Raising Cain!
Genesis 4:1-16
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
In Genesis 3 we have the ROOT of sin. In Genesis 4 the FRUIT of sin.
In Genesis 4 we have several firsts:
First birth
First false religion
First mention of anger/wrath (connected with a worship service).
Cain was wroth because God didn¡¦t accept his form of worship.
He’s mad over church! God wasn’s conducting the worship service in the way Cain thought it should be done! So he gets mad.
First murder (result of a false religion). Most wars are religious wars.
First man is cursed (Cain). He is cursed because his religion was of the earth that was cursed.
First city (v. 17). First mention of a "city."
Cities are connected with murderers (Rev. 17:6, 18).
Cities are centers of sin. The more concentrated the populace, the higher the crime rate.
Cities are generally referred to in a negative sense (cf. Rev. 11:8; John 19:20; 2 Cor. 11:26; Dt. 28:16; Luke 19:41; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; 13:14; Rev 17:18; 18:10; 21:2).
First musical instruments
First case of polygamy
Cain is mentioned 13 times in Genesis 4.
Abel is mentioned 7 times.
A picture of a child of the devil and a child of God.
VERSE 1: "knew" = carnal knowledge / intimate
She believed that Cain was the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.
However, she was mistaken. Cain was not a man-child FROM THE LORD (cf. 1 John 3:12).
VERSE 2:
The indication is that Cain and Abel were possibly twins. Eve conceives once (4:1) but she "bare" twice.
Cain is a type of the anti-Christ.
Both are "seeds" of the wicked (2 Thess 2)
Both have "marks" (v. 15; Rev. 13:13-18)
Both are murderers (John 8:44)
Both are cursed (Ps. 119:21)
Both are religious
Both are "city-slickers" (v. 17)
Abel is a type of Christ:
Both are Shepherds
Both are hated without cause.
Both die violent deaths at the hands of their brethren.
Both are murdered because of envy (Mt. 27:18)
Both their sacrifices were accepted by God (Eph. 5:2)
VERSE 4:
The Bible says God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9).
Yet, here is a case where God is a respecter of persons (cf. Ex. 2:25; 2 Kings 13:23).
Some would think this is a contradiction. However when taken in the context, one can see there is no contradiction.
There are two kinds of respect:
(1) Respect based on discrimination of character and behavior;
(2) Respect that denotes partiality arising from selfish considerations.
God is no respecter of persons in regards to salvation.
Anyone can get saved IF they come to God the right way.
God had respect to Abel because he came to God the approved way and Cain didn’t.
Cain came his own way. If God had respect to Cain’s offering, He would have violated His own instructions.
LET’sCONSIDER
I. The WORSHIP of Cain
Cain was not an atheist. Cain offers first. He was earnest. His offering took much work, effort, toil and sweat. It was a beautiful offering.
He is more "religious" than Abel. Religion is what a man does to establish his own righteousness.
Salvation is what God gives the sinner who knows he cannot attain righteousness.
Cain believed in God, whereas Abel believed God.
There is a big difference in believing in a God and believing WHAT God says.
Cain¡¦s religion was destitute of any adequate sense of sin, or need of atonement. Religion of self-righteousness (works).
LETS LOOK AT Abel’s worship and Cain’s worship.
Abel- Fundamentalist
Cain- Religious but lost
Abel- Saved by the blood of the lamb
Cain- Its all about me. My efforts. My works.
Abel- My lost condition and God’s gracious provision.
Cain’s church is all about US
Abel’s church is all about HIM
Cain’s Based on the way of man
Abel’sBased on the Word of God
Cain’s A form of godliness. But no power
Abel’s Godliness with power
Cain’s Appealing to the eyes of man
Abel’s Appealing to the eyes of God
Cain’s church was one of concession
Abel’s church was one of conviction
Cain’s church was comfortable
Abel’s church was commendable
Cain’s built on works
Abel’s built on grace and faith (Heb. 11:4)
NOW LETS TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT CAIN AND SEE WHAT WE CAN LEARN.
#1 LET’s CONSIDER THE WAY OF CAIN.
Cain’s main problem is PRIDE.
Cain would not admit he was wrong.
He refused to humble himself to follow God¡¦s way!
God saves murderers (Ex. 2:12); drunkards (Gen. 9:21); adulterer (2 Sam. 11-12); thief (Luke 23:43); liar (Mk 14:71); blasphemer (Paul),
But there is no record of God saving a PROUD man.
Anyone who gets saved must first humble themselves and come God’s way.
All who trust in his own religious works to save him is proud (cf. Eph. 2:9).
Cain forsakes the religion of his parents to start his own religion.
A religion of rebellion.
The religion of SENSES.
With the thought of
1. Mom and Dad are out of touch. They¡¦re too old fashion.
2. We need a religion of self-esteem to help us feel good about ourselves¡¦s.
3. That old time, slaughterhouse religion. Of Mom and Dad¡¦s won¡¦t work on this new generation.
4. I¡¦ve got a better way to worship God that doesn¡¦t require that awful shedding of blood! Vegetables, fruits, and flowers are much more appealing than blood from a slain Lamb!
3. What worked 50 years ago, won¡¦t work today.
Songs written 50 years ago won¡¦t attract today¡¦s generation.
They don¡¦t like singing about holiness and the blood of the lamb!
The bible is not politically correct to talk about. Sodomites, so let¡¦s cut that word out!
Replace the work of the Holy Spirit with a FORM of godliness (routines; rituals), but is void of power.
Recruiting members instead of redeeming sinners!
Cain stands for the man who thinks only of himself. Who had no concern or love for his brother? He looked out only for his own welfare.
Many today are still going the WAY OF CAIN!
NOW LETS CONSIDER THE WORDS OF CAIN.
VERSE 6:
God does not ask a question to gain information.
God asks to make Cain consider his ways.
One time Jesus asked His disciples,
"What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest." (Mark 9:33-34)
A contrast between God¡¦s words and Cain¡¦s words.
A. God¡¦s words are truth.
B. Cain¡¦s words are lies (v. 9).
C. God¡¦s words offer help.
D. Cain¡¦s words offer hurt.
C. God¡¦s words give instruction.
Cain¡¦s words lead to destruction.
E. God¡¦s words lead to acceptance
F. Cain¡¦s words speak of rejection.
If you do what God tells you, you will be accepted! Simple!
There is no excuse for not being accepted by God.
The only thing that will keep a man for being accepted by God is his pride. He wants to come to God on his terms, not God’s.
God¡¦s words make one better.
Cain¡¦s words make him bitter.
VERSE 8 The subject of their discussion was probably the content of verses 4-7.
God¡¦s words are words of reconciliation.
Cain¡¦s words are words of resentment.
#3 NOW LET CONSIDER THE WANDERINGS OF CAIN.
VS 11-16
No capital punishment during the dispensation of conscience.
.
Where did Cain get his wife (v. 17)?
Obviously he either married a sister or niece.
There were many people on the earth by the time he is older (cf. 4:14; 5:4).[1]
Laws governing marrying close kinfolks were not given until Moses about 2000 years later.
The closeness to the original parents maintained purity in genetics.
Verse 14:"every one that findeth me shall slay me."- Other people on the earth at this time. Bullinger: "If Abel died in A.M. (anno mundi- year of the world) 125, and Abel and Cain had children before that year, even supposing they had no descendants till they reached the age of sixty-five, Adam could have had 130 children. And if each of these could have a child at sixty-five years of age, one in each successive year, there would have been 1,219 in A.M. 130. If we suppose Adam’s earlier sons and daughters to have had children at the age of twenty-one instead of sixty-five, there would have been over a half a million in the 130 years, without reckoning the old or young and this at a very moderate rate of
AMEN¡
