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Cain’s Birth (1)
After Adam and Eve sinned and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, their lives continued. Adam lay with his wife and they began to propagate the human race. God had promised that the woman’s offspring would one day crush the serpent’s head. Perhaps Adam and Eve hoped that their firstborn child would be the promised heir that would crush Satan once and for all. Unfortunately, the only head he would crush was his own brothers’.
Eve conceived and brought forth the first human through natural reproduction, and they named him Cain. She had apparently learned her lesson from her sin in the garden; here she did not rely on her own strength or volition, but she acknowledged God’s rule in her life by saying, “With the Lord’s help, I have brought forth a man.”
This is a significant statement for us to ponder. Even though Cain’s birth came through natural means, she recognized that God is the ultimate giver of human life. Even with the appropriate anatomy and physiology, God is still necessary in the reproductive process. All human life comes from God! She shows proper gratitude and worship to God by saying “with the Lord’s help…”
As we saw with the creation of Adam, I hope that we recognize that all human life is a gift from God. God is involved in the conception and birth of every child that is born. He is the ultimate giver and taker of life! Not us!
Today we live in a culture that celebrates convenience over life! Just this past week I was involved in a meeting of pastors, politicians, and physicians from Franklin Country to discuss upcoming legislation on this very issue. It looks like sometime this year a bill will come before our state congress to legalize suicide. Even though it was overwhelmingly defeated a few years ago, there are some people really pushing to have the legal right to take their own lives. They call it “Death with Dignity”, but do not be deceived—there is nothing dignified about suicide.
This is a blatant attack on God’s gift of life. When we start treating humans like animals, we are no different than Nazi Germany. Christians believe that all human life is precious!
Cain’s Offering (2-5a)
Sometime after Cain was born, Adam lay with his wife again and they had another son. They named this son Abel. We don’t know anything about these boys’ relationship with their parents or each other. We don’t know if their parents favored one brother over the other or if there was any sort of sibling rivalry. The only thing we know about them is that they both lived out the curse brought on by their parents in that they had to earn their keep by the sweat of their brow. As they grew up, Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. Cain became a crop farmer; Abel went into the livestock business.
We don’t know how old they were at the time of this story, but the phrase “In the course of time…” probably means that they were grown up and established in their respective careers. At some point, each of them brought an offering to the Lord. The text says that “Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.”
The author of Genesis doesn’t tell us the why Abel’s offering was accepted but Cain’s offering was rejected. Both offerings were appropriate for their occupations. The only clue we have is the author’s usage of the word “some” of the fruits of the soil in reference to Cain’s offering and makes explicit that Abel’s offering came from the “firstborn” of his flock. Presumably, Abel offered his best to the Lord but Cain kept his best for himself. Regardless of the exact reason, Abel did what was right in God’s sight, but Cain did not.
This is exactly the way sin works today. How often do we find ourselves in Cain’s position—that is, we know the right thing to do, yet we don’t do it. We know what God expects from us, but in the moment we just don’t follow through—we only do “some” of what God wants us to do. In our hearts we say things like, “One little lie…it isn’t a big deal!” We say “Well, I need this money more than the government does.” Or “I need this tithe more than God does.” We make all sorts of excuses for not doing the right thing.
Do you ever do this? In what ways do you withhold your best from God? How do you make light of your sinful actions and attitudes? Like Cain then, we should not be surprised when our half-hearted attempts to honor god are rejected today!
Cain’s Anger (5b-7)
When God rejected his offering, Cain became angry. The Hebrew word translated here as “very angry” is “harah” which literally means to be kindled or burn with anger. His whole countenance changed and he became downcast. But the question is: Who was he mad at? God? His brother? Himself? I suspect it was a little bit of each.
But God showed compassion and mercy. Instead of punishing him, he responded with grace when he asked, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, you will be accepted.” God acknowledged his guilt but gave him a second chance. He gave Cain an opportunity to do the right thing.
God also shows his grace to Cain by warning him that sin is a slippery slope. If sin is not confessed and repented of quickly, it often leads to other sins. God knows the treachery of the human heart, so he warns, “If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Has this ever happened to you? Has anyone ever gotten angry with you because you did the right thing and they did not? Have you ever gotten angry with someone because they did the right thing and you did not? Have you ever been angry with God for how he blessed someone else’s faithfulness? We need to be careful not to follow in Cain’s footsteps!
Sin is indeed a slippery slope! Anger leads to hostility; hostility leads to malice; malice leads to murder. Envy leads to greed; greed leads to stealing. Lust leads to pornography; pornography leads to pedophilia and rape. Most heroin addicts I know did not start with heroin. They started with marijuana, Percoset, or Ecstasy, but they eventually needed more. How have you experienced sin’s slippery slope?
Thankfully, as he did for Cain, God deals with us graciously. He gives us a way to get off the slippery slope. If we repent from our sin—that is if we confess it, agree with God that it is wrong, and make a commitment not to do it again, God wipes our slate clean. If we take the second chance and do what is right, we will be accepted.
I wonder if there is someone here today who is sliding down the slippery slope of sin. Please realize that deeper sin is crouching at your door! It seeks to destroy your life. Don’t let it! Repent now! Turn from your sin today! Let God’s grace help you to overcome!
Cain’s Murder (8-10)
Unfortunately, Cain did not listen to God’s warning and did not accept his grace. Instead, he continued to spiral down the slippery slope of sin. He hardened his heart toward God and became jealous of his brother. His jealousy turned into anger, anger into malice, and malice led to murder.
Just as the serpent deceived Cain mother, Cain deceived his brother. He put on a face of affection to hide his heart of hostility and invited him to go for a walk. We don’t know if he used a weapon, how he carried out his assassination, or what they talked about in the field, but we do know that Cain attacked Abel and murdered him in cold blood.
Sometime later, God appeared to Cain and asked him where his brother was. In one of the most chilling statements in the whole Bible, Cain lies to God’s face and shows a complete lack of respect for human life when he says “I don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?” He is saying that his brother is not his responsibility and what happened to him is not his fault.
Now I doubt if very many people here today have actually murdered someone in cold blood, but I wonder how many of us harbor Cain’s attitude in our hearts. It is so easy to ignore our responsibility to be our brother’s keeper. Who is our brother? Our family members…yes, even the one that we don’t get along with! Fellow church members…even the ones that drive us crazy! Our neighbors, community members, coworkers, and classmates…yes, even the ones we don’t like!
God calls all of us to be our brother’s keeper! We care about one another! We look out for one another! We provide for one another! We go out of our way to help each other! We love each other! Cain sacrificed his brother for his own benefit; God wants us to sacrifice ourselves for each other’s benefit.
Therefore, we should never think or say things like, “Well, it’s not my problem!” or “It’s none of my business!” When it comes to people, it is our problem and it is our business! We are our brother’s keeper!
Cain’s Curse (11-16)
It is not at all surprising to see God punish Cain for murdering his brother—after all, justice is an essential aspect of God’s character. God punished him by cursing the ground that he worked. He would never be able to farm the ground again. Instead, he was sentenced to be a restless wanderer on the earth.
What is surprising is that the punishment wasn’t more severe! God would have been justified to take Cain’s life for what he did to his brother, but he continued to act graciously toward him. Not only did he not take his life, but he also put some sort of mark on Cain’s body so that no one else would take his life. God preserved and protected Cain; perhaps in hope that he would one day repent from his sin.
Thankfully, this is the way God deals with us too. We have sinned against him and our brothers and sisters in so many ways, yet God has not dealt with us as our sins deserve. He is gracious to us and gives us second chances. Even when we slide down sin’s slippery slope, he gives us the opportunity to repent from our sins and change our ways.
Think about your own life for a moment! Think about some of the worst things you have ever done! Think about the worst sins you have ever committed! Think about those things you have done in secret! God knows what they are; we can’t hide our deeds from him. He would be right to condemn us to death and sentence us to eternity in hell for any one of those sins, but he hasn’t! As he did with Cain, in spite of our dark deeds, he has deals with us graciously.
As we finish the story of Cain murdering his shepherd brother, I would like to tell you about another shepherd who was murdered. Like Abel, this shepherd also suffered for doing the right thing in God’s sight. In fact, this shepherd never committed a single sin. He too was the victim of jealousy and violence, but instead of dying in a field, he died on a hill. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, this shepherd was nailed to a wooden cross and his blood continues to cry out from the ground.
Who murdered this shepherd? Who failed to be his keeper? We did! Just as Cain killed his brother, we killed our Lord! It wasn’t the Jews, the religious leaders, or the Roman soldiers! It was us! Our sins put him there! Every one of us is responsible for nailing Jesus Christ to the cross. Abel sacrificed the firstborn of his flock to God; God sacrificed his one and only son for us!
You see, Cain’s story is really our story! Even though we sin against God and our brothers and sisters, God deals with us graciously through the sacrifice of his Son! I don’t know if Cain ever accepted God’s grace or repented from his sin, but I hope you will! I hope that you will humble yourself before God, turn from your sin, and receive the grace of the Good Shepherd!