“25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.” – Genesis 4: 25-26

Talk about somebody with a reason to be depressed? Eve was one. She ate forbidden fruit. She brought sin and death to humanity. She and her husband were kicked out of paradise. She and her husband probably had a perpetual undercurrent of resentment between them as to whose fault it was that they no longer lived in Eden. She had one son murdered by his brother. Then, the son who killed his brother was cursed and banished. Other than that, life for her was pretty good!

With all of this going on, we might not be surprised if we had read that Eve had become an alcoholic, a drug addict, a rebellious loose living woman, an atheist or even committed suicide. Instead, what does she do after the loss of her two sons? She has another one!

Some might reason that it is not fair to bring another child into the world given what had happened to her other boys. Others might argue that it was completely selfish of her to subject any person to life in this sinful world. Still, others would protest that whoever that next child would be would end up carrying a very heavy load which he did not create or deserve.

Anyway, Eve had another child and called him Seth. Of him she said: “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” He was a child of hope born to a woman who had been through hell and, yet, still had hope. Here is the courage of Eve. She had lost paradise. She had lost peace in her home. She had lost two sons at the same time. Nevertheless, she had never lost hope.

Verse 26 of this chapter gives us all hope which we may not have seen coming. Eve’s third son Seth had a son whose name was Enosh. After Enosh was born: Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. The end of the Eve’s story is not that she brought sin into the world, but that through her bounce back attitude, like never before, people began to call on the name of the Lord! Thanks Mother Eve for your example and legacy of hope.