Genesis Chapter 4

Consequences of Sin

4:1-2

Eve recognizes that new life comes from the Lord. Cain is associated with the Hebrew word qana, which means to acquire, or to beget. Cain is the first of human beings to be born. (2.) The time frame between the birth of Cain and his brother Abel is unknown. The information that Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a tiller of the ground shows us they are both probably now adults. It also reveals that people are choosing their way of life and developing a society.

4:3

Again how much time has passed, we do not know, yet we are told that in the process of time, Cain brings forth the fruit of the ground as an offering to the Lord. Keep in mind that the ground, or earth, was cursed; and that God had sacrificed an animal, shedding its blood, to ‘cover their sin’. Therefore, it would seem reasonable to assume that the sacrificial offering would need to be a perfect animal. Notice that Cain is bringing an offering he has produced from the (cursed) ground, NOT what God had ordained. This offering was evidently NOT the ‘first fruits’ of the field. God says that the ‘tithe’ is to be paid FIRST, not what is left over. An ‘offering’ must be by faith, in the manner God has given. We, as fallen sinful humans, try to ‘appease’ God with our own “offerings” rather than simply obeying God by faith, and confessing our sin and seeking His forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus. See Leviticus 17:11; “For the life, animal soul, is in the blood, and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls;. For it is the blood that makes atonement , by reason of the life which it represents.” See also Romans 3:24-26. All offerings must be by faith, in the manner God has given. Remember, fig leaves, from the ground, failed to cover Adam and Eve’s sin. Yet, we today, still try to ‘appease’ or ‘negotiate’ with God; how foolish! An innocent animal had to have its blood shed to cover their sin. Refer back to Genesis 3:21.

4:4

Now we are told that Abel also brought his offering which was the First, and perfect, unblemished best from his flock. Then the notation is given that the ‘fat thereof’ was offered. This would mean that the First, perfect unblemished best of Abel’s flock was sacrificed, and the blood shed, as a faith offering just as God had ordained. We know God approved because we are told the Lord had respect and regard for Abel and for his offering. See Hebrews 11:4. “By faith, Abel brought forth a better and more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, because it was testified of Abel that he was righteous (meaning he was upright and in right standing with God) and God bore witness by accepting and acknowledging his offering.” So how did Abel know his offering was acceptable? His parents had probably shared that God had sacrificed an animal to provide ‘coverings’ for them. Somehow he knew he was obeying God. God may have shown acceptance in some other manner, we don’t really know. Yet, as we continue to read this account we are told by God Himself that He accepted Abel’s offering.

4:5

(a.) But; whenever we see this word, ‘But’, we should pay close attention because it usually gives us a very crucial and important warning that we should heed for our own lives. So we are told God has no respect, meaning He disregards Cain’s offering. Cain had decided to give God his own ‘earned’; “look what I produced”, type of offering, rather than what God had required. We must remember that we cannot ‘barter’ with God; have you ever thought, or said: “Oh, God, I promise to be good, or to do such and such, IF you do what I want.” Really? That is a lie from the pit of hell!

(b.) So Cain…; Now, rather than repent and confess his arrogance in trying to choose his own method and show off his own ‘production’, Cain instead becomes exceedingly angry and indignant; meaning he becomes mad at God for not accepting his own way of ‘showing off’ what he can do. Do we ever try to ‘show off’ how ‘holy’ or ‘spiritual’ we are by our ‘works’? We are even told Cain looks sad and depressed. So obviously Cain knows his offering does not please God and did not meet God’s requirement. Do we know when our ‘offerings’ do not meet God’s requirements? How? Remember, we can always go back to God’s Word to see if we are acting in true faith.

4:6

God immediately speaks to Cain, asking him why he is angry, sad, depressed and dejected. Notice how caring God is to let the sinner know He loves him and cares about him and is aware of his feelings. God actually speaks to Cain! Much like God spoke to Adam and Eve; ‘where are you?’ God lets Cain know He sees and knows Cain is angry, sad, depressed and dejected. Notice how this personal question and confrontation, shows God’s personal, caring love for Cain.

4:7

God goes on to say to Cain IF you do well, you will be accepted. If you do not do well (and we know repentance is necessary to do well) than sin crouches at your door (meaning sin will overtake Cain’s soul) Whenever we see an “IF”, we should also pay very close attention, particularly when God is speaking. Because there are almost always severe warnings and/or blessings offered with that IF. God is so caring of Cain that He is giving Cain a personal warning about his sin; and the terrible consequences of NOT dealing with sin by confessing and repenting of sin. The desire of sin is to DESTROY US! God goes on to tell Cain ‘you must master it’. That tells us we choose to give in to sin or to reject it and turn away from sin. See Romans 6:23; ‘the wages (what we earn) of sin is DEATH….’ ‘ yet the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ.” We cannot lie about our sin, trying to fix blame on anyone but ourselves with ANY type of excuse, no matter what the circumstances are; we are RESPONSIBLE for our own sin. It must have been possible for Cain to “master” the sin or God would not have told him he must master, or rule over, it. This might be one of those scriptures we might want to copy down and memorize. It’s a good idea to keep God’s warnings and promises in our hearts and mind.

4:8

We see no response to God from Cain. We just are told that Cain now lures his brother, Abel, into the field, where Cain kills him. Instead of confessing his pride, selfishness and arrogance; Cain develops the ‘sin’ God warned him about. Cain was already angry presumably at God, but since Cain could not ‘get back’ at God, he choose to be angry and jealous of Abel. Cain develops increased jealousy and resentment of his brother’s acceptance by God. As these sins progress, they become deep hatred and eventually murderous. These sins are listed as deadly sins for good reason. We are horrified to see such a violent act upon an innocent brother! See 1 John 3:12. “Don’t be like Cain, who took his motivation from the evil one and murdered his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds, works, were wicked and malicious and his brothers were righteous.” Cain allowed envy and jealousy to grow into anger and hatred and eventually revenge and murder were the result of unrepented sin. Remember, the end result of unconfessed and unrepented sin IS Death; for us and others!

4:9-11

Once again we are told that God speaks directly to Cain asking him a question God knows the answer to! Where is your brother? Again, Cain chooses to lie and says he doesn’t know. Then Cain says in effect ‘am I responsible for my brother?’ This refrain, ‘am I my brother’s keeper’, has been used down through the ages to abdicate any responsibility for others. (10.) Now God confronts Cain’s murder of Abel, by asking him “what have you done? Your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground!” The ‘life’ is in the blood, and in effect, all righteous souls who are murdered, cry out to God, and He hears them. (11.) Sadly, we see no repentance from Cain. And God now tells him he is cursed from the earth. The earth had received Abel’s blood when Cain killed him. The earth ‘opening its mouth’ to receive blood meant that Abel’s body, and his life blood, were to return to the earth.

4:12-13

God tells Cain, who prided himself in his ability to grow crops, that he would now be ‘cursed’ and the earth would no longer yield crops to him. Cain would now be a fugitive and a degraded outcast, in perpetual exile. God continues to give Cain opportunity after opportunity to repent and confess his sin and seek forgiveness, yet Cain refused. (13.) Instead of yielding to God, and begging for forgiveness, and repenting of his sins, Cain complains that his punishment is too much for him to bear. When we reap the consequences of our own sin, do we complain to God about our inability to ‘bear’ the consequences? I don’t understand why all these horrible things are happening to me! Oh, poor me, we cry. We usually reject any responsibility for our own sufferings. It is true that sometimes God allows trials into our lives to build our character and to teach us valuable lessons; yet many of our sufferings are brought upon ourselves by our own sinful failures. This is a time to pray and seek God’s insight and wisdom into your own present circumstances. Do you need to repent of any sins? God knows everything, so if you cannot remember any sins, ask God, He will tell you the Truth, IF you are willing to receive it.

4:14-15

Cain now blames God for driving him out from the land and being hidden from God’s Face. He says he will be a fugitive and a vagabond and a wanderer on the earth and others will find him and kill him. Remember Cain is related to all the ‘others’. Since it could have been more than 100 years since Adam and Eve began having children, some commentators state it would have been possible for Adam and Eve to have more than 32,000 descendants by this time. (15.) These last recorded words of God to Cain show God’s eternal mercy to even an unrepentant sinner. God states that if anyone kills Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. God sets a mark or sign upon Cain so that no one would kill him. We do not know what this ‘mark’ or ‘sign’ was, other than all who saw Cain would know who he was. Obviously, others would have heard about Cain’s murder of Abel. Adam and Eve knew about Cain’s murder of Abel. See Genesis 4:25. So others in the family would also know about this horrible event.

4:16-17

These are sad words: Cain goes away from the presence of the Lord. God did not drive him away, he chose to remove himself from God’s presence. We are told that Cain dwelt in a land east of Eden, known as Nod, meaning wandering. A ‘wandering’ person is lost, has no goal, no purpose, no direction and no meaning to life. See Psalm 119:10-11. (17.) God is gracious to Cain even after his terrible choices to remove himself from God’s presence. Did Cain ever come to his senses and repent? There are some hints that we can glean as we continue our study of Genesis. We are given a bit of history here, letting us know that Cain found a wife and she bore him a son. Cain’s wife was a descendent of Adam and Eve. It is interesting that the son was named Enoch. That Cain was able to build a city and named it after his son, shows us that God was gracious to Cain. This is NOT the same Enoch that walked with God in Genesis 5:24.

4:18

The genealogy of Cain is interesting, as we see that Irad named his son a name indicating he was from God. The ‘el’ at the end of the names refers to God. We are given the names of six generations from Cain. Why do you think God is giving us this information? Could it be that Cain finally learned that being separated from God was so painful that he repented? We just don’t know.

4:19

We are told Lamech took two wives. Remember, God had said it was to be one man and one woman for a marriage. It is also interesting that the names of each wife is given. Any ideas why?

4:20-21

Now we see that there seems to be a difference in learned and inherited skills and abilities. We are told that Jabal’s descendants had cattle and purchased possessions. This would indicate that people and society had developed and invented ‘possessions’. (21.) The brother, Jubal was the father of those who played the lyre and the pipe. Tools, musical instruments, equipment, technology, etc. are being developed and invented. Remember, these people lived hundreds of years. How much could you learn if you lived 500+ years?

4:22

Now we are told that Tubal-cain developed bronze and iron instruments and equipment. There is some evidence that machines, batteries and other more sophisticated equipment and inventions were developed and used in society. Remember, evolutionists, and anti-Christian people have brainwashed us into believing that prior societies were all ‘cave people’. This is absolutely not true! Even some of the wonders of the world, the pyramids and other structures were engineering marvels that our current engineers do not know how they were able to build and maintain.

4:23-24

Next we are given another chilling confession of Lamech. The translation is somewhat awkward. Some believe that Lamech told of killing someone who just wounded him – or the killing may have caused him to be ‘wounded’. The young man killed to his ‘hurt’ some believe may have been an accidental killing of his own son, which grieved him causing the ‘hurt.’ This confession is given in a poetic type of prose. (24.) Lamech appears to believe that if Cain was to be avenged sevenfold (for killing one man), then because he had killed two men, he himself felt the avenging would be doubled. Although this idea is given, there is no indication that it came from God.

4:25-26

Suddenly we are thrown back in time, presumably; to be told that Adam and Eve have another son, whom she names Seth, which means granted or appointed, because she believed Seth was to be the ‘seed’ God would use instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. So it was known by Adam and Eve, and presumably everyone, that Cain had murdered Abel. Because Adam and Eve had been promised a seed that would redeem them, they were looking for the one God would select. They had no idea that it would be thousands of years before the Redeemer would be born to mankind. (26.) We are given a brief genealogy from Seth to Enosh. Now the translation is not clear in revealing that men did not ‘call’ on the name of the Lord by praying, but instead began to profane the name of the Lord. Some stopped praying in God’s name. Some named idols in God’s name. They even called themselves by God’s name. This seems to be the beginning of idolatry.

This is a sad, discouraging end to this chapter on the consequences of sin. Unconfessed and unrepented sin spirals down into worse evil, pain, and sorrow. Yet, we can take it as a strong and gracious warning from God to us, so we do not make the same kind of mistakes by ignoring our own sins. 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my flesh and bring it into subjection, so that after proclaiming the Good News to others, I myself, will not be disqualified.”