Genesis 4 -- A Good Place To Develop More Faith

One thing that changed had to do with God’s presence in relation to man.  He’d walked beside Adam and Eve in the Garden.  But now, Cain and Abel are going to a place to bring offerings to God.  They must have received instruction, my commentary said, in substitutionary sacrifice for sin.  This may have included learning about the importance of a blood sacrifice, which Abel presented but which Cain did not.  Is that why Abel and his offering were accepted but Cain and his offering were not?  Although God’s sovereignty allows Him to accept or reject whomever, He never seems to be capricious, deciding things solely on a whim.

God warned Cain that he was endangering himself with sin, yet despite the warning, Cain let his sin-nature rule him.

Around verse 9, God seems to be trying to get Cain to admit to his undisclosed sin without God having to bring it up first.  Of course, that’s the right way it should be done.  Yet Cain refuses to do so, deflecting the questions and trying to deflect the blame.  When God pronounces Cain’s judgment, Cain is more remorseful over the consequences of his sin than he ever was over the sin itself!

In verse 14, Cain mentions that anyone can kill him.  That presupposes many more people on the earth – perhaps even outside his own family, in that he feels a need for protection.  God agreed to mark him to prevent a revenge killing.

Amazingly, and perhaps as evidence of grace, God is still conversing with Cain despite the sin of murder.  “So Cain went away from the Lord,” indicates Cain’s refusal of His grace.

Regarding the presence of other people, Cain was building a city, which indicated a significant enough amount of people to necessitate one.  Also, six generations of wives come from somewhere. 

It could be that as verse 25 begins, the story is continuing from verse 15 on a separate path, rather than simply being given in sequential time order.

As the line of Seth begins, so does the line from which Eve’s promised seed that will take care of Satan – the Messiah.  People also began to pray to God.  Perhaps in the intervening time God stopped talking face-to-face with humans in general, and His absence brought about the development of prayer as a means of communicating with Him.

Father, I thank You that You do still warn us about our potential for sin through the Holy Spirit.  I thank You for Your wonderful grace.  And I’m so glad that, at a key point in my own life, You showed me a t-shirt that read, “Why Ask Why” on the front, and on the back, with a picture of a nail-scarred hang, were the words, “He Holds The Reason Why”.  It finally allowed me to stop letting what I couldn’t understand move me away from You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford