Genesis 4:1-15 "Defiance Grows with Sin"
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The People’s Bible: Genesis The Two Divisions of the Human Family
Nor could the unbelief in Cain’s heart remain secret from God. Although Cain was a member of the family of Adam and Eve and even participated in joint family worship, he was outside the family of God. Outwardly Cain offered his gifts to the true God, but his motivation was impure. He went through the motions of worship, but his motives were selfish and self-seeking.
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
The Lutheran Study Bible (Notes) Chapter 4
[God’s statement] teaches the difference between inward righteousness and external sacrifices.… There is [also] a warning concerning the coming judgment
4 scenes
scene 1 - the progeny of Adam and Eve
scene 2 - the sacrifices of the boys
-4
Last week as we looked at Jesus weeping before he enters Jerusalem, we noted that Jesus wept because he knew the destruction that awaited Jerusalem because of her unbelief. However, God would wait 40 years before Jerusalem was destroyed in order to allow a time for repentance. Today, we are going to walk through a very different part of Scripture and come to a very similar conclusion. Today as we walk through the story of Cain and Abel, we will see that
BIG IDEA: God is patient and long suffering with sinners so that they might come to faith.
scene 4 - Cain before the LORD
BIG IDEA: God is patient and long suffering with sinners so that they might repent, be forgiven, and washed clean.
God is patient and long suffering with sinners so that they might repent, be forgiven, and washed clean.
Verses 1 and 2 are a perfect example of this.
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.
To see how this is an example of God’s patience and long suffering, you we have turn the pages of our Bible back a little ways to . In , God expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because of their sin. When God confronted them, they hid and try to obfuscate what happened. They hid. They passed blame onto someone else. They tried to self justify themselves. It was that woman you put here with me. It was the snake.
God’s response was, “No. It was you.” Then there is a very important couple of verses toward the end of chapter 3.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Genesis 3:22-23
God did cast Adam and Eve from the garden but he did not punish their sin to the full extent in that moment. Why? Because God is patient and long-suffering. He is giving room for repentance. He is allowing for his people to turn back to him. The ejection of Adam and Eve was an act of judgment but it was also an act of mercy.
In sending Adam and Eve from the garden, God did two other things. 1) he made a promise that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent and 2) he gave them vocations. He gave them jobs.
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.”
zzz
Eve was to bear children and Adam was to work the land. It becomes clear that this also included the tending of livestock. So when we get to chapter 4 and Eve is quoted as saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD,” it is clearly a prayer of thanksgiving. Eve is fulfilling her duty as our first mother in producing children. Notice also though how she addresses God. The LORD. All Capital.
יהוה
She uses the divine name. What she is using is God’s salvific name. The name by which he reveals to the world that he is going to save the world. This indicates to us that Eve believed in the promise of God that he will crush the head of the seed of the serpent and that he will do it through her progeny. Eve believed that Satan would be defeated.
She names her bouncing baby boy Cain, which is a play on the Hebrew verb “gotten.” They sound similar.
Eve then has a second boy, Able. Eve’s two boys take up the work of their father. Cain takes up plowing and tending the crops while Able tends to the sheep. Two pieces of work that did not have to happen in the garden are now the full time occupations of Cain and Abel, the seed of the women.
Then the narrative continues,
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 contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
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 contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:3-
When it was harvest time, the brothers both bring an offering to the LORD. Their offering is according to their vocation. According to their calling. One a plough man the other a shepherd. There is no indication that one of these offerings is inherently better than the other. In fact it is recorded in scripture that both grain offerings and blood offerings are acceptable to the Lord. Yet verse 4 and 5 tells us “the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.”
Why?
Well, notice the closeness of the offering to the person. They are connected there is something fundamentally different about Cain and Abel. It is this distinction, not a distinction of the sacrifices they offered but a distinction between those who are offering the sacrifice where we find the answer to why one was accepted and one was rejected. What is that difference?
We can turn to scripture to see. The New Testament interprets this for us.
12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Another place speaks of sacrifices that do not please God is . There God describes his people who have rejected Him.
The other place I thought of was . There God describes his people who have rejected Him.
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.
11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
Isaiah 1.11
13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
Is1.13-
God is telling Israel through the prophet Isaiah that it doesn’t matter how many sacrifices you bring if they are not done in faith. Cain’s sacrifice makes God weary. He has no regard for it because Cain has no regard for God.
Cain grew up with Adam and Eve. He grew up hearing about the garden of Eden. It seems like it would be a safe assumption that he grew up bringing sacrifices to God with his family. However, just because your family is saved, just because you sit down and stand up and say words on a screen and you contribute to the church, it does not mean you are saved. Cain did the equivalent to all these things and yet God says, I do not know you. He does not have regard for Cain or his sacrifice.
The unbelief in Cain’s heart could not remain secret from God. Although Cain was a member of the family of Adam and Eve and even participated in joint family worship, he was outside the family of God. Outwardly Cain offered his gifts to the true God, but his motivation was impure. He went through the motions of worship, but his motives were selfish and self-seeking..,
The People’s Bible: Genesis The Two Divisions of the Human Family
Nor could the unbelief in Cain’s heart remain secret from God. Although Cain was a member of the family of Adam and Eve and even participated in joint family worship, he was outside the family of God. Outwardly Cain offered his gifts to the true God, but his motivation was impure. He went through the motions of worship, but his motives were selfish and self-seeking.
Abel’s sacrifice is one that came from the depth of his heart while Cain seems to be offering his sacrifice to stay on God’s good side. This is clear when we consider what they sacrifice. Abel chooses the best of his first fruits, the fattest of the lambs. Cain merely brings a portion. That is Cain’s regard. God doesn’t deserve his best, he does.
Abel’s sacrifice is one that came from the depth of his heart while Cain seems to be offering his sacrifice to stay on God’s good side. This is clear when we consider what they sacrifice. Abel chooses the best of his first fruits, the fattest of the lambs. Cain merely brings a portion. That is Cain’s regard. God doesn’t deserve his best, he does.
There is a good application in there regarding how we sacrifice. If you think I am talking about offerings, you are mistaken.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
What God wants from us is an honest relationship. What God wants from us is to turn to him in faith. To admit our brokenness. He is not looking for people who go through the motions. He is not looking for half-truths and obfuscation. He is not looking for gas-lighting. He is looking for confession. Even when we turn from him, He is patient and is calling you to communion with Him. It is not enough to do the right thing, like Cain. You must have faith. You must trust in God the way Eve did, that God is LORD. That LORD will rescue. The LORD will crush the serpent.
The Lord’s disregard for Cain’s sacrifice clearly makes Cain angry. The Lord, seeing Cain’s anger goes to him. He asks, “Why are you angry and why has your face fallen?” Like Adam and Eve before him, who God asked, “Where are you?” and “What have you done?” God now asks Cain, “Why are you angry?” God is giving room for repentance for the sinful anger that Cain is harboring against his brother.
The People’s Bible: Genesis The Two Divisions of the Human Family
Nor could the unbelief in Cain’s heart remain secret from God. Although Cain was a member of the family of Adam and Eve and even participated in joint family worship, he was outside the family of God. Outwardly Cain offered his gifts to the true God, but his motivation was impure. He went through the motions of worship, but his motives were selfish and self-seeking.
The Lord’s disregard for Cain’s sacrifice clearly makes Cain angry. The Lord, seeing Cain’s anger goes to him. He asks, “Why are you angry and why has your face fallen?” Like Adam and Eve before him, who God asked, “Where are you?” and “What have you done?” God now asks Cain, “Why are you angry?” God is giving room for repentance for the sinful anger that Cain is harboring against his brother.
The Lord’s disregard for Cain’s sacrifice clearly makes Cain angry. The Lord, seeing Cain’s anger goes to him. He asks, “Why are you angry and why has your face fallen?” Like Adam and Eve before him, who God asked, “Where are you?” and “What have you done?” God now asks Cain, “Why are you angry?” God is giving room for repentance for the sinful anger that Cain is harboring against his brother.
God then encourages Cain. Cain can too be acceptable to God, like Abel, if he were to regard God as LORD, the God who saves, the same way Abel does. God also warns against continuing in his anger. “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Peter gives a similar description of Satan,
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter
What God is telling Cain is that he needs to resist the power of evil that presses in on all people. the way to do this is to flee to God’s Word. Flee to God’s mercy and love.
God’s statement teaches the difference between inward righteousness and external sacrifices… ~Phillip Melanchthon
Cain fails to do this. He fails to flee to God. He, like His parents before him, fail to flee from the evil one. The end result is
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Cain compounded the sin of his anger with the sin of fratricide. The sin of murder. It was clear, In him the seed of the woman had already become the seed of the serpent. In Cain’s deeds, the true nature of satan was revealed. Satan has come to steal, kill, and destroy. He was a murder from the beginning, just Jesus said in .
We also see here a separation that happens. There are two kinds of people in the world. They are sometimes described in scripture as the sheep and the goats. Genesis gives us the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This division runs the course of human history. Those who believe and those who do not.
Then we see God comes to confront Cain.
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.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Genesis 4.9-10
“Defiance grows with sin and punishment keeps pace with guilt.” Adam and Eve, in the garden tried to pass off their sin to others but do acknowledge the truth of what they had done. Here, Cain defiantly denies what he has done to his brother.
God’s statement teaches the difference between inward righteousness and external sacrifices… ~Phillip Melanchthon
God charges Cain with the murder he committed and says the blood of Able cries out to him. The first murder case is cracked by forensic evidence.
The verdict is in. Guilty. Now we move on to sentencing.
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.”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
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.”
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.”
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.
Genesis 4:11-
Genesis 4:11-
Adam’s punishment for his sin was to work the ground for his food. Now his son, Cain, is removed from the tillable land which provides food and is forced to be a wanderer. Here, the LORD acts in a similar way as he did with Adam and Eve. But with Cain, it is different. Adam was given a vocation as a farmer following the fall. Cain is removed from his vocation as a result of his sin.
Adam, as punishment for his sin
The LORD acts in a similar way as he did with Adam and Eve.
Cain reacts to this sentence.
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.
Genesis 4:
Cain doesn’t even show remorse for the murder of his brother. Instead, he is remorseful over the severity of the punishment. Take the fields away from the farmer and you are left with a pauper. Cain was tied to his fields and now he is cast away from them. Not only that, literally everybody in the world is related to Abel. So when Cain, the murderer thinks of that, he comes to a murder’s conclusion. “Whoever finds me will kill me to avenge my brother.”
Even though Cain does not show a broken and contrite spirit to God, The Lord displays His long-suffering patience and steadfast love by giving Cain a promise. He promises to mark him so that he will remain unmolested by those who would seek vengeance against Cain. After all, vengeance is for the Lord to pay out.
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.”
As I read through , can’t help but marvel at the overwhelming, never-ending love of God. The patience and mercy He shows to Adam and Eve in the Garden, and now to Cain in the fields, is absolutely astounding. Adam and Eve had everything they could ever want or need and they threw it away because they thought it would feel good. Now Cain, throws away the promise of God because of his own pride and self-righteousness. Yet the Lord, the savior God, patiently calls them back to Him so that they could dwell with God for eternity.
As I read through , can’t help but marvel at the overwhelming, never-ending love of God. The patience and mercy He shows to Adam and Eve in the Garden, and now to Cain in the fields, is absolutely astounding. Adam and Eve had everything they could ever want or need and they threw it away because they thought it would feel good. Now Cain, throws away the promise of God because of his own pride and self-righteousness. Yet the Lord, the savior God, patiently calls them back to Him so that they could dwell with God for eternity.