Cain
Genesis 4:1-26
4:1-5
"Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and
bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD.’ Then she bore again,
this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came
to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the
LORD respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and
his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
The name Cain means, "to get". We can only imagine how delighted Adam and Eve were when they got a man-child from the Lord. However, Cain was destined to bring them great heartache. In this chapter, we see the awful results of Adam’s sin as it worked its way out in the lives of his children. Right out of the shoot, the very first family of the human race was shattered by fratricide over, of all things, an exercise of worship gone bad! It is commonly said that the reason that the Lord rejected Cain’s offering was because he did not bring an animal sacrifice. That is not true. The reason Cain’s offering was rejected was because of Cain’s heart. He had a wicked heart filled with unbelief. Proverbs 21:27 says...
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
how much more when he brings it with wicked intent!"
The defining passage on God’s rejection of Cain’s offering is Hebrews 11:4. There we read...
"By faith Abel offered to God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was
righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he
being dead still speaks."
The just live and walk by faith (II Cor. 5:7).
"But without faith it is impossible to
please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6
Cain tried to approach God apart from faith. Perhaps he was copycatting the offerings he had seen his brother Able make. Like many churchgoers today, the end result was that Cain simply carried out a religious thing but not a faith thing. There are many motives for doing religious things but the only essential for connecting with the true and living God is real faith. Hence, Cain’s religious exercise was rejected which angered him exceedingly. The text says, "his face fell!"
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4:6-8
"So the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.’" (KJV reads...And unto thee shall be his desire (Able’s), and thou shalt rule over him.) Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him."
Our God is a very merciful and very good God. He desires that all men be saved and come into right relationship with him (II Pet. 3:9). What we have here, is God’s attempt to make it so for Cain. Notice that it is God who took the initiative with Cain. He came to him and counseled him to change his ways and his way of thinking. Furthermore, he assured Cain that if he would change he, the eldest in the family, could still be in charge. He could still lead and, as firstborn, and be the head over Able. God warned, however, that if Cain were not careful, sin would be the ruin of him. The Lord pictured sin for Cain as a lion crouching ... just outside Cain's door … waiting to pounce on him and drag him away.
Can we step aside here for a minute? It is an axiomatic truth that all human beings are sinners (Rom. 3:23). It is also true that we believers also sin. Not all believers have problems with the same sins but all have problems with one sin or another. Often, a believer’s sins are what could be called his or her "pet" sins. These sins are ones that believers invite into their lives. A bad temper or an unforgiving spirit, filthy language, drugs or alcohol, food or forbidden sex are a few that come to mind. God's will for his children, however, is to deliver them these ravaging lions of sin. The 64,000 dollar question is, "How and when will God to do this?" I believe that the Bible is clear on this. God will deliver a believer from a particular destructive sin …
1. First, God will deliver a believer from
a besetting sin when that believer truly wants him to.
In Psalm 19:13-14, David cried to the Lord...
"Keep back your servant also from
presumptuous sins; let
them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and
I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."
Is that your heart's cry, dear saint? All such cries for God's help from sin catch our loving Father's ear. James 4:2b says...
"Yet you do not have because you do not ask."
The key is to want victory over sin bad enough to ask God for it. After all, he is our Deliverer. He's just waiting for you and me to ask him for his help. So, pray. The problem with a particular sin is not that God can't deliver us from it, it's that often we don't really what him too in the first place ... so we don't ask! Also, often our prayer for deliverance from a besetting sin is half-hearted. Am I right? We want to play with our pet sins ... coddle them a little bit … hold on to them just a bit longer. But, in the end, we find that they have enslaved us and damaged us and others and stolen our joy. Not long ago, my pastor said, "God made birds but he didn't make bird cages." His point was that God made birds to be free. He also made us believers to be free. When we continue to play with sin, however, we eventually find we have built ourselves a cage around us. Then, all we can do is stand there on one leg and forlornly chirp! But even then, there is no cage so strong that God Almighty can't break it open! There is great hope for us … if we really really want it. Ask God.
2. Second, God will deliver a believer from
a besetting sin when that believer fully understands
and truly believes God’s Word that deliverance from the domination of sin
is already a done deal.
As you have it in Romans 6:6-14...
"...knowing this, that
our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might
be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing
that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has
dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all; but
the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise you also,
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your
mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And
do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin,
but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For
sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law
but under grace."
May I ask you a question? Are you dead to sin? The only scripturally correct answer a believer can give is, "YES, I AM!" We have the Word of God on it! However, only when we believe and act on this truth do we experience real victory over sin. In obedience, when we count ourselves to be dead indeed to sin the victory comes. Why? Because we already have been set free, beloved. Glory to God. Say it with me. "I am not a slave to sin. In Christ, I am dead to sin. Sin does not have dominion over me! And, I have been made alive unto God in Christ Jesus." Did you say that? Is it true? It is true. You and I have God’s word on it. We can take it to the bank!
God warned Cain that sin would devour him. But, Cain decided to hold on to the sin of his jealousy, resentment and anger. Later, when he caught his brother alone in the field, he murdered him. It was a great transgression like the one David speaks of above in Psalm 19.
3. Third, God will deliver a believer from
a besetting sin when that believer gets the Word of God in them so
he or she can be delivered by its transforming power.
Have you experienced the amazing raw power that the Word of God has over sin in your life? Have you read your Bible today? Someone has said of the Bible, "Either sin will keep you from this book or this book will keep you from sin." Well said, beloved. The believer will either keep on sinning or he will be kept from sinning by the raw power of the Word of God. When Jesus prayed for you and I in John 17, he prayed to his Father...
"Sanctify them by your truth. Your word
is truth."
Are you being sanctified by the Word of God, dear saint? (Sanctification means being set apart in order to live for God) Romans 12:1-2 says...
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
(that's the "want to" part) holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, (that's the reading of the Word of God part)
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God."
Well that's it in a nutshell. Do we want to have victory over sin? If so, the
path is clear. We must want it and ask for it. We must
know and believe the truth about our relationship to sin (we are dead
to it and alive unto God). And, we must consistently be
immersing ourselves in the powerful cleansing of the Word of God. Then, and only then, can God give us the victory. If we don't
choose to walk according to these basic principles, we're dead meat! Our sins,
like lions,
will eat us alive. They are doorways through which Satan can enter the
believer's life to kill and sack and destroy. As you have it in I Peter 5:8...
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
Cain turned a deaf ear to God's warning about sin. And, like a lion, it pounced on him. As a result, his life was ruined and he ended up a murderer and a vagabond.
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4:9-12
"Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your
brother’ He said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?’ And
He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me
from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its
mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the
ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive
and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.’"
Cain’s true nature is seen in his response to God’s question about
the whereabouts of his
brother. Was he repentant? No. Rather, he was surly. There is another murderer found in
Scripture who is a good contrast to Cain. I’m speaking of King David who
murdered Uriah in order to have Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, for himself (II Sam.
11). David, however, was a man cut from a different cloth than Cain. When the
enormity of what he had done was pointed out to him, he didn’t say, "So what?
I’m the King. I can do as I please." Rather, listen to his words from
Psalm 51:1-11...
"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight; That you may be found just when you speak, and blameless when you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me."
These words of sorrow and repentance brought forgiveness and restoration to David. Cain’s surly words, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" ...did not.
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4:13-15
"And Cain said to the LORD, ‘My punishment is
greater than I can bear! Surely you have driven me out this day from the face of
the ground; I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a
vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill
me.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall
be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest
anyone finding him should kill him."
Why do you think that God didn’t kill Cain for murdering his brother? The answer lies in the fact that capital punishment was not instituted by God until after the flood in Noah’s day. It was not a law in the old pre-flood world in which Cain lived. Also, in spite of the enormity of Cain’s sin, the Lord wanted to extend mercy to him. Truly, his mercy endures forever. At that point in time, everyone living on Earth was closely related. And, doubtless they all were greatly incensed by what Cain had done. Revenge was probably the talk of the day. God forbade it, however, and in great mercy he placed a protective mark on Cain to protect him. We don’t know what that mark was but it was sufficient to deter anyone from laying a hand on Cain. God also punished Cain by cutting him off completely from his chosen occupation of farming. God placed an additional curse on the ground when it came to Cain. It was a curse on top of the curse that was already in place. As a result, Cain was forced to change his occupation. From that day forward, the ground would yield nothing to Cain. This was appropriate for Cain had defiled the ground with his own brother’s blood.
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4:16
"Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD
and dwelt in the
This is a very sad statement, "Cain went out from the presence of
the Lord." There is no record of Cain ever spoke to the living
God again. He turned away from God … unrepentant and unforgiven. He just walked away.
Tragic. The text says he went to the
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4:17-22
"And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and
bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of
the city after the name of his son; Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad
begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name
of the second was Zillah. And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who
dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal. He was the
father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah, she also
bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the
sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah."
Moses, the writer of Genesis, now gives us the genealogy and culture of Cain so that he can dispense with this branch of mankind and get back to the branch of the promised seed ... namely the line of Seth. Immediately, Cain proceeded to build himself a city. There are several interesting aspects of Cain’s culture that are mentioned here. We are told that Cain's people were:
1. City dwellers (Enoch)
2. Polygamous (Lamech)
3. Nomadic keepers of animals (Jabal)
4. Cultured (Jubal)
5. Workers at Industry (Tubalcain)
6. By way of silence in the text ... notably devoid of any relationship with God
4:23-24
“Then Lamech
said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to
my speech! For I have killed a man for
wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
Here we come to the second recorded murder in the human race. Lamech, of the line of Cain, murdered a young man because the young man had hit him. Lamech justified his action to his wives and proclaimed that if Cain would be avenged seven-fold on any who might attack him ... surely he, Lamech, would be revenged seventy-fold since his killing was justified. What a heartless and vicious line Cain was planting upon the earth. Truly, grandfather Cain was beginning to reap what he had sewn. With this sad story, the Bible leaves the line of Cain which will not be heard from again.
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4:25-26
“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." 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.”
With the birth of Seth, we pick up afresh with the line through which the promised Seed would come. This phrase, “then men began to call on the name of the LORD” is better translated, “then men began to call themselves by the name of the Lord”. In other words, when the godly line of Seth named their babies, they began to incorporate the Lord’s name in the names of their children. This speaks loudly of where their hearts were. It is an equivalent to those who, out of love for the Lord and his Word, take biblical names for their children today. There are many names in the Old Testament that follow this principle of incorporating the name of God in their names. For example, take the name Ezekiel. The el ending of his name is one of the biblical names of God. Ezekiel’s name meant, “God is Strong”. This is significant because when we get to chapter 6, we find there a reference to the “sons of God” which is really a reference to Seth’s line ... the line who were following after the living God and incorporating his name in their names. Our text above informs us that this is where that practice began.