Fathers of the Bible: Adam, the first Father
Over the past years we have studied Mothers, Daughters and Sons in the Bible. This year, we are studying Fathers in the Bible. Where better to start than with the first father, Adam.
Adam, the first person and man on earth, was formed and crated by God the Father. He breathed life into Adam.
Adam was a necessary complement to the divine plan. “There was not a man to till the ground” {All the Men of the Bible}
God created man in his own image. He made him from the dust of the ground and breathed life into his nostrils. {Genesis 2:7} He was named Adam which means man, to be red and to make. When the Lord noticed he needed a helpmate, he put him to sleep and from his rib made a woman, Eve. God blesses mankind, commands them to “be fruitful and multiply”, and gives them “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1.26-27).
“Of the ground or taken out of the red earth. The first human son of God (Luke 3:38), and God’s masterpiece and crowning work of creation. Adam was fashioned a creature of God, bearing the image of God and possessing God-like faculties ” {All the Men of the Bible}
After giving in to temptation and eating the forbidden fruit, God expelled the couple from the Garden of Eden.
Just as Eve was the first mother, Adam was the first father. With the invention of DNA, we know that all humankind can trace their DNA back to one woman and one man. Doesn’t this coincide with what the Bible tells us about Adam and Eve?
“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.” {Genesis 4:1-2} The name Cain means acquired and Abel means breath or vapour.
Sadly, the brothers did not have a happily ever after. Cain toiled the soil while Abel kept the flocks. The time came to provide an offering to the Lord, but it didn’t go as the men planned.
“The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So, Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” {Genesis 4:5}
Cain became angry and killed his brother.
We can’t imagine the pain and anguish Adam and Eve must have felt. They lost their first two sons. One to death and the other to exile. Any parent who has lost a child or had a child rebel can relate to this heartbreak.
Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[h] saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” {Genesis 4:25} The name Seth means Anointed or compensation.
“Observe God’s kindness and tenderness towards his people, in his providential dealings with them; when he takes away one comfort from them, he gives them another instead of it, which may prove a greater blessing to them than that was in which they thought their lives were bound up.” {Matthew Henry Commentary}
We also know Adam and Eve had other children, although we know nothing about them. “After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.” {Genesis 5:4}
Adam and Eve had other children we don’t know about. Hopefully, they found great joy and comfort in these children. Adam lived for a long time and probably saw many generations born to his children, as the earth was populated.
“Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.” {Genesis 5:5}
As a father, Adam knew great pain and great joy.