Table of Contents
It is somewhat of a joke, but we’re all guilty of being too proud to read the instruction manual when trying to assemble or maintain the products we buy. The most important item in our inventory is our self and it does come with an instruction manual. When the garden was perfect, there wasn’t much need for a manual since Adam and Eve just talked with God, comfortably learning from their genius designer-creator in a loving relationship. Now that mankind is only half-living due to a series of curses and environmental changes to the human soul, having a manual now is more important than ever.
In the progressive revelation of truth, sprinkled out to us over time, God has given us a lot to understand. Perhaps the most important lesson comes to us from the story of Cain and Abel, the first children born of Adam and Eve. The details of this story are from Genesis chapter 4. The narrative is broken into several parts, so let’s take them one part at a time.
It’s a Boy!
1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel.
Genesis 4:1-2a
For the incessantly inquisitive, the geeky stuff of this verse begins with the verb “had relations with”. The Hebrew word is “yada” (יָדַע) which literally means “knew”. In this context, it’s not so much that Adam discovered Eve or that Adam learned about Eve, but more that a relationship of intimacy was exercised. I find humorous one scholar who manages to hyper-sanitize the translation with “recognized her nature and uses”.
When we see someone we haven’t ever seen before at a party, and someone asks, “Do you know who that is?”, you answer based on information, “I don’t know who that is.” However, when a mutual friend introduces you and you exchange names, a handshake and some small-talk, then when you part, it’s perfectly understandable that you would say, “It’s been a pleasure getting to know you.” There is clearly a deepening of relationship by degree buried in the semantics of “knowing” someone. Relationship “information” is managed differently within our souls from plain “information”.
The result of Adam and Eve “knowing” each other was the conception and eventual birth of a boy.
Genesis is the book of “firsts” and this is the record of the first birth. Eve rightly acknowledges that she “brought forth” (literally “got”) a “man” “with the help of the LORD”. Adam was created by God. Eve was created by God out of Adam and their first child came from Adam’s and Eve’s union with the help of God. This fact is a truth right to this day. On mother’s day, remember you are your mother’s with God’s help.
The name given to their first child reflects this idea of “gotten” since “Cain” means “possession”.
Some commentators argue that since Eve gave birth to Abel without any references to “knowing” or conception again, that perhaps Abel was a twin brother. The only cue we’re given is that Cain came first, then “later” came Abel.
Time to Worship
Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. 3 So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, 4 while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but He had no regard for Cain and his offering.
Genesis 4:2b-5a
A truth more evident today than ever: no two people are alike– even brothers.
From what has been revealed about life for the first family, we know that agriculture would be Adam’s primary source of food. This is based on the curse leveled at Adam’s part in that fateful day of disobedience back in Genesis 3:17-19. What use would Adam have for a flock of sheep? Animals were not permitted to be a source of food until after the flood of Noah’s day. Our only clue is that God provided a covering of “skin” for Adam and Eve’s nakedness through the sacrifice of an animal. Genesis 3:21 doesn’t specifically say a sheep was the source of the “skin”, but it is very likely that it was an animal from the class of animals God created as “cattle” or “livestock” back in Genesis 1:24. Speculatively, it is possible that the Adam’s family milked the sheep for drinking, but the first reference to milk in the Bible isn’t until the time of Abraham.
We’re not told any details about why this particular day was a day to worship… all we have is that the time to worship came around again. The literal “end of days” had come. Perhaps they were celebrating the annual “day of disaster” where God didn’t wipe Adam and Eve off the face of the planet, but showed mercy and compassion despite their dishonor, lack of trust and disobedience. Perhaps there was a season boundary. All speculation. We just know it was time.
Both boys are highlighted as part of the worship through the gifts they presented: Able brought the “best” of his flock and Cain from his agricultural produce. At this point in God’s revelation to man, we have no clear teachings on what constituted an acceptable gift to God, other than as some suppose that offering an animal as part of their supply of clothing had morphed into an act of worship. At this point in history, worship was a free expression and giving something to God was a part of that expression.
We’re told that God’s attention and approval was drawn to Abel’s offering but not to Cain’s. So many have speculated on what it is that made Abel’s gift better than Cain’s gift, but I prefer the theory that the author of Hebrews puts forth:
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Hebrews 11:4
As we discuss the man-to-man talk God had with Cain, I think you’ll agree that Cain must have offered his sacrifice with an attitude that displeased God– not a gift problem, but a heart problem. Could Cain’s heart problem have been with his brother, Abel?
Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:23-24
Not to imply in any way that God thinks like man, but even in a human context, if someone presents to us a gift when you know their heart isn’t in it, the gift tends to be less meaningful. This is another one of those programmed behaviors in the soul– we give and receive gifts as expressions of true heart attitude. A gift given or received in any other way is corrupt– like a bribe.
Best Advice Ever
So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:5b-7
You can tell a lot about a person from their reactions. People under control are able to schedule feelings or deal with feelings diplomatically. The best people monitor their soul’s condition and head off troublesome inner forces before they become fuel for a triggered explosion. Cain was already at the point of breaking. It didn’t take much to trigger him. Verse 5 says Cain “became very angry”, which is a good translation for “very burned”.
Likewise, Cain’s “countenance fell” or “face fell”. This is another sign of a soul’s displeasure, expressing its feelings externally. It is hard to mask our feelings, especially painful disappointments. I don’t like to play “body language” games with people because body language is not a precise language. Someone grimacing in pain from a tooth ache, right when you say something odd, might lead you to conclude they were reacting to your statement. These kinds of miscommunications through body language are great plots in soap operas and chick-flick dramas. In Cain’s case, God read his body language perfectly.
Remember, all questions from God are not requests for information so that God can be better informed. God’s questions are lamps that go into deep dark tunnels to bring the light of truth to dark places in our souls. In verse 6, God asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” I like to think that Cain paused, sat down on a rock and contemplated this question carefully for an hour before responding to God. At least, he should have. Self-reflection, soul-searching, and introspection are very profitable in the area of purification. God’s Word and probing questions are soap and water for our souls.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
John 15:3
God pairs His first question with a companion question that is equally as telling, “why has your countenance fallen?” The fact that Cain’s soul’s feelings were showing right on the very surface of his face is another clue that Adam’s and Eve’s fall in the garden has passed generationally from parents to children. Cain was experiencing the tyranny of a corrupt soul over an oppressed slave. Cain wasn’t free, but was deceived. Cain’s motivations weren’t from a broken heart trusting God day by day to lead him to a path of grace. Cain was being led day by day by selfish impulses of the soul. Whatever had motivated him to stand before God in a worship ceremony, it wasn’t that blessable attitude of respect and gratitude.
In verse 7, the questions continue. God asks, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” A more literal translation plays perfectly into God’s previous question: “If you do good, won’t you be lifted up?” Cain’s countenance will be lifted up. Doing “good” is and has always been a self-rewarding behavior. Acting in a way that reflects God’s good character will receive God’s blessing. The big question is, “How?”
At this point in time, there are only five persons in existence. I can promise you that Adam and Eve would have some very wise words about how to do good. Abel was apparently in a faithful and trusting frame of being so also would be able to give Cain some great advice. The best source to answer questions about good is our very good God. Had Cain approached God and asked, “How do I do good?” God would have answered that prayer.
Even today, the expert on good is God. If you have any doubts about how to do good, go to the expert. The wisest thing any human alive today can say to God is, “I’m not very well educated in good. In fact, I tend to goof up everything I try to do– it never comes out good… Would you please lead me in being good?” God will answer that prayer. He’ll lead you to Jesus. He will give you the Holy Spirit and He will open up His Word to you.
Verse 7 continues with a contrast that has the power to enlighten every lost soul looking for answers to their dysfunctional lives: “But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” On this side of the fall, we live in a world of choices and contrasts. God gives Cain a contrast starting with “but if…” This is God’s way of letting Cain know he can’t go on with the way he is behaving without consequences. Cain must use his knowledge of good and evil to make moral future simulations. Selecting a future outcome when you know it is an immoral selection will bear the fruit of just consequences.
Refusing to “do what is right” is a very dangerous state to be in. Refusing is much stronger than being deceived into doing what is wrong. It is more serious than not knowing what to do and making a random choice. Cain was warned by God about “refusing”. When in this state, you are at risk of losing it all. God explains that sin, crouching like a sneaking thief, is right at his door.
We’ll talk in more detail about sin at a later time, but this same principle of “refusing” is highlighted by James:
Therefore, whoever knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
James 4:17
If you saw someone park their car in front of your neighbor’s house, walk to the front door and ring the doorbell, you wouldn’t be suspicious of any potential evil. However, it you glanced out your window and noticed someone crawling low to the ground through the bushes toward your neighbor’s door, you’d call the police immediately. The action of concealing your intention is always suspicious.
God’s picture of sin– as a suspicious evil– should get Cain’s attention. The issue is pressing and immediate. If Cain loses control of the door, the security of the whole house is compromised.
At this point we need to be warned that playing the “arm-chair quarterback” from up in the bleachers is a lot easier than being down on the gridiron. We can see what’s happening from this distance, but remember that souls are powerful forces that blind ones eye to truths they don’t want you to see. We all suffer from this boneheaded lack of objectivity when we’re in the heat of a battle with temptation. Cain is not self-aware, but is in the best school available: God’s Advice University.
Thankfully, God offers Cain some advice that could just turn it all around for him. “it desires you, but you must master it.” If you read the article on “What Went Wrong?“, you might recognize this term “desire” from that discussion. This word in Hebrew is somewhat rare, only appearing here, in Genesis chapter 3 and in one other place in the Song Of Solomon. Though the contexts are few, they all appear to relate a kind of desire that is owning, possessive, controlling, and mastering. We must be warned! Our lives are under attack, through the corruption of our souls, by a force that is determined to own and control us. If that happens, we will be overpowered, oppressed, enslaved and imprisoned.
God gives Cain the ultimatum: “you must master it!” Cain has no choice in this matter. Collect whatever strength you need; gather all the resources available and fight back at this foe. Defeat it and become its master, because the other way around is doom.
This is perhaps the best advice God can offer us. If we don’t understand at our very core is an eternal battle for the control of our lives, we are lost already. If we do understand it, and fight back, we’ll search out allies and weapons that are effective to win the battle. All of what we need to be victorious against sin, God offers freely. Read “Test Yourself” for a great explanation of what God has made available for our deliverance from this tyrant of our souls.
The Battle that Builds Us
It is important to take a small side trail at this juncture and recognize that although living in each of us is a sin so awful and so hideous that we are by nature deserving of the wrath of God, this battle to master the evil in our nature actually can be used by God to help us grow into the people God wants us to be. With the help of our parents and good friends, with the support of family and neighbors, when we have the cooperation of schools and entertainment, government, culture and tradition, all fighting for us to win this battle, society can be built up into a force that corporately resists this crouching, sneaky, serpent of sin.
We must recognize the evil in each of us and figure out how to be victorious against it. Obviously, we can’t save ourselves in the sense that the fight could redeem us, but in the battle we learn our complete dependence on a loving God who has never given up on us. He is all we need and will supply even the ammunition of truth to keep us on a steady path of trust in Him. The fight against sin’s power to master us is a horrible fight and many of us bear the emotional scars to prove it. Yet fight we must and in the fight we win when we fight along side God. Although no curse could ever be a worse attack against God and His perfect creation, God’s infinite wisdom is far beyond sin’s petty insult against His divine nature. God is using sin to an advantage that even Satan didn’t foresee.
Don’t get me wrong! This challenge is a challenge that God plays to His and our advantage, but remember we have sinned, all of us, and there is nothing we ourselves can do to erase that fact. God is working a plan for our freedom from the power of sin, deliverance from the penalty of eternal death and a full restoration to our status as children of God, and it isn’t according to any “good deeds” that we could perform.
At this point the “advice” is through and the insights we gain from the straight talk between God and Cain are many. But continuing the the study into how Cain and God work out the evil that ensues is also enlightening…
Cain Refuses God’s Advice
8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:8
Clearly, Cain refused the advice that could have saved him. Not only did Cain refuse, Cain let sin in through the door, inspiring his mind to form a plan to kill his brother. Try as you might to understand this behavior, you can’t. There was nothing logical about Cain’s behavior. The power and influence of sin is completely illogical. “Crime never pays!” is a truth that rarely ever turns a criminal back. Cain was acting out the exact same motivation that drove the serpent to corrupt mankind– this was an offense directed at God, through righteous Abel. The prophesy of the seed of the serpent being in enmity with the seed of Eve is being fulfilled.
On a textual note, the literal Hebrew has less “dialog” and more narrative… more like “Cain talked with Abel his brother and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”
Jesus would later confirm that Satan is a liar and murderer from the beginning. When a soul refuses to battle against the corruption of sin, but instead welcomes sin, Satan is also welcomed. You might have heard of the phrase, “selling your soul to the devil”… this is a measure of just how far Cain has fallen by forfeiting the battle. Cain is now a minion of Satan, soldiering in the army at war with God.
It is likely that Cain’s dialog with Abel was a lie and pretense to lure Abel away from others. The foul lies of sin delude the mind into thinking that deeds done in darkness somehow seem to escape justice. But this is never true. Murder is likewise never a self-serving gain, but a sad loss of a pawn sacrificed by the commander of evil.
God Confronts Cain
9 And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed and banished 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 its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
Genesis 4:9-12
Again, God with the questions. God knew where Abel was. In asking Cain, and Cain asking himself, the answer was an incriminating truth. A soul, completely sold to sin, can never utter self-incrimination. There will always be a deflection, a denial, or a counter accusation when a soul is caught in its own darkness. Trap a guilty soul against a light and it will always hide in any shadow it can.
The first reaction when hiding from self-incrimination is the classic, “I don’t know!” Cain returns with a blatant, outright lie. It might work on other non-omniscient beings, but it doesn’t work on God. Further, Cain doubles his battle guard with a counter attack, a question that carries with it a subtle accusation, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” which is a short way of saying, “You have no right to hold me accountable for my brother!” “You really aren’t so awesome if you depend on me to watch over your children!” This is raw, bold defiance.
God doesn’t even wait for the answer to the next question, “What have you done?”. I’m pretty sure what would have come out of Cain’s mouth would have been yet another egregious lie.
God proceeds from there with the evidence against Cain. Cain somehow thinks that since he and Abel were alone in the field, that there were no witnesses, but there is always a witness to murder. Verse 10 continues with God answering His own question, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” Is Abel’s blood in pain? Is Abel’s blood suffering? Abel’s blood, that is, Abel’s life, was taken from him and requires justice. This is again another first in Genesis. Blood spilled to the ground is the emptying of life from a soul. God didn’t have to wait for Abel to approach God and demand justice, Abel’s blood did the crying out. Taken criminally, it is murder. Given by God, it is a sacrifice. If taken, it demands justice. If given, it provides justice. This is another thread of redemption found throughout the books of the Bible. The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22).
What’s more, in verses 11 & 12, God passes a new and harsh judgement upon Cain as a consequence for the murder of Abel:
Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.
Genesis 4:11-12
In modern courts of justice, pre-meditated murder, or first-degree murder, is generally punishable by death– or in the least, life in prison. It is interesting that God didn’t just kill Cain outright as punishment for this murder. Instead, God let the very earth, that was once Cain’s source of life, be withdrawn. The earth was polluted by Abel’s life so it was no longer required to sustain Cain’s life. Are their any consequences so severe to awaken a mind, deceived by sin, into reconsidering a planned crime? Probably not. This is likely the reason that after the flood of Noah, God institutes capital punishment, to slow the advance of hardened evil on the earth.
Without the resource of cultivation to sustain Cain’s life, what can Cain do other than beg and scavenge for leftovers. The term fugitive has a Hebrew sense of “trembling”, likely in fright. In fear Cain will be forced to never settle down anywhere, wandering all his life.
In addition, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, the consequence was a separation from God. Cain has sinned against Adam and Eve so in a way Cain is placed into a forced separation from his parents. When souls become this possessed of evil, a separation from the relatively unspoiled society and civilization is necessary. The line of Adam and the line of Cain appear to have maintained a wide separation for several thousand years, until the time of Noah when the descendants of Cain saw that Adam’s daughters were beautiful and began to corrupt the line of Adam with the evil excesses characteristic of Cain’s clan and culture. The chapter “When Enough is Enough” gives more insight into this mixing of worlds.
Cain Still Doesn’t “Get It”
13 But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 4:13-14
One would hope that Cain would have some inkling of remorse or contrition over the reprehensible evil of his actions, but not so. Cain is more worried about whether God is being “just” or not (verse 13). If Cain would have shown even the slightest sorrow, I’m sure God would have had a different response. Cain was generously warned by God to alter the trajectory of his soul. God used the same truth-revealing questions with Cain that He had used with Adam and Eve, but Cain boldly lied to God’s face. Every consequence Cain is facing is exactly that– the consequence that Cain paid for. These punishments are Cain’s “wages”. The consequences are justly deserved.
If you’re looking for an insight here, try this: a soul that has hope of reformation, clings to God; a soul sold to the devil, is only bitter about being caught.
Cain’s final, unfounded, complaint is that God has made Cain so much a scab and sore on the face of humanity, that his own brothers (other children of Adam and Eve) will take “justice” into their own hands and kill Cain.
“Not so! ” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him.
Genesis 4:15
In no way does Cain deserve a response to his whiny, pitiful complaining before God, but God tolerates it anyway. God shows how He is not a respecter of persons. If murder was wrong when Cain did it to Abel out of evil jealousy, then it is still wrong, even when it is done as evil, vengeful, vigilante mob justice.
“The Mark of Cain”
As for this verse discussing a “mark on Cain”… the Hebrew word for “mark” is better translated in most contexts as a “sign”. This would be an attesting display of God’s work, almost like God signing His name at the bottom of a promise. This same word is used in Genesis 1:14.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
Genesis 1:14
Likewise, after the flood of Noah, God promised with a sign to never again destroy the earth by a deluge in Genesis 9:12-13.
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
Genesis 9:12-13
Thus, the “mark on Cain” is better understood to be a promise that would comfort Cain and relieve him of these irrational fears.
Postscript
16 So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 4:1-16
The interactions between Cain and God are done at this point, but it is interesting to note that Cain was able to settle down with his wife and raise a family, building a city East of the Garden of Eden, naming that city after the name of his first-born son, Enoch.
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