Problem Solved

Peg and her almost human helper cat run into weird problems that cause them to freak out until they calm down and apply some principle of basic math to solve the problem and save the day. Then they sing this ridiculously catchy little song:

“Problem solved; the problem is solved! We solved the problem! Problem solved!”

The problem I haven’t been able to solve is how to get that ridiculously catchy song to go out of my head! My kids haven’t watched this show for a few years but every time I complete a task or come up with an answer to anything, this wonderfully simple and aggravating little song runs through my head. <sing>

“Problem solved; the problem is solved! We solved the problem! Problem solved!”

I heard once that the best way to get rid of an earworm – that’s a song which gets stuck in your head – the best way to get rid of an earworm is to share it with someone else. So, in the spirit of love, and out of total desperation, I’d like to give this song to you. Let me play a quick clip of the song from the show, then we’ll all try it together, okay?

[Peg + Cat clip]

<twice>

Thank you. I can feel the pressure in my head lessening already! I guess we’ve solved my problem. <pause, then hum the tune again> Rats!

Well, it’s not a total loss. Today’s scripture passage is about problem solving. Specifically, it’s about how we choose to solve our problems. And when we get to the end, I think you’ll see that we each have to make a choice about whether we will join the family of God or not.

We’re in Genesis, chapter 4, today, beginning at verse 1. I’ll be using the NRSV today, because it is the clearer translation, even thought it can be a little deeper in its vocabulary than the NIV or NLT we usually use.

Genesis 4:1-5 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, 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 countenance fell.[1]

Remember how I keep saying that names are important to the people of Genesis? The man still doesn’t have one. He is referred to as the adam– the man. Verse one tells us that the man knew the woman, who was called ‘Life’ – Eve.

He knew her in a very practical way. The word “know” in Hebrew is a euphemism for… Well, for the kind of activity which leads to pregnancy.

Giving birth to a baby boy, Eve is ecstatic! Remember, in the last chapter she and the man chose to disobey God. This led to humankind being thrown out of the paradise God had created for them. It also meant they lost access to the tree God had given them which would sustain their physical life. As a result of their choice to disobey, they would now die. But they had received a promise too. The LORD had referred to a time when the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, a prophecy which sounds like a promise to break the power sin holds over humankind.

And in the birth of her first son, Eve sees an opportunity for that promise to be completed. She seems to think that the problem is solved! [start to hum song…] Sorry.

Eve quickly declares that she has qanah (kay-naw), “brought forth” or “acquired” a man. She names him Cain, the acquired, and says that she’s got a man with God’s help.

You can tell how important Cain is to Eve by the name his brother got. Abel. Hebel (Hehy-beyl). It means something to the effect of “vapor” or “transitory” or “meaningless”. In fact, the same word is used in one of my favorite verses: Ecclesiastes 1:2

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaningless.” [2]

Hebel, hebel, utterly hebel. Everything is hebel!

She has ascribed so much importance to Cain that Abel seems to be like an insubstantial vapor.

I imagine that this led to some lopsided family dynamics. We aren’t told specifically, and even the non-scriptural writings about this time have little or nothing to add to the conversation other than fanciful stories which teach us more about early human superstitions and fears than they do about Cain, Abel, or how either related to their Creator.

What we know is that Abel was a herder while Cain was a farmer. Some try to play the professions against each other, suggesting that there is something better about keeping livestock over tilling the ground, but there is nothing at all in the text which even hints at this sort of disparity.

Each man brings a portion of his work as an offering to the LORD, but God rejects Cain’s offering. We aren’t told why, but the rest of the story tells us enough about Cain to draw a picture of a spoiled favorite child whose attitude of superiority has led him to believe that his way is best.

Once we recognize how that attitude colors all his actions, it’s not hard to imagine why God did not accept Cain’s offering. Personally, I think Cain thought bringing part of the crop to God was like he was doing him a favor. People do that with offerings all the time. It isn’t hard to imagine Cain sitting in a church pew throwing a few dollars into the offering plate as it goes by as if he was somehow floating God a loan. “Oh,” he might say, “I suppose you need this to keep things going. I guess I can help you out this week.”

Abel, on the other hand, seems to have chosen his offering with more humility, bringing carefully selected animals to God as an act of gratitude rather than one of attitude.

“Thank you, LORD,” he might have said. “Thank you for the air I breathe and for the ways you have provided for me. I release these sheep back to you in recognition that all I have is yours and without your care I would have less than nothing.”

The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not. So Cain was angry.

Do you recognize what it means for Cain to be angry about this? It’s him saying that God should just take what he’s given and be glad of it… Cain seems to have forgotten that YHVH is God, and he is the creature God made. Yes, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, but we are still made.

There’s a story about a group of scientists finally cracking some piece of the puzzle of creation and going to God, proudly declaring that they could now create life, just the same as he had, and therefore they deserved to be treated as equals or even superiors to the LORD himself.

“I see,” said God. Well, if you’ve done it, I suppose you’ve done it. How about you show me?” The scientists started to make a human by building a statue out of clay, like God is said to have done when he created Adam. But as they reached out to get a handful of that good, red earth, God stopped them.

“Ah, ah, ah!” he said. “You need to get your own dirt.”

In our arrogance, we tend to forget that the universe belongs to God, having been formed by him. Not only is it far larger than we can understand, but nothing in it is ever really ours. It all belongs to YHVH, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things. Our worship is to be centered on him and nothing else. Especially not ourselves.

Cain’s focus was on himself and God rejection of his self-serving sacrifice made him burn with furious anger. As far as he was concerned, he was right, and God was wrong.

Genesis 4:6-7 6 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 is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”[3]

There’s a life truth here we should make a point of remembering: If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t, that crouching sin launches itself at you and plants its fangs firmly in your throat and it has you.

This is the choice we each make at every decision point in our lives: Do we choose to do things God’s way, and so find favor, or do we do things our own way and then get angry when God shows up and corrects us?

Do our actions suggest we belong in the Family of God, or do they suggest we are lost in the world?

Cain is clearly making a choice here, but the LORD has warned him and reminded him that he can rule over sin, if he chooses to.

WE can rule over sin, if we choose to.

What choice will Cain make?

Genesis 4:8 8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.[4]

<pause>

Problem solved?

James 1:14-15 explains how this could happen. 14 But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15 then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.[5]

Cain’s disappointment at the rejection of his offering became anger. And because he didn’t rule over it the way he could have, the way God told him to, it became jealousy, and that jealousy led to murder.

This was no act of passion; no accident where Cain’s anger pushed him to lash out in the heat of the moment. The story describes a planned assault that ended with Abel dead and his body concealed from view. It was calculated. It was born from cold-bloodedness rather than hot.

Genesis 4:9-16 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out 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 till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Todayyou have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. [6]

The land of Nod means “the land of wandering”. Cain goes to wander and live out his life in the lands which were east of Eden.

If there was any question about Cain’s murder of his brother being a deliberate act, the exchange in verses 9 and 10 should put that to rest. God asks where Abel is, giving Cain a chance to repent, to turn away from his sin. It is too late to repair what has been broken – Abel is dead. Life is in the blood, and Abel’s blood has soaked into the earth. But Cain could acknowledge his error, admit his actions, and begin to allow his relationship with his Creator to be restored. Instead, he denies even having responsibility to care for anyone but himself. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

One of the most important words in scripture is introduced here, when God says that Abel’s blood cries out to him. To cry out is to sa’aq(saw-awk) and it is a scream of desperation, a plea for relief, for justice. It is the sound of the oppressed calling out for the LORD God to take notice.

It is the sound of Israelite slaves in Egypt will make when they are forced to kill their own children. It will be the rallying call of Israel as they overcome misery to become a nation under the prophet Samuel. It is the agonized struggle of the psalmist against the pain inflicted by his enemies. But here it is the silent-but-deafening wail of Abel’s life which has leaked into the very soil which was once used to create humankind.

It is a sound that God does not ignore, and his own cry echoes that of Abel’s: “Oh, Cain! What have you done?”

Nobel Prize winner Isaac Singer used to say that people who don’t show pity to others crave it for themselves. When the LORD mercifully laid down a judgment which would allow Cain space and opportunity to repent and be restored to the family of God, Cain objected: “It’s more than I can bear!” He worried that someone might kill him. After all, he’s shown them how.

Time and again Cain demonstrated for us the life of someone who choose to go their own way instead of God’s way. Given opportunity after opportunity to turn back to the things of God, he choose again and again to reject anything that was not entirely of his own doing.

Let’s see what the aftermath of all this brings about.

Genesis 4:17-24 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech. 19 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 ancestor of those who live in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. 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 is avenged sevenfold,

truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” [7]

I hate to break the flow of our story, but about this point people have usually stopped paying attention because they are trying to work out exactly who it is that Cain is married to and why he would be afraid of other people killing him if he and his parents were the only people on Earth.

I apologize but explaining this will involve math.

Abel’s death occurred in about the 128th or 129th year after creation. We get that from Genesis chapter 5, which we aren’t going to get into today. Please look it up later to check, but for right now trust me and six thousand years of Biblical instructors who use the same numbers.

I personally don’t think is likely that Cain and Abel were the only children Adam and Eve had at this point. I think they had lots of children, boys and girls, but for the sake of argument let’s just start with these two.

If we assume that Cain and Abel were the only sons Adam and Eve had, then let’s say that there had been two girls born, one for each boy to have for a wife. Then let’s assume that they became officially married at about 18, so roughly year 19 after creation. By year 25 each of those couples could have had eight children, boys and girls. Then let’s put that reproduction level on repeat. In the 50th year, then, there could be 64 new persons; in the 74th year, 512 new persons; in the 98th year, 4,096 new persons; in the 122nd year, 32,768 new persons; and then when we add everyone together in the 128thyear that would make 421,164 people, not including anyone under the age of 18.

Let’s say that those numbers are crazy and only half that number were born. We’ve still got a LOT of people around. Or how about we say that Adam and Eve had one child every year from the beginning until year 130. And let’s say that each of those children waited until they were 65 to start having kids, but then they had one per year after that. Even using those numbers, we’re looking at over 1200 people by this point.

Problem solved. The problem is solved…

I think that the most important thing to realize out of this little exercise is that there were a lot of people around for Cain to be afraid of, not to mention that he probably had no difficulty finding a wife. God provides.

And before you go getting all stressed that he and his wife are too closely related and that their kids would have three heads or something, don’t worry. At this point in human history the genetic material was still pure enough that birth defects from intermarriage wouldn’t have been a concern. Since I’ve already put all of you through a math exercise, we aren’t going to discuss genetic deviation statistics or the increasing toll of sin on the human body right now – if you really want to know come talk to me later.

Now that we’ve dealt with all that, there is a more pressing question we should answer: Did anyone learn from Cain’s mistake and change the direction of their life? Well, it’s a little hard to say for sure, but I’m going to say no. And out of all the examples to choose from here, I’m going to use Lamech to back up my point.

The father of polygamy, Lamech is the first man we know took multiple wives. This was not God’s original intent for his creation, nor do I believe it is his intent or hope for his people now. If you were thinking about it, knock it off.

Lamech had a self-righteous attitude, just like Cain. When he said he killed a man and a young man, he also admitted that his response was extreme. Some teachers believe the young man had done no more than insult him. And the wound from the older was not fatal, but Lamech bragged to his wives about having murdered these two.

Then he had the nerve to claim the right to be avenged 77 times if any harm should come to him for his craven acts of revenge. What God intended as a mercy for Cain, Lamech twisted into a threat of violence.

Lamech is the seventh name down the family line of Cain, counting from Adam. I don’t want to get into Jewish numerology this morning, but genealogies like this are always laden with symbolism. Lamech’s placement says to us that he is the perfect example of his family tree. He is the ultimate result of the corruption of this branch of the family. The ancient sages saw the description of Lamech as a condemnation of the line of Cain. The aftermath for Cain and his family is a progressive decline which leads to more death.

Is there any good news? Yes!

Genesis 4:25-26 25 Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord. [8]

Seth’s name means “granted” or “replacement”, and the recognition of him as a gift from God seems different than the approach Eve took to either of the two older boys. There is a suggestion of deeper reverence here. Perhaps age and maturity steered her values or perhaps the tragic death of one child at the hands of another wounded her so deeply that she retreated into the arms of the Great Physician.

Whatever stirred it, her new understanding of who her Creator is seems to have awoken something in Seth. It’s in his lifetime that people begin to call on God by name, at least in Seth’s branch of humankind. They made the choice to be part of God’s family.

That’s a choice we all face.

Will we live as part of God’s family or as part of the family of the world?

Will we associate with the line of Seth or the line of Cain and Lamech?

Not that one is perfectly good and the other perfectly evil! We don’t join God’s family by being born into it. We join by being reborn into it. It’s a choice, not something that just happens to us.

There are two kinds of people: Those that seek to do the will of God and those that don’t.

It is my prayer that each person here will choose to be a part of God’s family by looking to do his will instead of living out a self-centered, self-righteous, Cain-like life.

In every human life there is a problem, and that problem is sin crouching at our door.

What is the solution? Jesus is the solution. Even if sin has fastened its teeth in your throat and you think you will never be able to escape from it, let me assure you that Christ can raise you to be a new person, one in which evil will have no hold you don’t give it.

In the New Living Translation, 2 Corinthians5:17-21 says this:

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. [9]

In my life I’ve been Cain. Oh, I didn’t kill anyone; at least not physically. I may have killed the spirits of some with my words, which is worse in some ways, but easier to recover from than physical death. Except when it’s not. But even in the depth of my sin and darkness, the Holy Spirit came to me when I asked for forgiveness and I am a new creation today because of it. By the power and sacrifice of Jesus, I am the righteousness of God. Where my problem was sin, my problem is now solved.

<sing>

Problem solved. The problem is solved. Jesus solved the problem! The problem is solved!

In this building full of broken people, there are surely those who need to be mended. If you will put yourself and your life in the hands of the LORD God, the Great Physician, let me invite you to come and pray at the altar rails on either side of me. Solving our spiritual problems is the first step towards solving our physical ones.

Close in prayer

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ge 4:1–5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [2] The New International Version. (2011). (Ec 1:2). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ge 4:6–7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [4] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ge 4:8). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [5] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Jas 1:14–15). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [6] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ge 4:9–16). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [7] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ge 4:17–24). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [8] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ge 4:25–26). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. [9]Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (2 Co 5:17–21). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

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