The Law of the Firstborn: Failure
For almost thirty years, I’ve devoted the month of December to a special series of Christmas messages of (usually) four messages. Occasionally I’ve gotten an early start, beginning in November and almost always ending the Sunday just before New Years Day. Once we were cheated out of two December Sundays by unusual snowfalls. (In Victoria, BC, we don’t deal with snow very well.)
Why do we do this? I wrote a post in 2016 describing our practice. To me, one of the Biblical marvels is the Incarnation. Without God sending his Son, we would have no hope in this world. Thank God for Christmas! (And the Easter that followed!)
Each year, I usually settle on a theme sometime in August or September. As we work through the fall months, my research is sporadic, but heats up to a high pitch in late November. Then comes the month of preaching, with Christmas songs in all services. We usually make it through all the Christmas songs in the Majesty hymnal at least once in the four or five Sundays of December.
This year, 2023, our theme is The Law of the Firstborn. I noticed some references somewhere along the way in my Bible reading this year and thought it would make a good series. So far, it hasn’t been disappointing. The fact is, there are so many references and possibilities with this theme that I’ve had to leave aside some references to focus on four key passages for our series.
The first message, The Failure of the Firstborn, is the subject of today’s post.
In the Ancient Near East, the law of primogeniture1 (the rights of the firstborn) was a stabilizing influence in society. Usually firstborn sons received the larger portion of the inheritance, and if a throne was involved, became the next king. Not all ancient societies operated this way — the Romans famously did not automatically follow family lines in inheritance, which often resulted in civil wars when an emperor passed from the scene. But in Israel, and ancient lands of the near east, primogeniture contributed to stability.
We find these inheritance concepts expressed in the Bible. See Dt 21.15-17, for example, where a firstborn son by an unfavored (but prior) wife, maintained his rights over a firstborn son of a more favored (but later) wife. On the other hand, consider how, due to the character flaws of Leah’s sons, Joseph, the firstborn son of Rachel, came to the place of the firstborn in Jacob’s family (1 Chr 5.1). The rights of the firstborn included a “double portion” of the inheritance, the position of leadership in the family (or clan, or ultimately, the nation) as well as a kind of “chief priesthood” in the family.2
One commentator states, “In general, such a firm imposition of the rights of inheritance within a family was concerned to maintain a secure social order.”3 We also find references to this practice in other ancient nations, for example, Assyria: “[If brothers divide the estate of their father … the orchards and wells on] the land, [the oldest son] shall choose (and) take two portions [as his share]”4
That’s the principle, but now to turn to the opening text of our series, Genesis 5.1-3
Gn 5.1-3 ¶ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
Genesis 5 is the genealogy of Adam. It generally lists (we assume) firstborn sons as we go from father to son, all the way from Adam to Noah. Yet the list begins with a surprising aberration. Who is listed as Adam’s firstborn?
Seth.
Seth is of course at least Adam’s third born (or perhaps his number is much higher than “three” — he was born in Adam’s 130th year. We know that Adam had many sons and daughters. We know that Cain was the literal firstborn. And we know that Seth came as the replacement to Cain in Adam’s line.
When Cain was born, no doubt both parents were pleased, but it seems Eve particularly set get store by him.
Gn 4.1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.”
Many commenting on Cain’s birth think that Eve may have seen in Cain an answer to God’s prophecy that her seed would crush the head of the serpent. Alas, if she had such hope, she found out soon enough that Cain was a bitter disappointment, for not only did he not crush the serpent, he became the first murderer when he slew his brother Abel.
Consequently, the thread of Adam’s race is picked up, not with Cain at the head, but another son, Seth:
Gn 4.25 Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
And again, Gen 5.3:
Gn 5.3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
Seth, then, becomes a replacement for Cain. The principle of replacement figures large in the law of the firstborn throughout the Scriptures, as we shall see.
Before we talk about replacement, though, let’s pick up a few other features of our text. Genesis 5.1 has a significant word in it, in Hebrew it is toledoth, translated here as “generations” — “these are the generations of Adam.” The word is often seen as a sort of “header” for various sections of Genesis. The first one is in Genesis 2.4, where we get “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created…” (kjv).5 The next reference is in Genesis 6.9, “These are the generations of Noah…” These are formal statements of beginning. The human race (and all the world) began at the creation (Gen 2.4). The human race had a new beginning with Noah (Gen 6.9). It likewise began again another time when Seth took the lead in Adam’s family, “these are the generations of Adam.” (Gen 5.1)
The other feature to note in Genesis 5 is the idea of likeness. Seth is Adam’s son in Adam’s likeness, according to his image. (Gen 5.3) This recalls Adam’s creation, when Adam (and Eve) was made in the image of God. (Gen 1.27) The creation story is woven into Seth’s story by Adam’s name as well. We see that the word “adam” means “man” and is used generically for man in Gen 1.26-27. “Let Us make man in Our image… God created man in His own image.” Likewise, we see the same in Gen 5.1-3, with Adam’s personal name — “Adam” — used twice and the generic “adam/man” also used twice.
Gn 5.1-3 ¶ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
Genesis five is almost like a “do-over” — after Adam’s fall, after Cain’s failure, the race starts again in Seth, the son in the likeness and image of Adam. It is a do-over, a new beginning, but there is a sour note.
Adam, through Seth and his line, will partly fulfill the Creation Mandate to “replenish the earth,” but the joy and hope this new son represents is marred by that repeated refrain in Genesis 5: “and he died.” Death came upon all men in Adam, and everyone in the line of Adam died. Something of the image of God is diminished as well. Seth is in the image and likeness of Adam, but Adam was made in the image of God.
What do we have, then, in this new “firstborn” son, Seth? We have new hopes, but we have a constant, crushing failure as well. In the Bible firstborn failure is another theme we see again and again: Ishmael, Esau, Reuben, and of course the prototype of firstborn failure, Reuben. We also see occasions of firstborn replacement, not because of any known failure, but in a prophetic, typical sense: Ephraim is preferred over Manasseh, for example.
So in this race, we have hope in each new generation, but every generation is flawed. Seth provided hope and a replacement, but Seth died.
This all began with Adam, and a remarkable reference occurs in Luke’s genealogy, where he traces Jesus’ lineage back to Adam:
Lk 3.38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Adam, in a sense, is God’s “firstborn.” But he failed.
Adam needs replacement. Adam needs a Second Adam, and as we progress in our understanding we will be introduced to Jesus as the Second Adam and the firstborn from all Creation.
Adam failed. We fail in Adam.
Jesus Christ succeeded. If we are in Christ, we overcome all the deficiencies of Adam and will join in the triumph of Jesus Christ at the end of the age.
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
- “Primogeniture The ancient view of the right of the firstborn to inherit the headship of the family. Carries with it titles and rights including high priesthood and kingship.” — John D. Barry et al., eds., “Primogeniture,” in Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [↩]
- In Israel, the office of priest was separated out to the family of Aaron, though the whole nation was called to be a kingdom of priests. [↩]
- Ronald Clements, Deuteronomy, 446, cited in Chad Chambers, “Firstborn,” in Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [↩]
- Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 185, cited in Chambers. [↩]
- The NASB translates as “account” in Gen 2.4. [↩]