Chapter 4

THEME: The birth of Cain and Abel; God gives Cain a second chance; Cain murders Abel; the children of Cain and a godless civilization; the birth of Seth

 

In Genesis 3 we have the root of sin and in Genesis 4 the fruit of sin. How bad is sin? Well, in this chapter, we find that man was not just suffering from ptomaine poisoning because of having eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Chapter 4 reveals how much had really happened to the man. By his disbelief and his disobedience, he had turned away from God and had sinned in such a way that he brought upon himself and his race His judgment, because you and I are given this same kind of nature. We have the same nature that our father had, and Adam has given all of us a pretty bad nature. All this is revealed in the story of the two sons of Adam and Eve. They had more children than this, but we are given the record of only these two at this time.

The Birth Of Cain And Abel (4:1-5)

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD [Gen. 4:1].

 

This reveals the fact that Adam and Eve certainly did not anticipate that the struggle was going to be long. When Cain was born, Eve must have said, "I have gotten the man from the Lord. God said that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent -- and here he is!" But Cain was not the one. He was a murderer, he was no savior at all. It will be a long time before the Savior comes. For a minimum of six thousand years -- and I think it has been longer than that -- the struggle has been going on between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

 

And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground [Gen. 4:2].

 

These are the two boys that we are looking at.

 

And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD [Gen. 4:3].

 

"In process of time" actually means "at the end of days," which would mean on the Sabbath Day, on the day that God had rested.

 

"Cain brought" -- the idea of "brought" means to an appointed place. They are bringing an offering to God to an appointed place to worship. All this would indicate that they are doing it by revelation. I know that they are, for when we turn to Hebrews 11:4, we read: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." How could Abel offer it "by faith"? "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). God had to have given His Word about this, or this boy Abel could never have come by faith, and that is the way he came. The other boy did not come that way. "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground." There is nothing wrong with the fruit. Don't think that he brought the leftovers -- his attitude is not that of giving old clothes to the mission. I think that the fruit he brought would have won the blue ribbon in any county or state fair in the country. He brought the best of his beautiful, delicious fruit, and he brought it as an offering to the Lord.

 

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

 

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell [Gen. 4:4-5].

 

Someone may say, "I don't see anything wrong in the thing Cain did." In the eleventh verse of his epistle, speaking of apostates in the last days, Jude says, ". . . They have gone in the way of Cain . . ." What is the way of Cain? When Cain brought an offering to God, he did not come by faith -- he came on his own. And the offering that he brought denied that human nature is evil. God said, "Bring that little blood sacrifice which will point to the Redeemer who is coming into the world. Come on that basis, and don't come by bringing the works of your own hands."

 

Cain's offering also denied that man was separated from God. He acted like everything was all right. This is what liberalism does today in talking about the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. My friend, things are not all right with us today. We are not born children of God. We have to be born again to be children of God. Man is separated from God. Cain refused to recognize that, and multitudes today refuse to do so.

 

The third thing that Cain's offering denied was that man cannot offer works to God -- Cain felt he could. Scripture says: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). The difference between Cain and Abel was not a character difference at all, but the difference was in the offerings which they brought. These two boys had the same background. They had the same heredity. They had the same environment. There was not that difference between them. Don't tell me that Cain got his bad disposition from an alcoholic grandfather on his father's side -- he didn't have a grandfather. And don't say that Abel got his good disposition from a very fine grandmother on his mother's side. They just didn't have grandparents. They had the same heredity and the same environment. The difference was in the offerings.

 

That offering makes a difference in men today. No Christian takes the position that he is better than anyone else. The thing that makes him a Christian is that he recognizes that he is a sinner like everyone else and that he needs an offering, he needs a sacrifice, and he needs Someone to take his place and to die for him. Paul says of Christ: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood . . ." (Rom. 3:25). Therefore Paul could further write: "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:3). That is the picture of multitudes of people today. They are attempting through religion, through joining a church and doing something, to make themselves acceptable to God. God's righteousness can only come to you -- because it must be a perfect righteousness -- through Christ's providing it for you. "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). That is, He was raised for our righteousness. He was the One who took our place. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2Cor. 5:21). Paul says in Philippians 3:8-9, ". . . That I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. . . ." The righteousness of Cain was his own righteousness. The righteousness of Abel was faith in a sacrifice that looked forward to Christ's sacrifice.

 

We have seen that Cain and Abel had come together to worship God. These two boys were identical. Some expositors actually believe they were twins -- I think that was the position of the late Dr. Harry Rimmer. But I believe they were even closer than twins because of the fact they had no blood stream which reached way back on both sides that might cause a difference. They were the sons of Adam and Eve. However, there is a great divergence between Cain and Abel which is not necessarily a character divergence. One was accepted because of the sacrifice which he brought by faith; the other, Cain, brought his offering without any recognition from God at all.

God Gives Cain A Second Chance (4:6-7)

And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

 

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [Gen. 4:6-7].

 

Why is Cain angry? He is angry enough that he is going to slay his brother. Back of premeditated murder there always is anger. Our Lord said that, if you are angry with your brother without a cause, you are guilty of murder. Back of anger is jealousy, and back of jealousy is pride. There is no sense of sin whatsoever in spiritual pride. James put it in language like this: "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:15). Cain's anger led to murder, but back of that was his jealousy and also his pride.

 

And that is how God deals with him. He says to Cain, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" Actually, the meaning is better translated as, "Shalt thou not have excellency?" The eldest son always occupied a place of preeminence, and this boy thinks that now he will lose that. God tells him there is no reason for him to lose it if he does well. To do well would be to bring that which God had accepted from Abel, a sacrifice and the acknowledgment that he was a sinner. But not this boy -- he's just angry.

 

"Sin lieth at the door." There are those who have interpreted this as meaning that a sin offering lies at the door; that is, that there is the little lamb lying at the door. That makes sense because that was true, but I do not think it means the sin offering here. Up to this time and beyond this time, in fact, up until Moses, as far as I can tell from the Word of God, there was no sin offering. You find the instructions given for the sin offering in the Book of Leviticus. In the first part of that book, five offerings are given, and one is the sin offering. The sin offering did not come into existence until the law was given. That is the thing that Paul is saying in Romans 3:20: ". . . For by the law is the knowledge of sin." The offerings that were brought up to that time were burnt offerings. Job in his day, which obviously was before Moses, brought a burnt offering. It was not in any way a sin offering. I think if you will examine the Scriptures, you will find that that is true.

 

It is obvious that Cain did not realize how vulnerable to sin he was. When God said to him that "sin lieth at the door," I believe He was saying that sin, like a wild beast, was crouching at the door waiting to pounce on him the moment he stepped out. For that reason Cain needed a sacrifice that would be acceptable to God for sin, a sacrifice that pointed to Christ. "Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1John 3:12). "If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." To do well would have been to bring the kind of offering that Abel had brought, a burnt offering. You find that Abraham also offered a burnt offering, for there could be no transgression until the law was given; that is, sin would not become a trespass against law until then. Therefore, you find that God actually protected this man Cain.

Cain Murders Abel (4:8-15)

And 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 slew him.

 

And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? [Gen. 4:8-9].

 

This is practically an impudent answer. He frankly had little regard for either his brother or for his God. He is trying to cover his action, but the Scriptures say, ". . . there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known" (Matt. 10:26). That is something to think over if you have any secret sins. You had better deal with them down here because they are all going to come out in God's presence someday anyway. He already knows about them -- you might just as well tell Him about them. This fellow Cain tries to say that he is not guilty. "Am I my brother's keeper?" -- what an impudent answer!

 

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground [Gen. 4:10].

 

The writer to the Hebrews uses this in Hebrews 12:24: "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Abel's blood spoke of murder committed. The blood of Christ speaks of redemption; it speaks of salvation.

 

And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

 

When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth [Gen. 4:11-12].

 

Yet in our day there is a curse upon the earth because of man's sin which causes it to lose its fertility. In some of the most lush sections of our earth multitudes of folk are starving. It takes great effort and ingenuity for man to make this earth produce in abundance. Certainly the blood of Abel cries out from the very earth itself -- blood that was spilled in murder by a brother.

 

And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear [Gen. 4:13].

 

If Cain's punishment was greater than he could bear, why didn't he just turn to God and confess his sin and cast himself upon God's mercy? It was too great for him to bear, but God was providing a Savior for him if he would only turn to Him.

 

Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me [Gen. 4:14].

 

Cain says now that he is to be hidden from the face of God, and of course, that is exactly what happened.

 

But notice now that God protects him. This is strange: God is actually harboring a murderer, a criminal.

 

And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him [Gen. 4:15].

 

I do not know what the mark was. There has been a lot of speculation, and I do not know why I should add my speculation to all of it. But God protects Cain. There has been no law given at this time. Cain is a sinner, but he is not a transgressor because there has been no law given about murder. His great sin is that he did not bring the offering that was acceptable to God. His deeds were evil in what he brought to God, and he manifested that evil nature in slaying his brother.

The Children Of Cain And A Godless Civilization (4:16-24)

We find that Cain moves out from God, and he establishes a civilization that is apart from God altogether. The children of Cain establish a godless civilization.

 

And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden [Gen. 4:16].

 

I know a lot of folk who dwell in "the land of nod" when they are in church, but frankly, I do not know where the land of Nod really is. I have often wondered just where it is, and again, there is speculation about this. But we are told that Cain went out and dwelt in that area.

 

And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch [Gen. 4:17].

 

Men have been doing this ever since. They like to call streets and cities by their own names or by names of loved ones. Even in Christian work you have schools named for individuals. Men love to do that, whether they are Christian or whether they are after the order of Cain.

 

But here is where urban life, city life, began: "and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch." Cities have become one of the biggest problems that man has today. The cities, they say, are dying, and yet people all over the world are flocking to the cities.

 

And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methuselah: and Methuselah begat Lamech.

 

And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah [Gen. 4:18-19].

 

Here is the beginning of polygamy -- having more than one wife. Lamech now does that which is contrary to what God intends, contrary to what God has for man. You will never find anywhere in the Scriptures that God approves of polygamy. If you read the accounts accurately, you will find that He condemns it. He gives the record of it because He is giving a historical record, and that is the basis on which it is given to us here.

 

"Adah" means pleasure or adornment. She was the first one to make it to the beauty parlor, I guess. "Zillah" means to hide; I suppose that means she was a coquette. My, what two girls he had for wives! No wonder he had problems. Later on we will see what happened.

 

Here now is the beginning of civilization, the Cainitic civilization.

 

And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle [Gen. 4:20].

 

"He was the father of such as dwell in tents." The apostle Paul was a tentmaker later on, but here is the first housing contractor. "And of such as have cattle" -- here was the first rancher.

 

And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ [Gen. 4:21].

 

Here is the beginning of the musicians. When we hear some of the modern music today, I am sure there are many who would agree that it must have begun with Cain's civilization!

 

And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah [Gen. 4:22].

 

Here we see the ones who are craftsmen.

 

And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

 

If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold [Gen. 4:23-24].

 

Lamech says, "If Cain got by with it, I can get by with it. After all, Cain did not slay in self-defense, but I have." I do not know whether he did or not, but he says that he slew in self-defense. And I do not know whether or not his two wives entered into this, or whether or not he was defending one of them. We are not told how it happened. Lamech feels that he will be avenged seventy and sevenfold, but our Lord told Simon Peter that he ought to forgive his enemy that many times.

The Birth Of Seth (4:25-26)

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

 

And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD [Gen. 4:25-26].

 

Apparently this was the beginning of men calling upon the name of the Lord.