Genesis 4:1-13

Ge 4:1

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

 

Now the human race begins to expand by means of precreation.  Adam and Eve had sexual relations and Eve now bore a son whose name was Cain.  The name “Cain” means “fabrication, acquisition, or possessed.”  Eve was joyful because she thought that Cain was the promised Messiah from Genesis 3:15 and probably hoped that he would redeem them so they could go back to the garden.  In 3:16, remember how God promised that in sorrow she shall bring forth children?  Well Cain was to become part of Eve’s sorrow.

 

Ge 4:2

And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

 

Then Eve once again conceived and bore another man, the brother of Cain named Abel.  The name “Abel” means “vanity, vapor, or meadow.”  At the outset they both took on different vocations.  Abel had become a shepherd and was responsible for keeping the sheep.  The word “keeper” means “let graze or pasture.”  Cain was a tiller of the ground and was in charge of keeping the fields and the trees, he was a farmer who tilled the ground like his father did and maybe Cain had more favor in Adam’s eyes because of that.

 

Ge 4:3

And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

 

Then it was time to bring an offering to the LORD for the harvest they brought forth or it may have been a weekly offering.  Since Cain was a tiller of the ground, he brought to the LORD a sacrifice of all plants and fruits, corn, herbs, seeds, etc.

 

Ge 4:4

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

 

Then Abel brought his offering unto the LORD which was the firstling which was the firstborn of the flock.  He brought the fat which later under the law belonged to the LORD.  And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD'S. (Leviticus 3:16)  Then the LORD looked upon the offering of Abel because it was brought in faith after the way the LORD clothed his father and mother in the garden.  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4)

 

Ge 4:5

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

 

The LORD looked upon the offering of Cain and did not consider it because it did not contain a blood sacrifice which looked forward to Calvary.  Since the LORD did not accept his sacrifice, Cain became very wroth which means he burned with anger.  And his countenance fell which means his face turned from being joyful to a seething anger which was very visible on his face.  His countenance falling represented what he was feeling inside toward Abel and maybe even the LORD.

 

Ge 4:6

And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

 

Then the LORD confronts Cain about his anger and asks him a question in the same manner he asked Adam in the garden.  He wanted to confront Cain about his sin.  He asks him why is he so angry to the point that his face had shown a burning anger on it?  God is showing his concern for Cain at this point as he diverts from the offering to Cain.

 

Ge 4:7

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

 

Then God gives Cain a second chance to do well, that is, to bring the proper offering to him and if he does that then he will be accepted as Abel was.  However, if he chooses not to do well and stays on the path that he is on, then sin lieth at the door ready to pounce on him like a lion on a baby antelope and sin takes no prisoners as it will unleash itself within him.  The last sentence in this verse may be pointing to sin which desires to take over Cain completely or it may point to the fact that if Cain brings a proper offering to God, then his younger brother Abel, will be in subjection to him and he will rule over him as the firstborn and older brother.  I personally believe it is the second understanding because Cain did not have the spiritual strength to rule over sin as we shall soon see.

 

Ge 4:8

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

 

Then Cain refused the counsel that God gave him instead, he probably lured Abel into  the field with him and when he thought his parents could not see, he became the first murderer of the human race.  He then rose up which means he planned to kill Abel out of that boiling hatred he had for him.  Cain did not listen to God because he was an unbeliever in the service of Satan.  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. (1 John 3:12)  Cain’s works were evil but his brother’s works were righteous and this is the great contention between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan right down to today.

 

Ge 4:9

And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

 

Then when Cain slew Abel, the LORD confronts him with his actions by a series of questions.  He asks him, where is Abel they brother?  The LORD knew what happened but he wanted Cain to own up to what he did by means of confession.  Instead of Cain answering truthfully, he then lies about where his brother was.  He tells the LORD that he does not know where Abel was and then he states one of the most quoted phrases used in the human race “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  In other words, Abel is old enough to take care of himself and I don’t need to look after him all day like I did when we were young children.

 

Ge 4:10

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

 

Then God confronts him head on about the sin he committed.  He asks Cain, “What has thou done?”  Cain had attempted to hide the murder from God but Cain being an unbeliever did not think that God had already knew what he had done.  God does not forget the blood of the innocents.  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:35)  Abel’s blood cried to the LORD God from the ground because of his murder but the blood that speaks better things is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)  Abel’s blood cried out his murder but Christ’s blood cries out mercy to the saved.


Ge 4:11

And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

 

And now because Cain had killed his brother, his penalty was that he was now cursed from the earth unlike Adam when he sinned and God cursed the ground.  Now Cain who was a tiller of the ground would no longer receive any of the previous benefits of the ground like abundant harvests.  The earth had received the blood of his brother Abel through the ground and absorbed the blood as if the earth was more ashamed of the murder than Cain was.

 

Ge 4:12

When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

 

Now Cain receives his punishment for his crime against Abel.  The earth will no longer bring forth the good plants and trees that he was used to and this would occur wherever Cain had settled.  He no longer would have the ability to bring forth abundant crops since the earth would not bring them forth as before.  Then the next part of Cain’s punishment was that he would be a fugitive and vagabond on the earth.  The word “fugitive” means that he would be a “wanderer” on the earth and the word “vagabond” means to “move back and forth” as a transient.

 

Ge 4:13

And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

 

Then Cain complains to the LORD that his punishment is more than he can bear because it is like he is being banished from his family who are the only humans on earth at the time and he would have to go among the animals of the world who at this time had now become ferocious because of the fall.  Cain was almost blaming God that the punishment he meted out to him was more than he should have received.  Imagine that, he murders his own brother and then plays the victim that his punishment for his crime is too much.  We still hear this same argument today by criminals.

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