Bumby Bible Questions 18

Introduction

Good morning. We made it to another question and answer session. So, Ken, why don’t you tell them what our email is before you ask me? What is the email for submitting questions? Greg Klein at Bumby. No, is that it? That’s if you want the right answer. Oh. Oh, oh.

If you’re waiting on me, we’ll be here all morning. So it’s Bumby BibleQuestion Gmail.com. That is, if you want the right answer, send it to both of us so Ken can look at it first. But you can also hand it to us. You can also tell us and we’ll forget it, but that is an option. And that is yours to take. If you have a question and speak it out loud, that’s great. We did actually get one of those questions and we remembered it. So it does happen, and we’re including it this morning, a question that was given to us verbally. But for safety, and since this is the first time and we’ve done this a year and a half, it would be better to write it down.

You can put it in the box in the foyer, or you can just hand it to Ken or myself. And if you put your name on that, which is uh advisable, that way if we have a follow-up question, if we didn’t understand it, if we can’t read your sloppy handwriting, we can come to you and ask some follow-up questions. But please know we’ll never include your name on the PowerPoint or in the question. None of this is uh an intent to embarrass you or anything. But uh we do appreciate the questions and we solicit more questions. Please make that your new year’s resolution to submit a question uh for the fourth Sunday QA uh at Bumby. We’d certainly appreciate that. So we have some good questions this morning, a little bit more random, it’s not topically themed this morning, but some good Old Testament uh Bible questions.

1. How Did Cain’s Descendants Survive the Flood?

And the first one is if the flood wiped out everyone but Noah and his children, who were descendants of Seth, how did Cain’s descendants, the Canaanites, survive the flood? And so, as Greg said, this is going to take us back to the Old Testament, back to looking at who is Cain, who is Noah, and who was with Noah on the flood, and then lastly, who are these people known as the Canaanites? But besides that, there’s not much to the question. And so in Genesis chapter 4, we’ll first address the idea of Cain. Of course, when we talk about Cain, you think of the story of Genesis chapter 4. You have Adam and Eve in the garden, and they’re cast out in Genesis chapter 3 for their sin.

And then they have two sons, Cain and Abel. And of course, the problem with Cain is, you find in verse 4, Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. And so, as part of the punishment for Cain killing his brother, verse 11, he receives this curse from God. This is Cain, the immediate son of Adam and Eve, in verse 11, described by God as now being cursed, which cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Of course, there’s a little bit more to it.

There’s going to be a mark on Cain, and so people would know. That’s a good question in and of itself, but not the one we have this morning. So when we think about Cain, keep in mind that he is a quote unquote protected species because of his sin of killing Abel. God placed that mark, God punished Cain for that murder. But we do have a question of all right, well, then how do we populate the earth if Abel is dead and Cain is marked? And so we know that we have, after the creation, we have what we might call a reset at the flood. Everyone but Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives are wiped off, and so everyone can trace their family tree, or potentially could place trace their family tree all the way back, not just to Adam, but all the way back to Noah and his descendants.

And so if we think about Noah, later in Genesis chapter 5, we have this long genealogy in chapter 5 that lists the family of Adam. And if we look at verse 6, it’s Adam through their son Seth. Seth was the son born after the incident with Cain and Abel. And it says in verse 6 that Seth lived 105 years and begot Enosh. And we could read, in fact, Greg read through this whole genealogy till we get to about verse 30 that tells us that now is Noah. So Adam through Seth and through Noah. And so the questioner is right, that Noah is not a descendant of Cain. Noah is a descendant of Adam through his son Seth. And so we have now the genealogy of Noah and his family.

Now, one little side note here we know Noah and his three sons, ancestor is Seth. What we don’t know is about Mrs. Noah and the wives of his three sons, of who they may have descended from Adam. But we do know that Noah is a descendant of Seth. And so it becomes tricky because in chapter 4, Cain does know a wife. And so there are some descendants of some kind, perhaps. And then you have Seth’s line that leads straight to Noah. And then when you look at really what the text says in Genesis 6 and verse 10, of course, you talk about Noah’s three sons, Shem Ham and Japheth. But then chapter 7, you notice who is it that survives the flood? Noah and his wife, and the three sons and their wives.

And so building on Ken’s previous point, all of a sudden we have a little bit of a dilemma because we can say, well, uh, the men aren’t from Cain, they’re from Seth, as you trace back. And by the way, one side note, everybody in this room is related to not only Adam, but Noah as well, because of the reset. So there’s a sense in which everybody is related at some point, go back to Adam and Eve, and Noah and Mrs. Noah. But what we’re really wondering is, is there a direct lineage from maybe Cain’s family into the women? Because it can’t be Noah and it’s not the sons. They’re from Seth. And so that’s the kind of line we’re trying to figure out. And so we’ll have to look at what is a Canaanite and kind of go from there.

Alright, good point, cousin Greg. And so we talked about Noah, talked about Cain. So now let’s talk about these people known as the Canaanites. Another part of Old Testament history. We know that the term Canaanite can sometimes be used in two different senses. One, it can just refer to residents of the land, not referring to them as a race of people, but if they live in the land of Canaan, sometimes they’re just referred to as Canaanites. But we want to look more specifically, not just at the residents of a land called Canaan, but these descendants of Canaan, known as Canaanites. So Uncle Brother Ken had a good point. And that’s when you see that there are people in the land, Canaan. We don’t want to determine are there people there and were they all related to Noah?

Yes. Were they all related to Adam? Yes. And so there’s some kinship. Who are they? How did they end up there? We have a little bit of some clues in the Bible in the Bible, both in chapter 9 and 10, verse 18. Chapter 9, verse 18 of Genesis, the sons of Noah and verse 18 were from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. Right now, it does verse 19 is important. These were the sons of Noah, and from these people of the whole earth were dispersed. But if you notice specifically, Ham was the father of Canaan, then in chapter 10, and you come down into verse 15, Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn and Heth and the Jebusites and the Amorites, the Gergashites, the Hibites, the Archites, the Senites, the Arvidites, the Zemorites, and the Hamathites.

And here’s the real reason we’re reading these verses. Afterwards, the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. This becomes tricky because sometimes in old and kind of New Testament references, Canaan can be used to group in several bodies of people, several genealogical families, or it can just be the specific tie and going back to, we’ll say the fathership of Ham. So chapter 9, verse 18 is very important, because remember, who is Ham related to? Obviously, directly Noah, who comes from Seth. So again, insofar as we are certain of the line, the people of Canaan would be related to Seth. Now, does that mean that there’s no uh intermingling with Cain’s family because of the women? Your guess is as good as ours. In fact, it’s probably better. Some of the confusion comes in when in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, a lot of names sound alike.

And so Canaanites, as Greg pointed out in Genesis 9 and 10, the Canaanites are the descendants of Canaan, who would have been, again, as Greg pointed out, a descendant of Seth. They’re not the descendants of Cain. And so, as far as we know, there’s no relationship, although the names sounds similar, there’s no known biblical connection between Cain and the Canaanites. And so the Canaanites, as far as we know, are descendants of Seth through Noah, through Ham and Canaan, where they get their name. And so Cain sounds like Canaan, but there is no relationship, as far as we know from the biblical connection. And that’s true of the Cenites. We read later in the Old Testament of a race of people known as the Cenites. And again, that sounds like Cain, but there seems to be no connection to the son of Adam and Eve, Cain, although those names sound similar.

2. Is Forgiveness Conditional?

So the short answer of that is how did the descendants of Cain survive the flood? Well, as far as we know, they didn’t. Because the Canaanites are not descendants of Cain, they’re the descendants of Canaan, who was the grandson of Noah. But a good question, and give us an opportunity to explore some Old Testament history there. So we do have one New Testament focus this morning. Is forgiveness conditional? And we’ll kind of have some specification here. Am I required to forgive someone even if they don’t ask for forgiveness? Is repentance required to me? We should insert there, before I forgive my brother. So this situation is forgiveness conditional. If someone has wronged me, can I withhold forgiveness until they repent? Do I have to forgive them on the spot?

That’s what we’re talking about. We are not God, we’re not the judge. This isn’t between you and God or ourselves and God. If you have wronged me, what are my requirements as a Christian with so in regards to forgiveness? Forgiveness. And that’s a good question, and a question that we need to be concerned about, because as Christians, we are to be people of love, of mercy, and of forgiveness as our God is, and we’re going to see that. And so we need to be mindful of this idea of being willing to love and to forgive. But what does the Bible teach as far as these maybe these conditions that are there? Do I have to be asked before I forgive? And as is usually the case, we’re just going to simply answer this from Bible principles.

It’s a good question. A lot of the questions we get are what you might call some shade of gray. So we’re just going to point out here’s what the Bible says, and we have to apply this on an individual basis. Here are some of those principles starting in Colossians chapter 3 in verse 13, if you’ll turn there with me. Colossians chapter 3, really in verse 12, in this putting on of a new man, Paul says, put on then as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved. Notice some of these descriptions. This will help us. Compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and here is our exact question. If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Now, this verse does not address whether or not someone was repentant to me. If you wronged me, this verse doesn’t say, well, first they apologized, or no, they didn’t apologize, or no, they didn’t repent. But it does say there’s an important thing that our forgiveness hinges upon. As we forgive others, what is our template for that? As the Lord has forgiven you. Now that’s interesting on a number of levels, right? What does God expect? We’ll talk about that. But let’s start with this question. How do we want God to forgive? And what does the Bible say about how God forgives? That is how we will shape our forgiveness to others. Whatever that is, God is always the perfect template. Insofar as it’s a human responsibility that we can match.

So God does forgive.

On one end, as Greg has pointed out in Colossians 3, we are to be as forgiving as our Father has already been for us. But then we look at the other side, in Matthew chapter 6, the way we forgive now is going to affect the way God will forgive us in the future. And so our understanding of forgiveness is based upon what God has already done, and then contingent upon what God will do. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says, after teaching them the model prayer, he says, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So, among other things, God’s forgiveness of our sins is conditional upon the way I am willing to forgive those who have sinned against me.

And so all of this, the whole model and everything about the way we treat one another, the way we forgive one another, is based upon our relationship to God and his forgiveness of our sins. And again, there’s a flip side to this coin, and we’re about to talk about some of that flip side. But nothing that we’re about to say undoes the weight of Matthew 6, that we will be forgiven how we forgive others. Nothing changes Colossians 3 that we are to forgive as God forgives. But before we really look at that flip side and talk about someone who does not repent, does not for ask for forgiveness, let’s make two points. One is our forgiveness, and me forgiving you doesn’t impact your salvation. But it will impact mine.

Matthew chapter 6 says. So in the example of someone does come to me asking for forgiveness and I reject it, Matthew 6 is pretty clear. What will God do with me? He will reject my plea for forgiveness. And I definitely don’t want that. But here’s another thing, a little bit more abstract for a moment, just to think about. We talk so much about well, what if somebody doesn’t repent? What if somebody doesn’t ask for forgiveness? Okay.

That can make a big impact on a relationship. And you can say there’s a magical change in disposition. But there’s nothing biblical you can point to that says, if you have wronged me and you come and say magic words, I am sorry, or I am repenting, that all of a sudden your salvation has changed, that it’s flipped over. Now that’s part of a repentant heart is to be that way. But me saying I forgive you doesn’t really change your standing with God. So we need to keep in mind that this forgiveness is not some sort of magical thing that we have the power to grant or take away at any time. And even if we weren’t to forgive, and we’re going to look at that side of the coin, there are some principles that are clear that we have to be set on and follow God’s example in.

Another way of saying that, I guess, is God’s not required to hold our grudges. And so the salvation, we’re not talking about a salvation issue necessarily here, just a personal issue between friend and friend, our brother and sister. But if we’re talking about this idea of forgiveness of our fellow man, it’s based again upon the premise of God’s forgiveness and upon the formula that God has given us for forgiveness, which is the same as his. We won’t turn to 1 John 1 in verse 9, but there you remember the passage that talks about the reality of our sin against God, but that God will forgive our sins if we confess them. Now we understand that premise, hopefully we do, that premise, that God’s forgiveness of our sins is conditioned upon us seeking that forgiveness.

That we have to confess our sins, repent of our sins, and meet the means that God has laid out for us to be forgiven of those. And that’s the same formula, or a similar formula at least, that he gives us. Let’s do a look at this passage in Luke chapter 17. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus teaches this same formula multiple times, but here’s one instance in which he says, here is how brothers, friends, sisters are to reconcile. Luke 17, verses 3 and 4 says, Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.

And so an astute reader will notice that that’s the same formula that God has given in regard to forgiving our sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive. And Jesus says, you forgive as your father has forgiven. If your brother repents, then you forgive him. In fact, I have an obligation to go to him to try to make things right. And if if he repents, then I am to forgive him. And so we see a condition in that passage at least, upon my forgiving my fellow man, is if he repents, if he seeks that forgiveness, then I am to offer it. And so really we’re left with an important question, and wouldn’t doesn’t that just answer it, right? Isn’t that pretty easy? The scripture says, if he repents, forgive.

If not, don’t worry about it. Well, then you have Jesus’ statement on the cross. If you look at Luke 23, as Jesus is between the criminals on the cross, he says this, and becomes a kind of a thorn in the side of answering this question in a straight way. He says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And you say, well, Luke 17 is a good example of how God forgives, but Jesus seems to forgive in a, let’s at least say on the surface, slightly different way. He says, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. You don’t really see anybody apologizing. Now, in the text in Luke 23, you’re about to see maybe uh some interaction between Jesus, perhaps, and a thief.

But as you really look at what Jesus does, he’s saying, just forgive them. Is that proactive attitude or granting of forgiveness, or at least petitioning of God for forgiveness? And so now we’re kind of stuck. Do we follow God’s example? Do we follow Jesus’ example? Do we follow Jesus because he’s on earth? Do we follow God because he’s in heaven? Well, what is Jesus doing? And what else did Jesus say? Well, it was also Jesus speaking in Luke 17. If they repent. And so we start to see some clues and some parts of this puzzle begin to fill in. And it becomes clear. Remember that that first slide? We talked about those principles. We need to be what? Always willing. Always ready to forgive. Isn’t that what God does?

He’s always ready to forgive you. Is repentance necessary according to 1 John 1 9? Yes, confess your sins. And he’s faithful and just to cleanse us of our unrighteousness. But he does expect us to come to him. He’s kind of like that prodigal father, if you will, in Luke 15. Where was that father? Waiting and watching. He didn’t chase them down. He didn’t drag him back by the ear and say, hey, get back here, knock it off. He could have, probably should have. But he was ready and waiting. And so going back to our forgiveness is not some magical phrase. Even if somebody doesn’t come to you and say, I’m wrong, I repent, even when you’ve gone to them, rebuke them to try to start that forgiveness chain, if they reject you, we don’t have a right to be upset about that.

Jesus shows we need to be ready and willing to forgive. And so Jesus expressed that desire for forgiveness on the cross. But then if we turn to Acts 2, Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, condemned those very same people for their role in killing him. And so if that was a blanket statement of forgiveness on the cross, Peter and the Holy Spirit were unaware of it, because on the day of Pentecost, Jesus said, You took him by lawless hands. And he told them when asked, what they needed to do was to repent of their sins and to be baptized for the remission of their sins. So it seems that on the cross, what Jesus was asking was, Father, forgive them, not outside of your plan, but forgive them within your plan.

And I think we see that fulfilled in the preaching of the gospel story. And so it seems to us that the Bible lays out a formula, which is the formula that God uses, that my brother is to come to me, or I am to go to him, and if he repents, I am to forgive him, that there is a condition place there. But we want to make it clear that what the Bible teaches here on the subject of love, mercy, forgiveness, is that we don’t have two options that are extreme polar options. One option is I just forgive anybody, anything, no matter what, no matter what. The other option is I hold grudges and resentment and bitterness in my heart to the day that I die.

That’s not the two options. In fact, if we look in the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, we see what our attitude is to be, even though there may be conditions placed upon forgiveness and those seeking forgiveness, here is to be my attitude, even I believe, even absent of those conditions being met. In Ephesians chapter 4, let’s back up to verse 31. Ephesians 4, verse 31, let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking being put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God and Christ also forgave you. There’s the attitude that I am to have, waiting for my brother to be recognized. In fact, not just waiting, but I am to be going to that brother, trying to make things right, because I don’t have this malice and bitterness in my heart.

I have a tender heart, and I am seeking to forgive. Greg, tell us the formula that the Bible gives about, just use you and I as an illustration, though this would never happen. If you and I had a beef with one another, what’s the biblical formula of how that ought to be remedied? So if I have wronged Ken, then really what we should do, let’s pretend we’re a little farther apart here. We would meet in the middle. Right? I would I need to go to him and make that right. The scripture is clear on that. But also, if I have wronged him, what should Ken do from Luke 17? He should come to me and present that. So we should meet in the middle, and if I am not proactive, he should be proactive in telling me there’s this wrong done.

And by the way, Matthew 18, a passage that illustrates this principle of if you are have a problem with somebody, you talk about it. It’s to do what purpose? To save someone’s soul, to restore your brother. And so that’s the intent of us meeting, not to keep him from holding a grudge or because I don’t want him to be mad at me, but because our souls are too important for this petty squabble, whatever it may be. And if it’s a serious squabble, my soul’s certainly more important than that. And Ken’s forgiveness from God is more important than that. And so we’re going to meet in the middle, because Ken’s going to start coming to me to tell me. I’m going to meet him in the middle, coming to apologize to him, and he’ll grant that forgiveness, being like the prodigal father, being like our Father, once those conditions or that formula has been met.

3. Do We Give an Account If God Removes Our Sins?

Okay. And so let’s make sure that we have that heart of forgiveness, that heart of love, and do whatever is within our power to be reconciled to our brothers and sisters in Christ, to family members, and most importantly to God above. I think we have time for one more. Do we truly give an account of all our actions if God removes our sins away from us, as is suggested in Psalm 103? Hope you’ll turn there with us for Psalm 103. Go and put a marker there. We’re going to look at a couple passages in between and then come back to this. But first we’ll read it to get an idea of what the question is getting at. In Psalm 103, beginning in verse 10, Psalm 103, verse 10, again, thinking about the forgiveness of God.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. Verse 12 is wonderful, right? He removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. That’s great news. But there are also passages about judgment and giving an account for everything we’ve done. So how can they both be true? So let’s look at some passages that I think will help us to reconcile this.

We understand, first of all, that our God, our judge, is omniscient. That’s a word that you know that simply just means he knows all and sees all. There’s several passages. One is in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, in regard to our judgment, specifically, the omniscience, the all-knowing of God. In 2 Corinthians 5, speaking of God, our judge, it says this, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. And so we’ll stand before this all-knowing God and give account for the things that we have done. That’s a biblical truth. And that becomes inescapable. That not only does God know everything we’ve done, we will answer for everything we’ve done.

We won’t look at that for the sake of time, but in verse 10 of Ephesians chapter 2, we realize we were created in Christ Jesus for good works, whereas workmanship. God has expectations for us. That’s clear in the verse that you might still be open to in verse 10. We will receive what is due to the body, whether good or evil. Not only does God know what we’re doing, but we will answer for what we’re doing, both of those inescapable Bible truths.

But the Bible also teaches we will not be held accountable for those things for which we’ve been forgiven. Talking a lot about forgiveness this morning, and that’s a good subject. We reference 1 John 1 in verse 9 earlier that again says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The power of our God is not limited by his ability to see and know everything. It also includes his ability to forgive, to wipe away those trespasses that stand against us. And so, though we give an account, there is also that wonderful, wonderful blessing of forgiveness, the wiping away of those sins. And of course, in 1 John, really going into chapter 2, that forgiveness is possible because of the sacrifice of Jesus, right?

So it’s not just the sins just disappear. If you confess the sins just poof out of nowhere, there was a price to be paid. And so when we look at Psalm 103, we really see that’s what is being recognized of God. God removes our transgressions from us. Yes, verse 10, he does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. Well, the question would be why and how does he do that? Is it arbitrary or is there a reason for it? And we’ve seen in looking at the conditions of forgiveness and knowing Jesus died on the cross in our place. Romans 6 is clear the wages of sin is death. But why can we live? Because Jesus died in my place.

So God doesn’t just arbitrarily reach down and pick out and pluck out the sin. That wouldn’t be a fair judgment at all. That would be very arbitrary. Now we might like it, but it would be biased in our favor. But if that was true, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to die. And so why did Jesus die? Because we needed his sacrifice. And the sacrifice of Christ satisfied the love, the compassion as well as the judgment of God. Look there again in Psalm 103 in verse 11, it says, For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. And again, in verse 13, as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those that fear him. So God chooses to forgive, to wipe away, to not hold us accountable of those sins that we’ve met his conditions for, because of his tremendous mercy, love, and compassion that we have.

So although he knows everything, he can forgive those sins that we come to him with. And so the question is will we answer for everything at judgment or not? And the answer is yes. But our sin is dealt with. It would be as if you you had a debt, whether on a credit card or a home mortgage or an auto loan, and you paid it off. Did you not pay that debt? It’s been satisfied. If somebody came in and gave you the money for it, you would still have to put it on that account and close out the account, but it would still be accounted for. Just because you no longer owe something on it, doesn’t mean it was forgotten or disappears, right? The minute you finish paying your mortgage, they don’t just give you the whole value of the house back, do they?

They give you a title, but not the money. That’d be nice. But that’s not how it works. Our sin, like paid for debt, is accounted for for Christians. Those who are forgiven have been covered by the blood of Jesus. Just another reason among the many thousands to be thankful to God for his great plan and compassion and mercy, and Jesus for being willing to pay the price for my selfishness and my sin. So our sin will be dealt with. We’ll either answer for it on the day of judgment to that all seeing, all knowing judge, or it needs to be dealt with and accounted for by the blood of Christ and our obedience to that gospel. So some good questions this morning. We appreciate that. And again, more questions, please make that to your New Year’s resolution.

Conclusion

Give us some questions for this QA period. But uh we appreciate the questions and your fine attention this morning. Uh but before we dismiss to our classes, uh, Greg, will you lead us in a word of prayer? Let’s pray. Our dear God and most gracious and merciful and compassionate Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love. We’re so thankful to you for your mercy. We pray that we never take it for granted. That we don’t take one step or go one day without remembering the cost that was paid on the cross by Jesus. Thank you for that sacrifice. Thank you for your loving nature. Forgive us of when we don’t forgive others, of when we don’t show that compassion and love to others that we so desperately want and need from you.

Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for being a God willing and able to forgive. And perhaps even equally important, showing us what it means and how we can be forgiven. Thank you for showing us in so many ways, with Israel, with parables, and with the example of Christ, what it means to love sacrificially. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your son. It’s in his name we pray. Amen.