The Children

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Last week we saw the results of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and the long lasting impact on all who would follow after them. We also saw the great lengths God put in motion to ensure we had the opportunity to be redeemed. We also learned that God put guards in place to ensure Adam and Eve would not have access to the tree of life. Today, we’re introduced to another relationship dynamic as we see the birth of the first children.

I hope you take the time to read our passage found in Gen. 4:1-16.

We start with the first children. We have no idea how long Adam and Eve waited before they began to fulfill the mandate to, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth,” but we start this new chapter of Genesis with a new chapter in humanity. Adam and Eve had sexual relations and Eve conceived. The narrative is compressed here because in the next breath Moses tells us that Cain was born and Eve declared, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” The next verse tells us of the birth of Abel. “Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Abel was a shepherd and Cain a farmer. Because we know what is coming, I think it’s easy to conclude that Abel had the more honorable profession. In Gen. 2:15, Adam was put in the garden to, “cultivate it and keep it,” and in Gen. 3:23 God sent Adam out of the garden, “to cultivate the ground from which he was taken,” so it looks like Cain followed after him. In reality, both professions are honorable.

After dispensing with their vocations, the narrative turns to the first opportunity we see for the kids to give an offering to the Lord. Somewhere along the way, there must have been some instruction on this, but we don’t know when that may have taken place. Read vs. 3-5. Cain brought the Lord an offering that contained the fruit of the ground. Abel brought the Lord an offering that contained the firstlings of his flock. V. 5 says, “But for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.” Much debate has occurred as to why the Lord would reject Cain’s offering and accept Abel’s. The difficulty here comes as we evaluate the offering Cain and Abel brought. People have said that Cain’s offering didn’t cost him anything, but if you’ve ever farmed, you know that growing things to maturity is not easy. Grain offerings were a part of the Law as described in Lev. 2. Some argue that Cain only brought a portion of the first fruits, but Abel, “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions” which they conclude is all of the firstlings. So, the exact reason is not known, but the outcome is something we see today.

The Lord rejected Cain’s offering and, “Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.” Remember back to Gen. 3:11 when God asked Eve, “Who told you that you were naked?” In this similar conversation, God asks Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” You can tell by looking at Cain that he was angry. So, God did what we often do when a loved one looks like that. What’s bothering you Cain? It seems that God is giving Cain an opportunity to ask Him about the offering. Cain reacted to the rejection of the offering by becoming angry. God goes on to say, “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” This verse has challenged people for years. The first part makes sense: when you do righteous things or demonstrate godly behavior, there is a joy that is observable on your face. The opposite is also true. You parents know when your kids do something wrong: they look guilty. This probably works really well with young kids, but as they get older, they get better at hiding it. If you don’t choose right actions, that gives sin an opportunity: an opportunity to control you.   The word desire here means a longing just as in Gen. 3:16. The idea expressed is one of control. Sin is personified as an animal lying in wait for his prey. We also see that sin is a choice; a decision, a set of circumstances where you can choose to do what is right in God’s eyes. Do not allow sin to control you or rule over you.

From the first children to the first murder. At this point, the narrative takes a dark turn. There was a relationship between the brothers and we know they talked. We don’t know the time period between vs. 7 and 8, but we do know that, “Cain told Abel his brother.” We can only assume that they were talking about the offering. There is still an opportunity for Cain to heed the warning from God. If you do well, it will show in your attitude. If you don’t do well, you give sin an opportunity to control you. That’s got to be ringing in Cain’s ears when he’s talking with Abel. Some translations have Cain saying, “Let’s go out into the field.” This presents us with the idea of premeditation. “And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” It is a statement of fact. You’ll see the phrase, “his brother” repeated in Genesis. It generally indicates a rivalry or hostility between siblings. You see it with Jacob and Ishmael and you see it with Joseph and his brothers. The sin of Adam and Eve has infected Cain and the result is the same: death. For Adam and Eve, the pain of their disobedience is manifested in the grief over the death of a child. They didn’t have to wait for generations to see the pain inflicted on humanity, they are experiencing it firsthand. The grief over the death of Abel is compounded as we’ll see.

Cain has murdered Abel in a field and we are allowed to see, with our imagination, the ensuing conversation between Cain and God. “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” It’s a simple question. Perhaps it’s a question to evoke repentance, to give an opportunity to Cain just like God gave the opportunity to Adam and Eve so we see a parallel to the conversation God had with Adam and Eve following their disobedience. “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain has the opportunity to confess to God. Instead, Cain lies: “I do not know.” It’s not the first lie in the Bible, but given the opportunity to come clean, Cain feels backed into a corner and the best way to protect himself is to lie. Remember, God knows the answer to His own question. Cain knows exactly where Abel is and he deflects the question by asking God a question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Keeper here means to watch over or guard. Adam was given the responsibility to keep the garden so the concept is not new. I don’t know if Cain expected God to say, “No you are not,” but instead God follows up with, “What have you done?” It was not designed as a question to elicit a response because God already knew what Cain had done. God then provides the evidence, “Your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.” Abel’s blood is personified – given human attributes – as it cries out to God. The ground that was cursed as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin now has innocent blood spilled upon it. In Heb. 11:4 we learn, “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 Jo. 3:11-12 says, “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 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.” Abel’s sacrifice or offering was considered better by God. Is that what led to such an intense demonstration of hatred at the expense of Abel? Abel did not deserve this death: he was innocent of any wrong doing. That’s why we see such harsh penalties for murder later in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Matthew, and Romans just to name a few. That’s why you see such harsh penalties for murder in our society. That’s why abortion is so detrimental to our society because it sheds innocent blood.

So, what happens as a result of Cain’s murderous action? God tells Cain, “Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain has committed a grievous act and the discipline is fitting. God issues a curse against Cain – the first human to be cursed. The land that Cain farmed will no longer be productive and Cain will wander the land. When he heard what God said, Cain replied, “My punishment is too great to bear! You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Cain’s complaint is three-fold. First, it’s just too much. Cain complains that the God of justice has meted out a punishment that is not fair. It’s too hard, it’s too harsh, it’s more than can be handled. Second, Cain complains that he has been driven from the land. Drive is the same word that was used in Gen. 3:24 when Adam and Eve were driven from the garden. Cain will be separated from his parents and presumably, separated from God’s hand of protection. Finally, Cain will be subject to the very thing he committed against his brother. He fears he will be killed. An obvious question is, killed by whom? Not everything that has occurred to this point in the world is revealed to us here. We don’t know how long it was before Adam and Eve had children. We don’t know how old Cain and Abel were when this event occurred. In this unknown timespan, we must assume that other people were about or else what comes next makes no sense. Even though perfect justice was dispensed, God heard Cain’s complaint. “So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.” The punishment doesn’t change, but God does alleviate Cain’s concern over himself being killed. God places a mark or sign of some kind on Cain that would be universally known to anyone that would meet up with him in the future. Also, retribution for killing Cain would be meted out at seven times over. An obvious question comes to mind, why would God preserve the life of a murderer? We can come up with a number of theories, but the truth is we just don’t know. What we do know is that, “Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” You can’t really go out from the Lord’s presence since He is everywhere. This represents a spiritual and metaphorical separation because of what happens next.

Take a look at the rest of the chapter and read vs. 17-24. We see seven generations after Adam on Cain’s side. There are people in tents, people that have livestock, musicians, and the infamous Tubal-Cain who was skilled in making things of metal. The seventh from Adam is a man named Lamech. Even a casual reading of Lamech’s poem, often referred to as the Song of the Sword, reveals some disturbing things. First, Lamech took two wives deviating from God’s plan. Second, we see Lamech boasting of his killing a man and a boy. Some translations say, “I kill a man” using present tense indicating that if anyone were to stand in his way, he’d kill them. If you hit him, he’ll kill you. Either way, this poem indicates the brutal and ruthless nature of Cain’s descendants.

There is hope that is found in vs. 25-26. On Seth’s side, we see just two generations at this point from Adam. We see Eve’s heartache over Abel’s death and the joy of seeing Seth born. Seth had a son named Enosh and we see the very important closing phrase of Chapter 4: “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

We learn of the birth of the first children by humanly means. We see sibling rivalry and jealousy when God accepts Abel’s offering, but does not accept Cain’s. We see Cain’s jealousy over Abel that led to the first physical death of a person. Murder has been wrong since the beginning of humanity. Cain is cursed and driven from the presence of the Lord and his parents, but his life is spared by God by protecting him from the people he would meet in Nod. We see the descendants of Cain ending with the brutal Lamech. We see the birth of Seth and then his son Enosh when men began calling on the Lord. We’ll see the importance of this godly line next week when we learn of a man that would play an extraordinarily important role in humanity.