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The Development of Mankind - part 1 and part 2

• Note this is a self-study article.
• You are directed to Bible versus to further study.
• This avoids copying large Bible passages into the article.

Part 1

Previously in this series we have looked at the Bible teaching about creation and the fall of man, where Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instructions and as a result brought sin and death into the world. We noted that the Bible narrative (Genesis chapters 1-3) is very straightforward but requires faith to understand and accept it. Adjusting this opening narrative to suit modern popular theories destroys the cohesive strength of the entire narrative of the Bible.

In this article we will look at what we might call the development of mankind. This is the period from the fall of Adam and Eve to the time of a man called Abraham, who we will investigate in a future article, God willing. It covers a period of 2,000 years but is contained in only ten chapters of Genesis.

The tree of life

This was planted in the Garden of Eden but Adam and Eve did not eat of its fruit. After disobeying God’s command and eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. God placed a ‘flaming sword’ at the entrance to the garden. The objective was ‘to guard the way to the tree of life’ lest the first human pair ate of it and lived for ever as sinners.

• See Genesis 3.22-24

But the hope of everlasting life had not gone forever. God provided a way back for fallen man. It is this precise way back to God that is the main theme of the Bible in both Old and New Testaments. It should be noted that adding to or taking away from the Bible narrative seriously threatens the integrity of the message. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul makes two important points on this subject. In the letter to the Romans he wrote this: ‘Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.’

• Romans 5.12

This is a important point. If we say that God created lots of people at the beginning, and Adam and Eve were just two selected for comment, we destroy the ‘pedigree’ of sin and death. It has passed on to all men and women because all are descended from Adam and Eve, and therefore all are hereditary sinners and all die. However, as Paul tells us in Romans 6:23, that is not the end, for the tree of life is promised to those who overcome sin. But as this verse also says, the way to it cannot be earned. The words of the wise man Solomon in Proverbs 3.13-18 and the final message of Jesus in Revelation 2.7, are just two examples that demonstrate the way back to God.

The ground cursed

At the point of ejection from Eden, man’s existence ceased to be a delight to God. The earth suffered the punishment which the sin of Adam and Eve had brought about.

• Read Genesis 3.17-19

In the books of the prophets there is however hope for the future. They speak of a time when this curse will be reversed.

• Read Amos 9.13 and Isaiah 35.1

Cain and Abel

These were Adam and Eve’s first two sons. In them we have an immediate example of two types of people that would develop and populate the earth. The idea of animal sacrifice was given in Eden when animal skins were used to cover the sin of the man and woman. That is, animal’s blood was spilt in order that sin could be atoned for. This established a major divine principle that the Bible demonstrates throughout the Old and New Testament. Every animal sacrifice pointed forwards to the once for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Cain slew Abel (the first murder) because Abel’s offering was acceptable to God. Here are some extracts from Genesis 4:

Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. ''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.'' Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" And he said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground."

• Read Genesis 3.15, 21, Genesis 4.4, Hebrews 11.4

This teaches us that God can only be worshipped in the way He specifies, and not in any way we might feel is appropriate or best.

• Read 1 John 3.12

Whereas Abel’s offering showed that he had faith, this led to his murder in much the same way as Christ. The reason for the fall of Adam and Eve was that they did not believe God’s Word. Now Cain succumbed to the same error: personal will and ignoring of God’s way.

Two lines of descendants

Something we must stay fixed on in this section is our status compared to God. It is necessary to accept that what we have been told is enough to find ‘the way’ back to the tree of life. We need to ensure we do not add or take away from what the Bible says. Indeed Jesus tells us that we have to have a childlike humility and innocence in coming to Jesus to receive the kingdom of God

• Read Luke 18.15-17

This is ‘the way’ in which the descendants of Adam can get back to Eden and the tree of life. In Genesis chapters 5 and 6 we read about the descendants of the first human pair. At this point in Genesis, the life span of individuals was many hundreds of years. We must presume that the human strain was so pure at this early point that it facilitated brothers marrying their sisters. Seth was born, and we find in the Bible detailed lists of Adam’s descendants that enable us to understand human life spans, and how families developed. The descendants of Cain were predominantly evil. The descendants of Seth were predominantly God fearing. It is necessary to read through Genesis chapters 4 and 5 to understand the following. The division between righteous Abel and wicked Cain was continued in the children of Seth and the children of Cain. The seventh generation from Cain was Lamech. His sons had different skills, which might be described as the development of the arts and sciences. Jabal lived in tents and raised cattle and was a musician on lyre and pipe. Tubal-Cain was a smith who forged bronze and iron. Contrast his boast with Jesus’ command to forgive; read Genesis 4.20-25 and compare with Matthew 18.21,22. So, in this line we see the development of things that take men and women away from God to a belief that their destiny is in their own hands. In Seth’s line we see the development of righteousness, which the Bible describes as ‘the sons of God’. The seventh generation from Seth was Enoch. His life was in total contrast to Lamech’s. The New Testament tells us more about this. Note the ungodliness which was clearly rife in his day. Enoch had faith in God’s Word and made it so much part of his life that he was taken away, so that he should not see death. Enoch walked with God.

• Read Genesis 4.26; 5.22-24; 6.2; Hebrews 11.5 and Jude verses 14,15

Our way of life can be called a ‘walk’, and if we want to serve God then our ‘walk’ must show the characteristics of God. Here are some of them:

1. Walk in light – for God is light: 1 John 1.5; Ephesians 5. 8
2. Walk in love – for God is love: 1 John 1.4-8; Ephesians 5.2
3. Walk in truth – for God is truth: 1 John 5.20; 2 John verse 4

The world population exploded in the first 1,500 years after creation, due to the longevity of individuals and the rate of reproduction. In Genesis chapter 6 we have a sad picture of the world before the Flood.

• Read Genesis 6.1-2; 5,6; 11-13.

The sons of God (the godly line of Seth – see above Genesis references) married the daughters of men (line of Cain – see above Genesis references). We need to understand this in the context of those two distinct lines in the development of mankind. Some have tried to say that somehow angels came down and married human women – this is nowhere spoken of in Scripture and is incompatible with the message about the development of God’s plan of salvation that runs through the Bible.

Part 2

The Flood

• Read Genesis 6 and 7 carefully.

The ‘sons of God’ in Genesis 6.2 refers to those men who believed in and followed God’s ways. We read in this verse that they married ‘the daughters of men’. We should understand that here is a description of women who were not daughters of God but were unbelievers. The action of ‘the sons of God’ marrying ‘the daughters of men’ resulted in the population of the earth becoming wicked in the sight of God. A lesson that is emphasised throughout the entire Bible narrative, is that it is important for God fearing men and women to marry only those of a Godly disposition towards their Creator and His ways.

• For explanation of the meaning of Godliness see other article on this topic

Many years later, the life of King Solomon is a striking example of how things can go wrong when the above principle is ignored. Read how God greatly blessed Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 5 onwards. But note carefully how his foreign marriages were a disaster for him.

• 1 Kings 11.1-13

Genesis chapter 6 makes it clear that only Noah and his family were righteous before God (verse 6.9). God’s way had become completely corrupted (verse 6.12) and God instructed Noah to build an ark (verse 6.14).

The Ark

From the measurements given in the Bible, it has been estimated that the Ark was about

1. 440 feet (134 metres) long,
2. 73 feet (22 metres) wide and
3. 44 feet (13 metres) high.

• Read Genesis 6.14-16 for further details.

To show how the message of the Bible is consistent, compare these passages:

1. Universal wickedness of mankind before the flood: Compare Genesis 6 with Luke 17.26-30 where Jesus is comparing the similarity of his second coming to the times of Noah; also 1 Peter 3:20 where the Apostle Peter compares the salvation of Noah and his family ‘through water’ with the act of baptism.
2. Out of the millions alive, only Noah and his family were saved. Again compare some of the words of the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament writers with the Genesis account:
3. Read Genesis 6.8,9 and 7.1 and compare with Ezekiel 14.14, a prophecy about the destruction of Israel for unrighteousness.
4. Compare with Noah and other righteous men and women in Hebrews 11.

It is important to note that Old Testament prophets living about 2,000 years after the flood, Christ himself and other New Testament writers 2,500 years after the flood, all confirm that Noah was a real person and the flood really happened.

Take some time to review the descriptive and unambiguous words of Genesis 6.17, Genesis 7.11 and 7.17-20. Because of the detailed genealogy in Genesis 5 we can say that the flood occurred 1,656 years after the creation of Adam.

• It is recommended that Genesis chapter 8 is read carefully

God’s covenant with Noah

The regularity and continuity of harvest, seasons, day and night were promised by God. This permanence paved the way for the great covenants made with the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and later with King David. Their fulfilment depended on the continuance of life on the earth, and the development of a line of righteous descendants of Noah.

• Read Genesis 8.20-22, Isaiah 55.8-11 and Jeremiah 33.20,21.

God made a covenant that stipulated that there will never again be a similar destruction of the world by water. God made the rainbow appear in the sky as a token of His promise. He also established an important principle concerning sacrifice referred to in the previous article (Light on a New World Volume 31.2 page 31).

• Read Genesis chapter 9 verses 1-7 and 11-17.

The Flood: a type of baptism

Earlier we saw that the flood was referred to in the New Testament as a likeness or ‘type’ of baptism. As is often the case in the Bible, we have an interesting idea where one thing symbolises something else that is more relevant for us today. In this way, the saving of eight persons in the ark ‘through’ water is a pointer to baptism ‘in type’. Or perhaps we can think of it as a kind of parable. It is interesting to note that, since the New Testament was written in Greek, the Greek word literally means ‘antitype’ as translated in the New King James version 1 Peter 3.21).

In the Bible we find a great number of types and anti-types. We can think of this like prophecy and its later fulfilment, where something happens (type) and it is later duplicated in another significant way (anti-type). By this means, common teachings and ideas are linked throughout the Bible. The idea of the flood as a type of baptism (anti-type) is the first case we have come across in these ‘Basic Bible Teaching’ studies. Another example of this is described by Jesus as ‘the sign of the prophet Jonah’ (Matthew 12.38-40).

The Time of the Flood: a "type" of "the last days"

The days in which Noah lived are also a ‘type’ of the ‘last days’. The ‘last days’ are spoken of in the Bible as being the days immediately prior to the return of Jesus to the earth − his second coming. This is the climax of the Bible’s message for today. Jesus referred to the time of the Flood as a reminder or ‘type’ of God’s intention to intervene again in an equally sin-filled world in these last days. In Noah’s day people were godless and believed only in themselves and the pleasures of this life. There are strong similarities to today. At the time of Noah the earth was full of wickedness and violence. God’s judgement came suddenly after He had warned them what was to happen. Jesus said that the time just before his second coming and the judgement of mankind will be just like the days of Noah.

• Compare Matthew 24.3, 37-39 and Luke 17.26-30 with Genesis 6.11.

We have already noted that God promised not to flood the world again. So we can be sure judgement will not take the form of a world-wide deluge. This future judgement will be carried out by the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Read: 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 and 2 Thessalonians 1.7-9.

In the last days mankind will generally ridicule and ignore the idea of the creation, the flood and Christ’s return. This is exactly what we see around us today across the whole world. The words of the Apostles clearly predicted the age in which we live and we believe that the return of Jesus Christ is imminent.

• Read: 2 Peter 3.3-11 and 2 Timothy 3.1-5.

Conclusion to this two-part consideration of the Development of Mankind

Two points stand out from this consideration of the first 1,600 years or so of human history, as recorded in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

1. This Old Testament history (i.e. 4,000 BC – 2,350 BC) is confirmed by many references in the New Testament (c. AD 50). Jesus Christ and his apostles accepted it and used it implicitly in their teaching and writings.
2. This history establishes principles and teaches us lessons. We can see how lessons from the past embody lessons for the present and the future. Mankind’s future is very short – we are living in ‘the last days’.

From all of this we have learnt how it is necessary to choose whether in our own lives we follow God’s ways or man’s ways. We have seen how it is important to recognise the need to do exactly as God requires. Above all we have seen that God gives opportunity for repentance but will not tolerate persistent wickedness.

God will reveal His power by sending His Son Jesus Christ back to judge the world. God’s Word, the Bible, tells us about how we can follow God’s ways and be saved from the terrible judgement that is coming on the world very soon.