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2/6/11. Genesis 4:1-24. What Ever Happened to Cain? – Message and Questions

What Ever Happened to Cain?

cain and able 

Link to the Kevin’s Bible Material                   Link to “What ever happened to that person?” series

Genesis 4:1-24

Key verse 4:6-7                                                                                                          Kevin E. Jesmer 2-6-11

 

“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

      In today’s passage we will learn about Cain. Cain is one of the lost souls of Genesis. When he was young, God accepted Abel’s offering, but did not accept his. When rebuked, Cain did not repent and he became angry. God loved Cain and gave him his word. But Cain rejected God’s love and God’s word. Sin conquered him. When called to repent Cain refused. The godless culture he spawned was full of violence, hatred, revenge and the misuse of the word of God. Through a study of this passage may we respond to the love of God and determine to make offerings that are pleasing to the Lord. May we keep God’s word in my heart so that sin may not master us but rather we may do what is right before God’s eyes and be made acceptable to God. May God bless you.

Part l: Cain And His Offering (1-5a)

 

Just prior to the birth of Cain, mankind was separated from God because of their sin. Adam and Eve had been dwelling in paradise with God. God provided everything for them, great food, a beautiful environment, a meaningful mission in life, hope and vision for the future, a family and a close intimate relationship with their Creator. But all of this was lost when Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil to doubt God’s love and disobey God. They found themselves blaming God and each other and huge chasm was created between them and God. They lost their innocence and were filled with guilt and shame. They hid from God, failing to confess their sins and repent. As a result they were cast out of the garden and into a fallen world where they would work hard simply to survive, where bearing kids was very painful and even deadly, where Satan, out of his hatred for God, would harass them endlessly and where each would expect other people and create things to be their saviors. Life in the fallen world was harsh and unforgiving. It was a world where God seemed distant, harsh and uninvolved in peoples’ lives. This is the world that Cain was born into.

 

But despite of their harsh reality, Adam and Eve still believed in God. They knew that the paradise of God still existed. They knew that God still loved them, for he even slew an animal in order to cover their nakedness with its fur.  Eve even gave credit to God for helping her to give birth to Cain. Look at Genesis 4:1, “Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.’” She was not bitter to God and she still had faith that he was actively involved in their lives and blessing them.

 

Adam Eve taught their son’s about God. They knew that God existed and wanted them to approach him in worship. The fact that God sacrificed an animal for them to cover their shame taught them that they could approach God through sacrifice. And so Eve taught her boys how to come to God by sacrificing. They had some kind of spiritual life with religious practice. They built themselves and huge mound with rock and soil; with stairs and on a regular basis they built a large fire and came to God with offerings in which the smoke of these offerings drifted up to heaven. It was their attempt to please God and acknowledge God that he is their Creator God, the Sovereign Lord, and the provider of all things. They were to come to God humbly with thanksgiving, submission and faith as they made their offering.

 

Cain and Able knew what they were to do and with what attitude of heart they should have. They knew. Cain’s brother, Able brought fat portions of the firstborn of his flock He gave an offering that really cost him something. He offered a healthy lamb, even before others were born. But Cain did not make such an offering. Look at verse 3, “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD”  He was just going through the motions. He was giving something that really didn’t require faith. Cain may have been fulfilling his religious duty, but he was not recognizing, nor thanking, nor recognizing God for who he is, the Creator and Sustainer and Provider. Cain’s offering was not pleasing to God and was reflection of his inner person. God was pleased with Cain’s offering but not with Cain’s. Verse 5a reads, “The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor….”  (See also Heb 11:4) God did not have to accept his superficial, habitual offering. God wants our whole hearts. He wants our sincerity of heart. And so he had every right to rejected Cain’s offering.

 

    Cain did not accept God’s judgment on the matter. Look at verse 5b, “… So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” The reality of his inner heart was being made manifest on the outside. Actually, Cain had been downcast for decades. One doesn’t become like this overnight. But he hid behind a halfhearted religious façade. God had been patient. But now when he stood before the light of God his darkness was revealed.

 

Part ll: God’s Love For Cain (5b-9)

When Cain discovered that God was not very happy with his offering, he should have confessed his sin even if he didn’t understand fully what God was getting at. Confession and repentance is always the proper response to God’s convicting work in our hearts. 1 John 1:9 reads, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” And Proverbs 28:13 reads; “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” What is confession? Mostly confession is agreeing with God. The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) The Bible says that we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10) When we confess we agree that even the simplest of sins is enough to condemn us to an eternity in hell; that our lack of sincerity and heart and superficial offerings in our lives are not pleasing to God; that we are in a desperate need of a savior. May we all learn the blessedness of humbly confessing our sins before God and find God’s mercy and forgiveness.

God cared about Cain’s spiritual condition. Look at verse 6, “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast.’” God was not just asking for information. He knew of the turmoil that was brewing in Cain’s heart. He reached out to Cain. Cain should have taken this opportunity to pour out his heart to God, “Lord, I don’t understand why you didn’t accept my offering. What did I do wrong? Teach me your truth. Help me to make an offering that is pleasing to you.”  What a beautiful example he would have set for future generations if he did this!

God gave Cain what he needed the most…wise words of counsel. Look at verse 7,If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  Let’s think about these words of life. First, doing what is right. Look at verse 7a, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?…”  Cain needed to do what was right. What is right in his case? Obviously it is humble confession; imploring God for his help and asking for his guidance and strength to making the right offering. God was showing Cain the way to be saved. If only he would listen.

 

Second, Cain needed to seek to be accepted by God. Look at verse 7a again, “7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?…”  Cain needed to care about the barrier that his sin had created by his sin. He needed to care about his alienation from the Lord and seek God’s acceptance, for God’s acceptance would mean forgiveness, spiritual blessings, peace and eternal life. But Cain did not seem to care about being unacceptable to God.

 

    God was very adamant about Cain’s repentance, because he knew how much danger Cain was in. Look at verse 7b, “”…But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” The power of sin is very real and very dangerous. Peter speaks of this danger in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  If our hearts are not right before God then the truth is, we are in dire danger. When I was in Kenya on Safari after a Bible conference, I saw a roaring lion pounce on a wildebeest. The lion was sleeping in the grass and four wildebeests walked right up to it. The lion pounced and grabbed the neck of one poor animal. It held on until he strangled it. Sin is like this. It holds on until we are overcome and we perish under its power.  Sin and the devil are waiting to pounce on us to enslave us, rob us of life and keep us eternally separated from God. We need to take heed and do the right thing and seek the acceptance of God with sincere hearts.

Sin is very powerful. The devil is very powerful. With our human ability we cannot but fall victim to them. But there is a way to master sin. Jesus showed us how in Matthew 4:1-11. In this passage Jesus was being tempted by the devil in four different ways. And how did Jesus overcome? Each time he overcame with the written word of God from the Old Testament. The devil could not touch him and he left Jesus. Psalm 119:9 reads; How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” Ephesians 6:11 tells us more; “11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”  The full armor of God includes faith, prayer, salvation and the word of God. If you are not holding onto the word of God, then sin and the devil are pouncing all over you and you cannot stand much longer. Come to Jesus today and be saved.

When Cain rejected God’s word of life he could not control his sin. Look at verse 8, “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.“  Nestled deep in Cain’s heart was jealousy. When left unchecked, jealousy turned into anger, and then grew hatred and finally it started to come out of his body in the form of murder. James tells us about this spiritual phenomena in James 1:15, Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” There are certain sin problems in the deep recesses of our hearts that if left unchecked, will begin to grow and grow until they become part of our outward actions. Whatever is in there will eventually come out for all to see. And the destination of all these things is death and eternal separation from God. We need to get these things in check, now, by nipping them at the bud. We need to do what is right and master our sin with confession and repentance before the word of God.

God continued to love this unlovable man in verse 9a, “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’  ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’” When the Lord, said, “where is your brother”, he was not looking for information. God knew exactly what had happened. Out of his abundant grace and mercy he was giving Cain a second chance to come back to him. Our God is a God of second, third and fourth chances. The only time that our chances run out is when? When our eyes close in death.

 

Again, Cain rejected the grace of God. Look at verse 9b, “… ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’”  He became sarcastic towards God. He rejected the age old truth, that, “Yes!” we are our brother’s and our sister’s keepers. But Cain mocked this truth, even being sarcastic to God. The spirit of sarcasm is never appropriate for God’s people. Cain’s heart became harder and harder.

 

Part lll: Cain’s Curse (10-16)

 

The Lord would no longer contend with Cain’s insolence. Now God boldly confronted Cain. Look at verse 10, “The LORD said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.’” Able was a martyr. He was murdered by his own brother simply for doing what was right before God. He was murdered for his exercising his faith. He should have been honored and upheld. Cain should have come to him for instruction. But his young life was prematurely snuffed out. This is unjust. And that was how his blood was calling out from the ground. It was calling out for justice. And God was going to bring about his justice.

 

God doled out his justice in the form of a curse. Look at verses 11-12, “ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”  Let’s think of the different portions of this curse. First, “Driven from the ground…” There was no Promised Land at this time. Why was being driven from that ground such a curse. It was where his family lived. Much more than that, it was the land where God’s people dwelt. It was the land where the altar was where they approached God to make sacrifices. It would be like being driven from you family and your church and from the place where you can seek the Lord. We call this excommunication. Second, “when you work the ground, it will no longer yield crops for you.” This is like Adam’s curse. Cain would be cursed to work hard with very little in return for his labors. It is like the working poor who work hard and still get deeper and deeper in debt. It is like people who lack meaning in their lives. They work –eat- sleep. Some only eat and sleep and entertain themselves. This is part of Cain’s curse. Third, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” When he cut himself off from God he no longer had any roots. He was set adrift to wander with no clear life direction, no mission and no real hope. Anyone who cuts themselves off from God find themselves in the same predicament…restless wanders in this world.

We can all find ourselves under this curse at one time or another. But this does not mean that we must stay under the curse. Galatians 3:13 reads, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’” Jesus died on the cross so that we can be saved from a life under the curse. I used to be a restless wander. I mocked God. I argued against his existence. I made coarse and vile jokes about holy things. I rejected God’s word of counsel again and again. As a result I was restless, turning to extreme pleasure seeking to sooth my wandering heart. I was struggling to survive in this world, constantly just getting by, no matter how hard I tried. I had no relationships with Christians. I was drifting apart from my own family members. My entire life would have been lived under the curse if Jesus had not found me. Through Bible study I discovered that Jesus died on the cross. He forgave me of all my “Cain like” sins. He set me free to make the right offerings with my life. I have hope that all remnants of the curse will be vanquished when we enter the king of heaven. (Rev 22:3) You too can be set free from the curse today, by repenting of your sins and putting all of your faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ.

Another part of the curse is fear. Look at verses 13-14, “Cain said to the LORD, ‘My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Cain thought his other siblings or his nephews would kill him. Everyday was a day filled with fear. Some are living under this curse. They fear everything…the recession, bodily injury, violent crime, terrorism, cancer, failure at school, not being able to get a job, getting fired, being alone, the judgment, etc.

 

God again showered his grace on Cain. Look at verse 15, “But the LORD said to him, ‘Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him” God gave Cain the promise of protection. He placed a mark on Cain, in a very conspicuous place, so that anyone who was seeking vengeance would stop and reconsider. The mark would be very useful because every time Cain saw it, he would be able to remember God’s grace and know that he could come back to God anytime.  But, sadly, there is no indication that he did so.

 

Part lV: Cain’s Legacy (17- 26)

 

Though Cain remained unrepentant, living in fear under the curse, he still continued to live his life and attain some prosperity. Look at verse 17, Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.” Out of his fear, he built a walled city to protect himself from his enemies. He named the city after his son, Enoch. He was like modern day tyrants who put statues of themselves in their countries so that can be revered and even worshipped. He had many descendants. They created a society where there was agriculture, music, metallurgy (the latest technology). These are not necessarily bad.

 

But there was bad fruit born of Cain’s godless life, in his decadents.  Look at verses 23-24,

Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words.  I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.’” Lamech was Cain’s great-great grandson. He wrote a poem, or a song, and sang it to his wives. In his song he was boasting for killing a young man for injuring him. Maybe a teenager hit him with a bike by accident. Maybe there was a fender bender and Lamech took road rage to the extreme. Anyway, he overreacted in his pride and killed someone. Lamech also took God’s word and twisted it to his own advantage.  He said, “If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” A godless culture never wants to obey God, but always wants to twist God’s word to serve its own purpose. Lamech boasted about all these things when he should have been ashamed of them and repented of them before God.

      We can see the eventual outcome of Cain’s unrepentant heart in Genesis 6:11-12, Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.” The whole earth was full of violence. God would no longer contend with all of mankind. He promised to send a flood. It was in this flood that the descendants of Cain were ultimately destroyed.

     The writers of the New Testament warn us to stay away from the way of Cain. The Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:12, Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.”  Jude also writes in Jude 10-11, “Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.  11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; …” Do you know anyone who speaks abusively against things they don’t understand? The world is full of such people. I am always amazed at how young people, who have been alive for less than 20 years, are so confident about their knowledge about creation, about God and heaven and the spiritual world. They are so willing to speak abusively against spiritual things and Jesus. That is pride. That is the way of Cain. May God save us from following the way of Cain.

There is only one surefire way of not following the way of Cain. It is found in our key verse. Genesis 4:6-7, ““Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it’.”  Let’s open our ears to hear the life giving word of God. Let us humble ourselves, confess and repent and decide, by faith, to do what is right before the eyes of God. Let’s us seek God’s acceptance, by coming to Jesus and make our lives an offering pleasing to the Lord. Then God will be with us, protect us and help us to leave a lasting legacy of faith.

 

Part l: Cain And His Offering (1-5a)

 

  1. What was the condition of humanity when Cain was born in the world? (Gen 3:14-19; Gen 3:23) What happened to their relationship with God after the Fall? (3:22-23) What had Adam and Eve taught their sons? (4:1,3)

 

 

  1. How did Cain try to approach God? (3) How do we approach God today? Is there some similarity? What did Cain offer to God? (3) What was God looking for in the offering? (4-5) How did God regard Cain’s offering and why? (5)

 

Part ll: God’s Love For Cain (5b-9)

 

  1. How did Cain react when he found out that God was not pleased with what he

offered? (5) What did this reveal about his heart? What did this show about this

attitude towards God?  What should be our attitude? (Matt 3:6; 1 Jn 1:9; Prov 28:13)

 

  1. What did God notice? (6) Did God know why? What was God’s word of counsel to

Cain? (7) What did Cain need to do? ( 7a) What was should he his goal? (7a) Why was

Cain in danger? (7b; 1 Pe 5:8) How do we mast sin? (Matt 4:1-11; Ps 119:9; Eph 6:11)

 

5.   Did Cain accept God’s words? What happened when he rejected God’s word of counsel?

(8) Describe the development of sin in his heart? What does this teach us about the sinful

desires that arise in our hearts? (Ja 1:15)

 

  1.  How did God continue to love Cain despite of his sin? (9a) What was God expecting?

How did Cain respond? (9b)

 

Part lll: Cain’s Curse (10-16)

 

  1. When had God had enough of Cain’s insolence? (10) What was the cry that God heard?

What was Cain’s curse? (11-12) Think of each part of the curse? Are people today subjected to the same curse? How can the effects of the curse be stopped or even reversed? (Gal 3:13; Rev 22:3)

 

8.   What was Cain’s life like under the curse? (13-14) How did God still show love to Cain?

(15)  Where is the land of Nod? What is the land of Nod in a spiritual sense?

 

Part lV: Cain’s Legacy (17- 26)

 

  1. Why did Cain build a city? (17, 14b) Why did he name it after his son? What kind of culture grew from Cain’s descendents? (19-22)

 

10.   Who was Lamech? (18) What was his problem? (23-24) Why did he kill someone? How

did he misuse the word of God? How does this further describe the culture that grew out

of Cain’s spiritual influence? (Gen 6:11-12)What happens when we deliberately exclude

God from our society and our thoughts? (Rom 1:18-23)

 

  1. What does the Bible teach us about what not learn from Cain? (1 John 3:12) What is the

way of Cain? (Jude 10-11) How can we avoid the way of Cain? (4:6-7)

 




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