A Twin Murder

GENESIS 4:8 “A TWIN MURDER”

A) I read that the murder rate in the United States is more than

one per hour every day of the year.

* In all the wars in the nation’s history, 530,000 United States

combatants have been killed.

B) But since 1900, there have been more than 800,000 murders.

* One study found that a baby born in one of America’s fifty largest cities

has almost a 2% chance of being murdered in his lifetime.

* Another study showed that a baby born in the 1970s was more likely

to be murdered than an American soldier in WWII was to die in combat.

THE FIRST RECORD OF A MURDER IS FOUND IN GENESIS 4

A) The first murder in history was a twin murder.

* The murder that ever occurred was that of a brother – I want to suggest

to you that Cain and Abel possibly were twins – Notice Gen. 4:1-2 .......

* You have one conception but two births.

B) The story of Cain and Abel is not only a story of murder, but a

story of anger – We read in v.5 “Cain was very wroth.”

* The word carries the ideal of “burning.”

C) Psychologists tell us that there are several stages

and phases of anger.

* Mild irritation – Indignation – Wrath – Fury – Rage.

* The word “wroth” describes the last stage – Rage.

* We read in 1 John 3:11-12 “For this is the message that .......”

D) John tells us that Cain “slew” his brother.

* We also read in Gen. 4:8 that “Cain rose up against Abel his .......”

* The word “slew” gives us interesting insight into the murder

of Abel by Cain.

E) In both instances the word describes a very violent death.

* It literally means to butcher, to kill a person by cutting their throat.

F) There was a day when these 2 brothers were in the field.

* In a state of rage, Cain violently, brutally, murdered his brother,

cutting his throat, unmercifully butchering him.

* I want us to consider this twin murder and glean some lessons

for all of us.

(1) THE CAUSE OF CAIN’S ANGER

A) What was the seedbed for Cain’s anger?

* What causes anger to develop in our life?

B) One day a man walked into a drug store and said to the druggist,

“I came in to get some more pills for my wife’s colitis.”

* His little boy was with him, and he looked up and said, “Dad, who has

mom been colliding with now?”

C) Our “colliding” with others is often caused by certain things

in our heart and life.

* Notice the spirit of Cain and the breeding ground for his anger.

D) His Anger Grew From A Spirit Of Rebellion

* Notice Gen. 4:3-5 “And in process of time it came to .......”

WE SEE CAIN AND ABEL BRINGING AN OFFERING TO GOD

A) How did they know they were to bring an offering to God?

* No doubt mom and dad, and God Himself had taught them.

B) But notice carefully that each brother brought a different

kind of offering.

* Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground – Abel brought

an offering of the firstlings of the flock.

C) The offering of Abel was received by God and God rejected

the offering of Cain.

* Why? – The offering of Cain was one of the works of his hands – He had

plowed the ground, planted the seed, and picked the fruit.

* The offering of Abel involved the shedding of blood and the giving of an

innocent life for a guilty life.

D) Now I would think that if they had been taught they ought to bring an

offering to God they were also taught what kind of offering to bring.

* Why did Cain bring the kind of offering he did?

* As we read in 1 John 3:12 “Not as Cain, who was of that .......”

E) All he did was out of an evil heart – Cain possessed a heart of rebellion.

* To put it very simply, Cain was not right with God.

* His anger grew from a spirit of rebellion.

ANGER GROWS FROM A HEART THAT IS NOT RIGHT WITH GOD

A) We have often heard it said that if a man is not right with his brother,

he is not right with God.

* May I say, that if we are not right with our brother, it’s because we

are not right with God.

* When a man is right with God it greatly alters and affects how we behave.

B) Our behavior is often a mirror of our heart.

* We often excuse it by saying that’s just the way we are.