Genesis 4: Have We Gone In the Way of Cair

Have We Gone the Way of Cain? (e)
Genesis 4:1-12
James R. Davis
As you look at the first few chapters of Genesis, in the setting of Eden’s fall, you begin to come to a realization that all is not well with the world. There is a foreboding hanging over man from chapter 3 through chapter 9. It is the foreboding consequences of sin. In spite of the joy of birth, life and prosperity there is apprehension concerning the future of mankind. As Moses writes, he leaves Genesis 3 telling about the fall of man in Eden and enters directly into the effect that sin has upon the lives of the children of Adam and Eve. Spiritual and physical death introduced in Eden followed quickly upon the heels of the firstborn children. (Romans 5:12) Sin and death robbed Adam and Eve of any happiness they could have enjoyed through their children. It is certainly hard to watch children reap the consequences of the parents sins. It is especially hard for the parents who are smart enough to realize the full impact of what has happened.
Nothing is as exciting as the birth of your first child. Having your hopes, aspirations and joy all bundled up in a baby’s blanket and handed to you for the first time is breathtaking. The first child gives hope that your posterity will continue long after you are gone. We can’t imagine what the birth of the first baby ever was like. They named him Cain, which carries with it the meaning "a man gotten of the Lord." Some believe that Adam and Eve looked at this first baby as the specific promise of Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." They hoped that this child would be the answer to the sin problem.
Then the second child came along and they named him Abel. The name Abel means "vanity, temporary, meaningless." What a self-image that poor child must have had. Apparently, by the time that the second child was born, Adam and Eve were acutely feeling the pain of living in a world frustrated by sin. Whatever they had hoped for in Cain, whatever thrill there was with that firstborn child was beginning to wear thin by the time Abel arrived.
Moses states that Abel was a keeper of herds, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. There is no negative connotation to their occupations. It is not cattlemen vs. dirt farmer. Both had learned their occupations from their parents. Abel herded animals from which skins came that were used for clothes and Cain grew crops. I grew up on a farm where we grew row crops as well as raised hogs, cattle, horses and goats. I can tell you from experience that doing either is enjoyable. Of course, hindsight has a way of making anything look better! But both children were engaged in honorable occupations.
The amazing thing is that both children started out so well. They both worked contributing good to the world in which they lived. They both wanted a relationship with God, both offered sacrifices to God. To watch your children grow and develop their own faith is really the highest reward. Adam and Eve had taught them about God and what they had lost as a result of their sin. You can only wonder how many times they went to the Gardens gate and beheld the Cherubims with flaming swords preventing their access to the Tree of Life? (Genesis 3:24)
The Way of Cain
Yet Cain’s life epitomized sin. Sin distorted Cain’s life. This is nowhere more graphically illustrated than in how he worshipped God.
Gen 4:3-7 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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.
Cain wanted to worship God, he wanted to offer a sacrifice to God, but he wanted to do it on his own terms. Instead of offering an acceptable sacrifice of an animal, Cain offered the pride of his labors which was the work of his own hands . . . the firstfruits of the land. I don’t know what it is like to have a green thumb. I’ll let you in on a secret, my wife doesn’t either. I remember a few years ago that I bought her a beautiful live plant, by the next day it had already wilted. But Cain had a green thumb and apparently he was very proud of it. Cain wanted to make an offering to God and this was right, but the way he made the offering was entirely wrong.
Cain’s heart told him to maximize his happiness by becoming the center of his worship. Cain’s worship became a means of self-recognition; he took pride in his offering. Evidently he thought it was better than what was prescribed by God. Worship to Cain became a way of honoring himself, by saying, "Look what I have to offer, it is something that I have produced with my own hands." Cain wanted to approach God on his own terms with his own works.
God wanted an animal sacrifice. If we could give what we could produce, or create with our own hands then we would end up worshipping ourselves. In that the life of an animal was to be given, one can understand that man had to give something that only God could provide . . . life.
I wonder about many worship services today. Are they designed more to the contemporary than to God’s directives? Are they designed to attract people rather than please God? It is certain that worship must be relevant to the lives of the people, but it must be what God has ordained. Something as simple as how we worship can be self-serving. Among all the hand clapping, foot stomping, excitement, legalism, liberalism, and "me-ism" have we lost sight of God? Even sermons can be designed to draw attention to the one preaching. We are like the Samaritan woman in John chapter four, "Is it this mountain or that mountain where we worship?" Is it this way or that way? God is lost in the shuffling from one place to another place from doing it one way to doing it another way. Jesus said, "God is worshipped in spirit and in truth." Worship takes place when a heart is obediently tuned to receive and follow God’s directions.
Paul said, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." (Eph 5:18-21) Everyone needs to take a fresh look at these verses without reading their own prejudices into them. That includes myself!!!
We have dwelt much on our spiritual gifts in the work of the church of late, teaching, caring, preaching, etc. Some stress the gifts they have, others stress the gifts they don't have. Either way, the focus is on what I have to offer or what I don’t have to offer, and in each case the focus is on us. Have we placed too much emphasis on what "I" have or on what "I" don’t have? It seems as though the emphasis is on "I". Do we take pride in what we can or can’t do and overlook the GIVER? When I read of Noah building an ark I realize that he didn’t work in a shipyard, he had never seen a ship much less built one. But when he followed God’s direction, it was amazing what was accomplished in that one act of worship to God. What glory that ship has brought and how his worship has lifted all of us because Noah lost sight of himself. We were saved from the waters of that flood.
I have served churches and attended churches that have practiced things in their services that others couldn't seem to find the liberty to practice. But many times those who found the liberty often looked down their noses at those who couldn't allow themselves the same liberty. When you look down your nose at others, remember the focus is on self; it doesn't matter which side you are own. Have we gone in the way of Cain?
I have heard people say, "Well, I just try to do what my heart tells me to do." Sounds very humble, doesn't it. It almost sounds like, "Look at me, I always try to do what is right in my heart of hearts." Almost sounds like another clever way of focusing on self. It is as if we have a "God" within telling us what to do. By the way the "God" we serve begins with a capital letter no matter which one it is. Cain had a "God" within that he was listening too; his heart was his "God."
Moses writes: "So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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.'" He was downcast, that is, his countenance fell. Why? He was rebuked for listening to his own heart. His heart told him that he had something of which to be proud. He was angry because God scolded his pride that was telling him what a great man he was.
Surprisingly!!! God tells Cain that the kind of worship and praise that lifts the countenance of men is one that gives honor to the God of heaven. He felt downtrodden because God rebuked him. God said, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" If you want a worship service to move people, to lift their countenance then focus on God, exalt God, and praise God. Allow God to become the center of focus by doing what He asks.
Jesus makes an astounding statement that relates directly to the problem of Cain.
Matt 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
This is absolutely amazing, these people have exercised all their "spiritual gifts," miraculous ones at that! "Have we not prophesied in your name and in your name driven out demons? Have we not accomplished many miraculous works?" Jesus said, "Who are you people anyway, I don’t know you." The focus is on man’s accomplishment not on what God has accomplished for them.
The Bible has much to say about our hearts. "Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him." (Jer 9:8) "But you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me." (Jer 16:12) "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9) "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jer 17:10) "I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." (Jer 10:23)
"Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?" (Matt 9:4) "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." (Matt 12:35)
Why Are You Angry?
Gen 4:6-7 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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."
I John 3:11-12 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
There was nothing in Cain’s world that persuaded him to do what he did. It was the evil in his heart that was speaking to him. It was his heart telling him that he was not guilty. It was not the world. We just look around and confirm that the world agrees with our heart. But sin is so deceitful because everybody else’s heart is telling them to do the same thing. We interpret that to mean that if everyone is doing it, then the world is saying it must be okay.
Where Is Your Brother?
Gen 4:5-7 But on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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."
"If you do right, will you not be accepted." That’s hard to swallow. Your countenance depends on what is going on within you. You are rejected because you have chosen to be rejected through your disobedience.
Instead of Cain’s heart telling him to examine his worship and swallow the bitter pill of failure and learn from his experience, Cain’s heart told him that his grief and rejection was somebody else’s fault. Sounds frightfully familiar, doesn’t it?
How easy it would have been for God to correct Cain by comparing him with Abel. That is the way we parents often handle the discipline of our children. But God did not say "Why don’t you worship me like your brother Abel does?" God pointed Cain to the standard that He had set, not to the example of his brother. Nevertheless, Cain made the connection. Cain’s offering was not accepted. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted. God gently admonished Cain and instructed him that the way to win His approval was to submit to the divine pattern of approach to God. Cain concluded that the solution was to eliminate his competition—to murder his brother.
I John 3:9-12 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 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.
"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. (Genesis 4:8)
But Cain did what his evil heart told him to do and was consumed. His heart told him that his frustrations were somebody else's fault. His heart told him that his happiness depended on what someone else was doing. His heart told him that he would be happy if he could change his world and God to think like he thought. But God told Cain he would be happy when he did what he was asked to do.
Gen 4:9-10 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don’t know," he replied. "Am I my brother’s keeper?" The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.
Cain arrogantly responds to God by asking God, "Am I my brother’s keeper." Cain never shows any remorse for disobeying God. Today your heart seeks to tell you the same thing; that is, you have no reason to feel guilty. You live in a world where our hearts continue to tell you that you are the center of the universe. Your problems are somebody else’s fault. This world owes you happiness. You are basically good and unselfish. You’ll be happy if you get what you want. You will be happy when you follow your own heart.
You are under a curse
Genesis 4:11-14 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. The curse wasn't upon the ground, but upon Cain because of his sin. God took the very thing away that made Cain proud.
Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 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's words have a familiar ring to any parent. At times a child is truly sorry for his disobedience. At other times he is only sorry that he was caught, and bitterly bemoans the severity of punishment he is to receive. So when God pronounces Cain's punishment, Cain repeats his sentence bitterly, and expresses his fear that men will treat him as he did his brother.
It was a worldly sorrow that was working in Cain’s heart. Listen to Cain. "My punishment is more than I can bear." "You have driven me from the Land." "I will be hidden from your presence." I will be a restless wanderer." "Whoever finds me will kill me." He never said, "I have sinned." That simple statement would have refocused his entire life. Cain was totally focused on himself. There was no remorse for what he had done, and apparently no guilt. He was only concerned about his punishment. Cain was concerned about the consequences. Worldly sorrow destroys the one that has it and everyone around. Paul says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2 Cor 7:10)
A mark of grace
God marks Cain with a mark of grace . . . " 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." (Gen 4:15) Even in Cain’s arrogance God placed a mark upon him that was to protect him by reminding others that they were forbidden to take his life. It wasn't like marks that some cultures have placed on its victims. It wasn’t intended to be a tattoo like in Nazi Germany. It wasn’t like cutting off the ear of a thief to mark him as a thief. It wasn’t like scaring a woman’s face to mark her as an adulterer. It was meant as a mark of grace . . . a means to protect. But the paradox is that you can’t bear the mark of God’s grace without it reflecting the marks of sin. God's seal upon us should make us appreciative. But I am almost sure that Cain only saw the negative aspect of his mark. He only saw that he was marked as a murderer.
Cain’s sinful worship shaped his world
Sin consumed Cain and took away his ability to plant and grow crops. The pride of his heart left him empty handed. God said, "I’m taking away your green thumb." But never worry, a man's heart that is lifted up by pride will find a way to exalt itself. Cain will find a way to continue to honor himself. By the way, I don’t think that there is any significance here to those of us who never had a green thumb.
A casual reading of Genesis, chapter 4, confirms that it was the sin in Cain’s heart that shaped his world. It wasn’t the world that shaped his heart. Cain was now the only descendant of Adam and Eve left. Adam and Eve had reared their sons right, or they would not have been worshipping in the first place. Cain’s heart led him to shape his world for the worst.
Gen 4:16-26 So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 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. To Enoch was born Irad and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah. 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. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times." Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.
The emphasis in these verses concerning Cain’s family was that they were focused on shaping their world, building cities, musical instruments, perhaps jewelry, etc. None of that is sinful in itself, but if that represents your priorities in life, then that is sinful. Those were the priorities of Cain’s descendants. Even the names here are highly suggestive. As you study your Bible, learn to look up the meaning of Bible names. Sometimes there are differences of opinion as to what they mean, depending upon the root from which the name was taken, but these names are very significant. Irad, for instance, means "the city of witness," i.e., in this context, witness to the glory of man. Isn't it amazing that Cain never stopped worshipping himself? The ideal of the exaltation of man is coming in the first few chapters of Genesis and it culminates at the tower of Babel, which was erected to the glory of man. Mehujael means, "smitten of God," which is suggestive, perhaps, of a rather defiant attitude: "God has smitten, yes, but we’re going to make a success of this anyway," is man’s attitude. Methushael is most contemporary; it means, "who sees God" or "the death of God." You can see how far back in history those ideals go! Lamech means "strong" or "powerful," and again reflects clearly the boasting of man in his fallen state.
Lamech said to his wives: "Listen to what I have to say: I have slain a man for wounding me." In Hebrew this is set in poetic language suggesting that Lamech is boasting to his wives about what he has done and justifies it, saying that if God avenged Cain sevenfold for taking the life of his brother without any justification whatever, then surely, "I will be avenged seventy-seven fold for having acting in self-defense."
We all read bumper stickers. One says, "When I die, I know I’m going to heaven because Hell is afraid I will take over." That was the type of boasting Lamech was doing.
Conclusion:
The amazing thing in Genesis chapter four is that we have all the ingredients for modern life and it all started in a worship service. Jude spoke of evil people in worship, "Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm-- shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted-- twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever." (Jude 11-13) "Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain . . . " (Jude 1:11.") Where are our worship services leading us today? Are we going in the way of Cain?
The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." (Gen 4:10) In the NIV the translators translated this verse as you see it here. "What have you done? Listen!" I would like to emphasize the exclamatory sentence in this translation, "Listen!" God says, "Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." I wonder if Cain could actually hear his voice. But regardless, you can hear Abel cry out today. Do you hear it? . . . Do you hear the voice of Abel? . . .You can hear it, Listen! . . Even though Abel has been dead for thousands of years, "Listen!" . . . Listen closely . . . Listen real close . . . and you can hear . . . Shhhh!
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. (Emphasis mine.)
Yes, Abel’s blood continues to cry out to each of us today. When we get to heaven, Abel will be there. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve to die spiritually and Abel was the first child to enter heaven and regain what they lost in Eden. I would like to think that Abel will be in charge of leading the eternal worship service in praise and honor of God our redeemer. But in order to find out whether this is so, we must continually ask ourselves, "Have we gone in the way of Cain? "