Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she gave birth to a son and named him Cain (v1). The bible often uses the word “know’ in connection with the sexual relationship. Sex is something given by God, but we have degenerated it to something dirty, and the term ‘know’ shows something more than casual but a more deep-seated relationship between a husband and wife. It shows the bond of a committed relationship.
As I said earlier, sex was not something which came as a result of sin and the fall, they were told to multiply when they were created. In the marital relationship, sex is pure and clean. It is only when it is misused that it is otherwise.
All names have meanings and Cain means, ‘here he is, or I’ve got him’. Maybe they thought that this child would be the deliverer which God had promised, but they would soon be disillusioned.
This was the first child born on earth from a human relationship. Eve acknowledged that the child, like all children, was given by The LORD. Adam and Eve had been created as mature beings, but this child was born, and they would have to care for it and nurture it. This was a completely new venture; how would it turn out? All we who are parents have often said, “They don’t come with instructions” and parenting is not an easy matter. It takes a lot of work and commitment, and as Christian parents, a lot of prayer and seeking God. We all want our children to grow up into wonderful adults and God has blessed us. However, it is not all plain sailing, and many turn out to be less than we would like. In their case, Cain turned out to be a murderer. I’m absolutely certain they never taught him that or expected it.
We are not told how long afterwards, but Eve bore another son and called him Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep; Cain was a gardener. (V2-5) I suppose these were the main occupations of the day as there would be no other industry at the time. Thy obviously put their hands to what they could and worked as Adam had been told at the beginning.
As time passed, children obviously grow up in young adults. These were no exceptions and Cain, who was a gardener like his father, brought an offering to the LORD. He brought the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought an offering of the firstborn of his flock and the fat. We are told that the LORD respected Abel and his offering but not Cain and his offering. There is no record previously of any of them bringing offerings to the LORD. Presumably they brought them to the cherubim which guarded the way to the tree of life. We must assume that God still communicated with the family in some way, maybe via the cherubim, as the intimate relationship between God and Adam and Eve had been severed by their sin. I say this because the boys brought an offering to the LORD thus, they had some sort of knowledge and relationship with the LORD that they wanted to do this.
Many say that Abel’s offering was accepted because it meant killing the lamb and shedding its blood, and it was a picture of Christ on the cross. That may well be so, but there is no forerunner of it or previous instructions. In a way they brought what they could but maybe their heart’s desire was the difference and that was why the LORD accepted Abel’s offering over Cain’s. We see later in Leviticus that grain offerings were acceptable to the LORD, but a blood offering was designated to atone for sin. We are not told that either of the offerings brought were for sin and the word used for their offerings is a general sense of an offering. Leviticus 17:6 tells us that the burning of fat as part of a sacrifice was called a ‘sweet aroma to the LORD’. The writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament, explained why Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s was rejected: “By faith Abel offered up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4). In Hebrews 10 we read that God did not desire offerings or sacrifices, that was done in accordance with the law, which had not been given at this stage. God looked upon the heart of Abel and Cain.
We don’t know how the young men knew that their offering was or was not accepted, but what we do know is that as a result, Cain was angry, and he showed it. He was angry with his brother, no doubt his pride was hurt.
The LORD came to Cain and asked, (v6,7) “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
God was being patient and gentle with Cain. He could have condemned him outright for his attitude, but God gave him the opportunity to put things right and to do well. This was another occasion of God asking questions which He already knew the answer to, and again wanting Cain to come clean. He was giving Cain another chance to do the right thing and be accepted but warning him that sin was lying at the door, and he should rule over it. It is clear that Cain had a choice, a freewill to choose good or bad but did not listen, went his own way and his anger only increased.
That is the case with all of us. In Romans 7:21 we read, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.” In other words, when we want to do good, evil is present to pull us down. Therefore, we all need to be aware and put our trust in God.
Cain talked with Abel – we are not told what they discussed and later when they were in the field, Cain killed his brother (v8). It may have been that Cain lured Abel by pleasant conversation. It seems that it was premeditated, and he committed the first murder. No-one had ever physically died before, and whilst God told Adam and Eve that they would die, it had not occurred yet. An animal had died when Abel made his offering but never a human. Perhaps the ultimate sin of taking a human life was now recorded in history and this only a relatively few years on from creation. Paradise in the garden of Eden is now reduced to gross sin outside of it. Sin had progressed very quickly, as it always does.
This must have come as a great shock to Adam and Eve. I’m sure they never imagined that what they did would lead to this. I can imagine their conversation- ‘I just don’t know what has got into him’, ‘Just what are things coming to’, ‘we never did anything like this’. Sin has a habit of doing this. I’m sure that many parents have wondered why their kids do what they do or do not do. We don’t have to teach anyone to sin. Satan is prowling around leading whoever he can into doing wrong, and often it seems that one tries to outdo another in wickedness.
God came again with one of those questions (v9) – “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”” Again, God is giving Cain an opportunity to come clean and confess what he had done. God knew exactly what he had done and where Abel was, Jesus said, “Not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father knows it.” The opportunity for Cain to master the sin of murder by confessing it and the sin of lying was given but, “He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” How that phrase has come down the ages to excuse us for failure to care for others. Cain seems to be bold in his answer, maybe his lack of fear of (reverence for) God is showing here.
The Apostle Jude v11 warns of the way of Cain, which is unbelief, empty religion leading to jealousy, persecution of the godly, anger and murder.
God answers Cain (v10-12) “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”
He doesn’t sentence Cain to death, but He says that Abel’s blood cries out to Him from the ground. This is mentioned elsewhere in Numbers 35:29-34 where God says that the blood of unpunished murderers defiled the land. There we have the cities of refuge provided by God for the innocent. God is a God of justice and those who commit evil will be judged, if not by man, but also finally by God, unless there is true repentance on behalf of the perpetrators. God will undoubtedly condemn the guilty and acquit the innocent. The guilty will by no means escape. The writer to the Hebrews 12:24 says that the blood of Abel spoke but the blood of Jesus speaks of better things. “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”
Cain was cursed, the ground would no longer yield full fruit and crops – the very thing which Cain made his living from would be cursed, and he would have no permanent home, he would be a fugitive and vagabond.
Cain complained about his punishment (v13-15) “And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” In my pre-retirement occupation of over 40 years in Magistrates’ Courts and my voluntary ‘work’ since retirement, leading Bible studies and services in prisons since 2010, I can confirm that most defendants complain more about their sentence than their crime. There are exceptions of those who say they deserved what they got. Most of the latter are those who have come to Bible studies. Many have a ‘pity party’ but one of the surest signs of new life is that we accept our punishment and seek to change. And we know most certainly that the only way to true change is to become a new creature in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
God, in His marvellous grace, however, put a mark on Cain to protect him, and said that He would take vengeance on anyone who should kill Cain. – “And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.” We are not told what that mark was.
Cain left the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. He married his sister, there were probably no others. It was not against God’s law because the law had not been given. It was later prohibited but in the early days they had no alternative but to marry their sisters and there would be no cross-contamination of blood line. Obviously, there would come a time when this would be prohibited by God (Leviticus 18:9). In Genesis 5:4 we are told that Adam and Eve had sons and daughters.
Cain and his wife had a son, named him Enoch. Cain built a city and called it Enoch after is son. (v16-17)
In verses 18-22 we have the names of Cain’s generations. There is obvious progress. Some dwelt in tents and raised livestock, others played musical instruments, another instructed craftsmen in bronze and iron, and metalworkers. Industry was advancing which seems to go against modern theories. Things seemed to be going well but there were blots on the landscape too. Lamech took two wives, the first to do so which was against God’s original plan (chapter 2:24). He was arrogant and boasted of killing a man in revenge (v23,24). That was two murders in a relatively short time. Sin spreads quickly and the human race had degenerated. It is clear that their desires were not God-centred.
Adam and Eve gave birth to another son and named him Seth (v25,26). They had many other children, but Seth is pointed out specifically. He replaced Abel for Seth’s name indicates ‘God has appointed another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed’. They seemed to think that the promised deliverer would be passed to Seth.
In time, Seth had a son and named him Enosh and ‘then men began to call on the name of the LORD.’ (v26) That was an amazing statement! Had they not called on Him before? Apparently not. Was this a revival?
