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Where Did Cain Get His Wife From? |
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Cain’s Wife—Who was She?
Is She The Most-Talked-About Wife In History? Skeptics of the Bible have used Cain’s wife time and time again to try to discredit the book of Genesis as a true historical record. Sadly most Christians have not given an adequate answer to this question. As a result, the world see them as not being able to defend the authority of Scripture and thus the Christian faith. Many skeptics have claimed that for Cain to find a wife, there must have been other “races” of people on the earth who were not descendants of Adam and Eve. To many people, this question is a stumbling block to accepting the Creation account of Genesis and its record of only one man and woman at the beginning of history. Defenders of the Gospel must be able to show that all human beings are descendants of one man and one woman (Adam and Eve)-as only descendants of Adam and Eve can be saved. Thus believers need to be able to account for Cain’s wife and show clearly she was a descendant of Adam and Eve. Bible Reading: Genesis 4:1— Genesis 5:5 One of the questions most asked of creation speakers is “Where did Cain get his wife?” In order to answer this question, we first need to cover some background information concerning the meaning of the gospel. The First Man “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). We read in 1 Corinthians 15:45 that Adam was “the first man.” God did not start by making a “race” of men. The Bible makes it clear that ONLY the descendants of Adam can be saved. Romans 5 teaches that we sin because Adam sinned. The death penalty, which Adam received as judgment for his sin of rebellion, has also been passed on to all his descendants. Since Adam was the head of the human race when he “fell”, we who were in the loins of Adam “fell” also. Thus, we are all separated from God. The final consequence of sin would be separation from God on our sinful state forever. However, the good news is that there is a way for us to return to God! Because a man brought sin and death into the world, the human race, who are all descendants of Adam, needed a sinless Man to pay the penalty for sin and the resulting judgment of death. However, the Bible teaches that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). What was the solution? The Last Adam God provided the solution—a way to deliver man from his wretched state. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15 that God provided another Adam! The Son of God became a man-a perfect Man—yet still our relation! He became the new head and, because He was sinless, was able to pay the penalty for sin: “For since by (a) man came death, by (a) man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”. (1 Corinthians 15:21,22). Christ suffered death (the penalty for sin) on the cross, shedding His blood (and without shedding of blood is no remission-Hebrews 9:22) so that those who put their trust in His work on the cross can come in repentance of their sin and rebellion (in Adam) and be reconciled to God. All Related Since the Bible describes ALL human beings as sinners, and we are all related (Acts 17:26)-And hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth), the Gospel only makes sense on the basis that all humans alive and all that have ever lived (except for the first woman) are descendants of the first man Adam. If this were not so, then the Gospel could not be explained or defended. Thus, there was only ONE man at the beginning-made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). This also means that Cain’s wife was a descendant of Adam. She couldn’t have come from another “race” of people and must be accounted for from Adam’s descendants. The First Woman In Genesis 3:20 we read “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” In other words, all people other than Adam are descendants of Eve-she was the first woman. Eve was made from Adam’s side (Genesis 3:21-24)-this was a unique event. In the New Testament, Jesus (Matthew 19:4-6) and Paul (Ephesians 5:31) use this historical and one time event as the foundation for the marriage of one man and one woman. Also in Genesis 2:20, we are told that when Adam looked at the animals, he couldn’t find a mate—there was no one of his kind. All this makes it obvious that there was only ONE woman, Adam’s wife, from the beginning. There could not have been a race of women. Thus, if Christians cannot defend that all humans (including Cain’s wife) can trace their ancestry ultimately to Adam and Eve, then how can they understand and explain the gospel? How can they justify sending missionaries to every tribe and nation? Therefore, one needs to be able to answer the question concerning Cain’s wife, to illustrate that Christians can defend the Gospel and all that it teaches.
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