GENESIS CHAPTER 4: Life
Outside of Eden: Consequences Of Sin
1. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she
conceived, and bare Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” 2. And she again bare his
brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the
ground. 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 Can was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 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.” 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.In this paragraph Cain chose to be a farmer. Instead of picking of the bountiful fruits and vegetable that God had provided, Cain forces the ground to yield where he chose. When it comes time to worship the Lord with an offering, Cain may have in his heart chose to keep the best for himself and offered his second best as a sacrifice to the Lord. Cain grew angry over Abel’s offerings(from a pure heart) being accepted of God and not his: this is due to God knowing Cain’s heart. Some studies suggest that Cain was a child of wrath: as we see below in the next paragraph when Cain answers God in a sarcastic way.
9. And the Lord
said unto Cain, “Where is Abel they brother? And he said, “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 10. And
he said,” What hast thou done? The voice of the
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; and a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” 
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.
Here Cain lies to God when asked about his brother he slew. Also he must have not believed that God was omnipresent, but only present in that part of the earth where they lived because he expresses that his punishment is to much to bear and that he would be hidden from God’s face. We also see God’s gracious mercy, when he puts a mark on Cain so no one would kill him before God’s punishment could be carried out, which was for seven generation.
Now
when King James had scholars put God’s
word into print, they choose the books among so many published works
that they
thought most important to tell the story of Adam and Eve, prophets,
major events, Jesus, the
apostles and Revelations. Therefore we do not have a lot of the
information
that the Jewish encyclopedia or the Septuagint, the Hebrew Masoretic and
the
Dead Sea Scrolls include. Which would help us understand better how
events took place and the testimony of them. I would like to share a
little of my study with you.
“And the Lord said to Cain,
“Why are you angry, and why is your face downcast? If
ye do well, will you not be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin crouches at
the door. Its desire is to have you, but you must rule it.”(Hebrew Masoretic Gen: 4: 6-7)
Now what does it mean when God says, “The voice
of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground….”(In the Book of
Enoch 22:4-7; written before 200 BC, Enoch
states,” I saw (the spirit of ) a dead man making suit, and his voice went
forth to heaven and made suit. And asked Raphael, the angle who was with me, and
I said unto him-‘This spirit which maketh suit, whose is it, whose voice goeth forth and
maketh suit to heaven?” and he answered me saying, “This is the spirit which
went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew, and he makes his suit against
him till his seed is destroyed from the face of the earth, and his seed is
annihilated from amongst the seed of man". (Enoch 22: 4-7 Apocryphal
Book.) This would follow what our Bible tells us in Revelation
6:8-11 where the Christian martyrs were crying to God for revenge for their
deaths. (KJV)
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 bare Enoch: and he builded 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 begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and
Methusael begat Lamech.
Here
again we get a general description of what happened next and leads
to a lot of speculation on our part to fill in the blanks. When did Cain
leave
Eden? What did Cain do with Abel’s body, did he try to hide it, did he
go and
tell his parents what he did? So many questions are left for us to think
about.
So where do we go to get these answers. Our pastors are a good
resource, when you or they do not have the time to share, we have some
good resources on the internet that rightly divide the word as to its
correct definition and meaning in the verses that you are having trouble with. .
Comparing studies of scholars that rightly divide the word of God is a
good place to start. In the December 2006 issue of Grace and Knowledge: an article by Jared Olar, a
biblical researcher wrote “A Survey of Scripture and Legendary Traditions” compares
several sources of biblical accounts of Cain’s acts and some of them differ in
some aspects and are somewhat embellished. But the bottom line is that Cain did
leave the Garden of Eden with all that belonged to him. Including his wife, his
sister Awan (the book of Jubilee, in Jewish legend). They all agreed on one thing that Cain was a child of wrath.
Also in 1John 3:11-12(KJV)says, “For this is
the message ye have heard from the beginning that we should love one another.
12 Not like Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And
wherefore he slew he him, because his own works were evil, and his brother’s
righteous.
We can see this when he answers God in a
disrespectful response when he asked about Abel, “I
don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?” Then he complained that the
punishment was more than he could bear. But God not wishing to see him dead,
gave him time to repent, through tough rule (trials), so that Cain could be
forgiven. Cain gave in to his greed and selfishness and served Satan and turned
his back on God.
the name of the other Zillah. 20. And Adah bare
Jabal: he was the father of such as dwelt 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. 22. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer 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. 24. if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech
seventy and seven fold.” This paragraph tells us that Lamech (in his old age and blind) took the life of two people of his own family as Cain did though Lamech was unintentional and Cain’s was intentional; and Lamech was the first to commit bigamy, one of the many sins and transgressions that Cain’s family was noted for.( The Jewish Encyclopedia,1901-1906)
25. And Adam knew his
wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth:” For God, said she, hath
appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew”. 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.
Seth therefore picked up where Abel left off and became
the spiritual leader of the family. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born.
In chapter 5 we will get to see the generations of
Adam, in which Cain and Abel are not mentioned in the King James Version of the
Bible.
Below are some of the references I used that the author
Jared Olar used for is article.
The Road to Salvation (KJV)
Romans 3: 23, 24 “For all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 5:8 “But God commended
His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 3:15 “For God so loved
the world That He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
1 John 4:9”In this was
manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through Him.”
John 6: 47, 48 “Verily,
verily, I say unto you He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.”
Romans 10:9 – 14 “That if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on Him shall
not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14. How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed: and how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard: and how shall they hear without a
preacher?”
II Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.”
If you are not saved, I pray you will
accept Christ as your Savior to day. We are not promised another minute on this
earth. We are but on a journey, passing though this world to the next, and you
have a choice of where you will spend eternity. I pray you choose to spend it
in Heaven with the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit and all those who
believe that Jesus is the Son of God and paid our sin debt for us.
Seek out a Bible preaching church in your
area, one where God word is preached and is the center of their service, study and
devotion.
References
December 2006 issue of Grace and
Knowledge (This article appeared in the December 2006 issue of Grace and
Knowledge by Jared Olar who is a biblical researcher. His research included these resources:
The
Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First
Time into English, Martin Abegg, Jr., Peter Flint,
and Eugene Ulrich, HarperCollins, 1999. , in
The
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906.
The Conflict of Adam and Eve
with Satan,
also called I Adam and Eveand II Adam and Eve
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