The Stubborn Grace of a Seed: Text: Genesis 4:25-26
Introduction: The Two Cities
The history of the world, from the gates of Eden to the gates of the New Jerusalem, is the history of two cities. It is the tale of two lines, two seeds, perpetually at war. This is not a new idea; Augustine wrote a rather large book about it. But Augustine got the idea from the Bible, and it begins right here, in the bloody soil outside the Garden. In Genesis 3:15, God declared war. He put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. This was the first declaration of the Gospel, the protoevangelion. The rest of Scripture is the unfolding of this conflict.
In Genesis 4, we see the first casualties. The serpent's seed, Cain, rises up and murders the woman's seed, Abel. This is not mere sibling rivalry. This is theology with a rock. Cain is the founder of the earthly city, the city of man. He is a builder, an innovator, a man who seeks to make a name for himself and secure his own future apart from God. His line is marked by technological prowess, artistic achievement, and arrogant violence. Think of Lamech's boast. It is the anthem of the city of man: "I have killed a man for wounding me." It is a culture of pride, power, and self-glorification.
And with Abel's blood crying out from the ground, it would appear that the serpent has won the first round decisively. The righteous line has been extinguished. The promise of a serpent-crushing seed seems to have been choked in its crib. If you were a betting man, you would put your money on the city of Cain. It is strong, it is growing, it is building, and it is armed. The line of the woman, by contrast, is a fresh grave.
This is where our text comes in. These two verses are not a quiet postscript to a family tragedy. They are the announcement of God's second move. They are the Normandy landing in a world occupied by the enemy. God is not thwarted by murder. He is not panicked by the apparent victory of the serpent. His purposes are not so fragile. Here, in the birth of a baby named Seth, God declares that His grace is stubborn. His promise will stand. A new front is about to open in this ancient war, and it will be opened not with a sword, but with a cradle and a prayer.
The Text
Then Adam knew his wife again; and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, "God has set for me another seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him." And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh.
(Genesis 4:25-26 LSB)
A Seed Appointed (v. 25)
We begin with the direct intervention of God's grace into a scene of death and despair.
"Then Adam knew his wife again; and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, 'God has set for me another seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.'" (Genesis 4:25)
The language is simple, almost mundane. "Adam knew his wife again." But this is the ordinary means through which God accomplishes His extraordinary purposes. After the murder, after the curse on Cain, after the establishment of the godless city, Adam and Eve come together, and God gives them another son. This is an act of defiant hope in the face of death.
Eve's words are crucial. She names him Seth, which means "appointed" or "placed." And she explains why: "God has set for me another seed in place of Abel." Notice her theology. She does not say, "Well, we decided to try for another." She does not attribute this to fate or the resilience of the human spirit. She sees the direct hand of God. "God has set for me..." She understands that this child is a divine appointment. He is God's answer to the violence of Cain.
Her use of the word "seed" is a direct echo of Genesis 3:15. Eve has not forgotten the promise. The serpent, through Cain, struck the heel of the woman's seed, Abel. It was a painful, bloody blow. But now God provides another seed. The line is not dead. The promise is not void. God's plan of redemption does not depend on Plan A being successful. God's plan is God's plan, and He accomplishes it through the wreckage of our sin. He is the God who brings life from death, hope from the grave. Abel is dead, but the promise is not. God simply appoints a substitute. This is the logic of the gospel. We were dead in our sins, and God appointed a substitute, Jesus Christ, to take our place.
This verse establishes the great antithesis. On the one hand, you have the line of Cain, marked by murder and self-reliance. On the other, you have the line of Seth, the appointed line, marked by grace and dependence on God. The history of the world is the story of these two lines weaving their way through time, always in conflict, until the final Seed, Jesus Christ, comes to crush the serpent's head.
A Generation of Frailty (v. 26a)
The line of grace continues, and in the naming of the next generation, we learn something essential about the nature of this godly line.
"And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh." (Genesis 4:26a)
Seth has a son, and he calls him Enosh. This name is profoundly significant. The word Enosh in Hebrew means "man," but it carries the connotation of man in his weakness, his frailty, his mortality. It is the word for man that emphasizes that he is not God. Think of Psalm 8:4, "What is man (enosh) that you are mindful of him?"
This is a direct polemic against the spirit of the city of Cain. Cain's line is full of strong names, self-confident men who are making a name for themselves. Lamech is a swaggering tyrant. But the godly line, the line of the promise, begins its public life by acknowledging its weakness. They are not strong. They are not self-sufficient. They are mortal. They are frail. They are dust.
This is the fundamental posture of faith. The city of man is built on the arrogant premise of human strength. The city of God is built on the humble admission of human weakness. True strength is found not in pretending you are strong, but in knowing you are weak and depending entirely on the strength of God. The line of Seth understands this. They look at the world, they see the violence of Cain's city, they feel the curse of death in their own bones, and they name their son "frailty." This is not despair; it is realism. It is the necessary prerequisite for what comes next.
The First Revival (v. 26b)
This recognition of weakness leads directly to the only possible solution: dependence on God, expressed in public, corporate worship.
"Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh." (Genesis 4:26b)
This is a monumental statement. It marks the beginning of formal, public worship. Having acknowledged their frailty (Enosh), they turn to the only source of strength. They "call upon the name of Yahweh." This is not just private prayer. The language suggests a public, communal invocation. This is the beginning of the church. This is the first revival.
While Cain's city was building monuments to its own glory, Seth's people were building an altar. While Lamech was composing songs about his own vengeance, the line of Seth was calling on the name of the covenant-keeping God, Yahweh. To "call upon the name" means to invoke God's presence, to confess His character, to proclaim His lordship, and to plead for His salvation based on that character. It is an act of total reliance.
This sets the pattern for all true worship and all true revival. Revival does not begin when we feel strong; it begins when we realize we are Enosh. It begins when we stop trusting in our own plans, our own technology, our own cultural achievements, and we turn back to God in desperate dependence. The city of Cain trusts in the sword of Lamech. The city of God trusts in the name of Yahweh.
And so the two cities are clearly delineated. One is characterized by human pride, violence, and secular culture. The other is characterized by an admission of weakness and a public, corporate calling upon the name of the Lord. One is the seed of the serpent, the other is the seed of the woman. One builds for its own name, the other calls on His name.
Conclusion: Your Citizenship
These two verses are more than just a historical footnote. They present us with a choice. They demand that we answer the question: in which city do you hold citizenship?
The city of Cain is still with us. It is all around us. It is the city that trusts in political power, in technological solutions, in military might, in educational prowess, and in its own inflated sense of goodness. It is the city that has built a towering civilization on the foundation of "we will not have this God to rule over us." It is a city of swaggering Lamechs, convinced of their own strength, and it is a city of frantic Cains, trying to build a security for themselves apart from God. And it is a city under a curse.
But the city of God is also still with us. It is the assembly of those who have acknowledged their frailty, their status as Enosh. It is made up of those who have stopped trying to make a name for themselves and have begun to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For to call upon the name of Yahweh is ultimately to call upon the name of Jesus, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
The birth of Seth was God's promise that the line of grace would not fail. It was a promise that pointed down through the centuries to another birth, the birth of the final Seed, Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate replacement for Abel. He is the righteous one who was slain by his brothers, the builders of the earthly city. But unlike Abel's, His blood does not cry out for vengeance, but for forgiveness. God took the greatest act of murder in history, the crucifixion of His Son, and turned it into the means of our salvation. He took the ultimate victory of the serpent's seed and made it the very place where the serpent's head was crushed.
Therefore, the call to us is the same call that echoed in the days of Enosh. Recognize your frailty. Abandon your citizenship in the proud city of man. And call upon the name of the Lord. For as the apostle Paul says, quoting the prophet Joel, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). That is how you leave the city of destruction and enter the city of God. It begins, as it did then, with a humble prayer.