Unlike the note after Cain’s son, the note after Seth has a son states that people “began to call upon the name of the Lord.”
This can have several meanings. One is that they began to pray. It’s unlikely that they only then began to pray. That nobody would pray at all for a few decades is not likely. However, for there to be a specific reason for prayer is quite probably. Several commentators have written that this may hve been the “first revival,” when his son Enos was born. That is plausible, as they realized that it wasn’t going to be just Seth redeeming them. They would be there for a long time, having children upon children, populating the planet. And yet, despite all the time it took, they saw that God was still with them. Calling upon the Lord for a specific reason is quite possible.
The possibility that this meant “call upon” to mean “profane” isn’t a really well-known notion among commentators. However, I think profaning can make sense. God may have put Genesis 4:24 after those to make a point: All these other things came after a number of generations – violence, war, ungodly music, and so on. However, what started the tragic drifting away from God was not the unGodly music, the weapons, or anything else. It was the mindset of profaning God's name. And, it started *very* early; then, in the generation right after Seth's son was born. All those things people think of as profaning His name were only byproducts, the root cause was mankind taking God off the throne of their hearts.
However, in another way, this seems like a major stretch. The word for “call,” according to Strong’s concordance, is used for calling upon, or crying out to, in most instances. In other instances, it can mean “to call oneself by the name,” but it’s never used to mean “to profane.”
However, that brings up a third possibility, that it means that people called themselves by the name of the Lord, in the same way that the early believers called themselves Christians first at Antioch. This is a very likely scenario, because as the lines of Seth and Cain drifted apart, there was a need to differentiate oneself, to say, “I am a follower of God.”
Interestingly, when one looks at it, this also can tie in the other two. While this term was never used mean “to profane,” this was the time when people truly began to ddegrade God in their hearts, which caused all the problems in the later stages of the antediluvian (pre-Flood) world, which had been mentioned a few verses earlier. Not only that, but it’s quite plausible - as people saw this drastic falling way from God - that those who chose to follow god truly realized a major problem existed. And, that they needed God’s protection and provision in a great way. Because, only the Lord can protect us and help us from all of the problems of this world.
This is what we must realize today, as well. In a world that is so filled with wickedness, it is vital that people receive Christ’s forgiveness so they can have a personal relationship with Him, so He can guide and direct them through this turbulent time.
