November 13, 2022

Genesis 4:1-26: Cain and Abel

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: Genesis: In the Beginning Topic: Default Scripture: Genesis 4:1–26

Genesis 4:1-26: Cain and Abel

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Genesis, and today the next passage we come to is Genesis 4:1-26, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. It says,

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch….25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, every word we find written in this passage is a priceless treasure because it’s your self-revelation. Thank you that we don’t have to guess about who you are or how we can know you or live in the realm of your blessing. You’ve already told us in your Word. So help us to understand everything we need to understand and be changed in every way we need to be changed through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

A number of years ago, a suburban mom named Wanda Holloway of Channelview, Texas, wanted her daughter Shanna to make the cheerleading squad. Shanna had narrowly missed getting a spot on the squad the previous year, and things were looking pretty tight again this year. And it seemed as though Shanna’s main rival for the coveted spot was a girl named Amber. So, the mom, Wanda Holloway, decided that maybe it was time for a little intervention that would help her daughter make the cut. So, she hired a hitman. According to detectives, Wanda at first tried to hire the hitman to kill both the rival girl Amber and Amber’s mom, but when that turned out to be too expensive, Wanda decided it would be enough to just have the mom killed, figuring that the daughter Amber would be too distraught over the death of her mother to try out for the cheerleading squad, which would enable her own daughter, Shanna, to make the cut. Fortunately, the plot was discovered before anything bad happened, and Wanda was eventually convicted and sent to prison. But what a story.

And I guess there are probably two lessons we can learn from this story. Number one, watch out for those cheerleading moms. Things can apparently get quite intense with them. And you can also probably put many dance moms into that same category as well. Just sayin’…I mean, I’ve got a 5-year-old daughter in dance, and some of those moms do not mess around, even for that age group. And then the second moral of the story, which probably has more biblical basis than the first, is don’t underestimate the depth of human depravity. 

This story from Texas gives us a glimpse of the human heart and of the sinful nature that’s within all of us. Obviously, most of us don’t try to hire hitmen to help us accomplish things we want to accomplish, but make no mistake: there’s a “beast” of sorts that lives within every human being. Ever since humanity’s rebellion against God that’s recorded in Genesis 3—an event that theologians call “the Fall”—every one of us is born with a heart that’s inclined toward sin. Even though we often learn to conceal our sinful desires and express them in more socially appropriate ways, there’s still a monster within us that’s thoroughly corrupt and capable of horrendous things. Kind of like the Hulk or something. The monster’s always there even if it’s not manifesting itself visibly. 

And we see an example of that in our main passage of Scripture today. This passage takes place soon after Adam and Eve’s rebellion in Genesis 3 and is intended to illustrate the depths of human depravity. That’s the main idea of this passage. Cain’s murder of Abel reveals the depths of human depravity. “Depravity,” by the way, is just another word for sinfulness or wickedness. Yet, depravity isn’t the only thing on display in this passage. As we’ll see, this passage also speaks volumes to us about the astonishing mercy and grace of God. 

But look first at how the story begins in Genesis 4:1-5a: 1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. 

Now, there’s been a lot of discussion about why God regarded Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. Yet, the text itself seems to hint at the answer. Notice how Cain’s sacrifice is described in the most generic of terms. Verse 3: “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground.” But then, in describing Abel’s offering, verse 4 is more specific and notes a couple of key details. First, Abel didn’t just offer any animals from his flock but rather “the firstborn” animals. He gave God the animals from his flock that were most prized. Not only that, the text also specifies that his offering included “their fat portions”—the most valuable parts of those animals. 

So, it seems like the text goes out of its way to specify that Abel gave God “the best of the best” of what he had. So, whereas Cain simply discharged a duty, Abel expressed true devotion. Whereas Cain went through the motions of worship, Abel worshipped God from his heart. Kind of like when parents will sometimes have their children write thank-you notes for gifts they’ve received. One child might do the bare minimum of what’s required and just write “thank you” and then their name or something like that. But another child might go all-out in creating their thank you card and spend a significant amount of time drawing pictures and making it colorful and writing a very heartfelt note to the person. That seems to be nature of the difference between Cain and Abel in this passage. 

So, one thing we can glean from this passage, even at the outset, is that we should give God our best. God has no desire for supposed “worshippers” who simply go through the motions of worship or who do the bare minimum of what they think is required to be a “good Christian.” Brothers and sisters, God doesn’t just want your church attendance—he wants your heart. He doesn’t just want your financial contributions—he wants every part of your life. He doesn’t just want to be one priority in your life or even your first priority but rather the priority that encompasses all others. He wants to be the very center of your daily routine, the very center of your weekly calendar, the very center of your personal budget, and the very center of everything else. And he wants the external to flow out of the internal. He wants your heart…and to be foremost in your thoughts and affections throughout the day.

Then, continuing on in the passage, look at the second part of verse 5 through verse 7: 5 …So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 

So, sin is pictured here as a beast that’s “crouching at the door” and ready to pounce at its first opportunity. And if Cain didn’t master this beast and “rule over it,” he’d become its victim. In reading this, it’s hard not to be reminded of what John Owen so famously said: “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” And, of course, this beast that was crouching at the door wasn’t outside of Cain but within his own heart. As Jesus says in Mark 7:15, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” The beast is within us. We also gain additional insight into the workings of sin within us in James 1:14-15, which states, 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Again, the source of the problem is within our own hearts. A beast exists within us that can’t be tamed and therefore must be overcome. As God says to Cain back in our main passage, “…you must rule over it.” So, was Cain able to do that? Are we able, in our own strength, to subdue this beast living within us? 

Well, as we’ll see in just a moment, the answer’s no. Even after God’s warning to Cain about the beast crouching at the door, Cain still follows the sinful desires of his heart. As one commentator writes, “Whereas Eve had to be talked into her sin by the serpent, it appears that Cain would not be talked out of his intended sin, even by the Lord himself.” It’s also worth noting the way in which certain sins in particular, like the envy and bitterness within Cain, can grab ahold of our hearts also in an especially powerful way and spread like an infection within us and come to have a controlling influence in our lives. So, it might be a good idea to examine your own heart today for envy and bitterness especially and renounce those things through the power of the Holy Spirit before they devour you from within—as they did to Cain. 

The story then continues in verse 8: “Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” Again, the purpose of this passage is to illustrate the depths of human depravity. All of a sudden, in Genesis 4, we’re no longer talking merely about eating forbidden fruit. We’re talking about murder. And murder is a particularly serious crime because it extinguishes the life of one of God’s image-bearers. We learned back in Genesis 1 that humans are unique in that they bear God’s image. Therefore, any assault against a fellow human is ultimately an assault against God himself. And several chapters later in Genesis, God will declare the penalty that murder deserves. He says to Noah in Genesis 9:5-6, 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” So God declares that anyone who murders another person forfeits his or her own right to life. And the reason that’s given is, again, that “God made man in his own image.” 

And this is the biblical basis for the death penalty. Keep in mind that, unlike many of the instructions given in the Old Testament, God doesn’t present this requirement in the context of his unique instructions for Israel as a theocracy. Instead, God frames this requirement as one that applies to the entire human race. Anyone who murders one of God’s image-bearers forfeits his or her own right to life. Now, it’s important to recognize that there are some situations in which killing someone isn’t murder, such as a just war or in the case of self-defense. There’s also a difference between intentional murder and unintentional manslaughter. But the prescribed penalty for murder is the death penalty. 

So, what we find in the Bible is a profound respect for human life. And, since we in America today have inherited so much from the Christian worldview that’s historically shaped Western society, we may not even fully appreciate just how unique this respect for human life is. Yet the value we place on humanity and on being human is actually something of an anomaly in history. 

Listen to what a renowned sociologist named Rodney Stark has written—a man who, by the way, at the time he wrote this, professed to be an agnostic: “[P]erhaps above all else, Christianity brought a new conception of humanity to a world saturated with capricious cruelty and the vicarious love of death. Consider the account of the martyrdom of Perpetua. Here we learn the details of the long ordeal and gruesome death suffered by this tiny band of resolute Christians as they were attacked by wild beasts in front of a delighted crowd assembled in the arena. But we also learn that had the Christians all given in to the demand to sacrifice to the [Roman] emperor, and thereby been spared, someone else would have been thrown to the animals. After all, these were games held in honor of the birthday of the emperor's young son. And whenever there were games, people had to die. Dozens of them, sometimes hundreds….The issue is spectacle—or the throngs in the stadi[um]. [W]atching people torn and devoured by beasts or killed in armed combat was the ultimate spectator sport, worthy of a boy's birthday treat. It is difficult to comprehend the emotional life of such people. In any event, Christians condemned both the cruelties and the spectators….And, as they gained ascendancy, Christians prohibited such ‘games.’ More important, Christians effectively [propagated] a moral vision utterly incompatible with the casual cruelty of pagan custom. …[W]hat Christianity gave to its converts was nothing less than their humanity.”

And that brutality that was so prominent in the Roman Empire has been relatively pervasive throughout much of the rest of human history as well. Conquering armies raped and murdered civilians, infants whose own parents deemed them less than desirable were simply left to die, rulers had the power to execute people for any reason or no reason at all, and there was just little regard for human life in general. That’s why I’m always a little amused when people today express hesitation about having children by saying something like, “I’m just not sure I want to bring a child into the kind of world that we have now.” And I just think to myself, “What are you talking about? This is waaaay better than what things have usually been like in history.” 

So, what changed? What made the difference? Well, Stark argues, it was Christianity. Again, he says, “[W]hat Christianity gave to its converts was nothing less than their humanity.” So, according to this agnostic scholar, Christianity provided for society nothing less than a new vision of what it means to be human. It taught the inherent value of human life and the inherent dignity of being human—based on the theological foundation of humans being created in God’s image. So, understand that human dignity is a distinctly Christian ideal. 

That’s why I’m also amused by the bumper stickers that are promoted by some secularly-minded organizations that use the concept of being “human” to promote their moral and political agendas. Every time a secularly-minded person appeals to the concept of being “human,” understand that they’re borrowing capital from Christianity. Every time they make a statement that implies there’s something unique about being human or that alludes to “human rights,” they’re actually saying something that their secular worldview doesn’t give them any compelling reason to say. Naturalistic evolution doesn’t in any way, shape, or form lead us to embrace this idea of human dignity or human rights. Rather, these concepts derive from the biblical teaching that people are made in God’s image and that human life is therefore valuable. 

So, returning to Genesis 4 that’s why Cain murdering his brother Abel was such a grave offense and why it’s deliberately displayed here in this chapter as a picture of the depth of human depravity. Cain’s murderous act was an assault not just on Abel but ultimately on the God who made Abel in his image. And it demonstrates the downward spiral of humanity into greater and greater sin after Genesis 3. To borrow last week’s sermon title, this is all a part of the continued fallout of the Fall.  

So, you’d think that God would strike Cain dead immediately, right? Even though God hadn’t yet declared what he declares in Genesis 9 about murders forfeiting their own right to life, you’d think God would still repay Cain for his murderous act by putting him to death on the spot. Yet, amazingly, God shows Cain incredible mercy. 

Look at verses 9-15: 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

So not only does God show mercy to Cain by not striking him dead immediately, he even puts a mark on Cain to protect him from those who might harm him. We’re not told what that mark is, but it’s apparently something that’s sufficient for Cain’s protection. And not only that, we even read in the subsequent verses—verses 16-22—that God blesses Cain with a family and an extensive line of descendants who come from him, which was of paramount importance in that cultural context—probably far more important than we can even fully appreciate. 

And to make this entire display of mercy even more stunning, keep in mind that Cain never showed any signs of repentance or even remorse over his sin—at least none that are recorded. In response to God’s initial question of “Where is Abel your brother?”, Cain replied in a pretty snarky way: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” Then, when God pronounces that Cain will be “a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth,” Cain only exhibits self-pity. He laments, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” No repentance, no remorse, not even an admission of guilt. Instead, just a snarky reply and then self-pity. What a guy, right? I’m pretty sure there’s a very appropriate Pittsburghese term for him that starts with a “j” that some might consider to be a swear word, so I won’t say it. But Cain is like the original prototype one of those. 

Yet, amazingly, God still shows him mercy. In fact, as astonishing as Cain’s depravity is, I’d say that God’s mercy toward Cain is even more astonishing. And, in that, there’s an incredibly important truth about God for us to observe. It may even be the most important truth in this entire passage. And that truth is that it’s in God’s nature to be merciful. His natural desire and inclination and disposition is to show mercy. Now, that’s not at all to downplay the fact that God’s holy and just and absolutely committed to punishing sin. I have no problem saying that God punishes sinful people by consigning them to hell for all eternity. It’s a truth that’s found in numerous places throughout the Bible. 

However, I think we have good biblical basis to say that God’s desire to be merciful surpasses his desire to inflict punishment. And I have to give credit to Dane Ortlund in his book Gentle and Lowly for helping me see this. Take Lamentations 3 as an example. As the title suggests, Lamentations is dedicated to lamenting the destruction God brought to the city of Jerusalem because of their continual rebellion. Yet, right in the middle of the book, in Lamentations 3:31-33, we find this statement: 31 For the Lord will not cast off forever, 32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. Isn’t that last verse interesting? “[F]or he does not afflict from his heart.” So God is indeed the one who afflicts. The destruction of Jerusalem is indeed his doing. Yet, God doesn’t bring this judgment “from his heart.” Instead, there’s a certain reluctance within God to show judgement. Something within him recoils at the idea of judging people. 

Yet, not so with his mercy. Instead, God longs to show mercy. As the Puritan Thomas Goodwin writes, “My brethren, though God is just, …his mercy may in some respect [be] said to be more natural to him than all acts of justice itself that God does show…In these acts of justice…there is a kind of violence done to himself in it…there is something in it that is contrary to him.” Goodwin then quotes God’s statement in Ezekiel 33:11, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” So, according to this statement, God has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” Notice that Scripture nowhere makes that kind of statement with regard to God’s mercy. Nowhere do we find God saying, “I take no pleasure in showing mercy toward sinners.” Instead, over and over, we see God taking great pleasure in the display of his mercy. 

So, speaking carefully now to avoid any implication that there’s some sort of contradiction in God’s nature, we might say that God finds judgment to be far less desirable than mercy and actually not desirable at all. His most natural disposition and inclination is to show mercy—even toward sinners, like Cain in Genesis 4, who deserve his judgment. So, make no mistake, God’s certainly committed upholding justice and pouring out judgment. However, that’s not his heart. His heart—his deepest desire—is to show mercy. He’s reluctant to inflict judgment yet longs to show mercy. And that’s true for you today as well. This is God’s heart toward you. He’s not out to get you. He’s not up there just waiting for you to slip up so he can bring the hammer down on you. Instead, he longs to show you mercy. 

And the good news of the gospel is that God’s provided a way to show the mercy he longs to show without compromising his justice one bit. You see, the truth is that we deserve God’s justice every bit as much as Cain does in Genesis 4. Just as God told Cain in verse 10 that “the voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground,” our sins likewise cry out for God’s judgment. They demand God’s judgment. That judgment’s coming—just as, we’re left to assume, it eventually came for Cain. Every indication we have in the Bible is that Cain eventually died and suffered God’s judgment for all eternity. Even though God showed him mercy in many ways in his life, we have every reason to believe that Cain eventually went to hell. And that’s what we’re in line to receive as well as a result of our rebellion. Because God’s righteous nature prevents him from just overlooking sin. If he just overlooked our sins and swept them under the rug and pretended they never happened, he’d be unjust and unrighteous and therefore not God. 

However, because his desire to show mercy is so great, God did something that allows him to show mercy toward us without compromising his justice or righteousness. He actually sent his own Son Jesus to suffer the punishment for our sins on the cross. Somebody had to suffer that punishment. And, typically, that somebody would be us. But Jesus actually bore that punishment in our place so that we’d never have to face it. That’s why Hebrews 12:24 tells us that we can come “to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Because, remember: the blood of Abel cries out from the ground for vengeance and justice and judgment. But the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross, “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” in that it proclaims forgiveness and redemption for all who put their trust in Jesus as their crucified and resurrected Savior. 

And that forgiveness and redemption are available for you this morning. Regardless of what you’ve done or how rebellious you’ve been, God’s offer of mercy extends to you. As Isaiah 55:6-7 says so powerfully, 6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

 

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