:16 come from the same Hebrew verbal root (גָּרַשׁ) as the phrase drove out the man that was used in Genesis 3:24!
As you can see, by thematically connecting the events in Genesis 4:1-16 to the events in Genesis 2-3, we can easily discern a repeating pattern. By connecting the similar themes, words and events in these to passages, we learn that Genesis 2-3 is a template for events that happened in Genesis 4:1-16!
Genesis 3:1-7 - Man’s Fall Into Sin
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (Genesis 3:6-7)
Pertaining to the theme of Falling Into Sin, Cain’s murder of Abel is equivalent to Adam’s sin of partaking of the forbidden fruit. In both instances someone committed a very grievous sin.
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. (Genesis 4:8 )
In case you think I’m forcing the pattern of Genesis 2-3 upon Genesis 4:1-16, I will now share with you an even greater proof that Genesis 4:1-16 is a subtle thematic echo of events Genesis 2-3. The story of Cain’s sin is told in parallel with Adam’s sin, forming a beautiful parallelism. A parallelism is a literary device used to tell a story in a manner where the progression of themes in the first half of the parallelism matches the progression of themes in the second half of the parallelism in thematic content and order. The pattern is similar to this:
It just so happens that Genesis 2:7-3:24 is written in parallel with Genesis 4:1-16. In the graphic below, you will see that Genesis 2:7-3:24 is shown on the left, and Genesis 4:1-16 is shown on the right. There are seven themes in this parallel structure labeled A-G and A’-G’. As you compare A to A’ and B to B’, etc., you will easily see the correspondence between the two stories. The parallelism is shown below. I have used bold, italicized print to emphasize the themes connecting the parallel passages. Notice how the seven themes in both stories occur in chronological order and match perfectly with each other!
The Parallelism of Genesis 2:7-3:24 and Genesis 4:1-16
Is it not obvious that Adonai intended for us to see these correspondences? These parallel themes teach us that Cain has replaced Adam! Adam had failed through his sin and it’s as if Cain is now the new representative for mankind and the one who has been given an opportunity to succeed where Adam failed. But, like Adam, Cain sinned and suffered the punishment of exile!
This second article has confirmed that Genesis 1-3 contains certain themes that form a foundational pattern of events that are to be repeated numerous times in the Scriptures. This article focused on how Cain was essentially a new Adam. This should not be too difficult to see, considering the promise of a seed who would crush the head of the serpent. It’s not too far-fetched to imagine that perhaps Adam and Eve thought Cain would be that seed! But, like Adam, Cain failed, and the parallel account of his life compared to Adam, his father, helps to drive that comparison home.
At this point we have completed most of Minor Cycle #1 (Genesis 4:1-24). In the next article we will complete Minor Cycle #1 and go on to complete Minor Cycle #2 also (Genesis 4:25-5:32). Thus, we shall see how the pattern of themes established in Genesis 1-3 will repeat themselves yet another time.
Here is a list of the 16 themes:
Genesis 1:1-25 – New Creation of the Universe
Genesis 1:26-28 – Man, God’s Image-Bearer, Commissioned to Exercise Dominion Over Creation
Genesis 1:29-31 – Man’s Diet
Genesis 2:1-3 – The Sign of the Sabbath
Genesis 2:4-9 – Man’s Work in His Ancestral Plot of Land
Genesis 2:10-14 – Natural Riches of the Creation
Genesis 2:15-17 – The Choice Between Life and Death
Genesis 2:18-25 – A Virginal Bride for the Man
Genesis 3:1-7 – Fall into Sin
Genesis 3:8-13 – Adonai Investigating Sin
Genesis 3:14 – The Curse on the Serpent
Genesis 3:15 – Enmity of the Seed
Genesis 3:16 – Pain in Childbirth
Genesis 3:17-19 – Curse on the Land
Genesis 3:20-21 – Acts of Redemption
Genesis 3:22-24 – Judgment
All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV.