Cain & Abel

Some good friends sent me a picture this week. It’s a humorous take, and yet, it might be completely true. It’s a picture of Adam and Eve in the garden. Eve is reaching for some fruit from the tree they were forbidden to eat, and the caption says: “Girls have a hard time choosing where to eat, because last time they chose, they doomed all humanity.”

Meghann and I have a terrible time deciding where to eat and I always thought it was just because we're not picky and neither of us really cares where or what we eat. Turns out, this might be the reason. It’s fear; look what happened the first time...

All joking aside, this is fairly accurate. This is true: we are still seeing the effects and dealing with the aftershock of that first sin, of Adam and Eve’s fall.

Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden because of their sin. And as we continue on in the book of Genesis, we see the ongoing impact of their decision. The taking and eating, the believing the serpent and distrusting the Creator—these consequences are catastrophic.

It’s like tossing a rock in the middle of a pond. The ripples extend out, further than you might think. We are deeply affected by that one, fateful decision long, long ago.

You see, the problem then and there was that Adam and Eve wished to be free. They wanted to decide for themselves what was good and what was evil, what was right and wrong. They wished for autonomy, freedom. They wished to be a law unto themselves.

And boy, if we’re not dealing with the same attitude today.

People young and old want to do what they want to do because they want to do it.

“Who’s this God fellow making all these rules?Who does He think He is? I decide what’s right and wrong. I get to determine what is good and what is evil and that might change from day to day, from generation to generation. Truth isn’t static or absolute; it’s fluid and subjective. What matters is what I feel is right, not what someone decides is right. What’s right for you isn’t necessarily right for me; what’s wrong for you might be just fine where I’m concerned. You do you, man.”

It’s whackadoodle. Adam and Eve did what they felt was right in that moment. They succumbed to the temptation. And now it takes 45 minutes to pick a restaurant. Thanks a lot, Eve. Geez.

Genesis 4 details what became of the rebellion over the course of the first 7 generations of man. Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden, they took their own path, they followed their hearts, they did what seemed right in their own eyes, and well, here we are.

We see a detailing, an accounting of the effects their choice had. Friends, kids: choices have consequences. What you do echoes through the ages. What you do will, like a butterfly flapping its wings, affect something/someone on down the line.

Your choices can affect your future, your family, your children. You never know. But you must know that no decision, no action, no choice, no sin is made in a vacuum. There are always ongoing consequences and repercussions to the decisions we make and certainly to the sins we commit.

Genesis 4 reveals the long-term consequences of Adam & Eve’s sin in the Garden.

Though Adam and Eve are removed from the garden, the Lord blesses them with children.

>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to Genesis 4. If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word, out of reverence for Him. We will read just the first part of Genesis 4:

Genesis 4:1–16 NIV

1 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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What happens here with Cain and Abel is not all that different from what happened to their parents in Eden. “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

Cain was tempted to sin and was warned that he better master sin or it would master him (v. 7). Cain succumbs to temptation (v. 8). The Lord seeks out Cain (v. 9). The Lord curses Cain just like He cursed the serpent (v. 11). There’s a penalty for his sin (v. 12). He’s hidden from the Lord’s face (v. 14). And he moves east (v. 16), even east-er than Adam and Eve went when they were expelled from the garden.

Sin continues. Sin is destructive. Sin ruins.

There is no hope in Cain’s line for the seed of the woman. Cain will not be or bear the snake-crusher.

If you weren’t here last Sunday, it’s important to know that God promised an end to the serpent, an end to sin, an end to temptation.

When God cursed the serpent, He said this:

Genesis 3:15 NIV

15 And 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.”

The Lord God curses the serpent—the tempter, the deceiver, the father of lies—and says that there will be hostility between Eve’s offspring and the serpent’s.

Someone from the line of Eve would take care of the serpent once and for all.

So the question is, as we read through the OT, “Who is the one who will crush the head of the serpent?”

Here are Adam and Eve. They have two sons—Cain and Abel. But Cain kills Abel. So the snake-crusher can’t be Abel. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to be Cain.

So, is God mistaken? Has God been defeated. It sure seems that way from what we’ve read so far.

Whenever we come to the Bible, to the OT especially, our initial inclination might be to find a role model to follow or a negative example and think, “Boy, I don’t want to be like Cain.”

And that’s not all bad. Don’t kill your brother because you’re jealous of him. Don’t be like Cain.

But the point of the Bible is not to be more like this guy and less like that person. The Bible is not man-centered. The Bible is theocentric; it’s about God. This is God’s story, His interaction with humanity.

Notice how many times “the Lord” or “the Lord God” shows up in this chapter. The Lord God is the main character; He’s the focus of the chapter.

The Lord gives Eve a child and then another one (v. 1).

Cain and Abel each bring an offering to the Lord (vv. 3-4).

The Lord looks with favor on Abel’s offering but not Cain’s.

The Lord interrogates Cain.

The Lord marks Cain with a protective marking.

The Lord sends Cain away.

It’s the Lord’s story. It’s not a story about good guys and bad guys, about acceptable/unacceptable offerings, about jealousy and murder; not ultimately.

Ultimately, this, and everything else in the Bible is about God and His Faithfulness.

God is Faithful

God will make certain the line of the seed of the woman will continue. The snake-crusher will come. The always-faithful God will see to that.

But this much is clear: Cain is not the seed of the woman that will crush Satan’s head.

The Lord speaks to Cain and tells him that sin is crouching at [his] door.

Sin is, here, alive. It’s an animal. It’s lurking, crouching at the door. We might think immediately of a lion, crouching, getting ready to pounce on its prey.

The apostle Peter writes to the early church, warning them of the lion-like enemy:

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan is actively seeking, actively working to deceive and devour as many as he can.

Genesis 4:7 NRSV

7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

We might think of a lion when we read this—sin is crouching, lurking. But maybe we should imagine the serpent from the garden, waiting, hiding, preparing to strike at any moment.

Cain is counseled by the Lord to do what is right. Cain is not a helpless victim, either of Satan or of His parents.

Cain can fight sin. He can do what is right and be accepted.

Instead of fighting temptation, instead of doing what is right, Cain murders Abel. Intentionally. He takes him out to the field. This is premeditated. He knows what he’s doing and he does it with forethought.

Notice how many times the text introduces Abel, not just as “Abel” but “your brother Abel” or “his brother Abel”. 7 times. 7 times, the author highlights the fact that this is not simply murder; this is fratricide. It’s not just that Cain murders. Cain murders his brother Abel.

Cain murders his brother and there’s only one witness.

There’s always at least One witness. God sees all things, knows all things. There’s nothing hidden from Him. You might be able to pull the wool over the eyes of your parents, your friends, your teacher, your boss. But God sees it all.

Cain lies to the All-Knowing. We sometimes do the same. D-U-M-B, dumb. “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know...”

Sin just snowballs. It keeps on piling up.

Cain is not the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head.

Cain is a traitor to the Kingdom of God and has murdered his own brother.

Here’s the truth: Some people will on the side of Satan. And some will be on the side of God.

These are the only two options. You’re on one team or the other. There is no spectating. There aren’t any bleachers. You cannot stand on the sidelines.

You will either follow the Lord or you will follow that crafty serpent.

Cain decisively does what he himself wants to do, which is another way to say that Cain decisively chooses to follow Satan.

And yet, there’s something of God’s mercy extended to him. The Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

Cain deserved to die for killing his brother. But the Lord would spare him. What’s more, Cain marries and he and his wife have children, their children have children, their children’s children have children, and so on.

The Lord’s instruction to be fruitful and multiply extends to Cain and the missus.

The mercy of God rains on the just and the unjust alike.

Matthew 5:45 NIV

45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Starting in Genesis 4:17, the author speeds through Cain’s genealogy, all the way down to the 7th generation.

You’ll notice in verses 17-24, in the line of Cain, the Lord’s name isn’t mentioned. Not once. “The Lord” is all over the first part of Genesis 4, but there’s nothing in these verses about Him. This is significant.

Among Cain and his family line, the Lord has been forgotten.

In Cain’s line, here comes Lamech.

With Lamech, we see the height of cultural development (builders, ranchers, players of stringed instruments, makers of tools of bronze and iron) and the incredible depth of sin.

Lamech breaks the Creator’s order established at creation where marriage is between one man and one woman. Lamech marries two women.

Imagine the three of them trying to decide what’s for dinner. Yikes.

Lamech even brags to his wives in verses 23-24. He announces proudly that he killed a man for wounding him and a young man for injuring him. Lamech is a brutal killer, just like his great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Lamech avenges 70 times more than the Lord promised to avenge Cain.

This is the awful development of sin. The picture has been sketched out in full techno-color. 7 generations from Adam. 7 generations and sin has come to full fruition.

Mankind believing they can defend themselves; they don’t need the Lord’s help or protection.

They don’t need God at all.

They themselves will decide what’s good and what’s evil.

In fact, they can be gods for themselves.

This is the sin of Adam and Eve, only far more defiant. It’s far worse.

In only seven generations, humanity has disintegrated from a world where God was worshipped and adored to a world where people think they can live without God.

>The story doesn’t end on this awful note. Thankfully for all of us, there are two verses left.

Genesis 4:25–26 NIV

25 Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.

God is Faithful when we are not

In His faithfulness, God has granted Adam and Eve another son. When she gave birth, she said, “God has granted me another zera...”

This is the same word used in Genesis 3:15 for “seed” or “offspring”.

Seth is the one from whom the snake-crusher will come.

In Luke’s genealogy of Jesus, we find Seth’s name:

Luke 3:37–38 NIV

37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

In Cain’s line, people decide the don’t need God.

In Seth’s line, people are calling on the name of the Lord. And from Seth’s line, Jesus will come.

People once more recognize their dependence upon Him.

“Cain’s firstborn and successors pioneer cities and civilized arts. Seth’s firstborn and successors pioneer worship.” - Ken Matthews

You see, this story is about God’s faithfulness and Satan’s scheming to steal away worship. Satan’s good at it; he’s crafty. But he will not succeed.

Gathering for worship with a local church is a kick in his face. He hates for us to worship the Lord. He’d love to distract us, to keep us home, to assure that something else/anything else is more worthy of and more deserving of our time than this.

That crafty serpent would rather us question God than listen to Him. Get us thinking that we know better, that we are smarter than God—that’s his goal.

Abel was merely the first of many casualties in the serpent’s quest to destroy the seed of the woman.

The Egyptians will set out to drown every Israelite boy in the River Nile.

Jezebel will kill so many prophets that Elijah will think he’s the only prophet of God left.

Herod will give orders to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who are two years old and under.

And Satan will finally manage to kill the seed of the woman: Jesus.

Beyond Jesus, Jesus’ disciples will be killed. A mob will stone Stephen. Herod Agrippa will kill James. The Romans will execute Peter and Paul.

In the 20th Century, 45 million Christians were killed for their faith. Since 1990, that is every year in the last 30 years, 160,000 Christians are martyred. 160,000 Christians, every single year.

However, the snake-crusher lives and reigns and is coming again one day soon to throw that serpent and all his minions into the lake of fire.

Jesus was, is, and will be victorious. Because God is faithful.

It’s not about us.

It’s about Him. He will not fail.

God is Faithful.

There is great assurance and comfort in this. No matter what you’re facing, no matter what you’re going through, no matter your doubts or skepticism, no matter your lack of faith or the weakness of your faith, God is faithful to Himself, to His Word, to what is best for you

God is faithful. He sent His Son, as one descended from the line of Adam, to rescue and redeem us, to crush the head of that snake to smithereens.

God, ever-faithful, dealt with Satan, sin, and death, and raised Jesus from the dead. We know, we know, we know He is faithful. We need never doubt.