its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. (Genesis 4:10–12)
To which Cain ruefully responded:
“My punishment is too great to bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth…” (Genesis 4:13–14)
Yes, “to dust you shall return” conveyed death’s destructive power not only over the first couple but over all their progeny as well {cf. Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22.}
Abel’s murder is the first account of human death and its consequences. Ever since Adam’s disobedience, God has sovereignly effected every individual’s death, both directly and indirectly: naturally (by nature itself or aging’s consequences), humanly (accidental or evilly purposed) or civilly {cf. Romans 13:1,3–4.} Regardless of His means, all of Adam’s progeny will experience the cessation of living and life, but neither Enoch nor Elijah did:
Enoch {in the seventh generation from Adam (Jude 1:14)} walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. (Hebrews 11:5)
As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)
The increase of Adam’s descendants exploded exponentially and inhabited the far reaches of the created landmass. Around 1500 BC, in what today is Iran, Persian mythology came into being; about a millennium later, Zoroastrianism, which addressed the existence of angels, demons and saviors, notions present in Judaism, grew in popularity and influence among many of this issue. Over time, the surviving mythology adopted a dualistic vision, a cosmic conflict between good and evil. Concurrently, individuals “began to call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26), to “walk with God” (Genesis 6:9) as well as to receive promises from Him. (Genesis 12:7, 15:4–5, 17:1–5) One of them is Job, who “was blameless,