Lemek Murders Another.

Question: 
Are you able to hear the tone of Revenge in Lamech's statement? Do you, at times, demand justice when God desires to give mercy?

Prayer Focus: 
Ask God to reveal any areas where you want to take revenge and ask Him to help you release the demand in your heart to have an eye for an eye. Ask Him to give you a heart of mercy to forgive the wrongs done to you.

Go Deeper: According to the NET Bible, "Lamech seems to reason this way: If Cain, a murderer, is to be avenged seven times (see v. 15), then how much more one who has been unjustly wronged! Lamech misses the point of God's merciful treatment of Cain, and God was not establishing a principle of justice when he warned he would avenge Cain's murder. He was trying to limit the shedding of blood, something Lamech wants to multiply instead.

The use of "seventy-seven," a multiple of seven, is hyperbolic, emphasizing the extreme severity of the vengeance envisioned by Lamech." We see that Lamech was bent toward revenge, missed the heart of God entirely!" 

Genesis 4:19-24 New Living Translation
19 Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute. 22 Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, gave birth to a son named Tubal-cain. He became an expert in forging tools of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain had a sister named Naamah. 23 One day Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
    listen to me, you wives of Lamech.
I have killed a man who attacked me,
    a young man who wounded me.
24 If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times,
    then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!”