Walk in the Bible - Genesis 4

Genesis - Chapter 4


       Verses 1-2 skips ahead a bit and introduces Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve.
Incidentally, Cain's name is really a pun, but it doesn't translate well when Eve says it in 
verse 1.  A loose translation of what she said would be something "I got my son, GOT from GOD".
We're not told too much information on Cain and Abel, but we're told that one tills the ground
and one takes care of the sheep (and goats too! ).

     Verses 3-5 deal with Cain and Abel's offering to GOD. The only thing we're really told about 
the offering other than what it was is that GOD respected Abel's offering but not Cain's.  We're
not really told why this is, but there are clues in the Bible that give us a good idea of why 
that is.  For example, Hebrews 11:4 tells us "By faith, Abel brough GOD a better offering than Cain 
did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when GOD spoke well of his offerings..."

     Mark 12:43 shows Jesus commenting to his disciples that the woman who placed 2 copper coins
in the treasury gave more than the rich men who gave twice or even three times that amount. 
Jesus , himself offers another clue in Matthew 5:23-24 where he says "Therefore if you bring your 
gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift 
there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come 
and offer your gift. ".   In essence, we're told the faith and heart of the giver matters more
than what's being offered.  I suspect this is just what the case is with Cain.
  
     Verse 6 more or less supports this theory with GOD HIMSELF advising Cain that if he 
"did well", he would be accepted.   I have to believe that Cain, deep within his heart, 
knew he was in the wrong, but he chose not to listen to GOD, but rather to himself instead.
Worse, in Verse 8 he not only murders his brother, but he appears to have planned it as well!
He's talking to his brother, then he kills him. No harsh words, no argument, they were
just talking , then he killed him.

     GOD comes to Cain , in verse 9 and asks him where his brother is. HE didn't ask because
HE didn't know. Like I said before, HE's omniscient, he knows everything and he was giving
Cain the change to confess, come clean, just like he did with his parents, Adam and Eve in 
the Garden of Eden when they hid from HIM.  Rather than confess, Cain response is pretty
sarcastic, it's the equivalent of "Am I the goat keepers keeper?"

     GOD responds by telling him what he did. The word "blood" in the phrase "The voice of your 
brother's blood" is actually plural and might actually refer to the seed of Abel, the descendants
who would now not be born, and the when GOD says his blood cries from the ground, he's literally
saying it's crying out for vengeance. In Verse 11 GOD judges Cain, Cain started out in this verse
as a tiller of the land, so GOD curses him by causing the ground not to give food to him. Nothing
would ever grow for him again!  Talk about hitting him where it would hurt! Further where Adam had 
been driven from Eden only, Cain would be driven throughout the Earth and not 
find any place where he could rest.

     Cain responds in Verse 13 - 14 , notice that he never mentions his crime, only his punishment.
No expression of remorse for Abel, his brother, only himself, in fact he mentions himself 6 times 
within two sentances.  Truthfully, since he would be cursed to wander, he would be an easy target
for someone to take his life. Yet again, God shows mercy on Cain, the murderer.

     In Verse 16 GOD placed a mark on Cain, no one knows what this mark is. it's never mentioned
anywhere in the Bible at all. What we do know is that this mark prevents anyone from killing him, 
it serves as a warning not to kill him, unless the want GOD taking vengeance on that person 
seven times for taking Cain's life.

     Verse 16 - 18 skips ahead five generations. In case you're wondering about why the Bible writers 
are telling us who "begat" who and so on, it goes back to Genesis 3:15 when GOD cursed Satan and told him
that he would bite at Eve's offspring's heel and they would bruise his head.  Each person going back to 
Adam Eve could potentially be "the one" that was supposed to bruise Satan's head! So, each time you read a 
list of "begats" just remember this is why their names are being written down.

     Verses 19 - 22 stay within Lamech's life time and talk about his children and show that the knowledge 
to do certain trades came from Adam who learned it from GOD, once again , showing that GOD still owned
everything and was the source of everything on the Earth and was the source of civilization itself.
Verses 23 and 24 are the only recorded words of Lamech, boasting that he'll be protected even more than
Cain. Interestingly enough, this is the only thing we hear from Lamech. The name Lamech appears to a little
later in the next chapter, but it's not the same person. This Lamech only appears once, possibly because GOD
had to teach him a lesson about abusing grace! In addition, the name Lamech actually means "brought low", so 
one wonders if his name was a reference to what would happen to him in the future for abusing GOD's grace.
Paul would talk abusing grace later on in the New Testament.

     Verse 25 goes back to Adam and Eve and states that GOD gave them another son, "Seth".  The name "Seth" 
a lot like the Hebrew word for "to Set " or "to place" , it too was a word play, a rough translation of what
Eve says about her son's name would be something like "I'll call him 'Grant' because GOD has 'granted' me 
another son!".   Remember when this was first written, the society was patriarchal, so women had no rights,
men did. A son would be essential to pass the property on to and to ensure that the parents had someone to 
look after them when they became too old to work anymore!

     God was , in effect, not forgetting Adam and Eve and allowing them to be cared for, remember, one son was
killed and the other son was driven away and was forced to wander the Earth, so they literally had no male
heir to keep their property and take care of them.  GOD showed that he still cared for them, even in the midst
of what would have been an earth shattering tragedy for them!

  -----------------------------------------------------------------

In summary, we're shown that GOD is merciful, he was to Adam and Eve, even to Cain, the murderer of 
Abel.   We're shown that he's the source of everything, even our very own civilization and that
he will not forget us, even in the midst of any tragedy. He will always be with us!

Do you need this kind of assurance ?  Are you even sure that you have this kind of assurance?   If not
please drop me an email and I'll be happy to talk to you !

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