The Land of Nod: Scripture and Science Indicate Adam and Eve Were Not The Lone Humans Upon The Earth
I
was talking with a co-worker a while back and he indicated he was a
non-believer. One of the reasons of which was the land of Nod.
On
previous occasions, I have mentioned that the Bible was written to be
understood by any generation that reads it. Genesis discusses the
greater light and the lesser light and that was all the explanation
previous generations needed. Today we understand that the greater
light is the sun and it is self-luminous due to fusion and the moon
uses reflective light. This information enhances scriptural truth.
Although
it is through Jesus and God's grace that we are saved, faith is also
an important element of salvation. Christians have faith that
scripture is true and we do not need evidence of its fact, but
archaeology has thus far confirmed that 53 main characters in the
Bible actually existed. Numerous places mentioned in the Bible that
were once thought fictional have been confirmed.
Now,
Christians must have faith but faith supplemented with facts is
acceptable. (Doubting Thomas anyone?) While technology is not a bad
thing, the more technology we have, the greater the possibility of
distraction from Christ. The Amish shrug off technology for this
reason, but the greater the distraction due to technology, the more
God lets us use technology to confirm scripture. This allows us to
roll back some of the distraction.
Let's take a look at the following passage:
Let's take a look at the following passage:
Genesis 4:8-17: 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out in the field." While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?." 10 The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and are driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." 13 Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Not so, anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.
The passage my co-worker had the greatest problem with was "I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me." Since there was supposedly only three people on the earth at that time, this seems to be a rather interesting statement. (As an additional aside, with only Adam, Eve and Cain left, why would Cain have the mindset that he would have to worry about any other people on earth except possible siblings? One of the first things he does in the Land of Nod is to start building a city, not a home for his family or a town or a village, but a city. Clearly, there were others upon the earth besides him Adam and Eve.)
Some have speculated that Cain's wife was actually his sister, but it is just that, speculation. Leviticus and Deuteronomy have incest prohibitions, however, it is a given that to get a base population going from a single pair of individuals that you will have some incest. I do not think this explains Cain's wife. What do the great theologians have to say about where the population of Nod came from? If mentioned at all, we get something like Matthew Henry's take on it that "Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters." I find these answers logical but flat.
The Bible is truth. In Genesis 1:26 God says "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. " This does not describe a specific external appearance since our earthly bodies are merely containers for our eternal souls. It is an internal difference to which God is referring.
From Genesis 3:14: The Lord God said to the serpent......"I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring"...
From John 8:44: "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." You will get varying commentary on these passages, but the translation IS clear. We know from Job that satan has to get permission from God (otherwise God would not be the sovereign in the universe)
to do anything and, accordingly, God lets satan produce evil seed.
So, we have people made in God's image and we have people that God lets the devil create. "Leave the dead to bury the dead." (Yes I'm taking it a bit out of context but it makes my point.) People made in God's image are all sinners who deserve eternal death thanks to Eve and Adam, however, we at least have the possibility of receiving God's grace. The issue then is "who were the other people on the earth at the time? Science gives us the answer.
This is where it gets a bit weird but hang in there with me please. Today's public education system being what it is, it's a safe bet that most of the younger generation has probably not heard of the Neanderthal. Most people who are aware of them only have a cursory knowledge about them. The general thinking is that the Neanderthal were an entirely different species from man and that they were an evolutionary dead end. This is not the case.
DNA studies indicate that modern Homo Sapiens, excluding Africans, have from one to four percent Neanderthal DNA, with most sources averaging it out to two percent. This is important because it means that Neanderthal were of the same species as man since we could breed with them, they just developed a bit differently. A dog analogy would be like breeding a German Shepard with a Doberman.
Not quite what you were expecting eh? As an aside, some extra Biblical sources mention that Noah had four children and that Noah left one of his children behind when the flood came. I have to wonder if this is not an allegory of what became of the Neanderthal.
The long and the short of it is that the Bible IS truth. If scripture states/infers there were other people on earth besides Adam and Eve, then there WERE other people on earth besides Adam and Eve. Today, science can continue to confirm the truth of scripture.
The passage my co-worker had the greatest problem with was "I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me." Since there was supposedly only three people on the earth at that time, this seems to be a rather interesting statement. (As an additional aside, with only Adam, Eve and Cain left, why would Cain have the mindset that he would have to worry about any other people on earth except possible siblings? One of the first things he does in the Land of Nod is to start building a city, not a home for his family or a town or a village, but a city. Clearly, there were others upon the earth besides him Adam and Eve.)
Some have speculated that Cain's wife was actually his sister, but it is just that, speculation. Leviticus and Deuteronomy have incest prohibitions, however, it is a given that to get a base population going from a single pair of individuals that you will have some incest. I do not think this explains Cain's wife. What do the great theologians have to say about where the population of Nod came from? If mentioned at all, we get something like Matthew Henry's take on it that "Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters." I find these answers logical but flat.
The Bible is truth. In Genesis 1:26 God says "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. " This does not describe a specific external appearance since our earthly bodies are merely containers for our eternal souls. It is an internal difference to which God is referring.
From Genesis 3:14: The Lord God said to the serpent......"I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring"...
From John 8:44: "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." You will get varying commentary on these passages, but the translation IS clear. We know from Job that satan has to get permission from God (otherwise God would not be the sovereign in the universe)
to do anything and, accordingly, God lets satan produce evil seed.
So, we have people made in God's image and we have people that God lets the devil create. "Leave the dead to bury the dead." (Yes I'm taking it a bit out of context but it makes my point.) People made in God's image are all sinners who deserve eternal death thanks to Eve and Adam, however, we at least have the possibility of receiving God's grace. The issue then is "who were the other people on the earth at the time? Science gives us the answer.
This is where it gets a bit weird but hang in there with me please. Today's public education system being what it is, it's a safe bet that most of the younger generation has probably not heard of the Neanderthal. Most people who are aware of them only have a cursory knowledge about them. The general thinking is that the Neanderthal were an entirely different species from man and that they were an evolutionary dead end. This is not the case.
DNA studies indicate that modern Homo Sapiens, excluding Africans, have from one to four percent Neanderthal DNA, with most sources averaging it out to two percent. This is important because it means that Neanderthal were of the same species as man since we could breed with them, they just developed a bit differently. A dog analogy would be like breeding a German Shepard with a Doberman.
The long and the short of it is that the Bible IS truth. If scripture states/infers there were other people on earth besides Adam and Eve, then there WERE other people on earth besides Adam and Eve. Today, science can continue to confirm the truth of scripture.
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