01-24 Cain & Abel

Genesis 4:1-10

The story of Cain & Abel is truly a sad account of the spiritual battle that has raged in every generation since the fall of Adam & Eve. As I read the passage, you were immediately drawn to the outcome of this conflict being the first murder in the Bible (there will be many others that follow). But behind this murder, clearly a Satanic influence is unfolding as Cain takes the life of his brother, Abel (murder, homicide, fratricide).

John 8:44 NASB95

44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Genesis is the “Book of Beginnings” and so there are many “firsts” in this account:

First conception, first birth, first vocations, first record of an offering brought to the Lord, first human question in the Bible—and of course the first murder.

But Gen 4 is not ultimately about murder (though it is a prominent feature, along with God’s judgment upon Cain). Gen 4 is really about worship. It is about solidifying in our minds and hearts the distinction b/t authentic worship and false/feigned worship.

Man has always been given the opportunity to worship God.

Pre/post-fall, pre/post-flood, pre/post-law, pre/post Christ. Always an opportunity—worship is not supposed to be complicated with rituals, formulas, patterns and traditions.

Sometimes we think in our minds that in order to worship God, we must be in this place, at this time, sing these songs, for this long, do this, feel that—we’ve complicated worship.

To worship God is simply to reflect upon His character, to acknowledge His supremacy, to ascribe to Him the majestic worth that He alone is worthy of. Worship—worthship.

You always have the opportunity to worship God. Regardless of your circumstances, where you are at, what you are doing—your life ought to be habitually worshipful.

Paul says it best 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Since the beginning of mankind—there have been 2 kinds of worship:

Authentic/true/right worship

False/feigned worship

There is nothing in between—you either offer the true God true worship or you falsify worship.

God always seeks after true worship from true worshipers.

John 4:23 NASB95

23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

He’s not interested in forms of worship as much as the condition of the worshiper’s heart. Authentic worship requires a deep, genuine, an authentic faith—resulting from the true transformation of the heart which desires to exalt God.

Though Gen 4 is a chronicle about Cain—the first person to pre-meditatively take the life of another human, this is also about a significant contrast b/t 2 brothers in terms of their worship of God. And here, Moses is teaching a crucial lesson about the kind of worship that God takes pleasure in…the worship that flows out of a pure heart—that which is offered by faith.

Hebrews 11:4 NASB95

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

We need the teaching of the NT to help us understand what Moses doesn’t tell us. Abel’s heart was pure/righteous and his offering was accepted b/c it was offered in faith. Luther makes the comment “The faith of the individual was the weight which added value to Abel’s offering.” God sees the heart and weighs the motives of each worshiper. Moses reveals the heart of Cain in how he responded to God’s rejection of his gift.

We learn another important lesson in the nature of the depravity of man…only 1 generation from the fall reveals how anger boils over into murder. The sin nature has so thoroughly corrupted the condition and nature of man, severing and alienating man from his Creator…and impacting every faculty of the reasoning, desires, will, emotions—that upon God’s rejection, Cain would strike his brother from a jealous hatred. And this is the way every person that lives is brought into the world.

Psalm 58:3 NASB95

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.

Psalm 51:5 NASB95

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

The pollution of sin has already brought corruption of the baby in the womb. Now, when I mention the depravity of man, I’m not saying that each person is as evil as we could be. I’m saying that within each of us is the ability to commit every conceivable sin under heaven and if it weren’t for the grace of God—we would join Cain as murderers.

I want to give you a simple outline of these verses:

2 Offspring

2 Occupations

2 Offerings

2 Options

2 Offenses

Concluding with God’s Judgment

1. Two Offspring

Everything about the beginning of chapter 4 hints at the goodness of God’s grace in the aftermath of God’s judgment upon Adam & Eve and their removal from the Garden of Eden and access to the tree of life. God told Eve that she would have multiplied pain/anxious toil in bearing and raising children…and now God’s promise of a posterity has come to pass.

“Adam had relations...” Heb yada lit “knew” (better translation) which expresses an intimate knowledge that husband and wife have and expressed in a sexual relationship—the fruit of which is conception. Now later on—as humanity’s depravity continues to manifest itself, this term will apply to illicit sexual unions of homosexuality (19:5) and incest (38:26). But here, b/t Adam & Eve its intimacy of knowledge is in all its purity—it is the most intimate and personal love relationship that can ever exist on earth (b/t husband and wife—created for this (and other) purpose).

Footnote: God is revealed to have “foreknowledge”

Romans 8:29 NASB95

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Peter speaks of saints who are “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God” (1 Pt 1:1-2) and how JC is “foreknown before the foundation of the world” (1 Pt 1:20). Now many suppose this to mean that God looks ahead down the corridors of time, into the future to see and then know who will put their trust in Him. That is not what this term means—the Heb and corresponding Gk term (“pro”ginosko) is speaking of an intimate love…That God, before the foundation of the world, sets His affection upon those whom He intends to save, pouring out His grace upon them—so that they will in time believe on the LJC, trusting in His provision of redemption.

So Adam knew his wife and the result is that Eve conceives (fruit of the marital union) and gives birth to Cain (see similarity with Seth Gen 4:25).

The 1st offspring of humanity is a son. Notice what Eve says: “I have gotten...” Some commentators believe she is boasting about being “like God” as though God has created a man and she also has created a man. There are words in italics “the help of” meaning they aren’t in the original. I don’t believe Moses was conveying a sense of prideful arrogance in Eve but that she is actually expressing her dependence on the Lord. Eve had been driven out of Eden and living under a curse where home life for her would bring great hardship. But she once again sees the goodness of God and sees the truth of God’s promise of 3:15. Cain was a work of God and Eve recognizes this. This is why his name is Cain… “I have gained/acquired”

Some believe the descendants of Cain are the Kenites who were known for being metalsmiths(Gen 15; Num 10; 24). The problem with that identity is that Cain’s descendants are destroyed in the flood. Though one of his descendants, Tubal-cain is a forger of implements (4:22).

Eve gives birth to a 2nd child with the name Abel. We probably shouldn’t read too much into the name—but if we did, the meaning of his name would be “breath, vapor, that which vanishes” and could be a statement regarding the brevity of his life—with it being cut short.

So we have the first 2 offspring of Adam & Eve. There is also in Gen 4:25 account of Seth.

Genesis 5:3 NASB95

3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.

These are the only named children of Adam & Eve but Josephus (Jewish historian writing around the time of Christ’s birth) says they had 56 (33 sons, 23 daughters). But Adam lived 930 years so this figure is probably low.

2. Two Occupations

vs 2 indicates 2 different occupations/vocations of the sons of Adam & Eve. We know nothing of their early childhood. For Abel he chose the occupation of shepherding “keeper of flocks” (term refers to “small cattle” but could be sheep or goats—or other small animals).

As a contrasting profession, Cain, following the steps of his father was a tiller of the ground:

Genesis 2:15 NASB95

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

Gen 3:17-19;

Many people have read into the Genesis account a rivalry between the 2 professions. They claim the agricultural and shepherding vocations were in conflict and go as far as to say God preferred the occupation of “keeper of flocks” since Jacob, Jospeh, Moses and David were also keeper flocks.

Both Cain and Abel had honorable occupations. In Dt 8—when Israel sees the blessing and goodness of God in agriculture and shepherding they are to guard themselves against pride and forgetfulness of the Lord God. One occupation was not right and the other wrong—they were 2 ways of living and working under the curse after the Fall.

3. Two Offerings

At this point, there is only 1 indication of the amount of the time that has transpired since the Fall. It comes at the end of ch 4 (Gen 4:25) and the beginning of ch 5 (5:3).

Now it is obvious that Cain & Abel were grown—but again, no hint as to their ages when Cain kills his brother. We don’t know how many other children Adam & Eve had prior to the birth of Seth. The 2 sons could have been 129 years old during the events of ch 4.

In 4:3, notice the phrase “in the course of time...” We have the 1st recorded offerings being brought to the Lord but we shouldn’t read into this that these were the first ever sacrifices. This phrase seems to imply that on a prior occasion God revealed to Adam and perhaps even to Cain and Abel the proper manner of approaching God thru offerings. Gordon Wenham says this nearly always denotes a precise period of time. And it would appropriate for that time to be at the end of the agricultural year when harvest would allow a gift from the ground to be offered.

Moses writes that Cain brought his offering to the Lord. Also implied here: not only a proper time for this act of worship but also a proper place. Later on, sacrifices were placed on the altar in the tabernacle and then in the temple. While there is not indication of an altar here, it is reasonable that one was constructed for this very purpose.

Abel also brought his offering (presumably at the same time). Moses tells us of a subtle but important distinction b/t the 2 offerings: Abel’s was “the firstlings of his flocks...” This meant that he gave the 1st born of the animals that he tended.

So 2 brothers are approaching God in worship, bringing to God offerings that have been commanded by God at some point. God told them “this is how you are to approach me.” And since God is a holy God, He must be approached on His terms alone.

Moses tells us that God had regard for Abel’s offering. That word means to pay attention to, to look approvingly upon or to accept. God accepts the sacrifice of Abel but He did not accept Cain’s.

OT Judaism has basically 2 types of offerings, required & voluntary—indicated by their names in OT

Required offerings: sin-offering & guilt-offering

Voluntary: burnt offering, meal offering, fellowship offering (included acknowledgement offering, votive offering and freewill offering—these were dedicatory offerings which could be an animal (Lev 1) or grain (Lev 2). Fellowship offering could be either

Deuteronomy 12:5–6 NASB95

5 “But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6 “There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

The term “offering” used in this account could be used of either. Why is that important? We don’t have a direct statement as to why God accepted Abel’s but not Cain’s. This has brought about at least 7 different interpretations why Abel’s offering was regarded by God and Cain’s not:

1) God prefers shepherds over farmers (fulfilling both commandments to till the land and dominion over creation)

2) Animal sacrifice was better than vegetable sacrifice

3) living sacrifice was better than lifeless sacrifice

4) bloody vs non-bloody sacrifice

5) Abel brought a more plentiful offering

6) God’s motives are inscrutable reflecting divine election

7) different approach to worship—best of the flock vs some of the fruit.

Whatever the reason, God did not accept Cain’s but He did Abel’s. Now, it is my contention that the reason is linked to the heart of the worshiper. This is what the writer of Heb says:

Hebrews 11:4 NASB95

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

1 John 3:11–12 NASB95

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

Cain worshiped God but in a self-styled manner and in disobedience to God’s command. And God’s rejection and Cain’s response shows that his heart was not eager to truly worship YHWH.

“Cain became very angry...” (vs 5b). This description is graphic. The word means “to cause to burn” and refers to a burning sensation like the kindling of a fire. In Cain, there was a kindling of anger (lit. it burned to Cain exceedingly) and once that burning heat of anger started it was difficult to cool.

Eliphaz (Job’s friend) rightly said:

Job 5:2 NASB95

2 “For anger slays the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple.

Listen to the Word of the Lord as it pertains to anger:

Psalm 37:8 NASB95

8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

Proverbs 14:17 NASB95

17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of evil devices is hated.

Proverbs 14:29 NASB95

29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:18 NASB95

18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

Proverbs 19:19 NASB95

19 A man of great anger will bear the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.

Proverbs 29:22 NASB95

22 An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.

This type of anger is often the prelude to murder (or at least attempted).

1 Samuel 18:8 (NASB95) ready to spear David to the wall

8 Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”

Cain was so enraged, had such intense, burning anger that his countenance had fallen (his face fell), meaning he became despondent, downcast.

The only reason Cain’s offering was not accepted was the deformity in his character. The Lord said he was not acceptable. His behavior confirmed what the Lord revealed that Cain’s worship was feigned—false. The result of this exchange was jealousy and the 1st human murder.

God warned Cain that it would come to this (if you do well…do not do well…). The difference b/t Cain and Abel’s offerings one offered his by faith, the other’s was faithless.

Proverbs 15:8 NASB95

8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

Calvin “Abel’s sacrifice was for no other reason preferable to that of his brother, except that it was sanctified by faith.”

Luther “The faith of the individual was the weight which added value to Abel’s offering.”

The offering was accepted b/c of the one who brought it—he was man of authentic faith. “Righteous shall live by faith” (10:38).

We’ll look at the 2nd part next time. As we prepare to come together to the Lord’s Supper, how we approach God means everything. If you try to come on your terms—God will reject your worship, your gifts, offerings. But if you come in the manner He has prescribed—that on the basis of the blood of LJC, who died as a substitute in our place…this is God’s way of dealing with sin—and when sin is dealt with, we are welcomed by the holy and righteous God.

The writer of Heb adds when contrasting Mt Sinai and the restriction given to the entire nation that even touching the mountain would bring about death: we come

Hebrews 12:24 NASB95

24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

The blessing of communion is that it always keeps before us the truth of sacrifice as the way to God and the only sacrifice that removes sin (your sin) is that of His precious Son.

1 Corinthians 11:26 NASB95

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

We proclaim it to ourselves—to remember the way to God, the way to true worship is thru JC, we proclaim it to each other as a perpetual reminder of the seriousness of sin and the hindrances to fellowship that it brings, and to the world which stands in such desperate need of hope—it is the gospel of peace with God.

Pray: Thank God For Mercy