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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

CAIN’S WIFE?

Blogging Genesis 
Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. (Genesis 4:16-18)

I guess I was about 6th grade. 

Mr. Griffith, our Sunday School superintendent, was teaching us about Cain and Abel and being our brothers’ keeper.  I think it was a good lesson; I don’t remember the details of the lecture, but I do remember that at the end of his presentation, Mr. Griffith asked, “Does anyone have a question?”

Most of you didn’t know me in the 6th grade, but “Does anyone have a question?” was a dangerous opening to give to 6th grade me.  Still is, I suppose.

I raised my hand.  Mr. Griffith sighed and acknowledged me.

“Yes, Little Graves?” 

You couldn’t fault him for the reluctance in his voice.  The man had already endured my father as a student, and he’d been certain he’d paid full penance for whatever sin had afflicted him with that particular combination of pointed intellect, sarcasm, arrogance, and gleefully nonchalant disregard for theological taboos.  But then came me, “Little” Graves.

“Yes, Little Graves?” he sighed.

“Who did Cain marry?”

“What?” Mr. Griffith choked.

“There was just Adam, and Eve, and Cain, and Abel; and Cain killed Abel.  So that’s 3 people.  God made Cain leave Adam and Eve.  If there was nobody else in the whole world, where did Cain’s wife come from?”

It was, Mr. Griffith explained, an inappropriate inquiry. One shouldn’t question God like that.  And, if I was so smart, perhaps I could find out and tell them.  And anyway, time was up.

Most of you didn’t know me in the 6th grade, but that was when I started doubting Christianity.

I had questions, lots of questions which I was genetically incapable of not asking.  I asked them of church elders who held themselves to be authorities on the things of God.  I expected them to know the answers because grown-ups in authority are supposed to know.  They told me to stop asking “questions like that,” but those were the question I had.  Da’ crap kind of questions was I supposed to ask?  They told me to believe, and stop questioning God.  I did believe, and I wasn’t questioning God.  I was questioning them.

After a while, my adolescent mind decided that either  (a) These church folk didn’t know what the **** they’re talking about; (b) They knew, but they were hiding the answers from me; or (c) They were lying --- about everything: the Bible, God, heaven, hell.  They were just making this stuff up.

When I moved away for college, I became an evangelical agnostic.  An evangelical agnostic is--- you know that guy on campus who stands at the back of Bible study and hollers out questions about contradictions in the Bible?  I was that guy.

A few years into school, I started hanging out with a couple of genuine Christians who respected my questions.  They read Bible and other books. We explored the logic of what I’d considered contradictions and cross-referenced to passages that opened up the unity and logical reliability of Scripture.  I saw that God LIKED my questions, and even when I didn’t immediately see answers, it was O.K. to ask the questions.

The Lord used other means to work on my heart, but the greatest spiritual victory in my life was the moment I was able to give my mind to Jesus.

So, who where did Cain’s wife come from?

Bro, I don’t know.

The Bible doesn’t answer that question the way I want; but it does offer clues to close the gaps in logic.  In the first century, there were already millions of humans made in God’s image, but God formed a body for a specific man named Jesus.  Jesus, like the first Adam, was the representative of all mankind.
So, one possibility is that God created more than one man and one woman on the 6th day (Genesis 1:26+), and then after the first Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-7), God formed two specific humans named Adam and Eve.  Cain’s met his wife among the other people God had already placed outside of Eden.

Maybe Cain married a sister who wasn't named in the Bible.  That leaves the question of who was out in the wild for him to worry about being attacked (Genesis 4:14).

Then again, maybe not . 

Maybe you’re smart enough to figure it out.  If you do, tell me.  Seriously, tell me.  Post a comment or send an email.

I still don’t know where Cain’s wife came from.  She came from somewhere though, so there’s a question.  Keep asking.

Asking may upset a lot of people, but believe me: God likes your questions.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

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P O Box 132
Fairfield, Al 35064




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