vs 1-2
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
I have often wondered about how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden before the fall. I have had skeptical friends say the Bible is not accurate because it never mentions dinosaurs, then I thought what if Dinosaurs were just reptiles that never stopped growing over hundreds, or even thousands of years in the garden? Other skeptics have said that the earth is millions of years old, you can do carbon dating etc. Then I thought well what if Adam and Eve lived in the garden for a long long long time. I feel that any question that you can ask can be answered by using the Word of God, and by following thoughts to their logical conclusion. Here in chapter 4 I believe this is the first instance of a child being born. There is a possibility that Eve could have had other children before Cain before the fall, but I believe that Cain was her first born. "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord". SO, as we unpack this we have to keep in mind that Adam and Eve may be hundreds, thousands or even millions of years old(I dont think millions but it is possible I guess). Here is the beginning of mankind and "society". This I do believe can be dated back to the 6-10 thousand year ago time table. Cain seems to take on the jobs dealing with the ground, doing the "grunt" work. Able seems to follow more of his father's trade in working with animals and tending the sheep. Nothing wrong with what either was doing, as we read along we will see the difference between the brothers is an attitude of the heart.
vs 3-7
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
As we read this portion of scripture keep in mind that...
The Law was not even in the mind of anyone back when these things were happening. I do not believe the Bible is telling us that God rejected Cain's offering because it was not an animal sacrifice. I believe again that it is the attitude of Cain's heart, he brought this offering to God either out of duty, pride, to compete with his brother, or this could be a primitive act of religion that God to this day is just not impressed by or happy with. Able brings to Christ the first of his flock, and their fat portions. It was the very best to give to God. The word sacrifice is sometimes used when talking about acts of worship. You give your money because you know that there are other things you could buy, but instead you want to give the first of your fruits to God as an act of worship. I think the over lying idea is this: We do not come to God under our circumstances. We do not come to God outside of Jesus Christ. There is one way to worship and come to God, and that is worshiping , and loving Jesus Christ. I believe this is found way back here in the opening chapters of the Bible, and is the running theme throughout the rest of the bible new and old testament. God does not accept, or "regard" false worship. He very simply is a narrow God, who demands worship in Spirit, and Truth. Cain failed, and was very angry that what he offered to God was not good enough. Does this change God's attitude towards Cain? No, God is not worried about how you feel, or what your opinion is. God is first and for most for God, and if He wasnt,well that would be what we call idolatry. So God comes to Cain and says why are you angry son? Do the right thing and I will accept you, and your offering. But know one thing Cain, sin is coming for you, its desire is to consume you, you must take control and rule over your sin. That is a paraphrase but this is HUGE. Satan, the father of sin, and the father of lies is already hard at work in Cain's heart and mind. We will see in the next few verses he results of the person who hears the warnings of God, and ignores them
vs 8-12
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
Its crazy how over thousands and thousands of years some things never change. There are some things in this life that all people, from all time periods from all cultures can relate too. Sibling rivalry is one of them. Able is a man after God, he is regarded by God, which is huge, and Able has a heart to give worship and praise to God out of a pure heart. Cain has no true love for God. He has a whole lot of religion, but no true love. That is the difference between Christians and everyone else. If you do not love Jesus Christ, you will become in love with your religion, and your good deeds, but never know Jesus. Some people would rather not even think of Jesus, and just love their church, religion etc. We need to know that Paul tells us that even works for "Righteousness" do not save us, (let alone evil deeds or works of legalism) That the only way a person is saved is by grace through faith. Cain did not love God, and HATED the love he saw in his brother for Christ. That jealousy, and bitterness ate at him to the point of murder! I find it interesting as well that after Cain murders his brother God comes along very similarly to the way he did with Adam and asks, "Cain where is your brother?" These questions that God asks are not because God doesnt know the answer! God is our Father, THE Father. And when we make mistakes we need to know that the first person we need to RUN to is Him. When God rebukes his children its not in the same way as a harsh mean supervisor at work.It is a loving Father that sits his kids down, looks them dead in the eye and says stop it now, I know best, I will not let you hurt yourself. What we think is suffering, sometimes is Fatherly discipline that is refusing to let us play in the proverbial street. He sees the on coming traffic and what it will do to us. I titled this chapter the first martyr because Able really is the first person ever killed because of his love for God. In the book of Revelation we read about the voice of those that have been martyred asking God how long will it be until you avenge us? I sometimes wonder if there is a connection between Able's blood crying from the ground, and those martyrs voices.
vs 13-16
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold,you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
God disciplines those that He loves. And as angry as God is with sin and sinners, He still shows an element of mercy to all mankind. Here Cain throws himself on the mercy seat of God and says that I cannot handle this punishment. God assures Cain that He will protect him. I wonder who exactly Cain is talking about when he says that who ever finds me will kill me, other than to say that by this time there had to of been many sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, who married each other, and continued to pro create. This was not forbidden until the law of Moses came in the book of Leviticus. That being said God puts some kind of marking on Cain, basically protecting him from anyone who would try to hurt him or kill him. We have no idea what this mark looked like, other than a physical marking that meant something to people back then. I see God here treating Cain as a son, and even though there are serious consequences for our sin, God still forgives and loves his people.
vs 17-24
17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold,
then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”
Enoch is a man that we will read more about in the coming chapters. A great man of God that never tasted death. By the end of this list of the descendants of Cain we get to a really wonderful man named Lamech. I think the thing to "get" when reading about Lamech is you see the total depravity of mankind. You see that in our day and age, and again we realize that we have advanced in many ways as the human race, but there are some ways that we are just like Cain, just like Lamech. It seems as if he is mocking Cain and really God by saying that I killed a guy for hurting me, and if Cain is protected seven-fold, then my protection is seventy - seven fold. No regard for God, for his sin and for his father Cain at all. Make no mistake humans are totally depraved, and without the righteousness of Christ covering us, we are no different than the murderer, the rapist or the sexually immoral. What is in the heart of Cain, Lamech and all of us is pride, and a resistance to God and his law. Thank you Jesus for taking our sin away, and giving us your perfection!
vs 25-26
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
So what Able began by being a lover of God, it appears that Seth took up and continued with his offspring. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord, sounds like the very beginning of the people of God coming together and worshiping Jesus in a very primitive church setting! You see the difference between Cain and Seth and their offspring. I do not believe the Bible teaches that there are generation curses, but that as the heads of families the Men need to set the example and many times effect the outcome of how their children view God. Its a huge calling for men to love Jesus, to raise their children in the fear of God. And to be the pastors of their homes. Seth does this, Cain it does not appear to me as if he does so. Its a big calling, men lead your families to Christ!
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