The Sons of Adam and Eve: Spiritual Manifestations of the Two Adams

[Study Aired August 5, 2025]

Introduction

The Spirit reveals profound truths through the narrative of the first family, unveiling patterns that unfold in us. Previously, we saw how Eve’s formation from Adam’s side prefigures the Church, the Bride, brought forth through death and resurrection. Now we turn our attention to the three sons of Adam and Eve—Cain, Abel, and Seth—who represent principles that manifest within every believer. These brothers manifest the tension between ‘the first man Adam’ and ‘the last Adam’ (1 Corinthians 15:45), revealing how Christ’s life arises through our inner transformation.

Cain: The Carnal Nature

Cain represents the natural man born first. “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). When God warned Cain about sin, He declared: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Genesis 4:7).

Cain’s offering of “the fruit of the ground” (Genesis 4:3) typifies works of the flesh—human effort seeking to approach God without blood or sacrifice. His worship lacked faith and ignored the divine pattern God had already revealed. In contrast, Scripture declares that it was “by faith” Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice (Hebrews 11:4), one that aligned with God’s pattern of covering by a life given, first seen when He clothed Adam and Eve with skins (Genesis 3:21). Cain’s flesh-driven worship, like all works of the natural man, was unacceptable—”they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).

The curse pronounced upon Cain reveals the flesh’s ultimate destiny: “A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth” (Genesis 4:12). Our carnal nature can never find rest or satisfaction in earthly pursuits. It wanders endlessly until crucified with Christ and replaced by the new creation.

Yet even in judgment, God placed a mark upon Cain for protection (Genesis 4:15), showing His restraint extends even to the rebellious flesh. The Hebrew word אוֹת (‘owth, H226) means “sign” or “token,” and is often used throughout scripture in connection with divine intervention or remembrance. While the nature of the mark is not fully explained, it served as a visible sign that vengeance belonged to God alone—not to man.

God’s declaration “whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15) establishes the principle that Paul later confirms: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Even in dealing with our carnal nature, God reserves the right of judgment to Himself.

This prefigures how Christ would later bear our nature, for “he also himself likewise took part of the same” flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14), being “made sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Just as God marked Cain to prevent premature death, Christ bears the marks of crucifixion to secure our eternal life. Where Cain received temporal protection despite his sin, believers receive the seal of the Holy Spirit as eternal security: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

Abel: Righteous Suffering

Abel’s name, הֶבֶל (Hebel, H1893), means “breath” or “vapor,” signifying the fleeting nature of life. This meaning prophetically echoes the words of James: “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Abel represents those whose worship pleases God, yet who suffer persecution from the carnal mind and religious flesh. “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4).

Scripture declares, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4). His offering was not merely an act of sincerity—it was an act of obedience, shaped by faith. Though Scripture does not detail how Abel knew to bring a blood offering, the text affirms that his sacrifice was rooted in revealed truth. Abel’s offering aligned with the pattern established when God made coats of skins to cover Adam and Eve: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). The death of the innocent to cover the guilty would become the foundation of true worship, for “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Abel’s offering foreshadowed Christ, and so did his death. When Cain slew him, the LORD said, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). However, the blood of Christ “speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). Abel’s blood cried for justice; Christ’s blood speaks of mercy and reconciliation. Both testify to the truth that righteousness demands sacrifice, and that life must come through death.

Abel’s death was not random—it was the result of the Spirit warring against the flesh. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other” (Galatians 5:17). Within each of us, the Cain nature resists and seeks to silence the Abel nature—the voice of faith, humility, and obedience. As long as the carnal mind rules, true worship is hated, and the spiritual man suffers.

Although Abel died, his testimony endures: “He being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4). His vapor-like life left an eternal witness. Abel’s righteous offering, his suffering, and his faith all point us to Christ—the true Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). In Abel, we see the first record of righteous blood shed on the earth. In Christ, we see the final fulfillment of that blood, poured out not just to speak—but to redeem.

Seth: The Appointed Substitute

Seth’s name, שת (Sheth, H8352), means “appointed” or “placed,” representing God’s sovereign principle of replacement. When Abel was slain, Eve declared, “God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis 4:25). The Hebrew word תחת (tachath, H8478) translated “instead” signifies full replacement—Seth was given in place of what the flesh had destroyed. This echoes the earlier pattern we observed in Eve’s formation: Adam was put into a deep sleep, representing death, before his bride was drawn from his side. Death precedes life; loss precedes fulfillment.

Where Abel represents righteous suffering under law, Seth represents righteousness through grace—the life that arises after the death of the flesh. He prefigures resurrection. As Paul writes, “But if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Romans 6:8).

Of Seth it is written: “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26). True worship begins not with fleshly striving, but from the life that emerges after death—worship born of the Spirit, not the ground.

Seth’s lineage leads to those who walk closely with God. His descendant Enoch “walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Through this line came Noah, by whom the world was preserved, and ultimately Christ Himself—the appointed Seed, in whom all promises are fulfilled.

The Hebrew word for “seed,” זרע (zera, H2233), appears in the first gospel promise: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head…” (Genesis 3:15). Seth becomes the vessel through whom this promised Seed is preserved. In him we see the continuation of the lineage of life—the overcoming of death, not through man’s strength, but by God’s sovereign appointment.  

The Pattern Repeated Throughout Scripture

This pattern of the natural being set aside for the spiritual appears throughout God’s Word. Ishmael and Isaac reveal it plainly: “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now” (Galatians 4:29). The child of promise comes after, yet is chosen. The natural son persecutes, but cannot inherit. Only through God’s intervention does the appointed heir receive the blessing.

Jacob and Esau continue this theme. Though Esau was firstborn, God declared, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13). Jacob supplanted Esau, not by strength, but by divine purpose. In this we see the pattern of the last Adam replacing the first—the Spirit overcoming the flesh.

Israel’s monarchy reveals the same contrast. Saul, chosen first, was admired for his stature, yet rejected for his disobedience. David, though overlooked by men, was chosen by God. “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature… for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). The flesh appears strong, but only the Spirit finds favor.

Even the crucifixion scene reflects this truth. Two thieves hung beside Christ—one mocking (manifesting Cain’s spirit), the other repenting in faith. He who believed was told, “Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Here again, the first man rejects, the second receives. Christ, in the middle, is the appointed substitute—the Seth figure—who conquers death and establishes eternal life.

The Inward Spiritual Application

These three sons live within every believer, representing stages in our spiritual transformation. We all begin with the Cain nature—religious flesh offering the works of our own hands. We bring what is natural, expecting acceptance, and grow angry when God rejects it. This carnal worship may appear sincere, but it lacks the faith and sacrifice God requires.

As the Spirit awakens us, we begin to identify with Abel. We desire to offer God what pleases Him, but our spiritual efforts are opposed by the carnal mind. The flesh persecutes the spirit. Like Abel, we suffer under this inner conflict, learning to present a broken and contrite heart. This is the offering God accepts—though it often brings sorrow and affliction.

God has not appointed us to remain in suffering. He calls us to manifest the Seth nature—the appointed seed rising in resurrection life. Here we begin to worship in spirit and in truth, not from striving, but from the life of Christ formed in us.

Paul describes this transformation: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The crucified “I” is our Cain nature, brought to nothing. The suffering “I” reflects our Abel experience. Life that now lives is the Seth reality—Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Still, the struggle continues. The carnal mind does not surrender easily. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18). This leads us to cry out with Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)

The answer is not found in effort—but in resurrection. As Seth was appointed after death and loss, so Christ is appointed in us after the old man is crucified. The new life does not rise from the ground—it comes down from above.

Christ: The Perfect Fulfillment

Christ is the fulfillment of all three sons. He bore our Cain nature, becoming “sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21), that He might put the old man to death. He embodied the Abel reality through His perfect offering—rejected, persecuted, and slain by religious men. Most gloriously, He reveals the Seth principle: God’s appointed Seed, who rises from death to bring forth a new creation. He is the firstborn from the dead, the beginning of a new man.

In these three sons, we see the unfolding of God’s eternal purpose: to bring many sons unto glory through Jesus Christ. His death transforms our Cain nature, His suffering vindicates our Abel affliction, and His resurrection life raises us into the Seth reality of sonship. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

This is not a story of human failure and recovery, but the revelation of God’s predetermined plan—to conform us to the image of His Son. As seen in Eve’s formation, God’s method remains unchanged: death produces resurrection life, corruption gives way to incorruption, and the natural is replaced by the spiritual.

In Christ, the warfare between flesh and spirit is brought to its end. He is the promised Seed who crushes the serpent’s head, the last Adam who gives life to all who believe. We are no longer slaves to the flesh, but heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ—receiving our inheritance as children of the Most High. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”  (Romans 8:17)

Audio Links

Cain and Abel

April 20th 2015

by Steven Crook

We know that Adam was created by the Lord and then placed in the garden of Eden to tend it. Adam was also given the job of naming all of the animals.

As Adam was naming the animals, he noticed they each had a partner. Adam desired a partner, so the Lord created Eve out of Adam’s flesh and bone to become Adam’s wife.

I am going to cover Adam and Eve’s first two sons, Cain and Abel.

We are going to read about these two sons and then talk about why someone so old, who is dead and gone, is so important to us today.

“Two Sons”

The story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4.  I am going to be reading from the contemporary English verison.

Gen 4:1  Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, “I’ll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the LORD.”
Gen 4:2  Later she had another son and named him Abel. Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land.
Gen 4:3  One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the LORD,
Gen 4:4  and Abel also gave an offering to the LORD. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering,
Gen 4:5  but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.
Gen 4:6  The LORD said to Cain: What’s wrong with you? Why do you have such an angry look on your face?
Gen 4:7  If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don’t let it!
Gen 4:8  Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go for a walk.” And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him.
Gen 4:9  Afterwards the LORD asked Cain, “Where is Abel?” “How should I know?” he answered. “Am I supposed to look after my brother?”
Gen 4:10  Then the LORD said: Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you.
Gen 4:11  And so, I’ll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again.
Gen 4:12  If you try to farm the land, it won’t produce anything for you. From now on, you’ll be without a home, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.
Gen 4:13  “This punishment is too hard!” Cain said.
Gen 4:14  “You’re making me leave my home and live far from you. I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me.”
Gen 4:15  “No!” the LORD answered. “Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you.” So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him.
Gen 4:16  But Cain had to go far from the LORD and live in the Land of Wandering, which is east of Eden.

There are a lot of things I have said in this story, so I am going to break them down into small parts and point a few things out, then after pointing a few things out, we will talk about them.

When Adam and Eve were kicked out for eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam was told that he would have to sweat to produce food from the ground for him to eat.

Gen 3:17  The LORD said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree. And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food.
Gen 3:18  Your food will be plants, but the ground will produce thorns and thistles.
Gen 3:19  You will have to sweat to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil.”
Gen 3:20  The man Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all who live.

Did you notice that Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd? It may not seem like a big deal, but God gave different jobs to the two sons coming from Adam and Eve. The first son, Cain, would do what his father Adam did, but the second son, Abel, would be given a completely different job.

What was Cain’s job? He was a farmer. What was Abel’s job? He took care of the animals.

Do you think it is important to God when He gives us jobs to do, that we do those jobs as God wants us to do them? Yes!

With Cain and Abel, the Lord gave them instructions to make a sacrifice to Him. With Cain’s sacrifice God was not pleased, but with Abel’s sacrifice God was pleased.

Because the Lord was not pleased with Cain’s offering, Cain became very angry and eventually became so angry he killed his own brother.

Here is a big lesson to take away from the study today, and it is that in all of the bible, in all of the stories, even if you don’t know how this can be true in every story, there are always TWO men being talked about.

Does anyone know who the two men might be?

The two men always talked about are just like Cain and Abel, except they are discussed with different names. Those names are the “first man Adam” and the “second man Adam.”

Those might seem like really strange names, but let’s look at some of the other parts of the bible to see if we can understand this better.

1Co 15:44  As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.
1Co 15:45  The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.
1Co 15:46  We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body.
1Co 15:47  The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven.
1Co 15:48  Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven.
1Co 15:49  Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.

In the entire bible, we have things which are called types and shadows. These types are things which are like one another.

What is a shadow like?

A shadow is similar to what makes the shadow, but isn’t the thing itself. For example, if I am standing with the sun above me, then a shadow of me is made on the ground. The shadow looks like my shape, but isn’t me.

So, when we talk about types and shadows, we are talking about items which are like the main thing we are talking about. A shadow is like me but isn’t me.

When we talk about the old man Adam and the new man Adam, and also talk about Cain and Abel, we can see that the old man Adam is like Cain, and the new man Adam is like Abel.

How are they alike?

Cain was the first son born to Adam and Eve. Cain was also someone that worked with the ground. Cain worked with the earth. Cain thought he could make something with his own hands and his own works and please God with it, but that did not please God.

This is how Cain is like the old man Adam.

Abel is the second born to Adam and Eve. Abel worked as a shepherd and not as a farmer, so he worked with beasts. He protected them and provided for them. When Abel needed to make an offering for the Lord, he gave the best offering he had, and it pleased God.

Abel was not able to work with his hands to produce this for God but was completely relying on God to make the beasts under his care grow big and strong.

Cain is like the first man Adam, and Abel is like the second man Adam.

What did Cain do to Abel?

The old man Adam has being killing the new man Adam since the very first brothers.

In fact, does anyone know what Abel means in Hebrew?

Abel means “breath.” Where does your breath come from?

Now, I am going to ask a question that isn’t meant to make anyone feel badly, but I want to ask you why Jesus died?

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world!

1Jn 2:1  My children, I am writing this so that you won’t sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.
1Jn 2:2  Christ is the sacrifice (ATONEMENT) that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world’s people.

What happened to Abel? He was killed by Cain, so just like Cain, who is a type of the old man, we, too, kill Jesus because we sin. However, God loves us so much that He made Jesus an atonement. He made Jesus a sacrifice, so we can be brought back to being able to be in the family with God.

When Abel was killed by Cain, Cain was marked and told He had to also wander around to live place to place. When Abel died, Adam and Eve were given a NEW SON to be in the place of Abel.

That son’s name was Seth.

Gen 4:25  Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, “God has given us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain.”
Gen 4:26  Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the LORD.

What the story of Cain and Abel teaches us is that even though we can do something horrible like murder, God is going to redeem us. The Lord has made a way for all of humanity to be brought back to being family with Him.

Does anyone know who Noah’s family came from? Did Noah’s family come from Cain’s family or from Seth’s family?

They came from Seth’s family. The only people to survive the great flood all came from Seth’s family.

So the Lord has a big plan that will make sure that all of mankind will be brought back to God’s family, in a new body and as the new man Adam.

Gen 1:31 (a) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

In Genesis the foundations are laid for the two main generational lines within the first Adam which God is using to work the process of the eventual salvation of all in Christ (Eph 1:10, 1Co 15:22). God placed a clear distinction between the darkness and the light right in the beginning which is further expounded by the “enmity” between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Gen 1:1-5, Gal 5:17):

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity [Hebrew: wə·’ê·ḇāh = hatred/ hostility] between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The very first child of Adam and Eve, Cain, manifested this hatred and hostility first which represents the darkness and the evil in all flesh through which God generates the spiritual offspring of the serpent (Gen 3:14). From the natural perspective, the flesh will always be the first on the scene, so to speak, and in that way exposes its own carnal eagerness “but not according to knowledge” (1Co 15:46, Act 26:9-11, Mat 19:30, Mat 10:17, Rom 10:2). Cain and his generation typify the seed of the wicked one in our own flesh (with its carnal mind) which hate, persecute and even kill the righteous seed of the woman (Gen 4:17-24).

1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother [Abel]. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
1Jn 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

God appointed Seth ‘instead of’ Abel to typify the true spiritually resurrected sons of God, the elect in Christ, who call on the name of the Lord and are led by the spirit of God (Gen 4:26, Rom 8:14,19, Php 2:15). The elect in Christ knows that “now we are the sons of God”, and they do not marvel “suffer[ing] reproach, because [they] trust in the living God” (1Jn 3:1-2, 1Ti 4:10, Heb 13:13). In scripture God always repeats His warning about being complacent and ignorant to think that the deceitfulness of sin can be underestimated at any stage (1Co 10:1-12).

Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

The deceitfulness of sin also affects the sons of God. This is typified for us in the days of Seth’s generation when they were seduced by the daughters of men, those in the line of the hostile murderer Cain. Cain’s name means ‘a man from the Lord’ which is referring to the deceitful carnal heart of the natural man in all of us which will always try to entice us into the philosophies and vain deceits of the world (Gen 4:1-2, Jer 17:9, 1Co 3:3, Gal 4:10, Mat 21:25, Col 2:8, Jas 4:4, 1Jn 2:16).

Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

The “sons of God” in Seth’s generation were to be the messengers of God in the sense that they, like the true sons of God, were sent as God’s sheep and lambs “in the midst of a crooked and perverse [generation], among whom [they had to] shine as lights in the world” (Mat 10:16, Luk 10:3, Act 20:29, Php 2:15). This also links with physical Israel who was also commanded to keep themselves separate from the morals and customs of the other nations as God’s spiritual elect also is admonished to do (Rom 12:2, Rom 13:14, 1Co 6;19, 2Co 6:17, Col 4:5).

Deu 7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

Seth’s generation had to keep their calling or ‘estate’ separate from the line of Cain. Just as physical Israel failed in this commission, so also the generation of Seth in their earthly conversation or walk, for our learning, also “left their own habitation” of being the house or city of light to those around them (Mat 5:14).

Jud 1:6 And the angels [Greek: aggello = one who is sent (commissioned), or a messenger from God] which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels [Greek: aggellos = messengers] that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Greek: tartaroo = imprisonment in spiritual darkness], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.
2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

This section in Jude and Peter links to the same period of when the generation of Seth intermarried with the generation of Cain as explained here in Genesis 6. It also points to our own times of fornication with the false doctrines and the “weak and beggarly elements…of the world” (Gal 4:1-10). The ‘old world’ is our first Adam and our first “corrupt… conversation” in the deceitful natural lusts and pride which all in the first Adam will “put off” at the appointed time (1Jn 2:16).

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

The time in the first Adam is our time in ‘the night’ or spiritual darkness when these spiritual chains of lust and pride are placed on us by God. These chains of darkness can only be taken off in the day of judgment when those in the first Adam will be taught and given the Light of His righteousness (Luk 4:17-21, Isa 26:9):

Psa 9:16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

God is bringing this all-important judgment first to His church or elect, and that is the reason for bringing one man into focus at this early stage in the book of Genesis (1Pe 4:17). Within this time of darkness and interaction between the lines of Seth and Cain, God kept one man, Noah, faithful in that whole generation of Seth. Noah and his household are types of Christ and His elected ones in this respect:

Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

“I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” is again emphasizing the truth that all physical things have a temporary existence and function in God’s plan, and that includes mankind. The sum of God’s Word witnesses over and over that God never changed His mind on this. No action of any creature, good or evil, can make God repent of His one original plan (Jer 18:4, Rom 8:20, 1Co 15:50).

1Sa 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

Noah received favor or grace from God as it was not Noah’s works that brought on him this favor. It was God’s works in Noah that kept him faithful in his generation (Php 2:12-13, Rom 9:16, Jer 10:23). This is how all in the first Adam will receive favor or salvation from God:

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Faith in God is not to be found on the earth if God does not give it to a person. Without God’s shield of faith, the natural man is an open target for the ‘fiery darts’ of the wicked (Eph 6:16). Noah is shown as the type of those who are given this shield to be faithful until the end and who can work and labour with diligence amid scorn and reproach (Pro 11:27, 2Ti 2:15, 2Pe 3:14).

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Noah is the type of the worker whose faith did not waver as he was warned by God of “things not seen” yet. This is what faith is also defined as:

Heb 11:1 (ASV) Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

God is indeed a rewarder of them who serve Him in all diligence and fear (Pro 12:24, Pro 22:29, 1Co 15:58). This reminds us of Nehemiah and his faithful workers who were of one mind to rebuild the wall and the temple of God amid the subtle detractors who tried every trick in the book to subvert them from their task:

Neh 4:6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
Neh 4:7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

The Apostle Paul was diligent to work amid extreme trials and tribulations, even when several who were close to him left him, and others opposed him openly (2Ti 4:9-17, 2Co 11:23-33):

2Ti 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

When God’s Word is revealed and received in a heart which God prepares, that word produces faith, faithfulness and diligence, among other godly attributes (Gal 5:22-23).

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith instills and activates the ‘doing’ part after one hears the word, as it also brings about the fear of God to do what He commands:

Jas 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Noah diligently prepared the ark, and in so doing he was preaching by his actions also. He displayed his faith by his works. Christ’s spirit in Noah preached for a hundred and twenty years with the darkness of man of his days, even as the spirit of God “moved upon the face of the [dark] waters” and “the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea” (Gen 1:2, Dan 7:2):

Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19 By which also he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

As already alluded to, a spirit ‘in prison’ is referring to the spirit of the first man Adam. This spirit of fleshly man is in spiritual darkness and in spiritual chains from its creation, as per God’s design (Psa 51:5, Psa 142:7, Isa 24:21-22, Isa 61:1, Gen 1:2, Gen 6:3). The ‘hundred and twenty years’ mentioned here is not referring to the life span of human beings who lived during Noah’s time, as many lived either shorter or longer than one hundred twenty years before and after the flood. The ‘hundred and twenty years’ has a spiritual meaning as the number twelve (the number of spiritual foundations) combining with the number ten (the completion of flesh). This is telling us that man has a foundation in temporary dust or sand as this foundation, and the house built on it will be destroyed. Earthy man cannot do the Word of God even if his natural ear can hear it and his mouth can speak or quote it numerous times:

Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

This is the very position in which fleshly man was made by God, and when the house on this earthy sandy foundation ‘falls’, it actually just exposes what it was the whole time. The exposing of the old foundations of flesh brings the new foundations of the new man into focus:

1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

All the time that God has to deal with mankind (spiritually referring to one hundred twenty years) is also called “the longsuffering of God” to have evil in His creation (1Pe 3:20). Flesh and carnality is the very evil and darkness He first created to bring the first Adam through a humbling evil experience to become the true spiritual sons of God:

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Ecc 1:13 (CLV) I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

No one on earth before Noah’s generation ever experienced rain from the heaven, which spiritually means that earthy men’s ways are according to their own wicked thoughts (Isa 55:8-11, Pro 16:25). Those on the earth generally are very immature and ‘weak in the faith’ in the sense a soft mist is needed to water everything on the earth:

Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
Gen 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Gen 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

All creatures, including mankind, only eat green plants or herbs before judgment comes, and this judgment was foreshadowed by the global flood in Noah’s day (Gen 1:29-30):

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

“Noah walked with God” is emphasizing that Noah stood out in his generation, as he typifies the true sons of God who also are the salt and the light to the world:

Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

—

[Questions and comments for the writer can be directed to: glgroenewald@gmail.com]

[Detailed studies and emails written relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:]

The Fallen Angels
What are Angels?
Tartaroo and the Bottomless Pit
Number Ten – Completeness of the Flesh
Number Twelve – Foundations