Listen: 63 Question 4

I am glad that you have read the Bible.  I’m sorry that you could not agree with it totally.  There is a reason that you could not totally understand and agree with the Bible.  1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us that, “…the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”  This means that the natural, or unsaved person, cannot understand the truths of the Bible.  The Spirit of God was sent here with a two-fold purpose.  Speaking of the Holy Spirit, John 16:8 says, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”  Right now, the Spirit of God is working to convict you of your sins.  His job is to cause you to recognize that you are a sinner that needs to be saved, and to show you that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins on Calvary so that through faith in Him, you can be saved.  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

The Holy Spirit has a separate work with those who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus.  Speaking to believers, the Lord Jesus said in John 16:13-14, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”  See the difference?  To those who are not saved, the Holy Spirit works to convict hearts so they will come to the Lord Jesus for salvation.  To those who are saved, the Holy Spirit works to guide us into truth.  When a believer reads his Bible, the Spirit works to open our understanding and show us the truth of God’s Word.  So, if you truly want to understand and agree with the Bible, you first need to put your faith in the finished work of the Lord on the cross where He died to save sinners like you and me.  Romans 10:9-10 teaches us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

I do want to answer your question, however.  Many people have wondered where Cain got his wife after he killed his brother, Abel.  Let’s read Genesis 4:16-17 which says, “And 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 bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”  Where did this wife come from?  We know that Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel.  We also know they had another son named Seth.  They had other children, but we don’t know how many or what their names were.  Genesis 5:3-5 says, “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.”  Living 930 years, we can imagine that Adam and Eve had many, many children.  It is logical to think that Cain’s wife was closely related to Cain.  Maybe she was his sister, or niece, or a cousin.  The scriptures don’t tell us this, but we do know from scripture that all mankind came from Adam and Eve.  Adam is the only one that God created from the dust of the earth and Eve was the only one made from a man’s rib.  Everyone else was born.

We know that Abraham was married to his half-sister as we read in Genesis 20:12, “And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”  While this may sound terrible to us today, we must realize that this was necessary to fill the earth as the Lord instructed Adam to do.  I’m sure in those days, it was not thought of as odd at all.  It was not until the giving of the law to Moses did the Lord forbid marrying a close relative.  In the giving of the law, the Lord said in Leviticus 18:6, “No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.”  I encourage you to read Leviticus 18 to see all the specific instructions the Lord gives about this.

I hope this answers your question.  I pray that you would bow your knee and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ today so that the Lord can forgive you of your sins, make you His daughter, and begin to share with you many, many precious truths that are found in His Word.