GENESIS

Notes on Genesis 4

• Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

There are some speculation that Eve may have thought this was the promised seed that was to come as promised in Genesis 3. Sometimes when we read of God's promises, we expect them right away or at least in our lifetime but God's time clock is so different from ours. The apostles and other early Christians thought Jesus would return in their day and many others throughout history have thought the Lord's coming was near.

One sign of the Lord's coming though is that people are not looking for Him. The reason we do not know the day and the hour is probably so that we will all strive to be ready in that day and not lose sight of His coming.

Eve may have thought that Cain was this Christ that was to come. When this promised seed did come though except for a few chosen of God, many did not recognize Him.

The first coming was through the seed of the woman to fulfill Genesis 3. He had to come and make the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all mankind. The second coming will be one of power and glory.

• Genrsis 4:2 And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

All events and all children born to Adam and Eve were not written for us to read. Only certain facts were written so that we could know the lineage of the promised Messiah and certain other lineages necessary for our understanding. Adam and Eve had other sons and daughter other than the ones we read about.

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

There is much speculation as to why the Lord did not accept Cain's offering. Some say that it was not a blood sacrifice which typifies the time when the shed blood of Christ would be offered for our sins. Perhaps the sacrifice Cain brought was not the best or not from the depths of his heart. We see from Cain's jealous reaction to God's rejection, the condition of his heart was not pure so perhaps the condition of his heart may give us a hint of the type of sacrifice he offered but yet we see from what is written in the New Testament scriptures about them, it tends to hint at the blood sacrifice offering.

• Hebrews 11:4 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.

We see here that Abel had faith. His faith was what made Abel righteous. Cain lacked this. Cain had some kind of faith or he would not have made any sacrifice but it wasn't the faith that pleased God.

It could be that Abel sought God, acknowledging His sinfulness and sought God's forgiveness believing that God would send the perfect offering for sin. Cain may have offered a sacrifice without admitting any sin and any need to repent or change. We must recognize our need for God's provision and salvation. If we come to God thinking we are righteous in ourselves, then we will be rejected. We need to acknowledge our need for Him to save us. We cannot save ourselves by our own religious acts or good works.

Both sacrifices were religious acts to seek or please God. One was accepted and the other was not. We see from this that all religions or religious acts will not save us from sin or cause us to enter heaven. There is only one way. That way is the way God provides and not man. Manmade religion will not save any one. God sent a savior, God made the way of salvation and that way is Jesus Christ. Just being a good person does not save. The first step to eternal life is believing in the one God sent to save us, His very Son, Jesus Christ. God had to become man. Man had fallen and allowed sin to rule, a flesh and blood man had to undo the curse that came upon us. Since no man is capable of living without sin, it had to be God who came into the flesh of man and became the perfect sacrifice for sin. The just and perfect Son of God died for our sins even though He did not have any sin. Since He died undeserving, it counts for all of us who did deserve to die. We can inherit eternal life by accepting this work Jesus did for us and believing upon Him as Lord of our lives.

He reversed the curse but only for those who believe. To believe means to receive Him and to live by His word. We can't say we believe in something and not live by what we believe. If I say I believe in the Republican party and what they stand for yet I vote Democratic every time I go to the polls then of course I wouldn't really believe in the Republican party in deed and in truth. If we say we believe in Jesus and never talk to Him, never read His word and ignore everything He has to say to us, how can we say we believe in Him. Believing in Jesus means that we act like we believe.

• Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

The sacrifice of Abel pointed toward the perfect sacrifice to come and the perfect and only way of salvation.

• Genesis 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
• 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.

Cain had the right of the first born to rule and have authority but he could lose that right if he allowed the sin that was in his heart to rule instead.

Cain's reaction is a normal reaction of human beings. However, we all have the power to choose not to allow our feelings to rule and cause us to harm another. We can control our reactions. Through Christ we have more power over this. We can not only have more power to refuse to harm someone but we can have the power of the Holy Spirit within us so that we can overcome the spirit of jealousy and not desire to harm anyone.

Not all of us yield to the power of the Holy Spirit but He is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ so that the sin of hate, jealousy and greed does not have to control us.

• Genesis 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.

Usually we find a place with no witnesses to do evil. Yet God sees all things and nothing is hid from Him. We may think we get away with sin in this life and no one sees but we will face the judgment of God if our sin goes into eternity without repentance and change.

• Genesis 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?

Cain evaded the truth and lied in his heart. God knew the answer to the question He asked Cain. I believed He asked the question to get a response from him. I believe God was giving Cain a place to repent and acknowledge his sin. Had Cain of just repented here, he would have been saved. Instead he lied and tried to get away with murder.

• Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
• 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
• 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.

The earth already was under the curse from Adam's sin but now the curse would be increased and it would be harder to yield a good crop. Here was the beginning of living a life of a wanderer or nomad which go from place to place instead of staying in one place.

• Genesis 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
• 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
• 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

We do not know what this mark was. All Cain had to have done was repent, acknowledge his sin and it he could have been healed but he preferred to run from God's presence and live a life without Him. How lonely a life that is and how sad. God only requires that we repent and seek Him for salvation. When we just believe in Him and the salvation He provided for us, His presence will be with us always. Cain did not have to live like that. We do not have to live like that. We can believe in Jesus and have fellowship with God. He sends His Holy Spirit to us as soon as we repent of sin and believe in Jesus Christ.

• Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Following we have a short genealogy of Cain. Notice that some of the names are similar to the lineage of Seth so they must have been common names at that time. I originally thought the lineage of Cain was evil but according to the names some similar to the children of Seth, it would appear that Cain's descendants were not evil but about the same as Seth, some good and some bad. Some faithful and some rebellious.

• Genesis 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
• 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
• 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begot Mehujael: and Mehujael begot Methusael: and Methusael begot Lamech.
• 19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

This is the first recorded plural marriage. I believe in the beginning God meant for man to have only one wife or He would have made more than one for Adam. It is the hardness of man's heart that causes him not to be satisfied with one and take another as well. God never once told man to take more than one wife. Just because someone in the bible had more than one wife does not necessarily mean it was ordained of God. Jacob was tricked into it. Abraham was compelled by Sarah his wife to take Hagar. God did not command it at any time. Kings were warned not to multiply wives unto themselves.

• Genesis 4:20 And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
• 21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

Here we have an inventor of musical instruments.

• Genesis 4:22 And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
• 23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

He killed in self defense so he claimed that if any killed him, it would be worse than if they killed Cain.

• Genesis 4:24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
• 25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

Eve knew by now that Cain was not the Messiah for sure if she thought so at the beginning. Now she seems to have thought that Seth was either the chosen one or the chosen seed from which the Messiah would come. Seth surely is the one in a way. Through the line of Seth the Messiah or promised one is to come to save mankind from sin.

• Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Looks like men and women ignored God up to this point and now they began to seek Him and acknowledge that they need Him. Although further study of this word indicates that this may be a mistranslation and it should read, "Men began to profane the name of the Lord." I guess will have to decide for ourselves which it is. We can see that later in Genesis is a worldwide flood that destroys all but 8 people so this last rendering of verse 26 makes sense. Looks like the world is coming to that again as we look at some countries in the year of 2025. Some commentators say this is when idolatry began and we do know that at some point men began to worship other gods.

In our own lives though we can be those that call upon the name of the Lord instead of profaning that Holy Beloved name. We can count ourselves among those that believe in the name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, author of eternal salvation, Jesus Christ. We don't have to join hands with the world around us. DC

Genesis 5