Genesis 4:1-16 "The Way Of Cain"

Good Evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Thanks for joining us in our Chapter and Verse study of Genesis.

Next week, there will be NO Mid-week service in lieu of Good Friday service.

And, there will be NO Mid-week service the following Wednesday as LCA needs the space for one of their events.

So, our next mid-week service will be on Wed, April 30th… and that will be A Night of Pray & Worship!

We will continue our Genesis study on May 7th.

Tonight… we continue in Genesis… please open your Bibles Genesis 4. Gen 4:1-16 this evening.

Last time, we concluded chapter 3… Adam & Eve were in Eden… the beautiful garden God made for them that met all their needs… where they walked with God…

But, because of the sin of Adam and Eve… Paradise was lost…

The fall of man was NOT the intent of God, but solely rests on the shoulders of Adam for rejecting the command of God.

Now in a fallen condition… No longer were they appropriately clothed to inhabit Eden…

And to stay in Eden in a fallen condition… they were a danger to themselves for in Eden was the Tree of Life… and lest they partake of it and live forever… fallen…

… God drove them out… He had to force them out… indicating their understandable reluctance…

And He barred the gates with Cherubim and flaming sword.

Their expulsion stands as a reminder to us that sin separates us from God.

As a just God, their disobedience required punishment… but not without hope.

God prophesied in Genesis 3:15 to the serpent, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

This verse is known at the Protoevangelium… in Latin “first Gospel”… and it has relevance already in Chapter 4 as we’ll see tonight.

Morris wrote, “In the great protevangelic prophecy, God had spoken of a coming conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Adam and Eve were soon to experience the reality of this conflict in the tragic history of their two sons.”

The hope of a Savior would be on the minds of Adam & Eve… they would seek salvation… now having lost their Edenic estate.

But little did they expect things to play out how tragically they did with their sons.

Now starting in chapter 4, we see for the first time life outside the garden… and the children of Adam and Eve.

Morris titled Chapters 4-5 of Genesis “The Lost World”… these two chapters picture the mankind’s history after the fall of man, but before the flood in Chapter 6.

This period and the people during this time are called “Antediluvian” meaning “before the deluge”… deluge meaning a severe flood.

During this time…

Population exploded… people were marked by long lives…

Invention and industry exploded…

Which was only matched by violence and godlessness.

By the time we get to Gen 6 wickedness overwhelms the earth… Gen 6:5 reads “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

And this traces back to Cain… and is well described by Jude as “The Way of Cain”… our message title this evening.

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand, if you are able, as I read our passage.

Genesis 4:1-16 “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 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.” 8 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. 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 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 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.” 13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 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.” 15 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.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

So… we have before us the familiar account of Cain and Abel. It’s the well known story of the tragic first murder in mankind… a brother killing his own brother.

But there are also fascinating details… typologies and patterns of mankind on display in this account that are often overlooked…

So, we will unpack these things tonight… and hopefully shed new light on this account…

In V1, we see Adam “knew” his wife, and she conceived.

He “knew” her… which is idiomatic for sexual relations and Adam and Eve had entered into a “one flesh” a marriage relationship at the end of Chapter 2…

So, this progression in their relationship is appropriate… beautiful… esteemed as intimate… designed by God… and intended to be expressed and reserved specifically and only for the precious bond of marriage.

There is no shame when physical intimacy is expressed in marriage and is consensual.

The world condones one night stands and casual sex with people you don’t know… and this is damaging to the soul.

Parents, you should take your kids around age 12 through something like “Passport to Purity”…

… helping them understand the Biblical Worldview around topics of their body, sex, purity, and so forth…

Because the world is shouting a lie… that ‘anything goes’… and it’s destructive on many realms.

But, Adam and Eve… known to one another… married to one another… and THEN they knew one another… and she conceived…

… marking the first conception, pregnancy and birth in the history of mankind.

And post fall pregnancy meant pain in childbirth (Gen 3:16)… which was not part of God’s original design.

Eve had no Pediatrician… No midwife… No modern resources… No baby books… she was the pioneer of pregnancy.

Now, how old was Eve when she gave birth? Probably pretty young!

Some Pastors joke about Eve being 1 year old when she delivered Cain… and that’s a funny thought…

Because the Bible points to Adam and Eve being created as adults with language and communication skills, moral responsibilities. they were assigned physical tasks…

The Bible never mentions they had a childhood… so… technically… Eve could have birthed Cain at a really young age.

You think you didn’t have a childhood…

Adam & Eve literally skipped childhood.

They never knew what it was like to be kids… though they were still young in years…

As a 1 year old… Adam didn’t have an “Animal Book”… he was naming the animals… for the animal book.

Must have been pretty wild for Adam and Eve who never saw a baby before to give birth to one…

And, then ask, “What do we do with this thing?”

I’m sure they were not FULLY ignorant though… they had seen animal births… and animal offspring… so had to be somewhat clued in.

God Himself could have told them of the ‘birds and the bees’… who knows?

And… while the Bible doesn’t give us a timeline on how long it took… for them to figure all the marital things out…

Eventually they did… and then 9 months later… out pops Cain…

And, the Earth and all in it would hear for the first time… the cry of a baby. New life. A new generation. New hope… or so they thought.

Adam and Eve could easily have been in their 20’s or 30’s… or older… at this time.

Because we’ll see in Gen 5:3 that Adam was 130 years old when he begot Seth.

And Seth came some time after Cain and Able were born, grew up and learned their trades.

So, do some rough math approximations, and as funny as it is to think of Eve as age 1 giving birth… that was probably not the case.

She did not give birth to a monkey that evolved into man over millions of years…

But gave birth to a man who was intelligent… and used tools… and reasoned… and used a known language… all counter to Evolution.

She bore Cain… and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.”

This is a testimony of praise from Eve…

The name “Cain” means “acquisition”… and Eve links the birth of this child to YAHWEH’s provision…

Cain’s name reminds us that life is from God.

And, this testifies that she believed in the promise of the Lord.

It’s likely that Eve was thinking that NOW would be the time when Gen 3:15 would be fulfilled.

Had she given birth to the Promised Seed who would crush the head of the serpent?

We know that was not the case… John wrote Cain was “of that wicked one” (1 John 3:12)… definitely NOT the Promised Seed.

But, I find it fascinating the Eve seemed to be looking for the fulfillment of a Messiah coming… way back when.

It seems like hope for the Savior to come is implanted in the hearts of every generation.

Even right after the resurrection, the disciples asked Jesus in Acts 1:6 “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

They believed in the prophecies of scripture that declared Messiah would usher in a Kingdom Age…

And they hoped for that time and looked for that time… and now that Jesus died and rose again… was now the time?

It was not, but their lives were shrouded in that hopeful expectation.

There is a teaching called the imminent return of Christ.

And it holds Jesus can come back at anytime, and is backed by fulfilled prophecies… historical events… and scriptures that exhort to “be ready.”

Imminence means “likely to happen at any moment; impending.”

And, prophetically, there is nothing else that needs to happens for Jesus to return.

And living with the hope and expectation that He can return at any moment is a good way to live.

In the Parable of the Ten Minas… which has a strong parallel to church age saints…

The Master went away and commanded, “Do business till I come.’”

Referring to Kingdom business… disciple making… preaching the gospel… abiding in Christ… that kind of business.

Because Scripture declares… “the time is near” (Rev 1:3)… “the time is at hand” (Rev 22:10).

James 5:8 “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

And, as early as Adam and Eve… as they were driven out of the garden… and given the prophecy of the her seed crushing the head of the serpents…

Even as early as Eve… people longed for… and looked for a Savior.

In V2, we see Cain younger brother Abel is born. Some think they were twins, but the language in these verses suggest otherwise.

We read in V2 “Then she bore again”… “then” in some translations reads “later”… as in some time later.

When Rebekah was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, the Bible explicitly states “there were twins in her womb.” (Gen 25:24)

There seems to be another allusion to time passing and that is seen in the naming of this second child.

The name Abel means “vapor”, “vanity”, even “nothing.”

Not the most uplifting baby name. “Nothing… get on over here.”

And biblical names typically reflected the conditions during birth or life.

Had time passed and Eve’s heart soured to the vanity of the world?

Was she feeling what Solomon would later pen? Solomon… who wrote about the vanity of the world more than any other biblical author.

Ecclesiastes 1:14 “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.”

But could you fault Adam and Eve? The comparison of Eden to life as they knew it now… grass was always greener in Eden… the air was sweeter… daily life was full of joy…

Life after the fall must have been like all cloudy days.

There were probably times when Adam & Eve were bummed out… and carried the weight of responsibility for what they introduced into the world.

There were probably moments when Cain or Abel as young boys tried to cheer them up.

But, the parents sounded like Eeyore. “Could be worse. Not sure how, but it could be.”

Kind of wild, but if any one of them got down… literally they would be the most depressed person on the planet.

But the boys would grow older… and develop trades. Abel kept sheep… Cain tilled the ground...

Notice they were NOT cavemen… living as hunter-gatherers for some 280,000 years.

Both had professions requiring greater intelligence… livestock domestication and agriculture.

Cain’s work would provide food. Abel’s would provide clothing and animals for sacrifice.

But not for food… animals were not authorized to eat for food until after the flood (according to Gen 9:3).

I see some interesting allusions in their lines of work.

Interesting that Cain worked the ground that was riddled with thorns and thistles… cursed in the fall.

While Abel worked with the sheep and the lambs… who’s blood would atone for sin.

Almost foreboding… and symbolic to their acceptance or rejection of God’s provision for forgiveness.

Which we read about in vv 3-5… as Cain and Abel bring their offerings to God.

In V3 we read “in the process of time” (Lit. “at the end of days”)…

Genesis 2. The Birth of Abel and the Offerings of Cain and Abel (2–5)

Cain and everyone else on the earth at that time probably met with God at the tree of life, where the cherubim were.

The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings The Blood of Righteous Abel

It seems reasonable to infer that, after the expulsion from Eden, God had made gracious provision to continue to commune with man, even though now “at a distance,” on the basis of His promise of a coming Redeemer, whose shed blood would be the price of redemption. He had shown Adam and Eve that an “atonement” required the shedding of innocent blood to provide a “covering” for the guilty. Probably at an appointed time and place, men were able to meet God, first being careful to approach Him by means of a proper offering, especially marked by the principle of substitution—the innocent for the guilty. Those who “worshiped” (that is, literally, “bowed down” to God’s will) in this way thus acknowledged their own guilt and helplessness, as well as their trust in God alone for complete salvation and provision. There was nothing in such a process that would appeal to the physical or esthetic or mental appetites of man (as contrasted with Satan’s appeal to Eve in

In the process of time indicates that there was a designated time there’s a designated time for offerings to occur before the Lord

The offerings that Kane made if these were designated times previously would have been acceptable offerings, and for whatever reason, this is an active rebellion this is the time when he chooses not to offer an acceptable offering before the Lord not to offer a blood sacrifice by faith, but a sacrifice by his own hands of works

There is a popular teaching that you can come to God, however you want and this is not true. God has a prescribed way in which you can come to him and it’s clear here as early as Genesis chapter 4 that to come to God by the way, it works is not acceptable and that is what most religions of the world and cults teach

If you don’t believe in a sin nature… then how’d this fall happen?

There was no sin. No bad influences. No pornography. No drunkenness. No gambling. No covetousness.

Where did Cain learn jealousy and to murder? It wasn’t the kids he was hangin’ with after school. No violence… just the human heart.

vv 4-5

The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings The Blood of Righteous Abel

The story of Cain and Abel, while in every way to be understood as actual history, is also a parable of the agelong conflict of the two seeds. Cain typifies the “seed of the serpent,” while Abel is a type of Christ, the “seed of the woman.” In a secondary sense, Abel represents also those who, by faith, are “in Christ,” and who therefore also are in a spiritual sense “seed of the woman.”

Cain’s younger brother, Abel, was truly in the household of faith, however. He is the very first mentioned in the long line of men of faith recorded in Hebrews 11 (see verse 4). He is called “righteous” and a prophet (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:50, 51).

Cain brought an offering of the ground. Not the first fruit of his work, just an offering, perhaps that which was convenient for Cain, or even a poor offering, but the scripture does not directly confirm this. But, God did not respect Cain and his offering and we know God looks at man's heart (1 Sam 16:7) and inner motives. We know in Heb 11:4 scripture states Abel offered his sacrifice by faith, thus Cain's sacrifice was not by faith. It was by something other than faith, and we know most often man attempts to achieve salvation, if not by faith, through works. And, Cain's offering was indeed of works, and he was of the evil one (1 John 3:12), ultimately angry of God's chastisement and unrepentant of his wrong motives in his offering. The ground was cursed, and Cain aligned himself to work that which was cursed, and to offer of God that which was cursed. Abel aligned himself to be part of God's original design for man to have dominion over living creatures (Gen 1:28). Abel brought the firstborn, the best of his flock, plus fat which would later be cited in Leviticus as being of the Lords (Lev 3:16). Ultimately, scripture is clear that Abel was righteous (Matt 23:35, Heb 11:4) and his works were righteous (1 John 3:12), more excellent and offered by faith (Heb 11:4).

In Jude 11 … which is verse eleven since there is only one chapter…

In Jude11 Jude wrote about “the way of Cain” to describe the abhorrent behavior of OT and NT apostates… of those who had abandoned God…

Jude summarizes the disgraceful behavior of apostates… what Romans 1 would call a “debased mind”… as “the way of Cain.”

Cain set forth a pattern that many people in the history of mankind… and many people today err so is doing.

Jude recounted OT history how…

God destroyed those who did not believe in Egypt during the Exodus…

How unbelieving angels left their proper domain… and God has reserved everlasting chains under darkness for them.

How Sodom and Gomorrah who gave themselves up to sexual immorality and “strange flesh” (homosexuality)… were an example of suffering in eternal fire.

Jude spoke of modern apostates who lived in fantasy… defiled their flesh through sexual immorality… rejected authority… spoke evil of angelic dignitaries (the likes of which even Michael the Archangel would not do)…

They speak evil about things things they don’t understand… acting like animals in pursuit of their base instincts…

MacDonald wrote “The way of Cain is basically the rejection of salvation through the blood of a sacrificial victim (Gen. 4). It is the attempt to appease God by human efforts. C. H. Mackintosh says, “God’s remedy to cleanse is rejected, and man’s effort to improve is put in its place. This is ‘the way of Cain.’ ” But, of course, reliance on human effort leads to a hatred of grace and to the objects of grace. And that hatred eventually leads to persecution and even murder.”

And as we read in Jude 11… and as we will see in Gen 4… a number of other godless, evil, and violent practices result.

pain and evil, both calm with a sacrifice with their prescribed time and place where they would meet with the Lord for the sacrifice. And God did not respect me acknowledge the sacrifice OK Kane.

Hebrews 11 by faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. Abel brought a blood sacrifice that is what was prescribed and brought the work of his hand. You can’t compare offering to later Levitical offering point that brings works, acknowledges the sacrifice that God has caught and prescribe.

In the new Testament of Matthew and Luke Jesus spoke about from the blood of righteous people from the blood of all the profit from able to Sell us I’ve been on the character

Keen would be offering the same objection that many people offer today which is what do you mean there’s only one way to come to God. The faith plus works model. This is insulting to God and it’s not offensive to the individual because the individual to humble self and to accept the free gift People at work that they can stake their claim in their own.

Many of us made the same error as Kane growing up, thinking that in someway because we were good or because we grew up in a religious zone or for me I don’t even know why I thought it again I was Catholic. I don’t know that I was heavenly minded weren’t discussed with me. Religion was something we did to make grandma happy I was dragged there. I necessarily wanna go. There was moments where I felt something divine sun shining through stained glass window, the small room picture Jesus there hearing at the cross I remember crying because they nailed Jesus that was the death of my Lie felt righteous. It felt righteous to me on UN.

In first John is speaks about how Kate works for evil

In Genesis, thus far we have seen that it is Almighty God who created the heavens in the Earth, and now we see it as a who sets the terms he sets the terms for how the sacrifice is to be offered not us not Keen and to come to God in any other way, except for how he prescribed is to insult the creator of the heavens and the Earth it is self idolatry. It is placing my system above God system and thumbing my nose at God because I wanna do what I want to do and that does not fly with God

Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22 it says without the shedding of blood, our sins cannot be forgiven

vv 6-7

If you do well. The step to adjust read if you offer correctly. What does it say Jewish Bible say?

Jude 11 speaks about the way of Kane, which is the way of prescribing one’s own way and being angry when God doesn’t accept your own way … hits rejecting God‘s way, and then being angry when God doesn’t accept your way is there anything new under the sun? Is this not the same error that people make today?

Way of Cain open defiance, envy and hatred and murder, no repentance. I remorse, no confessing of sins … Cain was unrepentant … NT warns to not follow his way because so many do

Keen choose to go the way of no he chose to go a godless way to be out of the presence of the Lord and there are many people today that would do the same

This is the first time the word sin appears in the Bible, and this is the first person born outside of Eden. We can look at Adam and Eve and think that they were faulty, but even one generation later was the very first person no one is sinless can stand before God Sinless we can stand before God, righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ and faith in him

V8

Payne and Abel have a conversation we don’t know how much time has gone by and in the field Cam would kill evil

There’s a hostility that comes when one speaks about truth in Jesus able was a profit, and if he spoke any type of truth, the key people sometimes react very high to that hostile to that. Expressing disbelief over, simply having faith.

Cocaine decide to give a blood sacrifice on the prescribed blood sacrifice that of his brother

The first human blood is shared, and the first one to step out of time for her occur. The Jews held that there was shield SAGOL and this would eventually become Abraham’s.

We look at Adam and Eve, and it would seem that they had their hope, and Kane and then time goes on, and he turns out to be a murderer, and we have to be cautious in placing our hope in any man before that man has been revealed there have been many great men in time and there are fortunate to have many great men leading our nation right now we have to be careful also not to elevate any man into a position of being the Messiah. When Messiah’s revealed, no one will question if he is him as lightning flashes from the east to the west everyone will know.

The Bible says that Satan was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, and we see that Kane he has described also as a child of evil, and he is a murderer in a liar he lies. He lies the first lie from a human in the Bible, Satan was the first to lie in the Bible. Did God really say?

vv 9-10

Keen not only kills. He also gets snarky with God and I my brother‘s keeper and he lies to God.

NIV says that Kenna Lord his brother into the field that this was premeditated essentially

We can all come the guy willingly or unwillingly Bible says that every time will confess every evil bow, but we get to do that Bill eternal outlook is far different

God did not need to ask where is evil cause I didn’t know God is giving Payne the opportunity to confess his sense like when God asked Adam where are you? That wasn’t hide and seek you knew where he was. He’s giving him the same chance to stay far from you Forgive me.

vv 11-12

Adam’s work of the ground yielded fruit… Cain could work all he liked and no fruit would bear.

The Way of the transgressor is hard. When my pastor’s kids did something wrong and they felt the weight of that error and they went to dad. He would quote that verse to them. I always thought that was funny.

A vagabond has no home a fugitive is running from home. A pilgrim is headed home and you might be thinking well didn’t the pilgrims set out away from home maybe they set out away from the earthly home just as we have set out away from our earthly home and we are on a pilgrimage to our heavenly home.

vv 13-14

Compare a fugitive and a vagabond to a stranger and a pilgrim

Through the sin of cane he created for himself an intolerable life, and this is a perfect picture of those who choose the way of cane of those who choose the way of sin they look back on their life and they wonder about the mess that they’re in and how they got there and it comes to defiance of God It’s no mystery when you compare to what scripture says.

In contrast, Jesus Christ offers life and peace. The offer is not only life now, but eternal life forever, and you cannot work for it. You must receive it through faith.

Payne is very distraught over me with his brother not his sin whatever his punishment there’s no sense of remorse fear by pain. My patience is too much today. I’d like your brother‘s punishment because I thought about each other.

Jen is very distraught of his punishment and not over his brother’s death. Maybe he should’ve thought about this before he killed his brother.

This is remorse. This is not repentance. Kane is not saying my sin is too much to bear. My conscience is screaming at me for the blood that I’ve shut over my brother. He is only upset about the consequence not about the crime. You see this today Benny Henn Benny Henn’s own nephew I believe, said that he was remorseful. He was not truly repentant over ripping people off of their money with prosperity doctrine. Biblical examples of remorse

I wonder what would’ve happened. Had Kane humbled his heart and made a blood sacrifice for his sin. David had signed with Bathsheba and afterwards he humbled his heart. He had to be called out by Nathan, and even then still, he humbled his heart. He made a sacrifice and he was able to get right with God. He did not follow in the way of Kane.

V15

Kane is concerned that somebody else will kill him and he may wonder who are these other people isn’t it just Adam and Eve and Kane and Abel while Abel‘s dead who are the other people in Genesis chapter 5 tells us that Adam and Eve had many other children and so it would’ve been some of those And Kane would’ve been concerned about his siblings and their children perhaps taking revenge on him

We don’t know what the mark of Kane is if it’s a visible or invisible mark there’s a lot of speculation about this. But this is not uncommon to God. We know that the 144,000 of a mark put upon their head and revelation chapter 7, and other places in the Bible, Ezekiel had a mark on his head. Sometimes God gives a new name. So God has a way of marking people and naming people. In revelation chapter 2 people are given a white stone. What is that gunners thoughts on that?

Killing Kane, and not allowing others to kill Kane, if not only display certain God like but also Kenna is not getting away with murder. He will one day die. He will have a long life and it will not be an easy the ground Yield, and people will avoid him and one day as appointed for man wants to die, and then comes to the judgment. Kane would stand before God ultimately when he died.