Sermon Tone Analysis

*Genesis 4:1-2… *Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel.

And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

*Commentary*

            The narrative begins with “Now” signifying a new chapter in this ongoing saga of how life began on the earth.

Adam and Eve have been banned from the Garden of Eden and are now living under the curse.

They haven’t died as God promised they would, but they are /dying/.

Genesis 2:17, in speaking of what would happen if they ate the forbidden fruit, literally says, “…dying you shall die.”

Now Adam and Eve are dying – descriptive of all humans beings.

In the midst of living in a cursed world and living out a death sentence, Adam has sexual relations with his wife (KJV “knew his wife”) in obedience to the command to “be fruitful and multiply…” (Gen.

1:28).

This union produces the first offspring.

There is no mention of the pains that were involved in the first conception~/childbirth as a result of the woman’s curse, and just like the modern day, the woman seems forgetful of that pain when she brings forth a “man.”

She names him “Cain,” meaning “gotten,” and this is a practice throughout Scripture where names are given to children in association with specific events.

Eve begat Cain, but she recognizes that he comes from the Lord (literally, “Yahweh” – God’s personal name, the One who fulfills His promises from Exodus 6:3-5).

It is /possible/ to translate the passage “I have begotten a man – Yahweh” signifying Eve’s hopeful expectation of giving birth to the Messiah (denoted by the use of Yahweh in the Hebrew text), the promised “seed” that would crush the serpent’s head (Gen.

3:15).

This translation would stem from the allegorical interpretation of Genesis 3:15 where a redeemer is promised.

At any rate, Eve reveals her faith in God – the God who placed her under a curse for disobedience – and brings forth her first child with His help.

Verse 2 speaks of another child Eve bears, and she names him “Abel” – a name that means “vapor” or “vanity.”

Why she would name her child “vanity” is unknown, but it might suggest that this is how she saw life at this point  – pointless and nothing but a vapor (cf.

Ecclesiastes).

There is no way of knowing just why she named him as such, but the fact that she named Cain in proportion to her jubilation and her possible expectation that he would save her and her husband from the curse, means that Abel’s name likely also reflects her mood at the time of his birth.

How much time passed from the birth of Cain to the birth of Abel is also unknown, but all indications are that they were close together.

Abel is said to be a shepherd – one who looks out over the flocks, and Cain is said to be a farmer.

Abel works with the animals who are cursed, and Cain works the ground that is cursed.

Though Abel’s job as a shepherd was not one that produced meat for food (because this is forbidden until after the Flood in Genesis 9:3), the fact that God “covered” Adam and Eve with animal skins as a result of their nakedness is a strong indicator that people used animals for sacrifice for their sins, and it was Abel’s job to provide them.

Now there is no mandate for this that we’re aware of, but it does point to their future when Moses gives them the Law which requires the shedding of blood for sins.

*Food for Thought*

            Genesis 3:15 speaks of two “seeds,” one from God, and one from the devil.

The two types of people on this planet are either /God’s/ children (Abel) or /Satan’s/ (Cain).

Both have their physical births by a woman, but spiritually they are different.

First John 3:10 says, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

*Genesis 4:3-5…* So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.

4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.

So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

*Commentary*

            The opening phrase literally says, “And it came to be at the end of days…” This signifies that an undisclosed amount of time had passed in leading up to a designated time apparently set by God of bringing sacrifices to Him for worship.

Cain, being a farmer, brings an offering from the produce of the land.

It might be carrots and potatoes, grains and figs, or fruits from trees and vines.

Whatever it was it was for the worship of God – a gift given back to God in recognition and worship for His gifts to man.

The “offering” is a word for “gift” and “tribute.”

Note that at this point there is no law in the scriptures that /instructs/ these men to bring various animals and~/or fruits of the ground.

Apparently God had made it clear to them, however, to bring such.

Verse 4 says that Abel also brought an offering, but his offering comes from the “firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.”

Whereas Cain just brought “an offering,” Abel’s offering is noteworthy.

Since Abel was a shepherd he brings /animals.

/The “firstling” (Hebrew, “birthright”) is in reference to the firstborn animal of a shepherd’s flock dedicated to God later on in scripture.

Abel also brought the “fat portions” which means that he brought the /best/ of what he had without keeping it for himself.

Both men brought offerings to the Lord as an act of worship, and probably obedience too, though there is nothing in the text that tells us God had commanded this from them.

Abel, however, clearly brings a better offering, for the Lord is said to have “regard” for Abel’s offering.

The word for “regard” means “to gaze at; to look on with favor,” and although there is no indication of how God does this (they likely approached the pre-incarnate Christ), it is clear that both men knew which offering the Lord preferred.

Verse 5 is the straightforward way of how God felt about Cain’s offering – He had no “regard” – the same Hebrew word used for Abel’s offering.

In other words, God looked on with favor at Abel’s offering, but He took no delight in Cain’s.

As a result, Cain “became angry, and his countenance fell.”

When the text speaks of Cain’s becoming “angry” it uses a strong Hebrew word meaning to “burn with anger,” but the text also uses a preceding superlative (“very”) to show just how outraged Cain becomes in seeing the Lord’s response.

The TEV translation of the Bible says that Cain “became furious, and he scowled in anger.”

His childlike offering was akin to his childlike outburst of anger – a sure-fire indicator of any man’s spiritual immaturity.

*Food for Thought*

            Notice that both men offer sacrifices to the Lord.

It’s not as if Cain was some sort of atheist who hated God.

Cain was plainly a religious man who paid tribute to God by offering a gift to Him.

His problem in relation to his brother, however, is that Abel offered his sacrifice “by faith” (Heb.

11:4).

Cain offers his out of some sort of religious duty of going through the religious motions.

There is no faith however, and his heart isn’t totally dependent on the Lord.

Bruce Waltke says that Cain first fails in his worship, and because he fails in worship, he fails in his work.

Because of his unorthodox view of God (bad theology) his ethics fall by the wayside.

How is your worship of God?

Is it just a religious ritual where you act pious for a half hour per week in church?

Or is it marked by /faith/ – a faith that gives God the /best/ of your time, of your money, and of your life?

Choose the latter because the former isn’t looked on with favor at all by God.

In fact, God disdains that kind of religiosity, and you’re no better for it either.

*Genesis 4:6-8…* Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?

And why has your countenance fallen?

7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

8 And Cain told Abel his brother.

And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

*Commentary*

            Cain’s great fury is noticed by God immediately, and He asks him why.

God prods Cain as to why he was so angry over something that is all his own fault.

When a man offers less than his best, then gets jealous over the Lord’s favor in another man’s life who /has/ been faithful, God has the right to ask, “Why are you angry?” It’s the same type question God asks Adam and Eve when they hide from Him after their sin in Genesis 3. God’s question is designed to illicit a repentant response.

But, just as in Adam and Eve’s case, Cain too is unmoved by God’s question.

In the same way that his parents had no defense for their blatant sin, neither did he.

Instead, he ignores God’s question and sows the seed of hatred that eventually evolves into murder.

In verse 7 God explains to Cain that all he needed to do was to obey Him (“if you do well”), and his anger would subside – his “countenance” would be lifted up (taken away).

The flip side of the coin was that if he continued to “not do well,” that is, fail to obey, then sin was “crouching” at his door.

Sin is personified by God and made to look like a wild animal waiting for its prey.

The Apostle Peter says as much: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Pet.

5:8-9).

It’s as if God was looking at the spiritual dimension that Cain couldn’t see, and what He saw was Satan waiting to seize upon Cain who was basking in a jealous and furious rage.

Furthermore, God tells Cain that sin “desires” him.

This is the same word used for Eve in her desire for authority over and above her husband as a result of the curse in Genesis 3. In the same way that women have a natural /desire/ to rule over their husbands, sin is crouching at Cain’s front door step desiring him.

Now as frightening as that sounds, God’s words reassure the reader when He says, “but you must master it.”

The word for “master” here is the same word used for Adam in relation to his wife in Genesis 3:16 when it says, “but he shall rule over you.”

It literally means “overwhelm,” and God tells Cain that he has the responsibility and the power to rule over sin without sin ruling over him.

“Sin wants to master you, but you must master /it/!” Obviously sin can be mastered.

God’s words fall on Cain’s deaf ears in verse 8.

He is said to have “told his brother Abel.”

Though what Cain told Abel is not revealed in the most accurate Hebrew texts (MT), it seems unlikely that he conveyed the actual words of God to him.

It may be, as the Septuagint and other ancient versions have, that “he said to his brother, ‘let’s go out into the field.’”

This falls in line with what Cain is conspiring to do, namely, seeking an opportunity to get his brother alone so he can murder him.