Evil Multiplied

Summary of how evil multiplied shown in Genesis chapters 4- 12: 1-3... 2 Chronicles 16:9, Hebrews 11: 8-10

When Adam and Eve made the decision to eat the fruit; they chose to disobey God. Once they ate the fruit, evil entered into their hearts and marred the goodness God created them to have, when He made them in His Own image. And when they had their first two sons evil was passed along to them as well, in the attitudes of their hearts. Every human being has a choice... will I trust and follow God or do things my own way?

Along with evil came great tragedy and sorrow. Adam and Eve's son Cain killed his brother, their son Abel. Cain was then banished and Adam and Eve were left with no sons. Imagine their grief. They had no idea what the consequences of  accepting good and evil would have on their life. We choose between good and evil, but we can not choose the consequences.

However, God in His mercy allowed them to have another son; Seth. When Seth had his son Enosh, it says that "..men began to call on the name of the Lord." Genesis 4:26 NKJ

Even though Adam and Eve and their descendants could not live forever, they did live for a long time... up to 969 years... Certainly enough time to get into a lot of trouble. The spread of evil continued and the result is the darkness that Isaiah was talking about from our first Advent post A Great Light will Shine.  But, God was always searching the hearts of the people he created, hoping to find a person whose heart was loyal to Him, who wanted to walk with Him. Read More by clicking below:

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, 

to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." 

2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJ

But as people multiplied, sadly so did wickedness and evil:

"The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart. And the LORD said, I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing - all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry that I ever made them. But Noah found favor with the Lord... Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth,.. and he walked in close fellowship with God." 
Genesis 6: 5-9 NLT

God was sorry that he even made people. So He decided to destroy every living thing on the earth. But in searching their hearts He found one man, a righteous, blameless man, who walked in fellowship with Him... Noah. God decided to save him and his family. He called Noah to build and arc and to bring a male and female of every animal on the boat. Then He flooded the earth, so that every creature that had the breath of life died. When the waters receded, God made a covenant with Noah, giving them instructions and He promised that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. Then He gave them and us the rainbow as a sign of the covenant He made with Noah.  :)

God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. From Noah's sons descended the nations. The nations and the people who made up the nations are listed in chapter 10 of Genesis. But, people being people, who look after their own interests and accomplishment more than looking to what God wants to do; got busy, very busy. They built the tower of Babel:

"Come, let's build a great city for ourselves

with a tower reaches into the sky.

This will make us famous..." 

Genesis 11:4 NLT

God still had a plan to find someone with a loyal heart, who He could pour His grace and promise through. In the very next chapter of Genesis we meet Abraham.
"Now the Lord said to Abraham:

'Get out of your country, from your family... 

 to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. 

I will bless you and make your name great... 

and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" 

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJ

Check out the contrast of the attitudes between the tower builders, who were selfish and Abraham, who was a man of faith in God. In Hebrews it says this about him:

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called 

to go out to the place 
which he would receive as an inheritance. 

And he went out, 
not knowing where he was going. 

 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise 
as in a foreign country, 

dwelling in tents... for he waited for the city which has foundations, 

whose builder and maker is God." 

Hebrews 11: 8- 10 NKJ

Genesis 11 and 12 gives us a picture of what it looks like to follow God or follow our own selfishness. Abraham's life was opposite of being a modern day American. I need reminders like this, because we live in a culture of American Idol, Hollywood, and lots of stuff surrounds us. It is natural in our culture to become builders and try to make a name for ourselves, instead of seeing ourselves as sojourners just passing through this life, "waiting for the city... whose builder and maker is God." Heaven, the Kingdom of God is our home.


Tomorrow more on this great man of faith, Abraham and how God would use Him to pour out His grace through Jesus.