In Genesis 4 we find two names which are especially meaningful. The first one is Abel, which means "vanity." As a result of the fall, the human life became a vanity. Look at people today. Although they are very busy, within them there is a gap, a void. Deep within them is a sense of emptiness. Regardless of your social status, regardless how wealthy or how successful you are, when you sit alone in the quiet of the night or early morning, you know there is a gap within you. That emptiness is the vanity that I am talking about. This is exactly what the wise King Solomon meant when he said, "Vanity of vanities, all under the sun are vanity" (Eccl. 1:2-3). In order to escape the second fall of man we must realize that as fallen men without God everything we are, have, and do is empty. We are nothing but vanity.
The second name which is especially meaningful is Enosh, which means "frail, mortal man." After the fall, not only did human life become a vanity, but man also became frail and mortal. We must admit that we are frail, weak, and easily broken. How easily we fail! Man is mortal. No one can boast that he will live another week. No man knows his tomorrow. To escape the second fall of man we need to realize both the vanity of human life and the fragility of man. If we have this realization, we will have no trust in ourselves and, thus, we will not be presumptuous in departing from the way of God.
When we see that we should not be presumptuous, but should live for God and worship Him according to His way and realize the vanity of human life and the fragility of man, we will say, "O Lord, I shouldn't be presumptuous. I must live for You and worship You in Your way. Lord, my life is vanity. I am frail and mortal." When we see that our life is vanity and that we ourselves are frail, spontaneously we will call upon the name of the Lord. This is the reason that Genesis 4:26 says, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." From the time of Enosh, the third generation of mankind, men began to call upon the name of the Lord, realizing their weakness, fragility, and mortality.
In Hebrew, the word for "the Lord" is Jehovah (4:26; cf. Exo. 3:14). The title "God" is primarily used for God's relation to His creation in Genesis 1. The name Jehovah is primarily used for God in relation to man starting from Genesis 2. Jehovah is the name for God coming into an intimate relationship with man. Hence, Genesis 4:26 does not say that men began to call on the name of God, but on the name of Jehovah. Men did not call on the One who created all things, but on the One who was so near to them, on the One who was closely related to them. The name Jehovah means "I am that I am," that is, He is the One existing from eternity to eternity. He is the One who was in the past, who is in the present, and who will be in the future forever. He is the everlasting One. When men realized that they were fragile and mortal, they began to call on Jehovah, the everlasting One. This is the calling on the name of the Lord. This calling began even with the third human generation.
When we are careless about God, we do not call on His name. However, when we realize that we must live for Him and worship Him in His way, and when we realize that we are frail and mortal and that our life is nothing but vanity, spontaneously, from deep within us, we not only pray, but call upon the name of the Lord. Therefore, we must consider this most important seed of calling on the name of the Lord. It is a most significant matter in both the Old and New Testaments.
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