Havasu Christian Church
July 12, 2026
Genesis 4:17-24
“Why was Lamech such a bad guy?”
INTRO: There is a debate that goes on in our culture. “Which is more important? Nurture, or Nature?” Can a good kid come from evil parent(s) or a bad home? Can a bad kid come from good parent(s) or a good home?
How much “hard wiring” is there in our personalities? How much is learned behavior from the environment we grow up in and the people we grew up with?
This is a question that’s really hard to answer. In fact, recent research has shown that it’s actually a lot harder of a question to answer.
The study of epigenetics is still in its early stages, but it tells us that there are genes in our DNA that get “turned on” and “turned off” by certain chemicals our body produces.
It appears that we can inherit some of these “turned on” or “turned off” genes from parents and even grandparents. Study also shows that experience in life can also trigger certain of these genes to be “turned on” or “off.”
All that gets blended with our genetic makeup, and the environment in which we were raised or now live, and it makes things even more complicated.
On top of all that, or maybe at the base of it, is our free will. Humans have the ability to decide what we will do or not do. We can decide how we will live or not live.
Why am I bringing all this up this morning? Because, in the first chapters of Genesis, we witness the almost immediate decline of Human civilization. The first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, sin, and things go downhill FAST! How did this happen?
Adam is the father of Cain.
Cain is the father of Enoch.
Enoch is the father of Irad.
Irad is the father of Mehujael (Meh-u-jay-el)
Mehujael is the father of Methushael. (Methu-shay-el)
Methushael is the father of Lamech.
Genesis 4:17–18 (NASB95)
6 Generations between Adam and Lamech.
We can see that there are some real problems.
Genesis 4:17–24 (NASB95)
17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.
18 Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.
20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah,
Listen to my voice,
You wives of Lamech,
Give heed to my speech,
For I have killed a man for wounding me;
And a boy for striking me;
24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
(I) First, the bad news: Sometimes, people grow up in a home that teaches them to do wrong.
a. We don’t have proof of what kind of men Enoch, Irad, Mehujael and Methushael are, but I suspect that living God’s way has become less of a priority in each generation.
i. We see evidence of this in the life of Lamech.
1. His name means “strong or robust.”
a. Nothing wrong with that… But if you only rely on your own strength… it’s a problem.
i. He should have relied on God.
2. He “takes” two wives.
a. This is directly in defiance to God’s plan for a man to “Leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, (singular) and the TWO shall become one flesh.”
i. Lamech ignores this law.
b. Apparently, so do the women and their families.
3. He writes an awful poem!
a. First, Lamech makes it plain that he has taken two wives.
b. Secondly, Lamech confesses to two killings.
i. Perhaps these killings are purely self- defense.
ii. But it may be that Lamech could have stopped short of killing, at least the boy.
1. Lamech is bragging about what a “tough guy” he is.
2. He even compares his “personal vengeance” to Cain’s “God promised vengeance.”
a. You think God’s vengeance is bad, you should see what I’ll do!”
(II) Sometimes, people who grow up in a good environment still choose to do wrong.
a. For all we really know, Lamech may have had a wonderful upbringing!
i. Methushael may have been a wonderful father and a Godly man!
ii. His wife may have been a follower of God and a good mother as well.
iii. They may have set a wonderful example.
1. His parents may have taught their son everything he needed to know to be a Godly man.
a. Perhaps they taught him about God.
i. Maybe they took him to meet Adam and Eve so he could learn about God, first hand, from them?
b. On the other hand, they may have been TERRIBLE Parents!
i. They may not have ever offered a sacrifice.
ii. They may never have prayed.
iii. They may have been terrible examples.
iv. They may have taught Lamech nothing that he needed to know to be a Godly man.
1. Maybe, instead of taking him to meet Adam and Eve, they took him to see great, great, great grandpa Cain!
a. Maybe he spent his summers off from school with Cain? Who knows?
c. Regardless of his upbringing, as an adult, Lamech was still responsible for his own actions!
i. Society used to recognize this.
1. “If you can do a man’s job, you get a man’s pay!”
2. “If you do the crime, you do the time.”
ii. This has changed.
1. Census bureau statistics from 1974 vs 2024
a. 25-34 year old age group looked at.
b. 4 milestones were looked at.
i. In the labor force.
ii. Living on your own.
iii. Marriage.
iv. Kid(s).
c. In 1974, 45% of 25-34 year olds had reached all four of these milestones..
d. In 2024, 21% of 25-34 year old had reached all four of these milestones.
i. There are lots of reasons for this, but at least part of it is because many parents are content for their children to remain children.
iii. God has always recognized that people are responsible for their own actions.
1. We are expected by God to teach our children.
2. We are expected by God to teach one another as a Church.
a. But if that teaching isn’t followed, we are not to blame.
3. When we teach others to do wrong, we will have to answer for that, but so will they!
a. Adam CHOSE to sin. He was responsible for his actions.
b. Eve was fooled. But she was still held responsible for her actions.
(III) Lamech’s kids seem to have turned out alright.
a. Adah (Ornament) gave birth to Jabal. (Conduit, Flowing)
i. Jabal was known as the first nomadic herdsman.
1. Not the way I would prefer to live, but an honest, useful living.
b. Adah had another son, Jubal. (to carry or bring along, to make things flow)
i. This guy apparently figured out how to make stringed instruments. He was the Les Paul of his day.
ii. Jubal also figured out that if you drilled holes in a hollow tube and blew over the hole, that you could make music with that.
1. Hopefully, this was a sideline. It’s hard to make enough money as a musician to support you and your family!
c. Zillah (Shade, dark) had a boy and a girl.
i. Tubal-cain, her son, becomes a blacksmith.
(Global Smith, World-Spear, World Government)
1. He forges things out of both bronze and iron.
a. Working with iron is a technology that was lost during the flood and it took quite a while for people to rediscover how to do it.
ii. Zillah’s daughter was Naamah. (Pleasant)
1. Jewish tradition says that she was Noah’s wife.
a. If that were true it might be why there is a city in Caanan that bears her name, that is captured by the Israelites when they come into the promised land….
Joshua 15:41 (NASB95) and Gederoth, Beth-dagon and Naamah and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages.
d. Nothing bad is mentioned about any of these descendants of Lamech.
i. Is this because the written record of their family ends here?
1. Or perhaps, they really were “good kids!”
a. I prefer to think that!
Conclusion: Has this simply been a history lesson, or is there something to be learned here?
Definitely, there is something here to be learned. If not, why bother?
· Our future is not set in stone!
o Some researchers say that our “core personality” is set by age seven.
§ There is some truth to this.
· Optimist or pessimist?
· Spender or saver?
· Rule follower, or free spirit?
· The list goes on.
o Other research suggests that we are set a lot firmer by the age of thirty.
§ There is most likely a lot of truth in this as well.
o But we have free will!
§ When you do something for thirty years, and one day you wake up and say “This isn’t working!” You have the ability to change!
§ This is Particularly true when you give your life to Christ!
2 Corinthians 5:14–17 (NASB95) For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
· Did you grow up in a Christian home? Congratulations!
o Beware! Temptation is still out there!
1 Peter 5:8–10 (NASB95) Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
· Did you grow up in a home where Jesus wasn’t even mentioned? BEWARE!
o Old habits die hard!
§ The devil is still out there roaring, and you are on the menu!
· You can choose to do well!
· You can choose to do wrong!
· The Choice is up to you!
Joshua 24:15 (NASB95) “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
