#4 The Fruits of the Fall -- Genesis 4:1‑26
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” wrote Shakespeare. “They all have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.”
Remember those familiar words from English Literature 101? Shakespeare was right: we have many roles to play in life as from time to time we relate to various people and confront different circumstances. The important thing is that we let God write the script, choose the cast, and direct the action. If we disregard Him and try to produce the drama ourselves, the story will have a tragic ending.
That’s what ruined Cain, the first human baby born on the stage of Planet Earth: He ignored God’s script, “did his own thing,” and made a mess out of it. Genesis 4 focuses the spotlight on Cain; he’s mentioned thirteen times, and seven times Abel is identified as “his [Cain’s] brother.” As you consider Cain’s life and some of the roles he played, you will better understand how important it is for us to know God and do His will.
The Book of Genesis is well written and well organized. It is written in an orderly, logical way, and it has an excellent outline to it.
Þ Genesis 1 tells us about the creation of the universe, including the creation of man.
Þ Genesis 2 gives us more detail about man and his world.
Þ Genesis 3 tells us what happened to man and the earth. Genesis 3 reveals how man brought sin into the world and how he and his world had to be judged and condemned to corruption. But Genesis 3 also reveals God’s great promise of a Savior and of a godly seed of people who would survive and serve God down through the coming centuries.
Þ Now, Genesis 4-5 shows how the seed (descendents) of the woman branch out into both an ungodly and a godly line of people. Some of the woman’s seed will be godly people and some will be ungodly people. Genesis 4-5 discusses the children of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman upon earth. Their seed, their children and descendents, stand at the head of the ungodly and the godly lines of the human race.
Þ Cain and his offspring represent the ungodly line of civilization and society.
Þ Abel, who will be killed by Cain, and then Seth and his offspring represent the godly line of civilization and society. It is Abel who worships God as God dictated, and it is Seth and his seed who “call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26).
God made a most wonderful promise to Adam and Eve after they had sinned. He promised a seed—descendents, children—through whom a godly line of people was to be born, and He promised that a Savior would come through that line (Genesis 3:15).
Genesis 4-5 shows us the beginning of God’s promise being fulfilled. Genesis 4-5 gives us “The Birth, Development, and Corruption of Both the Ungodly and the Godly Seed (Descendents) of the Human Race.” The fact to remember is this: from this point on, history—all of history—is a struggle to preserve the godly line or seed of the human race.
James Montgomery Boice gives a graphic description of how Genesis 4-5 covers the ungodly and godly lines of humanity:
“The fourth and fifth chapters of Genesis outline two cultures from the earliest years of earth’s history: the culture of the godless and the culture of the godly.... The two chapters together give a portrait of what Francis Schaeffer has termed ‘the two humanities.’
“Or, since we are dealing with cultures as well as with individuals, ‘the two cities’! This is the distinction invented by Saint Augustine as the basis for his monumental and highly influential work on the philosophy of history, entitled The City of God. According to Augustine, the history of the human race is the history of two groups of people, each having a distinct origin, development, characteristic, and destiny. He wrote that these are ‘two cities...formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God; even to the contempt of self.’ In Augustine’s work ‘city’ means ‘society.’ The earthly society has as its highest expression the city cultures of Babylon and, in what was for Augustine more modern times, Rome. The other is the church, composed of God’s elect. The former is destined to pass away. The latter is blessed by God and is to endure forever.
“The fourth and fifth chapters of Genesis discuss these two humanities, as we have already said. But so far as Genesis goes, the origin of the cities [civilizations, societies] is found one chapter earlier in the words of God to the serpent following the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve. God cursed the serpent, then gave this word both of decree and prophecy: ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’
“Here are three sets of antagonists: 1) the serpent and the woman, 2) the descendants of the serpent and the descendants of the woman, and 3) Satan himself and the ultimate descendant of the woman, Jesus Christ. These are in conflict. But the victory of the godly seed is to be assured by the ultimate victory of Eve’s specific descendant, Jesus” (Genesis, An Expositional Commentary, Vol.1, p.215).
The central lesson deals with true and false worship, true and false approaches to God. The lesson centers around the first two children born upon earth, Cain and Abel. Note how Scripture just covers the overall scenes of their lives. In one brief statement or description, whole periods of their lives are covered. Our minds thirst and reach out for more information, but the Holy Spirit has given us only this brief record. But note how much information is given when we closely observe each statement and description, and in some cases, the words.
This is “The First Children, Cain and Abel: False vs. True Worship, the Beginning of False Worship.”
1. Scene 1: the children’s birth. (v.1-2).
2. Scene 2: the work of Abel (a herdsman) and Cain (a farmer) (v.2).
3. Scene 3: the personal worship of Cain and Abel (v.3-4).
4. Scene 4: God’s response (v.4-5).
5. Scene 5: Cain’s reaction—very angry and downcast (v.5).
6. Scene 6: God’s warning (v.6-7).
When we sin we often do so with the futile hope that we shall obtain the maximum amount of pleasure at the minimum penalty. It seldom works that way, however.
I once heard the story of a man and his wife who decided to go to a drive‑in movie. They thought the price was too high and plotted to put one over on the management of the theater. When they were within a short distance of the drive‑in, the husband climbed into the trunk of the car. The arrangement was that his wife would let him out after she was inside the theater.
All went off as planned, at least as far as getting past the ticket seller was concerned. But when the wife got to the back of the car to let her husband out of the trunk, she discovered that he had the trunk keys in his pocket. In desperation she had to call the manager, the police, and the rescue squad. Neither saw the movie and the trunk had to be cut open. Such is the path of sin. The ride is short and the price is high.
At first glance, the taking of the forbidden fruit and eating of it seemed like a trivial matter, a mere misdemeanor. But Genesis chapter three makes it clear that it was a matter of gravity. Man had chosen to believe Satan rather than God. Adam and Eve had concluded that God was unduly harsh and severe. They decided to seek the path of self‑fulfillment as opposed to servanthood .
The serpent had suggested, indeed, he had boldly asserted, that no harmful effects would be experienced in disobedience to God, only a higher level of existence. But in this fourth chapter of Genesis we quickly see that Satan’s promises were blatant lies. Here the real wages of sin begin to appear.
God commanded our first parents to “be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth” (1:28), and they obeyed this mandate (5:4). The verb knew (vs. 1) is a splendid euphemism for sexual intercourse. It describes an intimate relationship that includes ardor and passion, but also mutuality and oneness. This was an act of procreation, but most likely not the first sexual union between Adam and Eve. The name Cain is related to a word meaning “craftsman” or “metalworker,” but it also sounds like the Hebrew word translated I have acquired. At times in Genesis, the meaning for a name is taken directly from it (for example, Ishmael in 16:11); at other times the meaning is based on a pun—a word that sounds similar to the name itself.
While it’s true that the building of a family isn’t the only purpose for marriage, and not every marriage is blessed with children, it’s also true that children are a precious gift from God and should be welcomed with joy:
Gen. 33:5 5Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.
Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
Gen. 48:9 9“They are the sons God
has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
Psa. 127:3 3 Sons are a
heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
The Jewish people in the Old Testament and the Christians in the first century church would be appalled at today’s abortion statistics and the philosophies of the people who produce them.
The name “Cain” sounds like the Hebrew word for “acquired.” This name is probably to be understood as a play on words. It sounds similar to the Hebrew word, Qanah, which means ‘to get’ or ‘to acquire.’ In today’s vernacular this son would probably have been named ‘Got.’
We have no explanation of the name Abel as we have with Cain (v. 1). Perhaps after Abel was murdered (v. 8), the parents looked back with sadness on the brevity of his life and called him Abel (meaning “vapor”) because his life was over so quickly. Keeping sheep and tilling the ground were equally valid occupations. They reflected merely different interests of the two brothers, not their character. The story of Cain and Abel begins a motif in Genesis of competing sons (like Esau and Jacob, 25:26).
Eve praised God for helping her through her first pregnancy. After all, this was a new experience for her and she had no doctor or obstetrical nurse to assist her. Her second pregnancy brought Abel into the world. His name means “breath” and is the word translated “vanity” at least thirty-eight times in Ecclesiastes. Cain’s name reminds us that life comes from God, while Abel’s name tells us that life is brief.
Genesis is a “family book” and has a good deal to say about brothers. Being the firstborn son, Cain was special; but because of his sin, he lost everything and Seth took his place (Gen. 4:25). Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn, but God bypassed him and chose Isaac. Esau was Isaac’s firstborn son, but he was rejected for Jacob; and Jacob’s firstborn son Reuben was replaced by Joseph’s two sons (49:3-4; 1 Chron. 5:1-2). In fact, God even rearranged the birth order of Joseph’s sons (Gen. 48:8-22). Throughout Old Testament history, God’s sovereignty is displayed in His choices of those who receive His blessing, for all that we receive is because of God’s grace.
Sibling rivalry among brothers is another theme in Genesis. Ishmael persecuted Isaac; Jacob left home so Esau couldn’t kill him; and Joseph’s brothers intended to kill him but decided to sell him as a slave. When sin entered the human race, it gave us dysfunctional and fractured families, and only the Lord can put families together again.
The significance of the name is that it reflects Eve’s faith, for she said, “I have gotten (Qaniti, from Qanah) a manchild with the help of the Lord” (Genesis 4:1).
While there is some discussion among Bible scholars as to the precise meaning of this statement,[1] Eve acknowledged the activity of God in the gift of her son. I believe that Eve understood from the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 that one of her offspring would bring about her redemption. Perhaps she looked upon Cain as her redeemer. If so she was destined for disappointment.
While she may have been mistaken in her hopes for a speedy victory over the serpent by her firstborn child, she was correct in looking for God’s deliverance through her seed. She was, therefore, correct in general but mistaken in particular.
1. There was the birth of Cain. Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. Remember, there had never been a pregnancy or birth upon earth before. Adam and Eve had been created by the direct power of God’s Word and breath. But not any more; hereafter, the human race was to be reproduced through the process of conception, pregnancy, and birth.
Just imagine the experience of Adam and Eve throughout the nine months, their surprise and joy...
· when Eve began to gain weight and her stomach began to enlarge.
· when Eve began to feel movement within her and Adam began to feel the growing child kick.
Today, the joy of expectant mothers and fathers is wonderful, but the joy of Adam and Eve must have been a joy beyond imagination. Just imagine being the father and mother of the first child ever born upon earth!
But, there was more to Adam and Eve’s joy than just the pregnancy and birth of the first child. There was the hope of the promised seed, the Savior of the world. Remember:
Þ God had promised that He would send the Savior through the seed of the woman.
Þ Adam and Eve believed the promise of God. Their belief was so strong that Adam named the woman Eve, which means to give life or the mother of all living.
There are three great lessons for parents in this point.
1) Every parent should be as joyful and hopeful for their children as Adam and Eve were over their first child. But note: one’s joy and hope can be turned into sorrow and tragedy by the child just as Adam and Eve’s joy and hope were soon to be. Usually one thing makes the difference between a joyful or a sorrowful child: how the parent trains up the child.
2) Every parent needs—desperately needs—to believe in the promised seed of the world, the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.
3) Every parent needs—desperately needs—to believe the Word of God and the promises of God.
2. There was the birth of Abel (hebhel). The Hebrew word means vanity, breath, temporary, meaningless, or empty. Why would Eve name her second son Abel, a name that meant empty or meaningless?
Þ Had she already learned that Cain was not the promised seed or Savior? Had she become disillusioned by the fact? Was she now disheartened and downcast because she sensed that the promised Savior was not to come any time soon? Some commentators think this.
Þ Was Eve just sensing the emptiness and meaninglessness of life itself? She and Adam were, most likely, having to work and work hard to cultivate enough land to provide food and to survive in a fallen and harsh environment. Some commentators think this.
Note the Scripture: Scripture does not say why Eve was sensing the vanity—emptiness, meaninglessness, and brevity—of life. But by naming the child Abel, Eve was saying that human existence is sometimes vanity upon vanity: life is sometimes empty and meaningless, and it is always temporary, ever so short, as brief as breath itself.
Abel was a keeper of flocks, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. Nowhere does Moses imply that one of these occupations is inferior to the other. Neither is this account some kind of predecessor to the television shows which have worn thin the theme of the struggle between the dirt farmers and the cattlemen.
(4:2) Cain— Abel— Labor: scene two is the work of Abel and Cain. Abel was a herdsman and Cain a farmer. As his sons grew older, Adam put them to work in the fields; and it became evident over the years that each boy had his own interests and skills. Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd, the first of many shepherds found in the Bible, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons, Moses, and David.
Adam certainly taught his sons why they worked: it was a part of God’s creation mandate and they were co-laborers with God (1:26-31). Work isn’t a punishment from God because of sin, for Adam had work to do in the Garden before he and his wife yielded to Satan’s temptation. The biblical approach to work is that we are privileged to cooperate with God by using His creation gifts for the good of people and the glory of God. (See Col. 3:22-23; 1 Thes. 4:11-12; Ecc. 9:10.)
Work in the will of God isn’t a curse; it’s a blessing. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” (Ex. 20:9, nkjv) was as much a part of God’s Law for Israel as His command to rest on the Sabbath Day. The Bible has nothing good to say about idleness or about the idle people who expect others to provide for them (2 Thes. 3:6-15). Before He began His public ministry, Jesus labored as a carpenter (Mark 6:3); and when he wasn’t traveling or preaching, the Apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker (Acts 18:1-3).
As Christians, we don’t work simply to pay our bills and provide for our needs. We work because it’s God’s ordained way for us to serve Him and others and thereby glorify God in our lives (1 Cor. 10:31). We don’t work just to make a living; we work to make a life, to develop our God-given abilities, and seek to increase the quality and quantity of our labor.
Martin Luther told the dairymaids that they could milk cows to the glory of God, and Theodore Roosevelt said that “the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Perhaps the boys asked their father why their work was so difficult, and Adam had to explain that God had cursed the ground because of his own disobedience. “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” was God’s sentence (Gen. 3:17-19, nkjv), and there was no escape. But this question gave Adam the opportunity to remind his sons of God’s promise of a Redeemer and a day when creation would be set free from the bondage of sin (v. 15).
Note several facts.
First, their profession met the very basic needs of man: that of clothing and of food. Their chosen professions were honorable and contributed to meeting the needs of the family and society.
Second, they had learned their profession from their father. Remember, God Himself had shown Adam how to clothe his family with the skins of animals (Genesis 3:21), and God had instructed Adam to till the ground (Genesis 3:17-19, 23). As the father, he had apparently taught his sons to work diligently.
Two great lessons are seen in the profession and work of the two sons.
1) Our profession—in fact, all professions—should always be for the good and betterment of man, to meet the very basic needs of man’s life. We should never be engaged in any profession that damages, destroys, tears down, or hurts man or society.
2) Parents should always teach their children to work and to work diligently. And they should always teach their children to choose an honorable profession, never to work at anything that hurts or destroys life. (Cp. the industries involved in alcohol, drugs, immorality, and crime.)
Every child—every person—should always make whatever contribution he can to life and society. Everyone of us owes life and society this, just for the privilege of living in such a beautiful and wonderful universe.
All the filth and crime of our cities and societies is due...
· to the dishonorable and destructive professions that some of us have chosen.
· to our allowing some legitimate industries to pollute and destroy our environment and the quality of our lives.
· to our not working diligently enough to do all we can for life and society.
Cain’s problem is not to be found in his means of livelihood, but in the man himself:
So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard … (Genesis 4:3‑5a).
Scene three is the worship of Cain and of Abel. Note: Scripture indicates that Cain and Abel approached God at a specific time and at a specific place for worship.
Þ The specific time is indicated by the words “in the process [or course] of time” (Genesis 3:3). The Hebrew means at the end of the days. What days? Scripture does not say. It could refer to the days of harvest, a very special time when Adam and his sons wanted to set aside a very special day of worship and offering to God.
However, it most likely refers to the end of the week, the seventh day of rest. Remember: God had already blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a day of rest and worship.
But note this: it could also refer to the first time Cain and Abel worshipped on their own, apart from their parents. It may refer to the day when the two sons cut the apron strings—so to speak—and became men on their own and began to approach and worship God on their own. This may be the first time the two sons approached God independent of their parents.
Þ The specific place is indicated by the fact that both Cain and Abel “brought” their offering to a particular place for worship. Where was that place? Again, Scripture does not say, and to guess is just that, a guess.
However, we would expect Adam to establish a place of worship. Adam’s soul was just like our souls—except more so—restless, unfulfilled, and thirsty for fellowship with God. Adam had known perfect fellowship with God. In his fallen condition, he was bound to thirst deeply for God. He was bound to seek more and more for a restoration to the perfect fellowship he had once known. If knowing God in a personal way—if fellowship and communion with Him—is the summit of experiences, then Adam must have sought after God with a diligence seldom, if ever, matched. Having known God in perfection and having experienced perfect fellowship with God must have put an insatiable desire for God within Adam’s heart.
Adam must have, therefore, established a very special place and a very special altar where he and his dear family sought after God and faithfully worshipped God. Where, then, was the place where Adam and his family worshipped? Again, Scripture does not say. But note this: it would be only logical and rational for Adam to worship God right at the entrance to the Garden of Eden, the very place where he had known face to face fellowship with God. Many commentators hold this position, thinking that God actually instructed Adam to build an altar and to worship Him at the entrance to the Garden where the cherubim stood guard.
Note that God seems to still talk with Adam and his family face to face, probably from between the cherubim (Genesis 4:6-7, 9-15). This fact plus the fact that the sons bring their offerings to a particular place for worship gives significant weight to the place of worship being at the entrance to the Garden. The Garden’s entrance would certainly be the dearest and most meaningful spot to Adam’s heart.
Adam and Eve had learned to worship God during those wonderful days in the Garden before sin had brought its curse to their lives and to the ground. Certainly they taught their children about the Lord and the importance of worshiping Him. Workers need to be worshipers or they may become idolaters, focusing on the gifts and not the Giver, and forgetting that God gives the power to work and gain wealth (Deut. 8:10-20).
Genesis does not explain how the practice of sacrificial worship began. The first readers of the book understood it well, because they had been instructed in full by God through Moses (see Leviticus). Some people assume that Cain’s sacrifice of fruit was deficient because it did not involve the shedding of blood, which God required for forgiveness of sins (see Heb. 9:22). But nothing in chapter 4 indicates that Cain and Abel came to God for forgiveness: their sacrifices were acts of worship.
In the later sacrificial system of Israel, God blessed the presentation of grain offerings alongside the sacrifices of animals (see Lev. 6:14–23). A farmer presented a portion of his produce just as a herdsman presented a sample of his flock.
When God clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals (Gen. 3:21), perhaps He taught them about sacrifices and the shedding of blood; and they would have passed this truth along to their children. True worship is something we must learn from God Himself, for He alone has the right to lay down the rules for approaching Him and pleasing Him in worship.
Abel’s sacrifice was the best that he had to offer—the firstborn and their fat. There are no similar descriptive words for Cain’s sacrifice. That is, Cain brought a token gift of his produce to the Lord, but Abel brought the very best. God respected or looked with favor first upon the person, then on his sacrifice (see Ps. 40:6–8). Abel’s offering was “more excellent” than Cain’s because of Abel’s faith in the Lord (Heb. 11:4).
God accepted Abel and his sacrifice, and perhaps indicated this by sending fire from heaven to consume the animals; but He rejected Cain and his sacrifice. It was “by faith” that Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain (Heb. 11:4), which means that he had faith in God and was right with God.
The fact that people attend religious meetings and participate in church activities is no proof that they’re true believers. It’s possible to have “a form of godliness” but never experience its saving power (2 Tim. 3:5). “These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8). The most costly sacrifices apart from the submission of the heart can never make the worshiper right before God (Ps. 51:16-17). “The way of Cain” (Jude 11) is the way of self-will and unbelief.
When God rejected his offering, Cain became very angry. (The Hebrew word implies that he was “burning with anger.”) God spoke to him personally and tried to lead him back to the way of faith, but Cain resisted. It’s just like the Lord to give us another opportunity to obey Him, and it’s just like stubborn sinners to refuse His gracious help.
The gracious words of the Lord (vs. 7) were that Cain could get it right! He did not have to go on being angry and morose, he could do well. Sin was lying at the door, about to pounce on him as a lion.
The Lord warned Cain that temptation was like a fierce beast crouching at the door of his life, and he had better not open the door. It’s dangerous to carry grudges and harbor bitter feelings in our hearts, because all of this can be used by Satan to lead us into temptation and sin. This is what Paul meant when he wrote “neither give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27). If we aren’t careful, we can tempt ourselves and bring about our own ruin.
And note two other things:
Þ Adam would have been very careful how he approached God. He would want to please God to the utmost when he approached God, ever hoping to be restored to the perfect fellowship he had known. Therefore, when Adam entered the place of worship, he would approach God exactly as God had instructed: by the way of sacrifice.
Þ Adam would also have been very, very careful to teach his family how to approach and worship God. In fact, Adam would have shared time and again his own personal experiences with God, how wonderful face to face fellowship and communion with God is.
Now, to the major subject of these two verses and of this particular scene (Genesis 3:3-4): the personal worship of Cain and Abel.
1. First, there was Cain’s false worship: he approached God and offered produce—the works of his own hands—to God. Cain was a farmer, so he took what he had, produce, and he brought his produce as an offering to God. We can imagine that the produce was the very first of Cain’s harvest and the very best produce he had.
2. Second, there was Abel’s true worship: he approached God and offered a sacrifice—a substitute life—to God. Abel approached God by taking the first—the very best—of his flock and sacrificing the animal and offering it to God.
(4:4-5) Worship— Offerings— Cain— Abel: scene four: God’s response to the worship of Cain and Abel. The Lord looked upon Abel with favor and accepted his offering, but He looked upon Cain with disfavor. He did not accept Cain’s offering.
Note several significant points.
1. God did not just accept and reject the offerings; He accepted and rejected the man as well.
Þ Both Abel and his offering were accepted by God (Genesis 3:4b).
Þ Both Cain and his offering were rejected by God (Genesis 3:5).
This is of critical importance: it was the offering that made the man either acceptable or unacceptable to God. Scripture is very clear about this. This is what this passage is all about—its major lesson—the worship of God, the false and true approach to God.
2. What was it that made Abel’s offering acceptable? The New Testament tells us:
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4).
What was the sacrifice of Abel? The sacrifice of an animal: its life, its blood. Why did Abel sacrifice an animal? Because his father, Adam, had taught him to approach God through the sacrifice of an animal. When Adam sinned, God killed an animal and clothed Adam with its skin. By this very act, God taught Adam...
· that sin causes death.
· that an innocent substitute had to sacrificially die in order to clothe man’s shame and guilt.
· that thereafter man could approach God only if his shame and guilt were hid through the sacrificial death of an innocent substitute.
This, of course, pointed to Christ, the promised seed and Savior of the world. As pointed out above, Adam was bound to teach his family how to approach and worship God. This is what Abel is doing, approaching God just as his father had taught him. Abel had no other way—none whatsoever—to know that such a thing as killing an animal and offering it to God would be acceptable to God. Adam is bound to have taught him this approach to God.
Now, note the New Testament verse again: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice...by which he obtained witness that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4).
Þ Abel had faith—he believed—that God would accept him through the sacrifice of an innocent life.
Þ God accepted Abel’s approach and worship: he was counted righteous because he believed and approached God through the sacrifice of an innocent life.
Remember: the sacrifice pointed toward Christ, His sacrifice upon the cross for the sins of men. Abel might not have known the full revelation of Christ, but he believed that God accepted the sacrifice of the innocent life as a substitute for him. He believed, even as his father Adam believed, that God accepted the sacrifice...
· as bearing his sins for him.
· as suffering the judgment of his sins for him, the judgment of death.
3. What was it that made Cain’s offering unacceptable? Note what Cain did; note two facts about his offering:
Þ Cain offered only produce to God, only what his own mind and hands had produced.
Þ Cain did not offer what Abel offered: an animal sacrifice—a substitute life—to God. Cain did not approach God through the sacrifice of an innocent life.
Why? Why would Cain not approach God through the sacrifice of an innocent life? The answer is again found in the New Testament.
a. Cain did not do what Abel did: seek to be acceptable to God—seek the righteousness of God—through the sacrificial offering of an innocent life.
b. Cain wanted to use a different way and approach to God. For some reason, he brought the fruit of his own hands to God. He wanted God to accept him because of his hard work and because he worshipped and gave offerings to God. Why did Cain approach God this way?
Þ Was Cain reacting against the bloody sacrifice of animals as an approach to God? Scripture definitely says this. He just did not believe—not like Abel—that the sacrificial offering of an innocent life was the way to approach God (Hebrews 11:4). If he had, he would have offered a sacrifice to God
Þ Did Cain think that giving God the best of his own mind, work, and fruit was a much better way to approach God? That is, was Cain seeking to establish a different approach and way to God? This is exactly what Scripture says. Scripture says that Cain was a false teacher who sought to establish a false way to God. In fact, Scripture calls all false approaches and ways to God “the way of Cain” :
Note what Scripture says:
Jude 1:4 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about£ long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude 1:11 11Woe to them! They have
taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they
have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
The point is this: Cain’s worship was false. Cain was seeking God’s acceptance...
· by his own way
· by his own approach
· by his own works
· by his own mind and ideas
· by some other approach than by the sacrifice of an innocent life.
This is the reason God rejected Cain’s offering. Cain—just as Adam, Eve, Abel, and all of us—needed a Savior.
Þ Cain needed the innocent (righteous) life that could bear his sin for him and stand before God as his righteousness.
Þ Cain also needed the sacrifice of an innocent (righteous) life that could stand before God as his substitute in death.
Þ Cain needed the faith; he needed to believe in God, that God would accept him if he approached God just as God had dictated: through the sacrifice of the innocent life.
No person can earn, win, or merit salvation. No person can approach God through his own works, energy, efforts, fruits, ways, religion, ceremony, or ritual. The reason is clearly evident: no person is perfect: “We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have a sin problem and a death problem that has to be taken care of before we can ever be acceptable to God. God has taken care of this in the sacrifice of His Son for our sins. Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself and died for them. This is what the sacrifice of the innocent life symbolized in the Old Testament. Abel believed God, believed that the death (the blood) of the sacrificial animal covered his sins. Therefore, God accepted him—accepted him because his sins were removed—by the blood of the animal.
God accepts no person apart from Jesus Christ, the promised seed and Savior of the world. Before Christ came, the persons who truly believed in the promised Savior approached God through the sacrifice of an innocent life (an animal sacrifice). But since Christ has come, we who believe in Him—truly believe—know that He, Himself, is the great Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins.
The point is this: God has never accepted any person—Old Testament or New Testament, before Christ or after Christ—apart from the shedding of blood. The blood of the innocent life—the animal which pictured the coming Savior and His death—had to be shed for Old Testament believers. The blood of Christ Himself had to be shed for all persons through all the generations of human history.
Note this: there have been two Scriptures thus far in Genesis that deal with the sacrifice of an animal(s). These two Scriptures are significant events in the early life of man’s history as recorded in Genesis (Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:2-5). In both cases an animal was sacrificed.
Þ In the first case, the animal’s life was given up to clothe Adam and Eve, thereby symbolizing their need to be covered by God in righteousness through the sacrifice of another.
Þ In the second case, the animal life was given up as an act of worship.
Some persons look upon the Old Testament sacrifice of animals as ugly, repulsive, and awful. They call such an approach to God a “bloody religion.” They reject the blood of Jesus Christ—His death, His cross—as the major purpose for His life. They turn away from the sacrifice of His death to the teachings of His life. They claim to follow His teachings, to approach God by patterning their conduct, goodness, rituals, ceremonies, and religion after His teachings. They do just what Cain did, they offer God the best they are able to produce with their own hands and works.
Man just feels a little more humane, a little more civil, by denying “the blood of Christ” for the sins of the world. To reject what is sometimes called a “blood religion” makes a person feel more acceptable in a so-called civilized society.
Two things need to be noted.
1) The cross should be viewed as repulsive. The cross is a symbol of sin and shame. Hanging upon the cross, God’s very own Son bore our sins and the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2). Sin and shame are always repulsive, and the fact that God’s Son hung there becoming sin for us is abhorrent. Nothing could be any more distasteful than what actually happened.
2) The cross should be viewed as glorious. The cross is a symbol of life and of forgiven sins (1 Peter 2:20). Through the cross God gloriously reconciles man to Himself and to one another. So much comes through the glorious work of the cross that Paul just exclaimed, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).
The Israelites who first read these words of Moses would have little difficulty in grasping the problem with the sacrifice of Cain. They received this as a part of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. As such, they understood that man could not approach God without the shedding of sacrificial blood. While there were non‑bloody sacrifices, man could only have access to God through shed blood. Cain’s offering fell short of God’s requirements of the Law.
While we do not know what God revealed to Adam or to his sons, we are assured that they knew what they were to do. This is clear from God’s words to Cain:
Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:6‑7).
Scene five is Cain’s reaction. He became angry—very angry—and downcast. The Hebrew is descriptive in picturing Cain’s reaction: he burned with anger, ferocious anger, and his face and countenance fell and were downcast. Cain was furious, full of rage and malice, and his face showed it. He walked around looking downcast, deeply disappointed.
Cain was angry at God for not accepting and blessing his worship. He was angry because he could not approach and worship God as he wanted, because he was told that he was not acceptable to God if he did not worship God through the sacrifice of an innocent life. He should have been angry at himself, for his own unbelief and hypocrisy. Cain was the one at fault; he was the one who had disobeyed God and approached God in his own strength, with the works of his own hands. As soon as he felt his face and countenance fall, he should have fallen to his knees, begged for forgiveness, and repented of his unbelief and hypocrisy.
Cain was also angry with his brother, filled with envy and jealousy against his brother. Why? Because God had accepted and blessed the worship of Abel. Cain resented and despised Abel. He was furious because Abel was full of assurance and confidence, because Abel had done exactly what God had said, and God had richly blessed Abel. Again, Cain should have been angry at himself, repented, and begged God for forgiveness, but he refused and reacted instead.
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil” (Psalm 37:8).
“He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated” (Proverbs 14:17).
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32).
“Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go” (Proverbs 22:24).
“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” (Eccles. 7:9).
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:22).
“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8).
God’s question clearly implies that Cain’s anger was ill‑founded. While we do not know the specifics of what ‘doing well’ involved, Cain did. Cain’s problem was not one of lack of instruction, but of insurrection and rebellion against God.
Cain, like so many people today, wanted to come to God, but he wanted to do it his way. This may work at the hamburger stand. They may let you do it ‘your way’ as the commercial says, but God will not. As a friend of mine says, ‘You can go to heaven God’s way, or you can go to hell any way you please.’
Notice that Cain was not an irreligious person. He believed in God, and he wanted God’s approval. But he wanted to come to God on his terms, not on God’s. Hell, as I have said before, will be populated with religious people.
Cain did not want to approach God through shed blood. Cain preferred to offer God the fruit of his labors. He had a green thumb, and bloodstained hands had no appeal to him. Men today differ little. Many are those who, like the demons (cf. James 2:19), believe in God, and who acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. But they refuse to submit to Him as Lord. They refuse His sacrificial and substitutionary death upon the cross as the payment for their sins. They wish to come to God on their own terms. The message of the gospel is very clear: there is no approach to God except through that which Christ has earned through the death of the cross.
Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’ (John 14:6).
… And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
… And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness ( Hebrews 9:22).
… but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (I Peter 1:19). (Cf. also Luke 22:20; Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25; 5:9; Ephesians 1:7).
How gracious God was to seek out Cain and to gently confront him with his sinful anger. How clear was the message of restoration and the warning concerning the danger he faced. But the counsel of God was rejected.
This week a friend of mine pointed out to me the wisdom of God’s rebuke. How easy it would have been for God to have corrected Cain by comparing him with Abel. That is the way we parents often handle the discipline of our children. But God did not say “Why don’t you worship me like your brother Abel does?”
God pointed Cain to the standard which He had set, not to the example of his brother. Nevertheless, Cain made the connection. Cain’s offering was not accepted; Abel’s was. God gently admonished Cain and instructed him that the way to win His approval was to submit to the divine pattern of approach to God. Cain concluded that the solution was to eliminate his competition—to murder his brother.
One thing must be clear. It was not just the sacrifice that was the problem. Much more, it was the person who sought to present the offering. Moses tells us,
And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard (verse 4b,5a).
The source of the problem was Cain, and the symptom was the sacrifice.
Verse 7 is pregnant with implications:
If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:7).
The way to get over his depression was to change his performance. He would feel better as he did better. In one sense Cain was right in being angry with himself. He was wrong in his animosity toward his brother and his God.
Scene six is God’s warning. This is a striking scene, a scene of God’s love and compassion. Despite Cain’s terrible sin of false worship, of unbelief and apostasy, God was willing to forgive Cain. In fact, God wanted Cain to repent and to approach God through sacrifice. God was not willing for Cain to perish, not without God first reaching out and trying to save Cain.
God drives four points home to the heart of Cain.
1. If you do what is right, you will be accepted. Note that God asks several questions of Cain:
Þ Why are you angry?
Þ Why is your face and countenance downcast?
Note that God answers the questions Himself by asking Cain another question:
Þ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
God used questions to stir Cain to think about right and wrong worship, about the right and wrong approach to God, about the right and wrong offering to secure God’s approval. God longed for Cain to repent and to bring the right sacrifice, to approach God in the right way: by the sacrifice of an innocent life.
2. If you do not do what is right, then sin lies at the door. Doing right means approaching God properly, just like a person should. Abel’s approach by animal sacrifice was doing right; therefore, his worship and approach to God was accepted. Cain’s approach was not doing right; therefore, his offering was not accepted.
Cain did not do what was right; he did not approach and worship God as he should. Note: God calls this sin. Failing to approach and worship God as He dictates is sin. The picture of sin painted by the Hebrew is graphic: sin is like a wild beast crouching at the door of a person’s house, ready to jump upon and devour the person.
But note: this is a particular sin, the sin of a false worship, of a false approach to God. It is this particular sin that is so fierce and ferocious.
Note this also: this is the first time the word sin (chattath) is mentioned in the Bible. It means to miss the mark just like an archer who misses his mark. Cain had missed the mark in his approach to God. He had approached and worshipped God, but his approach and worship had missed God.
3. Sin desires to have you. The sinful false worship—the sin of offering your own goodness and works, ritual and ceremony to God, the sin of personal goodness and righteousness—wants to enslave and devour you, to possess you. This particular sin, the sin of false worship and of a false approach to God, will lead to more and more sin. It will devour you and lead you into more and more self-righteousness and self-sufficiency.
4. You must master sin. You must approach and worship God as He dictates. You must approach God through sacrifice, and depend upon God for His presence and power to conquer and overcome sin.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephes. 3:20).
Note Cain’s silence. No response is mentioned. Apparently, he never responded to God. He chose to continue on in his sin of false worship, of approaching God as he wished. He just continued to reject sacrifice as the only approach to God.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” (John 14:9).
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5).
If Cain chose to ignore God’s gentle prodding, let him be fully aware of the dangers ahead. Sin lay waiting for him like a crouching animal. It wanted to master him, but he must master it.[2] Cain is faced with a decision and held accountable for his choice. He need not succumb to sin, just as we should not, because God always gives sufficient grace to resist temptation (cf. I Corinthians 10:13).
The murderer (Gen. 4:8-10)
We can’t separate our relationship with God from our relationship with our brothers and sisters. (That includes our natural brothers and sisters as well as our brothers and sisters in the Lord.) An unforgiving spirit, such as possessed Cain, hinders worship and destroys our fellowship with God and God’s people (Matt. 5:21-26; 6:14-16). It’s better that we interrupt our worship and get right with a brother than to pollute our sacrifice because we have a bad spirit within.
Murder (Gen. 4:8)
The murder was stunning in its lack of precedent, its suddenness, and its finality. Jesus spoke of this ghastly event as a historical fact (Matt. 23:35).
Anger is a powerful emotion that can lead to violence and even murder. Jesus taught that anger in the heart is the moral equivalent of murder with the hands (Matt. 5:21-26). Every year angry drivers cause accidents that kill 28,000 people on the U.S. highways, and angry people who have been fired from their jobs have killed hundreds of innocent people. Had Cain heeded God’s warning and accepted His gracious invitation (Gen. 4:7), he would never have become a murderer.
How soon after his worship was rejected did Cain entice his brother away from home and kill him? Was it on the same day, or did he brood over the matter a few days? He probably murdered his brother in his heart many times before he actually committed the deed. He was envious of his brother because of his relationship with God (1 John 3:12), and yet Cain was unwilling to get right with God. When we hate others, it’s a sign we’re not walking in the light (1 John 2:9-11) and that we don’t have God’s love in our hearts (1 John 3:10-16).
Lying (Gen. 4:9-10)
Cain was a child of the devil (1 John 3:12), which means he was a murderer and a liar (John 8:44). He lied to his brother when he enticed him to the place where he killed him. He lied to himself in thinking that he could do such an evil deed and get away with it. Cain even tried to lie to God and cover up his wicked deeds!
There’s a definite parallel between God’s dealings with Cain in Genesis 4 and His dealings with Adam and Eve in chapter 3. In both instances, the Lord asked questions, not to get information (for He knows everything) but to give the culprits opportunity to tell the truth and confess their sins. In both instances, the sinners were evasive and tried to cover up what they had done, but both times God brought their sins out into the light and they had to admit their guilt.
Adam and Eve had run to hide when they heard God’s voice (v. 8), but God heard Abel’s voice crying from the ground and Cain couldn’t hide. That blood of Abel cries out until the blood of One even more innocent than Abel is shed as well (Heb. 12:24). In the manner of his death, Abel depicts the Savior Jesus. The shedding of innocent blood pollutes the land (Num. 35:30-34) and that blood cries out for justice (Job 16:18; Isa. 26:21; Rev. 6:9-10). Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, and Cain became a rejected wanderer in the earth.
The more you think about Cain’s sin, the more heinous it becomes. The murder wasn’t motivated by sudden passion; it was carefully premeditated. Cain didn’t kill a stranger in defense; he murdered his own brother out of envy and hatred. Furthermore, Cain did it after being at the altar to worship God and in spite of God’s warning and promise. Finally, once the horrible deed was done, Cain took it all very lightly and tried to lie his way out of it.
When the two men were in the open field (seemingly where there could be no witness, cf. Deuteronomy 22:25‑27), Cain killed his brother. God now came to Cain in judgment.
Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Genesis 4:9).
Cain’s insolence is incredible. Not only does he lie in denying any knowledge of Abel’s whereabouts, he seems to rebuke God for the question. There may even be a sarcastic play on words to the effect, “I don’t know. Shall I shepherd the shepherd?”[3]
The ground was cursed on account of Adam and Eve (3:17). Now the earth has been stained with the blood of man, and that spilled by his brother. That blood now cries out to God for justice (4:10). God, therefore, confronts Cain with his sin. The time for repentance has passed and now the sentence is passed on Cain by the Judge of the earth.
It is not the ground which is cursed again, but it is Cain.
And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth (Genesis 4:11‑12).
Cain was the third to be cursed of God; first was the serpent (3:14) and second was the ground (3:17). Cain had been blessed with a ‘green thumb.’ He had attempted to approach God through the fruits of his labor. Now God cursed him in the area of his strength and sin. Never again will Cain be able to sustain himself by tilling the soil. While Adam had to earn his living by the sweat of his brow (3:19), Cain could not survive by farming. For him the curse of chapter three had been intensified. For Adam farming was difficult; for Cain it was disastrous.
Cain’s response to the first rebuke of God had been sullenness and silence, followed by sin. Cain is no longer silent once his sentence has been pronounced, but there is no indication of repentance, only regret.
And Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is too great to bear! Behold, Thou hast driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Thy face I shall be hidden, and I shall be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and it will come about that whoever finds me will kill me’ ( Genesis 4:13‑14).
The wanderer (Gen. 4:11-15)
A vagabond has no home; a fugitive is running from home; a stranger is away from home; but a pilgrim is heading home. “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life” (Deut. 30:19). Cain made the wrong choice, and instead of being a pilgrim in life, he became a stranger and a fugitive, wandering the land.
God’s curse (Gen. 4:12)
Jehovah had cursed the serpent (3:14) and the ground (3:17), but He had not cursed Adam and Eve. However, He did curse their son Cain, who was a child of the devil (the serpent). Cain had defiled the ground with his brother’s blood, and now the ground wouldn’t work for him. If Adam toiled and struggled day after day, he would get a harvest (3:17-19); but for Cain, there would never be fruit from his labors. So, he couldn’t continue as a farmer. All he could do was wander from place to place and eke out a living.
Cain’s regrets (Gen. 4:13-14)
Sadly, Cain expressed his distress only at the punishment he received, not at the crime he had done. Nor was there any note of repentance concerning his dreadful action. anyone who finds me: Most have assumed that the others whom Cain feared were sisters and brothers already born but not mentioned or those yet to be born. This idea is based on the wording of 5:4, “and he (Adam) had sons and daughters.” Some have proposed that God created others outside the Garden of Eden, but the Scriptures give no indication of this. It makes sense to conclude that Cain was afraid of his siblings.
Cain never repented of his sins; his words reveal only remorse and regret. He didn’t say, “My guilt is more than I can bear.” He was concerned only with his punishment, not with his character. If he wandered from place to place, he would be in danger; but if he stayed in one place, he would starve. The earth had turned against him, God had turned against him,6-6 and people would turn against him. Anybody Cain met would be a relative who might want to avenge Abel’s murder. What could he do?
By hating and murdering his brother and refusing to repent, Cain created for himself an intolerable life. He opened the door to temptation (4:7) and closed the door on his family, God, and his future. No matter where he lived or what he did, Cain would always be a restless man for whom there was no remedy.
God’s mercy (Gen. 4:15)