CAIN REJECTS GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY
Genesis 4:1-5:32 Lesson 4b
Key Verse: 4:7
"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."
* ABEL AND CAIN AND THEIR OFFERINGS (1-7)
1. Who were Cain and Abel and what sacrifices did each offer to God?
How did God regard each man and his offering? Why? What does
this show about them? About God? (Heb 11:4)
2. How did Cain react to God's rejection of his offering? What does
this show about his view of himself and his attitude toward
God?
3. When Cain was angry and downcast, how did the Lord counsel him?
What additional light does this throw on Cain's problem? (7) How
does this word of God show God's love for Cain? What can we
learn from God's words about how to deal with the sinful desires
that arise in us?
* CAIN MURDERS HIS BROTHER (8-16)
4. How did Cain receive God's word? What did he do immediately
afterward? (8) What was his motive for murder? What does this
suggest about the nature and cause of jealousy? (Jas 1:15)
5. Read verse 9. Why did God ask the question? What does Cain's
response show about his attitude toward God? Toward his fellow
man? What does verse 10 mean? In what sense was Abel a martyr?
(Mt 23:35)
6. How did God punish Cain? How did he protect him? Describe Cain's
life under God's curse. (11-16) What does it mean to be a restless
wanderer? How did Cain react to his punishment? What does this
show about his inner life?
* CAIN'S DESCENDANTS (17-24)
7. What might have been Cain's motive in building a city? What does
Lamach's family and life show about human culture without God?
How did Lamech use God's word of grace and mercy to justify his
sinful actions?
* MEN WHO CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD (4:25-5:32)
8. Compare the descendants of Adam by Seth with the descendants of
Cain. What are the signs of hope in Seth's line? What evidence
is there of a spiritual remnant of God's people?
------------------------------------------------------------
CAIN REJECTS GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY
Genesis 4:1-5:32 Lesson 4b
Key Verse: 4:7
"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."
Sin's beginning was very small. Man broke one seemingly insignificant
command of God. But by his act of disobedience, he joined Satan's
rebellion and brought God's curse to the world. His fellowship with God
was broken, his mission swallowed up in a struggle for survival. He
also lost access to the tree of life and was condemned to die. Chapter
4 shows how sin spread; how it turned man against his brother and
brought unspeakable tragedy; how it infected human culture. But in
these dark chapters God put a candle light of hope in the world.
1. Abel and Cain and their offerings (1-7)
Cain was Adam's oldest son; Abel was his second. Cain was a farmer
and Abel, a shepherd and herdsman. Each of them brought an offering to
God. God, who sees men's hearts, accepted Abel's offering, but did not
accept Cain's. Cain's offering was just "some of the fruits of the
soil," while Abel brought "fat portions from some of the firstborn of
his flock." He brought the first and the best. This reveals his heart.
He came humbly, hoping that God would receive his offering, even though
it was offered by a sinful man. Hebrews 11:4 says: "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."
Verses 4b,5 say, "...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." Cain's angry reaction
reveals his mind and heart. He offered God some of the fruit of the
soil as if he were doing God a favor; he thought God should be glad to
get anything he brought. But God is the Sovereign Lord and Creator. He
is the Giver of the harvest. All things belong to him. Cain's offering
should be an expression of praise and honor and worship and
thanksgiving. God could not look with favor on Cain's proud heart and
condescending offering. Romans 1:21 tells us that not thanking God or
honoring him as God is the root of sin. Ingratitude and pride make
men's hearts dark and futile.
2. Sin's desire
God is loving and merciful. He came to Cain with a gentle rebuke and
words of wise counsel. The almighty God lowered himself to give his
precious word to Cain. Read verse 7. "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." God's word to Cain was a word of life and peace. It gave Cain the
opportunity to see himself as he was; it was his opportunity to turn
from the way of destruction and death to the way of life. Let's look
more closely at God's word to Cain. First, God told Cain that his
offering was not accepted because Cain did not do what is right. This
was Cain's opportunity to examine his own heart. It was his chance to
think about himself and think about what is right. He should ask
himself, "What have I done to displease God? How can I do what is
right? This word could have given direction and light to his life. But
Cain did not acknowledge God as God. He began to live according to his
natural feelings. He became a slave of angry passion. A man who lives
according to the desires, according to the thoughts of his sinful
nature cannot please God. Cain's downcast face exposed his proud and
rebellious heart. God rebuked him, but he did not listen. Second, God
told him to master sinful desire. Man was created in God's image. He
was originally good. But because of Adam's sin, evil came into man's
heart. So man's nature is a mixture of good and evil. If we do not
actively fight evil and push it aside to do good positively, evil
overcomes us. Some people believe that they can live without a positive
commitment, doing neither good nor evil. They mind their own business
and are careful not to bother or burden anyone else. They are satisfied
with themselves. But such indifferent, unconcerned people are the ones
who are defeated by evil and become slaves of Satan. When we are not
actively engaged in doing right, sin crouches at the door, awaiting an
opportunity to spring on us like a lion on its prey. 1Peter 5:8,9a
says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him..." Cain
was like a man walking through the jungle with no thought of the lion.
God spoke to him, "Sin is lying in ambush at the door and its desire is
for you; but you must master it." The desire to commit sin had come
into his heart. It coexisted with the desire to do good. But these two
desires cannot coexist for long. A man must master the desire to sin or
be swallowed up by it.
How can a man master the desire to sin? The burning fire of passion
only can be mastered when God's righteous and loving reign in one's
life and heart is humbly welcomed. Cain could not master sin's desire
by his own strength, but with God's word in his heart and a decision of
faith to obey God and not his own feelings, he could have drawn on
God's strength and mastered it. Then he could see himself and others in
the light of God's will. So, in order to master the desire to sin:
First, he must receive God's word and God's sovereign rule into his
heart. We must bend our ears to hear God's word. The Psalmist said, "I
have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
(119:11) Because sin has come into the world, men have become slaves of
their human passions and feelings. Men who are slaves of passion must
receive God's word in their hearts. Second, he must strive to live
according to God's word. We must seek to do positive good. When we
strive to live according to God's word, we become engaged in a powerful
spiritual conflict. If we are defeated in this spiritual conflict, we
become slaves of sin. Cain should have received God's word and put to
death his own feelings. Romans 8:6,7 says, "The mind of sinful man is
death...the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's
law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot
please God."
Cain did not acknowledge God's sovereignty and he did not receive
God's word in his heart. So he could not control the smoldering fire
of jealousy toward his brother. It burst into raging flame. "What
right does my younger brother have to be accepted by God while I, the
elder, am not? Why did God discriminate against me just because I had
no lamb to bring?"
3. Cain murders his brother (8-10)
Cain did not receive God's word. Instead he called his brother out
into the field and killed him. The terrible deed was done in a moment,
but Cain had the rest of his life to pay for it. The Lord did not
abandon the murderer Cain; he came to Cain again. "Cain, where is your
brother Abel?" (9) The Lord was not asking for information; he knew
already. He was giving Cain a chance to confess his sin and repent. But
how did Cain answer? "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" He
dodged responsibility. His words, "Am I my brother's keeper?" reflect
the rebellion in one's heart toward God, and the resulting
irresponsibility for one's fellow man. Many people in this fallen world
have echoed Cain's words, "Am I my brother's keeper?" in order to avoid
responsibility. Of course, we cannot be our brother's keeper--we must
be our brother's brother and friend and shepherd.
4. Punishment (11-16)
Cain yielded to sin's desire. He stepped across a line of
irrevocable action when he murdered his brother. Then he went one step
further. By his rebellious and unrepentant answer, Cain cut himself off
from God's forgiveness and help. Read verses 10-12. "What have you
done? Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 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." He rejected God's love and mercy and
became a restless wanderer on the earth. He would have no roots, no
fruit; he would be like the chaff which the wind blows away. (Ps 1:4)
He would have no spiritual life, for he must live without God in the
world under curse. He was full of fear and anxiety.
Read verse 13. 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." Some people glamorize the life of Cain.
He seems to have the ultimate freedom. But Cain himself realized that
this was not a glamorous free life, but a life full of fear, a life
without meaning. A life without God is a life under a curse. Because he
cried out to God in fear, God put a mark on him. It was a sign of God's
love and mercy, for it protected his life. But because Cain did not
accept God's love and mercy in his heart, the mark became the mark of a
murderer. Cain was a marked man. He would not be killed, because men
feared God, but he would be despised and shunned wherever he went.
His real suffering was not physical--it was the tortured condition
of his inner life. He revealed the fear and insecurity of his inner
mind when he said, "I will be hidden from your presence...whoever finds
me will kill me." His fear was fear of death. He must live out his days
in fear, in the shadow of death.
Satan tells us that sin is simple and easy. He makes us feel proud
and brave. But he doesn't ever tell us about the punishment that
follows. But sin is always followed by consequences. The punishment of
sin is not just the guilt feelings or the fear. There is God's judgment
and eternal punishment. The flood of Noah's time is a picture of God's
judgment.
5. Cain's descendants (17-24)
Verse 17 says, "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." Cain built a city. It was a monument to his
pride, named for his son. This was his effort to find roots and meaning
without repentance and without God. His descendants built a godless
human culture. At first glance, they seem to have made great
achievements.
But if we take a closer look at this godless culture, we find that
it was full of corruption and violence. Lamech was a polygamist, so
already the place of women had degenerated. Violence and a spirit of
revenge were abroad in the earth. Lamech killed a young man who had
injured him and excused himself by twisting the promise of protection
which God had given to Cain. He made use of God's word for his own
selfish purpose. (23,24)
6. Men who called on the name of the Lord (4:25-5:32)
God granted Adam another son, Seth. He was made in the image of his
father Adam, who was made in the image of God. The descendants of Seth
called on the name of the Lord. (4:25b) This means that there were a
remnant of men among Seth's descendants who sought God, and put their
trust in him. Enoch, who walked with God, and Noah, who brought comfort
and hope to his father even in a world under curse, are among them. The
slender thread of God's life in man was not broken; it continued amid
ever increasing violence and corruption to the time of Noah.