Cain and Abel
According to the account in Genesis, Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve’s children. Cain was the first child then Abel followed:
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground”.
Genesis 4:1-2
After Cain slew his brother Abel, Adam and Eve had their third child Seth. “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis 4:25).
May we be like Abel whose short life was a lasting testimony. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4).
Adam Had Many Children
Adam and Eve had other children other than Cain and Abel after these three above mentioned. “And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:4).
The amazing longevity of the antediluvian race has been the point of much criticism. Some have said that the numbers are the product of a mythical age or the result of wrong transmission of the Scriptures. Others have said that they do not represent persons but dynasties, or that they were not years but brief periods, maybe months. All such calculations must be denied for being untrue to a literal interpretation of the record and to its inspired origin.
We must accept these numbers as historical and correct. The longevity of the antediluvian race may be attributed to the following reasons: (1) the original strength with which mankind was given at creation, (2) superior purity and intelligence, (3) the lasting effect of the fruit of the tree of life, (4) the superior quality of food, and (5) divine grace in delaying the judgement of the penalty of sin.
Adam lived to see eight successive generations. Inasmuch as his life lasted more than half the time to the Flood, it is clear that many could listen to the story of creation, of Eden, of the Fall, and of the plan of redemption as it had been revealed to him.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
