Introduction:
Whenever I
preach in a relatively new context, I generally prepare a sermon that speaks to
my heart, convicts me of my sin, and applies generally to my life and
circumstances. And then I pray and pray
that God will use what I say to speak to other people in the audience. The reason is simple – I don’t really know
you the way your pastor knows you. I
will not be able to speak directly into your circumstances because I do not
know your circumstances. But I trust the
eternally wise God and the ongoing work of the Spirit of God in hearts and
lives of people who are oriented toward Him, that something this afternoon will
be of great value to you. So with that
in mind, let us read the text of Genesis 4:1-26 in its entirety and then pray
for God’s help.
READ – Genesis 4:1-26
PRAY
The first thing
we want to answer is about preaching in general. Why do we preach and listen to preaching? John Calvin was a very influential figure in
the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland during the middle of the 1500s. He said that the only way light was going to
come to God’s people and to his city of Geneva would be through the preaching
of the Scriptures. Therefore, he
established the regular practice of having three sermons on Sundays (9am, 12pm,
and 3pm) and then three more sermons during the week (one on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays). Wow! That would be a lot of preaching. We believe along with Calvin that light will
invade and disperse the darkness of Addis Ababa, of Ethiopia, and the world,
dispelling with glorious splendor the clouds of evil in its path. And that is why we preach. So we pray, “Lord, let the light of your word
radiate now for the destruction of darkness in our midst.”
The second thing
we want to answer is about preaching from the Old Testament. Is it relevant for today? It was written thousands of years ago within
a culture and a context so very different from ours. Can the OT still teach us today? Here we agree with the Apostle Paul, when he
told Timothy of the Old Testament, that “all Scripture is God breathed” and
applies to us today in five main ways.
1.
It
is profitable for teaching. Does anyone
need to be taught by God today? I do.
2.
It
is profitable for rebuking. Does anyone
need to be rebuked by God today? I do.
3.
It
is profitable for correction. Does
anyone need the correction of God today?
I do.
4.
It
is profitable for training in righteousness.
Does anyone need a greater degree of righteousness in your life
today? I do.
5.
It
is able to make us wise unto the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. Does anyone need to be wise unto salvation
today? I do.
So we appreciate
the Old Testament as the unique, life-giving revelation of God, which is
essential in our preaching and teaching, resulting in a balanced and complete
view of God’s truth. This is why we
preach the Old Testament today.
Now, we return
to the text at hand. Take up your Bibles
again (if you had put them down) and open them again to the book of Genesis,
chapter 4. In our reading of the
passage, we noticed five major scenes that help us structure the passage. We will return to the significance of each
scene after identifying them.
1.
Scene
One = verses 1-2a. We read that Adam lay
with his wife and they conceived and had a child. In fact, they had two children over time – an
older son and younger son.
2.
Scene
Two = verses 2b-7. Here we find the word
“now” as a marker that a new scene is taking place. Some time has passed and the two sons of Adam
have grown into working men.
3.
Scene
Three = verses 8-16. Again we find the
word “now” as a textual marker. More
time has passed and the climax of the story is about to unfold.
4.
Scene
Four = verses 17-24. This part of the
passage deals with the family of Cain and their establishing of a city… a city
which is further east… further away from the Garden of Eden.
5.
Scene
Five = verses 25-26. Like the first
scene, this one is relatively short and deals primarily with the birth of
another son to Adam and Eve.
So let us now
deal with the scenes as they unfold in the chapter. The movement by the author from
scene-to-scene will drive the flow of thought and organize the details.
First Scene –
Genesis 1:1-2a
We are immediately introduced to five main
characters: (1) Adam, (2) Eve, (3) Cain, (4) the Lord, who is introduced
implicitly in the announcement of Eve, and (5) Abel. The mention of Adam and Eve show that the
narrator is interested in connecting us to the previous account of creation,
the Garden of Eden, and the sin of man and his subsequent expulsion from
Paradise. Genesis 4 is not an isolated
account. We are meant to read it in connection
with Genesis 1-3. We will notice several
similarities and connections to demonstrate this belief.
Remember that the temptation of the serpent in
Genesis 3:4-5 was aimed at the woman’s desire to be “like God.” It says, “When you eat of it your eyes will
be opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.” Now notice the announcement of Eve in our
passage. She says, “With the Lord, I
have acquired a man.” There are a couple
of significant things going on here.
First, some have suggested that Eve is proud of having given birth. She has become like God in the act of creation. Because of the original temptation, this could
be a valid scenario. Her newfound sinful
state would almost certainly reflect the original desire to become like God. But a more natural reading of the text
indicates a spirit of gratitude. She
expresses faith, just as she does in verse 25.
There is an attitude of dependence reflected in the phrase “with the
[help of the] Lord.” One would not
expect the Lord to be mentioned at all if this were merely an expression of pride
and arrogance. Second, she says that she
has acquired a man. This harkens the
clever reader back to the promise of Genesis 3:15, that a descendant of the
woman would crush the serpent’s head.
Eve had no idea when this descendant would come and thinks that Cain
could be the one. Likewise, Satan has no
idea when the descendant would come, so he will be on the scene momentarily,
trying to delay his inevitable destruction by eliminating the seed of the
woman.
Second Scene –
Genesis 4:2b-7
The second scene opens with the word “now” as a verbal
indicator of the author’s transition.
This scene is set within the context of the first worship ceremony of
the Bible. It suggests, as will be a
theme throughout the rest of the Pentateuch, that the fallen condition of man
requires a renewed relationship with God.
Abel worked as a pastoralist and Cain worked as a gardener. And during their ongoing lifestyles of work –
at some point – they bring an offering before the Lord. There is no explicit instruction here on the
part of God to command such a sacrifice.
The author is not concerned with the way Cain and Abel knew to bring
it. Perhaps it was the image of God in
them, calling out for a restored relationship with the ever-present
Creator. We don’t know for sure. But they bring their offerings. This is a beautiful example of the inter-weaving
of work and worship. This concept was recognized during the Protestant Reformation under Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. Martin Luther developed a “Doctrine of
Vocation” or a “Doctrine of Calling” in response to the Catholic beliefs that
only the religious vocation or calling was sacred. Many would leave their secular work to become
monks in seeking to become more holy.
But Luther said four things that help us today:
1. Vocation refers to
our call to serve God.
2. There is no superior value or service to God
in being a priest or monk.
3. We can serve God in any legitimate
occupation. We can serve God in any
career or other form of employment.
4. We are to serve God in whatever occupation we
have.
Luther said, “It is always necessary that the substance of a person himself be good
before there can be any good works.” Let
a man be transformed within and let his work display the glory of God, for any
work can be sanctified if it is done unto the Lord. How are we doing in our work? Are we working as unto the Lord? Every man is given a field to plow (the field
might be at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Ethio-Tel Com, driving a taxi,
preaching at a local KHC, taking care of children at home… whatever). How are we working?
We turn back to the Genesis text. It is not necessary to read a sibling rivalry
into the text here, nor are we given any indication that one offering was
inherently better than the other. There
is no further need to suggest a rivalry between pastoralists and
gardeners. From the context of
Deuteronomy 8, we find that God has room for both ways of life. We need to note the Hebrew word, here
translated as “offering,” is simply the word for “gift.” They are bringing a gift to God – a gift that
is the product of their distinct vocations and callings. This is most likely an offering of
allegiance, or a thank offering. And why
is this important? Because it is a thank
offering, the absence of blood is not a particular problem here, as it would
have been later in the Pentateuch in regard to a sin sacrifice. So it is not the offering itself that creates
a problem. It is not the type of
offering (vegetables verses animal portions) that creates the problem. And here we are introduced for the first time
to a massive Biblical truth.
God looks at the heart. God looks at the heart. The heart of the worshipper is evaluated. The act of worship and the heart of the
worshipper are to be distinguished. God
is looking at Cain’s heart when he offers his gift and is likewise looking at
Abel’s heart as he offers his gift. Note
how the language of the text leads us to this conclusion. God
first looks with favor upon Abel.
Then (and this is an important indication of sequence)… then, God looks with favor upon the
offering of Abel. So it is with
Cain. God looks at the heart. This reality will be echoed time and again throughout
Scripture, perhaps most notably in 1 Samuel 16:7. There the Lord says to Samuel as the prophet
looks over the sons of Jesse, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the
Lord looks at the heart.” Again in the
New Testament, we are told that Jesus did not need man’s testimony about man
because he knew what was in man (John 2:24-25).
The heart of the worshipper makes the sacrifice acceptable or not. Let our worship be the result of a pure
heart, a thankful heart, a heart that has been changed from stone to flesh by
the living God.
So Cain was very angry. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:12 that
Cain “belonged to the evil one [and, subsequently] his actions were evil.” We will see in the third scene how belonging
to the evil one expressed itself in the actions of evil. His actions followed his identity. His doing
was the result of his being. The primary problem with Cain is the primary
problem of all men after Adam’s sin. We
are inherently evil. Our inside (our
being) is corrupted by sin. Our actions
proceed from a corrupted being. When we
preach and teach, we must stop trying to address the symptoms (stop doing wrong
– start doing right) and cut out the disease.
We are trying to cure spiritual cancer with spiritual paracetemol. The symptoms might disappear for a time, but
the inner condition will guarantee their reappearance.
Remember that Cain is the firstborn into sin. He is the first descendant of sinful
parents. God’s questions that follow in
verses 6-7 show his desire for truth, just as verse 10, the question shows his
concern for justice. In verse 7, God
says that Cain would be accepted (literally, would be lifted up) if he were to
do what was right. The contrast here is
striking. Literally in the Hebrew, God
would “smile” upon Cain. But now look at
Cain’s face. It is downcast. The face of Cain reveals the heart of
Cain. But God promises not only to put a
smile on his face, but to restore him and uplift his heart. This is an amazing display of God’s grace. Though the worshipper was found to be full of
sin, and therefore brought an unacceptable gift, God promised to restore him
into a right relationship. Here, as in
all the Bible, greater sin is met with greater grace. Aren’t we glad for that? Greater sin is met with greater grace. “Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that will pardon
and cleanse from sin. Grace, grace,
God’s grace; grace that is greater than all our sin!”
Third Scene –
Genesis 4:8-16
The climax of the story follows a stern
warning. God says that sin is crouching
like a wild beast, like an untamed lion, waiting to devour Cain. It desires to have mastery over him, but Cain
must master it (just like Eve would desire to have mastery over her husband,
but Adam would rule over her). This is a
reflection of the world’s condition after the Fall of Man. Instead of living in peace and harmony under
God’s rule and authority, man’s desire to live under his own authority created
domination, exploitation, and murder. We
find from the following verses in the third scene that sin indeed claims
mastery over Cain. It consumes him. We also find in the text Satan’s intent to snap
at the seed of the woman and avoid the curse of Genesis 3:15. Cain acts under the persuasion of the sin
that crouched at his door and carries out his evil intentions.
Remember that the context is worship. And now the disaster of sin is revealed. The crime is murder. And the victim would be a brother. We can understand murder as the direct
opposition of Satan to God’s beautiful life-giving power in the act of
creation. Murder, in this sense, is defined
as the act of uncreation, which reflects the will of Satan. God’s will is bent toward the positive giving
of life. Satan’s will is bent toward the
negative destruction of life. It is also
the destruction of the image of God, both within the individual and the
family. God created the family unit to
be a source of identity for man, a haven of safety, relationship, and relational
security. Family would be the structure
in which man would always be accepted, always loved, always protected, always
treasured, feeling always secure and wanted and accepted. If you belong to a godly family, you know
exactly what this means. You have a
beautiful picture of God’s love in the love you receive from your family. If you did not grow up in a family like this,
you have the God-given strength to transform that situation for the next
generation. Let your children grow up,
by the grace of God, within the structure of family as He intends.
And now the heinous nature of the crime is
revealed. The victim is a brother. Instead of the special kinship God intended,
evil has pounced upon and devoured brotherhood.
Cain is confronted just as his parents were confronted in the Garden of
Paradise. In Genesis 3:9, God calls to
the man and asks, “Where are you?” Now
he calls to Cain and asks, “Where is your brother?” This is not an inquiry for the gathering of
unknown facts. God knows. He knew what happened to Adam and Eve. He knew what happened to Abel. The question is the inner searching of a
man. God is again looking at the heart. And Cain’s response, so different from the
relatively innocent response of Adam (“I heard you in the garden and I was
afraid because I was naked; so I hid”) – the response of Cain shows a
hardening. He is sarcastic. Sin has taken only one generation to take
full effect.
The response of God is placing a curse upon Cain. It is direct.
It is upon Cain himself, not upon the ground, as was the case with
Adam. You are cursed. Broken
fellowship with God has led to broken fellowship with the family. Cain destroys fellowship. It is interesting to observe here that Eve
was convinced by Satan to disobey God.
Cain cannot be convinced by Almighty God to turn from his evil desires. God warns Cain of the disastrous consequences
of being mastered by sin, but Cain cannot be convinced. He kills his brother anyway. Further, when confronted, Cain does not
confess to his sin. He does not accept
his punishment. Again we see how in just
ONE generation since the Fall of Man, the corruption of the human heart has
descended to murderous depths.
The world was becoming more and more populated at
this point in history, but mankind would still have been relatives of
Abel. They would have known him,
probably loved him, and would have been anxious to seek revenge. But God’s will is not swift and arbitrary
revenge. He is still intent on being
gracious to Cain. By the mark that he
places on Cain, God is showing himself to be Cain’s protector. Brothers and sisters, this is mercy. And yet, the sin is not without horrific
consequences. Cain goes out from the
presence of the Lord and wanders to the east.
Remember also that Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, driven out
toward the east. The theme of eastward
movement in the book of Genesis is meant to show a growing distance between God
and man (between the fellowship they enjoyed in Eden, where God walked and
talked with Adam in the cool of the day).
Men would continue to move eastward until building the Tower of Babel
(that great pillar of human depravity).
And it would be many generations after Cain and Abel before God would
call a man from the east to move west.
Abraham, the great father of our faith, would come westward, toward
God. And in him would be initiated the
promise of blessing that would reverse the curse of eastward movement – the
curse of sin – and the eternal gulf separating God and man.
Fourth Scene –
Genesis 4:17-24
We cannot say much about this fourth scene. Time is quickly fleeing away and the details
here are meant for a couple of distinct purposes. We will mention them briefly and then move on
to the fifth scene. Derek Kidner says of
the transition between scenes three and four:
It was in the presence of the Lord that
the crisis had arisen (verse 5). Cain’s
departure was both his sentence and his choice.
On the one hand, he had feared banishment from [the face of the Lord]
and the wandering now expressed in the name Nod. On the other hand, he had distained
contrition and now set himself to make some success of his independence. The ensuing account gives a first taste of a
self-sufficient society, which is the essence of what the New Testament calls
“the World.” (Kidner 1967, 77).
The name Enoch is like the Hebrew verb “to initiate”
or also “to start.” His new city was
meant to be a new beginning, a new chapter in the independent life of
Cain. But we see tragic results
here. Cain is a picture of humanity in
cultivating the skills of technology while being characterized by moral
failure. Is this a picture of our world
today… more technological ways of killing people, more technological ways of
committing adultery, more technological ways of being like evil little gods in
determining who should live and who should die, even before birth?
One more comment about the fourth scene needs to be
made before we move on. The song of
Lamech in verses 23-24 show how quickly sin has spread, corrupting men in
further and greater wickedness. Cain had
given in to temptation and committed murder.
Lamech exults in his murderous wickedness. Cain sought the protection of the Lord. Lamech looks around to provoke others. The Hebrew indicates that he killed a small
child because of a small wound. He is
proud of his sin. And we are keen to
note that the vengeance upon Cain and Lamech (seven times; seventy-seven times)
may well have been on Jesus’ mind when he spoke of forgiveness (not vengeance)
“unto seventy times seven.”
Fifth Scene –
Genesis 4:25-26
The fifth scene acts as a bookend for the
chapter. We can see immediately that
there are unmistakable similarities.
Adam and Eve again give birth to a son – another younger son – and again
Eve is thankful and humble at this gift of God.
She maintains and attitude of faith and humility, only now both are
expressed in greater proportion. She
emphasizes the will of God in the name Seth, which means, “appointing” or
“appointed.” God has appointed another
child. The phrase “another child” is
literally “another seed” and captures the promise of Genesis 3:15 once
again. God has appointed another seed to
ensure the promise of the First Gospel. In
Eve’s words, the theme of divine election is established and will continue as
the predominant theme of chapter 5 and its genealogy, indeed as the predominant
theme of the book of Genesis. Election
is based upon grace, not upon heritage or human birthright. It would not be Cain, but Seth, who would be
the righteous line. It would not be
Ishmael, but Isaac. It would not be
Esau, but Jacob. It would not be Manasseh,
but Ephraim. And outside of the
Pentateuch, it would not be an elder brother of Jesse’s sons, but David. God’s eternal purpose in divine election will
stand.
And finally, we see that men began to call on the
name of the Lord. This is Yahweh, the
covenant God who will be ultimately revealed in the burning bush message in
Exodus 3 and the promise of divine deliverance in Exodus 6. Men began calling on the name of Yahweh. But he had not been revealed as such to them
yet. This is an indication that God’s
spirit remained with men. Spiritual
worship will always endure, even in the midst of suffocating darkness. There is no evil that will overcome, and
therefore, no evil that we need to fear.
There is no murderous plan that can frustrate the will of Almighty
God. There is no darkness that can
consume the light. There is no power
that can oppose the preached word of God.
It will accomplish its purposes in Addis Ababa, just as it accomplished
its purposes in Geneva, Switzerland.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning. In him
was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it”
(John 1:1-2 & 4-5).
PRAY
“Lord, come now
and anoint your word. Cause it to have
great effect in this room today. Delete
from our memory anything that was impure or unbalanced. Enhance in our memory those words by which we
attain life everlasting. Create new life
by your Word. Bring light to illuminate
our path. Set your Word on fire in our
hearts to consume our sin and refine our faith.
By your Holy Spirit, we trust that this will happen. Amen.”
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