August 5, 2002  

"THUS SETH THE LORD!"

The first son is born. Mom and Dad are ecstatic—a new life, a person like them, yet unique. They watch him grow and develop. Each stage gives them new reasons to be proud. Before their very eyes, their baby becomes an active and energetic toddler.

At this point, their second son is born. He too seems full of potential. They watch with wonder as this second person created by their union emerges in a unique way. They rejoice in their two sons. They thank God for his gracious gift of family.

The toddlers grow into boys and the boys into men. The parents are disturbed to see a developing competition and jealousy between the two. This escalates before their very eyes, until one day, in a fit of violent anger, the older boy kills the younger.

The parents hearts are broken. All their hopes and dreams dashed in a moment. Their one son is dead; the other is a murderer. What is there to live for?

This is the awful pit Adam and Eve found themselves in. Their relationship had given them comfort and joy and had produced two fine human beings. But now, everything had fallen apart. They couldn't help but blame each other. Bitterness grew between them. They probably would have divorced if they lived in the 21st century, but in their time, their options were much more limited.

They turned from their mutual animosity to give each other solace. They huddled together just to survive, and the result was another son:
"Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.'" (Genesis 4:25)

Seth grew up straight and true. His parents' hopes were renewed, though their optimism was guarded because of their past awful disappointments. In spite of their fears, Seth continued to grow up to be a person of integrity and faith. As his own family developed, he raised the children to acknowledge and worship God:
"At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord." (Genesis 4:26)

The story doesn't tell us anything about the Golden Years of Adam and Eve, but we can imagine that they were continually grateful for a second chance at life together and at raising a family.

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Some of you know about dashed hopes and dreams. No sooner was the honeymoon over than the more sober realities of marriage settled in. Just when you realized you were in a disillusioned relationship, the first baby came and brought renewed hope. Other babies followed, and the children became the central meaning of your family. Their aspirations became your primary reason for living together.

But children never turn out quite the way we dream they will. Hopefully, your disappointments don't come close to the first couple's—one dead, the other his murderer. But even the best kids grow up to be imperfect adults. ("The trouble with kittens is that they turn into cats.")

So you are down again, your dreams as a couple compromised by harsh reality. The tendency is to blame each other for the lack of fulfillment in your marriage. Maybe you've divorced because of this. Maybe you've decided to gut it out in a mediocre marriage, with no illusions that things will ever improve.

Here's news: "Seth" may be just around the corner! He's not likely to come in the form of a new baby. "Seth" may rather be a spiritual renewal within you that is just as dramatic as a new birth.

The lesson of Seth is that things turn around when "people begin to invoke the name of the Lord." If your marriage and family history is a chronicle of disappointments, it's time for you to name and claim your "Seth" by calling upon the Lord in a new and more whole-hearted way.

–Pastor George VanAlstine