Word of Salvation – September 2014

 

Genesis 4 – Two Humanities: Cain to Lamech

By John Westendorp

Read: Genesis 4. 

Suggested songs: Book of Worship: 135b / 429 / 406 / 117a

Theme: The battle between the two Kingdoms in the story of Cain and Abel and in Cain’s descendents.

 

Introd: In some ways you could compare Genesis 1-11 to a family photo album that record many family firsts.

That photo album has your first baby photos… your first day at school… your first motor car.
So too Genesis has the first humans… the first marriage… the first sin.

Genesis 4 also has many firsts.
There’s a picture of the first family… a lovely photo of a mum and a dad and two kids.
Then there is an ugly picture… the first ever murder… not a nice photo.
There is a picture of the first city… and the first occupations.
There’s another not so pretty picture – of the first bigamist.

But this chapter also raises more questions than we can answer.
How long after Adam and Eve left Eden did this event happen?
Did Adam and Eve already have other children at this time?
What was the mark that God put on Cain?
And then the question non-Christians love to ask: Where did Cain get his wife?

Christians have refused to treat Genesis 4 as the Bible’s puzzle page.
Instead they especially treat it as a lesson book.
A book that shows how quickly the sin of Genesis 3 worked itself out in the human family.
It’s an important chapter of the Bible teaching us some vital lessons.
Let me mention three of them.

A] MORAL ISSUES IN THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL.

1. First there is a spiritual lesson here about humans and their relationship with God.

You can have a good relationship with God… a life that pleases Him.

Or you can have a bad relationship with God… and all the troubles that brings with it.

Here is a story about two young men who both bring an offering to God.
And the offering of the one is accepted… the offering of the other is rejected.
That immediately gives us two more questions to add to our list.

Who told them they had to bring offerings to God? We read of no instructions to do so.
Maybe it was something that Adam and Eve had begun to do spontaneously.
Or more likely God had told Adam and Eve but we just don’t have the details.
And then there is that other vexing question.
Why was Abel’s offering accepted by the Lord?
And why was Cain’s rejected? And how did they come to know the difference?

Generations of Sunday School kids had pictures of these offerings being burnt on altars.
With the smoke of Abel’s sacrifice floating heavenward.
And the smoke of Cain’s sacrifice swirling down around his feet.
Or there are the children’s Bibles that supposedly spell out the heart of the problem.
God wanted blood sacrifices to make payment for sin.
Abel brought such a blood offering but Cain refused and brought grain.

Other people see in this difference the first instance of God’s sovereign choice of election.
Abel is chosen by God and accepted as His child.
Cain is rejected and his response is basically that God is being unfair.

We as Christians who have the NT know the real answer because it is given in Hebrews 11:4.
The difference is faith. By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain did.
And that same verse points out that they knew because God spoke to them about it.
So lesson 1 from Genesis 4 is: You can only approach God and worship Him through faith.

2. A second important lesson in this chapter concerns our personal behaviour towards others.

When God speaks to Cain about his problem Cain becomes angry and depressed.

How dare God accept the offering of his little kid brother and reject his own offering?

And that anger at God becomes jealousy towards his brother. You can just imagine it:
What’s Abel got that I haven’t…?
There’s the self-righteous little blighter… all smiles because God favours him…!
And Cain stews on that. It keeps him awake at nights.

Here in this story God calls on Cain and tells him to deal with his anger and resentment.
God expects this man to take some personal responsibility and deal with the problem.
The Lord asks Cain some questions.
Questions that show the Lord’s tender care for this young man.
Why are you so irate? What are you all depressed about?
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
And then that solemn warning that should have served as a wake up call to Cain:
If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;
it desires to have you, but you must master it.

Sadly, Cain doesn’t deal with it and the result is murder… murder of his own brother.
Do you see what happens when wrong attitudes are allowed to fester?
Look at this terrible thing that happened… all because anger and envy were not dealt with.
Cain killed his own brother in cold blood… not in a fit of provoked rage.
A vicious, premeditated slaughter as Cain invited the unsuspecting Abel for an outing.

The apostle James reminds us that it’s our desires that wage war in us and cause our quarrels.
It’s our constant stewing on things that releases the beast inside of us.
So a second lesson in Genesis 4 is that you must deal with your anger and resentment.
You must master your passions, control your sinful desires or you’re headed for disaster.

3. A third lesson in this chapter concerns family and community.

Sin has not only distorted our relationship with God… the family and society are impacted too.

And let’s face it… problems begin in families… families now become dysfunctional.
And dysfunctional families produce dysfunctional societies.
I want to show you that the problems of Genesis 4 began in Adam and Eve’s family.
They began with parents who favoured their elder lad.
When Cain, the older boy is born, Eve calls him a man.
And she says that it is with the Lord’s help that she has brought forth a man.
Later Abel is born but nothing is said about him.
It seems that from the start Abel has to live in the shadow of his big brother.

In case you think that I’m exaggerating, let me tell you the meaning of their names.
The firstborn is called Cain – the NIV footnote points out that Cain is a play on words.
It sounds like the Hebrew word for obtain or acquire… they’re obviously proud parents.
What the NIV doesn’t say is that the word comes from a root word meaning stability.
Almost as if they called him Cain because they expected him to be a pillar of strength.

But then Abel is born and maybe he was a “premmie baby” or perhaps he didn’t look so strong.
Because Abel means vanity… or nothingness… like a puff of wind.
His name seems to indicate that they expected this one to be a bit of a wimp.
No great expectations from this child.
In this family Abel is definitely going to play second fiddle to Cain.

So lesson three is a warning for us to get it right in our families. That’s where social problems start.

B] CAIN THE INDIVIDUAL – AND THE OTHER KINGDOM.

1. I don’t want to play down these spiritual and moral lessons – they need to be taken to heart.

Because in the NT both Cain and Abel are held up as examples for us.
In Hebrews 11, Abel – as we saw – is an example of faith that we should follow.
Cain is mentioned in 1John 3 – where the apostle tells us not to be like him (3:12).

But I want to stress that this is not the main reason why Genesis 4 is in your Bible.

There is a much more important reason why God tells us this story in His Word.
It is part of the Bible’s big picture – the story of the battle between two kingdoms.
From Genesis to Revelation we witness the age-long struggle between good and evil.
It’s the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

And in that struggle people and families and even nations take one side or the other.
So there are two kinds of human beings.
Those who desire follow the Lord and who build up His Kingdom.
Those who want nothing to do with God and live in defiance of Him.
Two streams of humanity.
One of them is pictured in Genesis 4… the other, later in Genesis 5.

And the division of humanity begins here in the lives of Cain and Abel.
This chapter is especially about those who choose against the Kingdom of God.
Cain and his descendents side with that other kingdom… the kingdom of darkness.
And the scary thing is that Cain does that even while going thru the motions of worship.
You can stand before an altar of God while your heart is in rebellion against your Maker.
Or to put it in modern terms:
You can sit here in church and sing your heart out without being in God’s kingdom.
You can go thru the motions of serving God while you’re really part of the other kingdom.

2. This battle between the two kingdoms begins in our hearts and minds.

It starts in our thoughts… in our mental attitude.

Cain’s real problem in the first 5 verses is hinted at very strongly in a contrast between the offerings.
Outwardly it may seem that Cain brought the better offering – he brings the fruits of the soil.
And we might begin to imagine a magnificent display of produce.
Grain and fruit… vegetables and maybe even a floral arrangement.
In contrast Abel’s offerings are a lamb and goat-kid. Dead…!
Some bloodied lifeless animals put on the altar.
And maybe Abel even thought that his offering wouldn’t measure up to his brother’s.

Except for one telltale bit of information that the writer shares with us.
Abel gave from what was his very best… fat portions… the first-fruits of his flock.
About the nature of Cain’s sacrifice the author is conspicuously silent.
And we’re left with the impression that Cain gave the leftovers… the second-best.

The upshot is that Cain, Adam and Eve’s golden boy, is disappointed as God rejects his offering.
And then God comes to Cain and He faces him with some choices.
The battle between the two kingdoms begins in our minds. You have choices to make.
Cain did not have to stay as he was: angry and depressed. Change was possible.

But Cain is a rebel… he is not a victim… he is arrogant against God and towards other people..
He, the apple of his parent’s eye, has a totally wrong attitude to God.
So, sadly, there is no repentance… and no pleading for forgiveness.
There is nothing but the proud defiance that makes people part of that other kingdom.
While humble, wimpy, good for nothing Abel… by faith enters the Kingdom of God.

3. This chapter also gives us some glimpses of what life is like in that other kingdom.

Choices have consequences… and Genesis 4 shows us the consequences of Cain’s choices.

When God quizzes Cain he lies that he doesn’t know where his brother is.
And then God speaks about the blood of Abel that cries out to God from the ground.
In the Bible the life is in the blood… and that lifeblood is God’s to give and take.
So this was not just a sin again another man… a brother… it was sin against God.
Don’t ever kid yourself that a particular sin doesn’t impact God… it always does.

So the first result is that Cain is cursed and driven away from God.
Life in that other kingdom is a life away from God’s presence.
It is being removed from His love and nearness.

Secondly, because of that there is meaningless and restlessness.
Cain is doomed to be a restless wanderer… forever haunted by the blood of his brother.
There is no peace and there is no pardon away from God.

Third, there is fear, fear that others will take his life.
And then Cain complains… he does not repent… he complains.
He forgets that God did not create Cain’s problems… God only described them.

Today there are people who find life in the other kingdom attractive.
In that other kingdom you can do what you please… you can live as you like.
In that other kingdom you don’t have to worry about what God wants and what God forbids.

But Cain found out the hard way – just as so many others – that there is little attractive about it.
It’s a life without peace and without pardon.
Only the Kingdom of Jesus do we find the peace and forgiveness.

C] CAIN’S COMMUNITY – AND THAT OTHER KINGDOM.

1. This chapter is not just about Cain… it is also about Cain’s family… his descendents.

The dividing line between the two kingdoms runs thru communities, even thru families.
Here were two brothers, Cain and Abel, but they embodied the two different kingdoms.
One sided with the kingdom of God… the other with the kingdom of the enemy.
So the battle between those two kingdoms was fought out in Adam and Eve’s family.

Today that battle between the kingdoms still rages in our families.
It is still a battle for hearts and minds… for mental attitudes.
That’s why we desperately need the gospel of Jesus – not only as individuals.
We need to live by faith in our homes… together.
Because only by faith in the power of Jesus can we stand united in God’s Kingdom.

This chapter shows us the sad result when we don’t live by faith in our homes.
Here a whole family line basically side with that other kingdom.
Cain begins a new life… he starts his own family.
By the way – we’re left to assume that Cain’s wife was one of the other children of Adam & Eve.
It is not God’s purpose to tell us about all the children of Adam.
He just wants us to know about the two kingdoms and the two lines of humanity.

So Cain does his own thing… and he builds his own city… but away from God’s presence.
And he starts a new clan… but his clan stands in stark contrast to the other clan in Genesis 5.
That clan is introduced in the last verse of this chapter as marked by the worship of God.
So we see that the choices we make in our families are not just for ourselves.
They may well have impact for many generations to come.

2. It would be remiss of me to give the impression that Genesis 4 is all doom and gloom.

God’s grace is very much evident in this chapter.
We see it especially in the Lord’s repeated exchanges with Cain.
The Lord keeps encouraging him to change… that is grace.
We see in the mysterious mark that God put on Cain for his protection.
If anyone kills Cain he will suffer vengeance seven times over. That is grace.

But we see God’s grace in other ways too.
One of the clearest examples is in the children of Lamech.
Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain are involved in business, the arts and technology.
We call that God’s “Common Grace” as distinct from His “Saving Grace”.
Interestingly, these developments are first mentioned in Cain’s line.
Just as city building first occurs in the line of Cain… not in the line of Seth.

So we learn something else about those who side with that other Kingdom.
By the grace of God life is not all disorder and chaos for those alienated from God.
Those who side with that other kingdom do many good and worthwhile things.

Godless people can excel in business, in technology and in the arts.
As people made in God’s image they are still caretakers of God’s world.
They subdue the earth and have dominion over creation.
And sometimes they even do it better than those who are in the Kingdom of God.

But the problem is that it is done without reference to God.
It is not done in the hope of the coming of Seed of the Woman who comes to restore all things.
Genesis 4 ought lead us to rejoice that good things still happen in an evil world.
Above all it’s a reminder that this is God’s world – despite the efforts of the kingdom of evil.

3. However, what we see most clearly in Cain’s line is rebellion against the Lord.

The arrogance that began with Cain climaxes in the life of Lamech.
In the seventh generation from Adam we see where Cain’s choices lead.
Siding with the other kingdom reaches the heights of human pride in that man Lamech.

In the kingdom of evil people take no responsibility for each other.
Cain had asked the question: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Lamech goes further and boasts that his vengeance outdoes that pronounced on Cain.
If Cain is avenged seven times then Lamech seventy-seven times.
Here is a murderer… a loud-mouth boaster… and a bigamist to boot.

We see then that sin has a deteriorating and downward effect… despite the successes.
Apart from the grace of God… things get worse with the passing of time.
Here is now a culture that is disintegrating in individuals, in families and in society.
It gives a free run to revenge and lust… so murder and bigamy become normal.
That is a pattern of deterioration that is often repeated in Scripture.
Here what Cain begins… Lamech completes.
Here is a man who blatantly thumbs his nose at God in heaven.

What both Lamech and Cain never realised was that they were on the losing side.
Abel… by faith… was on the wining side because Jesus came and won the decisive battle.
Today Satan’s struggles are now the death throes of the kingdom of darkness.
But that makes it all the more important that you know which side you are on.

Satan can destroy you as he destroyed Cain. He can mess up your home as he did Adam & Eve’s.
You need to stand firm by faith in Jesus. And that may even cost you your life as it did Abel.
But it will mean sharing in the victory of Jesus for ever and ever in the life to come.

Amen