Will you heed God’s warning? - Genesis 4:1-26

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Will you heed God’s warning?
Genesis 4:1-26
20210620
Trust God for he graciously provides and constantly encourages if only we would see.
Introduc)on
We are looking together at the book of Genesis. We are now just at week four in this study that is likely
going to run the beEer part of a year. This is a foundaFonal book for us to understand God – our Creator
(Gen 1:1) and how we, as his creatures, have been designed in his image (Gen 1:26). We also are shown
early on in the pages of Scripture that God wants to interact with us and to be trusted by us. In the ﬁrst
two chapters we saw just how gracious God was in his provision and that his design was good – and it
sFll is!. Last week we saw how when the serpent tempted Eve that it didn’t take much and sin entered
in. The fall happened. It was a horrendous event but it did not render God powerless. It showed very
eﬀecFvely our frailty but it also gave us a glimpse of how trustworthy and gracious God is.
This is where we pick up today in Genesis 4. Adam and Eve, by God’s grace were exiled from the garden
of Eden. Therefore, they set about making their life in the world in a more toilsome manner. The
consequences of sin are upon them and yet they are also very aware of God’s graciousness. We will see
that today, in parFcular, as we see Eve’s statements about having children. God’s grace also shines
through in how he deals with Cain as he is being tempted to sin and even aWer he commits the heinous
crime of murder against his brother. God’s grace is evident in what the people of the earth are able to do
in terms of creaFvity. But throughout the story it is unmistakable that man conFnues to follow a path
that is contrary to God and the consequences of such a path are - predictably: death and destrucFon.
Near the end of the passage, we are reminded that not all is lost. For we are reminded that we are sFll
following along with the progress of God’s promise to provide a Seed or an Oﬀspring from the line of the
woman who will one day deliver the people of God from the inﬂuence of the evil one.
I put all of this before you as an introducFon to the passage today because we have such a treasure here
before us in the book of Genesis that we oWen just don’t see. God is telling about the redempFon of his
people through the Messiah – Jesus Christ. Without this guiding direcFve we work through books of the
Bible and struggle to make sense of the stories – especially the sin ﬁlled stories that end in tragedy. I’m
here to say church that we can conﬁdently look at a story in the early pages of Scripture that is about the
ﬁrst ever murder and see that God is in control and is conFnuing to move his plan of salvaFon forward. It
is easy to lose this for where we see death and destrucFon is where we have chosen to turn from God
and follow our own way.
And when we follow that which we want to do and it is opposite to God we can expect a separaFon from
him and others. Such a separaFon leaves us vulnerable to conFnue down a path that takes us further
away from God.
But where there is a glimmer of hope, that of a beEer future, one that is free from the decay brought
about by sin, and it is the one being prepared for the followers of Jesus. For Jesus conquered sin and
death upon the cross of calvary when he oﬀered himself up as a propiFaFon for the sins of man. Many of
you here trust God because you have been graciously brought into his family through the Son. Yes, this is
the expanded, or ﬁlled out view, but even early in the pages of Scripture, such as where we are today, we
see this revelaFon at work.
Trust God for he graciously provides and constantly encourages if only we would see.

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The Con)nua)on of the Fall (cushioned by grace)
1. The chapter starts out with the birth of children, and although we are looking at the conFnuaFon of
the fall here to begin with this is a grace of God that Adam and Eve are given the opportunity to
conFnue in their God given roles, that they are able to parFcipate in being frui`ul and mulFplying,
and as we will see be involved in the ruling over and subduing the earth (Gen 1:28).
a. Read Gen 4:1-2
2. This is the ﬁrst instance we are given of children being born – and just last week we saw that the
woman would have increased pain in bringing forth children (Gen 3:16). But with new life in the new
world also comes a new kind of pain.
a. We tend to focus in on the physical pain of delivery. But right away when I menFon the
names Cain and Abel most people think of a diﬀerent kind of pain. Because it is widely
known that Cain murdered his brother. So, the pain of murder and separaFon spill across the
landscape of God’s creaFon.
b. Eve would have felt this pain in a way that cannot be adequately described – for it was an
ongoing lived out devastaFon. Some of our pain in life is like that.
c. For Eve, one of her sons took the life of the other and then was removed from where her
and Adam dwelt as Cain leW to be a wanderer in the land of Nod (Gen 4:14,16).
3. This began by Cain seizing autonomy and seizing autonomy is at the center of our departure from
God. When a person decides they will not trust God but will rather trust themselves an immediate
barrier goes up. Even last week we saw that this doesn’t stop God from pursuing us! Remember he
called out to the man, “Where are you?” here today very similar.
a. Cain is angry and his face has fallen (v6) The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why
has your face fallen?” He is engaging with Cain! God is taking the Fme to work with this man
who is struggling.
b. He tells him (v7), “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is
crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
i. Such striking parallels to what we just looked at last week as Eve was being talked to
by the serpent (3:1-6). But here this week it is not the serpent, it is not the external
tempter, for now sin has entered in.
ii. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and
death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned –“
c. The LORD is being so gracious here to Cain – warning him of sin – and this is the ﬁrst-Fme
“sin” is used in the Bible, here in Gen 4:7. God uses the term – it means to miss the mark
and he describes it, even animates it if you will, saying it is like a ready to aEack predator on
an unsuspecFng prey. But Cain cannot be unsuspecFng because God has told him!
i. You might be looking at this and thinking what should Cain do? Should he somehow
trade some of his fruit of the ground for one of Abel’s choice animals to make a
beEer oﬀering?

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ii. No – nothing here in the text would infer that the oﬀerings themselves made the
diﬀerence. We see this throughout Scripture, friends. This is a danger we ﬁnd facing
us all the Fme. We fail in something that God would have us to do and instead of
humbly seeking the LORD we double down on our approach or we look at how we
can copy someone else’s approach. But it is a heart issue, it is internal, it is our
seizing of autonomy, and it boils down to obedience.
iii. Listen to Samuel as he rebukes Saul in 1 Sam 15:22, “Has the LORD as great delight
in burnt oﬀerings and sacriﬁces, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey
is beDer than sacriﬁce, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
1. Looking at the two brothers it appears that Abel truly wanted to worship
God in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23) and that somehow Cain was just going
through the external moFons of bringing an oﬀering before the LORD.
iv. So, I ask again what should Cain do? Confess to the LORD, admit to God that he is
angry, that he is jealous, that he doesn’t want to be a Fller of the ground, or
whatever it is that is causing him to be on the verge of sin with his anger.
1. Paul writes we are to “be angry (passive) and do not sin (acFve)” in Eph 4:26
so it is here with Cain it can be with us – we have a choice to make.
4. Instead of heeding God’s warning, Cain takes the next step, failing to listen to God showing he
doesn’t trust God. This is how seizing autonomy works and what happens next is taking maEers into
his own hands.
a. Cain, aWer being confronted by God, in a gracious manner – conspires to kill his brother. He
knows what he is going to do and he sets in moFon his plan to murder Abel. This does not
bring about the peace that Cain had deceived himself into thinking would come about. And
church sin never fully delivers on its promises.
i. James 1:15 “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is
fully grown brings forth death.”
b. God – so gracious – in the Bible we see this over and over again – God inquires of Cain –
seeking confession and instead Cain seizes his autonomy with even more tenacity. Although
he deserves to be struck down himself for the blood he has spilled God preserves Cain’s life.
God greatly increases his hardship for in addiFon to the ground being cursed from his
parents’ sin now he is cursed from the ground (4:11). Nevertheless God is gracious and he
seals Cain with a mark of protecFon (4:15).
i. Over the years this mark has taken on all kinds of distorFons even leading to the
abuse of fellow image bearers. As elders we discussed this and reject all such
distorFons of God’s word that would jusFfy the abuse of others.
ii. We see in Scripture instead a work of God’s grace by pulng this mark upon Cain to
protect him. God did something to let others know that if anyone should kill Cain
they would incur the very vengeance of God.
iii. Cain would be aware of this mark and would be reminded that although he was
deserving of death because he had murdered his brother God was preserving his

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life. Giving him the rest of his life to reﬂect upon the goodness of God and to repent
and turn back to his Creator.
1. AddiFonal instances of such a mark being given by God to others in the Bible
is the bow he put in the sky aWer the ﬂood (Gen 9:12) and the mark of
circumcision he gave as a sign of the covenant between himself and
Abraham (Gen 17:11).
5. Even with such grace Cain refuses all the opportuniFes God gave to him and instead turned away
from the presence of the LORD. He has murdered his brother, he has leW the place near his father
and mother, and he has departed from the presence of the LORD – o and what he used to do is no
longer really an opFon for him because of the curse the LORD placed on him for killing Abel.
a. Where does one go in a place like this? Really only two opFons. Either they turn from their
wicked ways or they double down thinking all along they know beEer than God.
b. Cain’s family line proves what choice he made and yet God’s grace does not depart. I say that
because as an image bearer of God Cain and his descendants sFll exhibit porFons of the
mandate given to man in the beginning to rule over and subdue the earth or, even as was
told to Adam at the garden, to tend it and keep it.
i. For from this family we read of metal work, musicians, the construcFon of ciFes, and
the use of mobile living arrangements to take advantage of the rangelands in the
grazing of animals.
6. I think it is rather obvious from the example given to us from Scripture that the family line of Cain –
although sFll beneﬁFng from God’s grace conFnued to spiral further down and away from any
meaningful relaFonship with him.
a. Just take Lamech this man you see in the later half of the chapter. He exalts in the killing of a
young man or even a boy for that is what the Hebrew word here yaled means.
b. He celebrates the redeﬁniFon of marriage, collecFng a mulFtude of wives for the ﬁrst Fme
in Scripture.
c. He even mock’s the provision God gave to Cain for his protecFon by boasFng in it in some
way. Lamech, in essence, is saying if my ancestor was protected for murdering his brother
how much more now will I be protected when I kill.
d. Just in the way of dropping a point of comparison – I put side by side the family line of Adam
through Seth and when I got to Enoch – the guy that is described as “one who walked with
God and he was not for God took him” (Gen 5:24) well the man that could have been
Enoch’s neighbor was this Lamech who lived a violent life and mocked God.
7. Now that we’ve walked through this picture of the conFnuaFon of the fall – especially on the side of
seizing autonomy and not trusFng God I want to go through what I see happening step by step.
a. Seizing autonomy begins by not trusFng God
b. Which means this person fails to listen to God
c. They take maEers into their own hands

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d. They make no eﬀort to return to God
e. This brings about a warped view of reality
f.

They redeﬁne good and evil

g. They want to be anywhere but in the presence of God
h. They inevitably end up aEacking the design of the family
8. As we looked through the life of Cain and his descendants this was what we saw. So, I’ll ask are you
anywhere on this conFnuum? If so, you are not in a place that will bring you peace with God but God
is not far from you. Let me remind you that God’s grace is present along each step of the way
preserving the lives of those who sin against him and this is a kindness of God. While at the same
Fme the consequences of sin are present, crushing consequences, but God’s kindness and paFence
are meant to bring about repentance (Rom 2:4).
The Con)nua)on of God’s Plan of Redemp)on
1. At the beginning and at the end of chapter 4 is another picture that we must not miss. It has to do
with the ConFnuaFon of God’s Plan of RedempFon. This is the second half of what we will look at
this morning.
a. Now speciﬁcally I want to look at the words of Eve in light of what we covered last week. So,
look back at what God spoke to the serpent and to Eve in Gen 3:14-16.
i. Here we have, as Ben stated last week, the proto euangelion which is LaFn for the
ﬁrst gospel. The start of the redempFon story as God begins to reveal it. It is given as
a hope for a beEer future where someday the serpent will be destroyed and the
destrucFon ushered in through his corrupFng inﬂuence will be dealt with once and
for all.
b. Eve is keenly aware of the words that were spoken and we get more direct tesFmony from
her than we do from Adam post-fall. NoFce how she speaks of God’s promise being carried
out and she does so with I believe great hope. Even in the Scripture her tesFmony before the
story of Cain and Abel and aWer Abel’s murder are with an eye to what God is doing through
her line – through her children.
i. Gen 4:1-2a “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
“I have goEen a man with the help of the LORD.” And again, she bore his brother
Abel…”
ii. She has the ﬁrst ever pregnancy, Adam had called her Eve because she was the
mother of all the living (3:20). Then she has another. She does not presume upon
the LORD but rather rightly credits him with granFng the giW of new life through her.
Yes, Adam was involved of course. But we are right to say that children are a giW
from the LORD (Ps 127:3).
c. Eve bears these sons expectantly knowing a beEer future is to come because God promised
it. She therefore grieves beyond what we can see from the text for not only does she
tragically lose her son Abel – she also loses her son Cain. I say this because of his clear
departure away from what he was brought up with. Adam and Eve would have passed on

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worship pracFces to their sons. God was obviously very involved in the family’s life as it
didn’t seem to take any of them by surprise when he spoke directly to them. When Cain
removed himself from the presence of the LORD he in much the same way removed himself
from the likelihood of being used by God to fulﬁl the promise made in Gen 3:15.
2. Looking closely at the text though we see that Eve is not one to give up on the LORD for aWer the
story of Cain’s family line we are returned to Adam and Eve in Gen 4:25-26.
a. I am so blessed by these easily looked over statements. She says God has appointed for me
another oﬀspring! The serpent and his infecFon of sin upon God’s creaFon has not won for
God has carried through with his promise to bring forth another male child – an oﬀspring
from the woman.
b. Will he be the one who bruises the head of the serpent? It is unknown but the promise
conFnues and God proves himself to be faithful and his servant Eve similarly appears
hopeful for the promise he has made about a beEer future.
c. As readers of Scripture we must be focused here as well – seeing how God is revealing
himself and his wonderful plan of redempFon. It culFvates our trust in the LORD.
d. This is in stark contrast to the picture we saw with Cain – with him no trust in God with Eve
she has clearly placed her trust in God. That appears to ﬂow through to her oﬀspring as well
for as I already noted through the line of Seth is Enoch who walked with God and God took
him and then we get eventually to Noah who is found to be righteous in the eyes of the Lord
and is used as a type of savior to preserve a remnant as God’s plan for redempFon is
conFnued – but we will get to that soon enough. And this makes sense as the author
captures that the people begin to call upon the name of the LORD here at the end of chapter
4.

Conclusion
And so we have these two possibiliFes presented in the text one being the ConFnuaFon of the Fall and
the other being the ConFnuaFon of God’s Plan of RedempFon. I would like to draw this out further to
show everything ulFmately points. In the early pages of Scripture it is obviously not as clear as to when
we get to the later porFons of Scripture but God’s plan to redeem fallen man is a plan that he alone
brings about. In our ﬂesh we have nothing that could be of oﬀered to redeem the lost. I menFoned
brieﬂy Enoch who was taken straight away to be with the LORD, the author of Hebrews said that Enoch
pleased God and so he did not see death (Heb 11:5). He please God but he did not usher in God’s plan of
redempFon. We also were introduced to Abel today, the text says that the LORD had regard for his
oﬀering (4:4) and the text also show that the LORD valued his blood greatly (4:10) but it did not usher in
God’s plan of redempFon either. The plague of sin can only be dealt with by God and in a manner that
God deems acceptable. Church, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and the consequence
for sin is death. This is our inheritance the one that has been passed down to us from Adam. Yet right
alongside of our inheritance has been a promise of redempFon that is God’s plan to bring about
restoraFon – to grant new life. We, like Eve, have to trust God that his plan is beEer, that it is more
capable to deal with the hurt and pain of this world than anything we can aEempt to come up with on
our own. In fact, that is what Scripture itself aEests to. In Hebrews 12:24 we are reminded of “Jesus, the
mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a beDer word than the blood of

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Abel.” This is the tesFmony of all of Scripture and although we see is more clearly as God reveals more of
the plan progressively along the way – even here in the 4th chapter of the Bible we can embrace the
message that we must - Trust God for he graciously provides and constantly encourages if only we would
see.


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