Genesis 4, Heb. 11:4, Mic. 6:7, Isa. 1:11, 1 Cor. 10:13, 1 John 3:12, Genesis 5, Gen. 6:1-5.

 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, NKJV).

 In Genesis what follows immediately after the Fall, and then the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, are mainly births and deaths, all in fulfillment of God’s prophecies in the preceding chapter. As parallel chapters, Genesis 3 and 4 contain many common themes and words: descriptions of sin (Gen. 3:6-8; compare with Gen. 4:8), curses from the ’adamah, “ground” (Gen. 3:17; compare with Gen. 4:11), and expulsion (Gen. 3:24; compare with Gen. 4:12, 16).

 The reason for these parallels is to highlight the fulfillment of what went on before, the prophecies and predictions that God had given to Adam and Eve after the Fall. The first event after Adam’s expulsion is full of hope; it is the birth of the first son, an event that Eve sees as the fulfillment of the promise that she heard in the Messianic prophecy (Gen. 3:15). That is, she thought he could be the promised Messiah.

 The next events: the crime of Cain, the crime of Lamech, the decreasing life span, and the increasing wickedness are all fulfillments of the curse uttered in Genesis 3.

 Yet, even then, all hope is not lost.

 Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 16.