My plan is for this to be the last of the articles I write about the sermon I listened to preached by Kris Emerson. The first article was about Adam and Eve’s sin and the second about Cain’s sin. We are looking at these accounts to see what we can learn about sin and our response to it. The last account we will look at is about Lemech in Genesis 4:23-24. I am not sure I have heard or read much about Lemech especially in light of Adam, Eve and Cain. There is not much said about him and it is not very good. First he has two wives. That sin is covered in the first of these articles. I want to cover something else. It seems he claims to have killed a man and a boy for bonding and striking him. Some claim he has not really done this but is treating this punishment. Whether you think this is a threat or has really happened we can learn a lesson. That lesson is how do we respond when we are mistreated?
The Bible does not give us all the details in this situation but let say Lemech had done nothing wrong to the ones who wound and struck him. Was he right in his response to their actions? Absolutely not and that is easy to see in Lemech’s life but what about our lives? I struggle with the idea of trying to treat people right and them treating me wrong. Like Lemech the temptation is there to escalated the situation. Maybe its pride. Lemech sounds very prideful. It takes a lot of humility to overlook a wrong. Proverbs 19:11 Romans 12:17-21 gives us some teaching on this subject. We are not to pay back evil for evil. We are to strive to live at peace. As christians we are not suppose to take revenge but let God repay. Do good to our enemy. Overcoming evil with good. I feel like we should stop, sing an invitation song and repent. That is tough. Jesus did it and through Him we can also.