Genesis Lesson 5
THE LORD PUT A MARK ON CAIN
Genesis 4:1-5:32
Key Verse 4:15
I. Cain and Abel (4:1-15)
What were Cain and Abel’s respective jobs (1,2)? What sacrifices did they each offer to God (3,4a)? What did God accept and what did God refuse to accept (4b,5a)? What does this tell us about God’s sovereignty? What sacrifice is God pleased to accept? (Heb 11:4; Ps 51:17)
How did Cain respond when he and his offering were rejected (5b)? Why didn’t God accept Cain and his offering (6,7)? What danger awaits those who do not do what is right? How should we deal with our sinful desires? (Gal 5:16-18; Ro 6:12-14)
What did Cain end up doing (8)? What caused this? (1Jn 2:11; 3:11-12) When God questioned Cain about this, how did Cain reply (9)? How was Cain punished (10-12)? Think about the meaning of a restless wanderer. What inner pain did this cause (13,14)?
How did God protect Cain’s life (15)? Think about how God loved Cain by marking him to prevent anyone from killing him.
II. The Descendents of Cain and Seth (4:16-5:32)
Describe Cain’s descendants (4:16-22). What kind of person was Lamech (19,23,24)? What sin did he commit? How did Cain’s sin influence his descendants?
Who did God give Eve in place of Abel(25)? What began from the time of Seth (26)?
Give a genealogy of Adam’s descendants (ch. 5). Who was the man of faith among them (21-24)? What kind of faith did they have? (Heb 11:5) Who lived the longest (25-27)? What hope did Lamech leave his son Noah (29-32)?
Genesis Lesson 5
THE LORD PUT A MARK ON CAIN
Genesis 4:1-5:32
Key Verse 4:15
“But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; if anyone kills Cain,
he will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put
a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.”
Genesis chapter 3 talks about how sin entered into the world and how it negatively influenced the world, changed the world for the worse. To our eyes, Adam’s disobedience seems small, but it was the critical mistake that plunged the whole human race into chaos. Today’s passage reveals how the sin that started from one man, Adam, was inherited by his descendants and how it spread and bore its fruit among men.
Whereas Genesis chapter 3 is a story about the beginning of sin, Genesis chapter 4 is a story about the spread of sin. Adam’s sinful nature was handed down to his descendants and spread rapidly among men. Sin corrupted man’s mental and spiritual worlds in addition to civilization. Man was destined to perish eternally after living under the power of sin. But God did not give up his hope for mankind in this fatalistic situation. He continued to work out his hope for man’s salvation. Through today’s passage let us learn God’s patient love for men.
Cain and Abel (4:1-8)
The story of Cain and Abel is an actual story, yet it is also the story of Cain, as a representative of Satan’s offspring, and Abel, who represents the offspring of woman. Human history is the story of the conflict between these two enemies. Cain was the first offspring of the serpent and he was evil (1Jn 3:12). Abel belonged to the first offspring of the woman and he was the first person in the genealogy of faith (Heb 11:4). Abel was called the “righteous man” or “prophet” (Mt 23:35; Lk 11:50-51).
In the course of time, Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain (4:1). At that time, Eve remembered the grace of God, even though she was in the great pain of childbearing. She confessed, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man." This shows that Eve believed in the faithfulness of God. Then, later, she gave birth to Cain’s brother, Abel. The meaning of the name “Cain” is “brought forth” or “acquired”. The meaning of the word “Abel” is “drop of water” or “emptiness”. Eve must have felt deep emptiness when she gave birth to Abel, because God’s curse upon the earth was still there when Abel was born. Her two sons, Cain and Abel, were totally different in their characters and pursuits. Their jobs were also different. Cain worked the soil and Abel kept flocks. Both of them brought offerings to God. Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord, and Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. Here we can see the first offerings to the Lord in human history.
To bring an offering to God is an institution that God established for sinful men. God instituted it, creating a pathway for sinful men to come to him. God opened a door sinful men could pass through to have a right relationship with the Holy God. Because of Adam’s sin, the relationship between God and men was cut off, but God invited men to come to him through the practice of making offerings, and thereby to receive the grace of his forgiveness. God allowed men to expect their redeemer to come. The opening of such a window of opportunity to fellowship with God was given purely through God’s grace. The system of making offerings was more specifically revealed later, in Leviticus, and it was completed through Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, to make an offering was equivalent to worshipping God.
When Cain and Abel brought their offering, God accepted Abel and his offering, but he did not favor Cain or his. Here we can see that there are offerings that God does not favor and there are offerings that he accepts. To accept or not accept an offering is a matter of God’s sovereignty. Why didn’t God accept Cain and his offering when he accepted Abel and his? We do not know the reason very clearly. But when we look at the expression “Cain and his offering” and “Abel and his offering,” we can know that God’s acceptance and rejection are related to the individual men. Hebrews 11:4a describes the reason why Abel’s offering was favored by God. It reads, “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.” When he sacrificed animals’ blood to clothe men with garments of skin, God showed that man must make a sacrifice in order to redeem his sin. This implies the principle that a sinless man must assume sins of other men in order to allow a sinful man to come to God. The fact that Cain brought fruits of the soil as his sacrifice shows that he brought offerings in his own way rather than in God’s way; but when Abel brought the fat portions of the first fruit of animals, he had clearly thought about the mind of God and brought his offering in obedience to God’s way. This was expressed as “Abel brought his offering by faith” (Heb 11:4). It means that Abel knew that the way to come to God through offering was only by God’s grace and therefore he brought his offering in gratitude. He also realized and confessed his sin and asked God’s forgiveness. Abel knew that he was a miserable sinner and asked God’s mercy. His heart was humble and was full of thanks and repentance when he brought his offerings. He offered himself first before he brought his offering. But Cain did not bring his offering to God in faith. He did not have a thankful or a repentant heart. He was full of the righteous thought that he wanted to be recognized by God for his work, and in this spirit he brought his offering. He might have believed that he could produce good fruits and animals as long as he worked hard, although the ground was cursed by God. God could not look favorably on such an offering as Cain’s.
Although Cain and Abel were both sinners, Cain became a typical man who belonged to the flesh and Abel became a man who belonged to the spirit. The difference comes from one’s attitude toward God. Man’s attitude toward God is very important in determining his whole life. When a man has an obedient mind toward God and establishes a right relationship with God, he belongs to “the offspring of the woman” and receives eternal life. But if a man has a rebellious mind and opposes God, he belongs to “the offspring of the serpent” and receives eternal destruction. To bring an offering to God means to accept one’s own wickedness and powerlessness and obey God in God’s way. Abel accepted his wickedness and powerlessness and obeyed God, but Cain did not obey God. Abel faithfully depended on God’s righteousness but Cain relied on his own righteousness. But man’s righteousness is like filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 reads, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
If we look at Luke 18:9-14 we can see prayers of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee offered a strange prayer of thanks: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” God did not accept the Pharisee’s prayer, but he accepted the tax collector’s prayer and the tax collector was justified before God. God is with a man who is contrite and lowly in spirit (Isa 57:15) and he accepts the offering of a broken spirit (Ps 51:17).
We may think that we worship well when we take care of many people and work hard for God and make a handsome offering. We may be concerned about what other people see in us and we may neglect what other people do not see, such as our personal prayer time. Even if people do not know, our hearts may be filled with all kinds of complaints, bitter roots, and ugly thoughts, rather than thanks and joy and praise. We may just come to Sunday worship service without preparation of our hearts and attend the service habitually. But God does not look favorably on habitual and superficial offerings and worship. God sees what is invisible, which is man’s heart (1Sa 16:7b). God wants our true repentance (1Jn 1:9,10). God wants obedience rather than sacrifice (1Sa 15:22,23). God wants us to offer our whole life as living sacrifice (Ro 12:1). This is spiritual worship.
What was the response of Cain? He was very angry. His face was downcast. The look on his face testified against him. Man’s face reflects what is in his mind. If a man has a problem in his heart his face is hard. Cain became angry; he became furious with God almost to the point where he could not control himself. He thought that God was wrong not to look favorably on his offering. He did not think that when his offering was not accepted it was an issue of his own repentance. He was angry with God. What was Cain’s fundamental problem? It was not accepting God’s sovereign will. It was God’s sovereign will to look favorably upon Abel and his offering but not to look favorably upon Cain and his. By his sovereign will God accepted the offering of a man who brought it in humility, and he rejected the offering of a man who did not have faith. Therefore, Cain should have accepted God’s sovereign will and changed his wrong attitude toward God. But he did not want to repent. He thought that God was not fair in not accepting his offering. He did not like what God was doing. In his rebellion he challenged God’s sovereign will. This was a serious sin.
When Cain became rebellious and could not accept God’s sovereignty, he could not accept Abel either. He compared himself with Abel and became a slave of jealousy. When we do not accept God’s sovereignty we complain to God and become rebellious. We compare ourselves with others and suffer a great deal because of jealousy and human conflicts with others. God is the sovereign Ruler. God allowed one man to be born into a wealthy family in a world superpower, whereas he allowed another man to be born into a poor family in an underdeveloped country. God created one man talented and handsome and healthy, but created another plain, with average abilities and intelligence. In any case, God’s sovereign will for each of us is absolutely good. God has the best intentions for each of us when he creates us, and he leads us in the best way possible. When we accept his sovereign will over our lives, we can be thankful rather than complaining, no matter what happens. We will obey him rather than rebelling no matter what happens. Instead of comparing ourselves with others and becoming jealous, we recognize others and accept them and love them and learn from them. When we accept God’s sovereign will over our lives, our lives become totally different.
Job was pure and honest. He feared God and shunned evil. But he lost all of his children and wealth because of Satan’s jealousy. It seemed that he had no other choice but to curse God. But when he heard of the destruction of his children and wealth he knelt down and worshiped God and said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:21). He also said, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10). Because Job’s faith was based on God’s sovereign will, he was able to thank God in all circumstances. He was not swayed by blessings or disasters because of his faith. Those who have faith in God’s sovereign will give thanks to God in all circumstances and obey God’s will.
Joseph, in Genesis, grew up in a house where there were four mothers and many brothers from these different mothers. He had lost his own mother at an early age and could have grown into a sorrowful boy. Furthermore, he was sold as a slave to Egypt because of his brothers’ jealousy. He could have been a miserable slave with bitter roots and curses against his brothers in his heart. But, because he accepted God’s sovereign will over his life, he could overcome his environment wherever he went, and lived a victorious life and could be very useful to the Lord.
When we read the book of Samuel we see the beautiful friendship between David and Jonathon. In particular, the love of Jonathon for David moves our heart. Jonathon was the crown prince, who would become King after his father Saul. But, because of David, his position as king was threatened. Jonathon could have envied David; he could have hated David. But he loved David as himself because he accepted God’s sovereign will over his life. His love for David flourished and their friendship blossomed all the more for having endured trials together. Jonathon set a good example for friendship and love by overcoming his jealousy and competitive spirit by means of his faith in God’s sovereignty. This is why it is so important to believe in God’s sovereign will. To believe in God’s sovereignty makes us mature.
When Cain did not accept God’s sovereignty and became very angry, God could have destroyed him. But God was patient and explained his problems gently. In verses 6 and 7 we see God asking him: "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” As we see here, Cain’s problem was that he did not do what was right in his life. “To do what is right” means “to obey God, who is righteous.” It means to establish a right relationship with God through faith. The most important thing for a man is to establish a right relationship with God. Former President George Bush once failed in his business and began to drink. Then, one day, while walking with Billy Graham on the beach in the state of Maine, he was confronted with the truth of God. Suddenly Billy Graham asked, “Do you go well with your God?” This one question became a seed for him to be born again. When he turned 40, he stopped drinking and gave himself to bible study. We hear that he starts every day by reading the bible. When he was the governor of Texas, he even prayed with his cabinet members. We may need to ask, “How are you doing with your God?” rather than “How are you doing?” The meaning of the phrase, “If you do not do what is right” is, “If you do not have good intention in your heart”. To have good intention in one’s heart means that one’s heart is open to God and one wants to live a righteous and truthful life. Not to have good intention is to live according to one’s own desires and to worldly values. Cain did not live by faith in the sight of God. Rather, he lived according to the desires of his flesh. When he did not do what was right, sin was crouching at his door. Sin was trying to attack him like a hungry lion ready to pounce on its prey as soon as he opened the door. People think that sin is not a big deal. They think that sin is pleasurable and to enjoy the pleasures of sin is sweet. But sin makes us its slave as soon as we sin. Sin is not something to enjoy but something that we must master.
How can we master our sin? Galatians 5:16-18 and Romans 6:12-14 teach us the secret. Man has the desire to do good and the desire to do evil. These two desires oppose each other. Therefore, if a desire to do good is strong, the desire to do evil loses its power. Likewise, however, if the desire to do evil is strong the desire to do good loses its power. The secret of mastering our sinful desires is to live according to the Spirit. This means to offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness. Then sin cannot master us. We are free to choose whether we live according to the Spirit or to sinful desires. It depends upon our free choice whether we live for God or for the world. If we abuse our free choice and live according to our sinful nature, sin will master us and we will become slaves of sin.
God gave Cain directions for mastering his sin. But Cain did not accept them. He did not want to repent. When he did not repent, his heart became harder and burned with jealousy against his brother. The jealousy turned into hatred and hatred turned into a burning desire to kill his brother. Cain deceived Abel and asked him to go out in a field, and there he killed him. In this way, Cain became the first murderer and Abel the first martyr. 1 John 2:11 says that those who do not love their brothers are still in the darkness and they do not know where they are going. This is because darkness blinds their eyes. 1 John 3:11,12 reads, “This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.” Jesus said in Matthew 5:21,22 that his people should not be angry against their brothers or insult them. It is because hating and insulting one’s brother is the same as murdering him. If we have even a little bit of hatred, jealousy or desire to ignore others we should repent immediately. Cain’s pride, jealousy and hatred led to murder. Satan’s hatred polluted Cain’s soul and it did not cease until Abel’s blood had been shed. The offspring of the serpent attacked the first offspring of the woman and corrupted him and killed her second son. In this way, Satan tried to block God’s promise to send the Messiah through the offspring of the woman.
Sin and punishment (4:9-15)
Consider verse 9: God came to Cain after Cain had killed his brother: “Where is your brother Abel?” The question was in the voice of God, which prompted Cain’s repentance. God could have asked Cain as if Cain had been already condemned: “Why did you do such a wicked thing?” Then God could have killed him. But by asking, “Where is your brother Abel?” God allowed Cain to look back and repent himself. God spoke to his conscience. But Cain became rebellious and said, "I don't know, am I my brother's keeper?" He lied to cover up his murder. He compounded his murder with a lie. Adam pawned off his guilt on the woman when God asked him. But Cain lied and rebelled against God when God asked a question. He indeed deserved to die. But God was patient with Cain and said, “"What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.” Abel had died, but he was still speaking through his faith (Heb 11:4b). The cry of Abel’s blood foreshadows all of the suffering of righteous men due to persecution by offspring of the serpent; the ultimate climax of this is the battle between Jesus and the Satan on the Calvary.
God delivered his judgment against Cain. If you look at verse 12, you will read: “When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." When Cain worked the ground, the ground no longer yielded its crops. He would, indeed, become a restless wanderer and could not find rest wherever he went. All descendants of Cain who live without God become restless wanderers. To wander around seems like fun. But to become a restless wanderer, without a goal or purpose in life, is a curse. Cain suffered from a guilty conscience, fear, and an evil spirit. He did not have peace. Furthermore, he suffered from the fear of death. Because of the condemnation of his soul he had nightmares every night. Cain is the image of modern man. We learn that sin is always punished, without fail. The very reason why we should be afraid of sin is that sin does not end in sin alone; punishment always follows sin without fail. The most severe punishment for sin takes place within man’s heart.
The basic nature of Adam’s sin is disobedience, and the basic character of Cain’s sin is rebellion. In our blood we carry the blood of Adam’s disobedience and of Cain’s rebellion. We have the desire to rebel instead of to be obedient. This tendency is especially strong in young intellectuals. To be disobedient and rebellious is practically a symptom of being intellectual. If a man is obedient he seems like a man without identity, and if a man is rebellious and rejects authority he looks smart and wise. But only a wise man can obey; the foolish can never obey. Those who are rebellious and disobedient cannot grow spiritually and cannot learn spiritual secrets. Those people are always proud and suffer from unnecessary human struggle. If we want to grow spiritually and learn spiritual secrets we should crucify our disobedience and our rebellious heart on the cross and learn obedience. Even Jesus became perfect through obedience, and became the foundation of salvation for all who obey (Heb 5:8).
See verse 13: Cain said that his punishment was more than he could bear. Even though he was suffering from his sin he complained to God rather than repenting. He was also suffering from fear that whoever found him could kill him because he would be driven from the Lord’s protection and help. Even after he had heard God’s sentence against his sin, he was still unrepentant. This kind of person should be destroyed. But look at verse 15: “’Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.” God valued Cain’s life and he did not want anyone to take revenge on Cain. God freed him from the fear of death by giving him the mark. The mark on Cain was not the mark of a murderer but the mark of God’s love. God was patient with Cain, who was a murderer and a liar and who was disobedient and rebellious. In order to give him a chance to repent, God postponed his final punishment. God hates sin but he loves sinners. Even now God is patient because he wants to save all men. He does not want anyone to perish (2Pe 3:9; 1Ti 2:4). Here, God is as patient as if a thousand years were a day. Even now we should not abuse God’s patience, though God does not punish us if we sin. Apostle Paul said in Romans 2:4,5, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” We need to realize God’s patience and repent in earnest.
Cain’s descendants and Seth’s descendants (4:16-5:32)
4:16-24 are the records of Cain’s descendants. Verse 16 reads, “So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Cain did not repent and went out and lived in the land of Nod. The word “Nod” means “wandering”. Cain built a city and established the first worldly city. His descendants raised livestock and forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. They developed music by playing harp and flute. They developed humanistic and worldly culture, culture without God.
An example of the life of Cain’s descendants is that of Lamech. He was the one who led Cain’s descendants in open rebellion against God. He ignored God’s principle of marriage between one man and one wife. He took many wives and he became the father of polygamy. He also shed innocent men’s blood, as his father Cain had done. He killed people who had injured him even slightly. He even killed a young man for wounding him. He said that he would take revenge 77 times and in this way he boasted before his wives. He was a man 11 times more evil than Cain. The history of letting innocent men’s blood continued among Cain’s descendants. Their history was soaked in sins such as war, murder, rape and violence. As their human culture developed, their sin spread rapidly. Man’s sin spreads quickly and powerfully in the atmosphere of technological development, which brings comfort and wealth to men. Sin becomes dominant and guilty conscience gets weaker and weaker. Cain’s sin did not stop in his time but spread and spread and grew more powerful among his descendants.
Here we learn that sin grows. Sin is like cancer. Our cells work properly when they are controlled. But cancer cells are not controlled. They have their own way of growing without being controlled properly. Their speed of growth is much faster than that of normal cells. In this way they damage other cells and spread to the whole body and destroy it. Therefore, we must learn that sin should be taken seriously, even if it is a small one. If not, it will spread uncontrollably and destroy one’s spiritual life.
When we consider Cain’s descendants we cannot see hope in the world. But beginning with 4:25 we see the history of Seth’s descendants. God gave Seth in the place of Abel so that the line of righteousness would not cut off in the middle. The word “Seth” means “appointed” or “replaced”. Seth’s descendants called on the name of the Lord. This means that they began to seek God and worshipped God from that time on.
In Chapter 5 we find Adam’s genealogy. His genealogy flows into Seth’s, which is the genealogy of faith. Through Seth’s descendants the Messiah who would save all men from the power of sin and Satan would come. Adam was created in God’s image but Seth was begotten in Adam’s image. Seth inherited Adam’s corrupted nature. Lamech, in Chapter 4, is an example of Cain’s descendants. Among Seth’s descendants an example is Enoch. Jude verses 14 and 15 show that the time of Enoch was lawless and rebellious and corrupt. But Enoch walked with God and preached God’s righteousness. He had an intimate fellowship with God and was happy with God and lived a God-centered life. He struggled hard to please God. In the end he received evidence that he had pleased God and he did not experience death and he was no more (Heb 1:5).
The important thing here is that God brought Seth to continue the work of righteousness in his way. Just as Cain hated Abel and killed him, so Cain’s descendants hate the descendants of God and persecute them and try to destroy the work of righteousness. But God himself carries out the work of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even at the time of the prophet Elijah, when most people were kneeling down before Baal, God hid 7,000 people who had never knelt before Baal. In this way, even in our own generation, God leaves remnants here and there and carries out his work of salvation and righteousness. The battle between the offspring of woman and the offspring of the serpent is still going on and it will reach a climax. Outwardly, Satan seems to be winning, but Satan will be completely defeated with the glorious coming of Jesus. Now we are fighting our spiritual battles, which have already been won by Jesus. We praise God who continually carries out his work of righteousness.