February 17, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Genesis? Here’s today’s reading:
Genesis 4 (NIV)
Cain and Abel
1 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.……Continue Reading
Genesis 4
Genesis 4 and Acts 12.
”If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”“
Genesis 4:7 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.4.7.NIV
Verse 6-7: “The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 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 like the ESV Study Bible’s note here: “The Lord’s words challenge Cain to do better. He still has the possibility of turning, evidently with God’s help, to please God. To succeed in doing this however, he must overcome the domination of sin, presented here as a wild beast seeking to devour Cain.”
This verse emphasizes that it is our responsibility to rule over our sinful flesh. There is no allowance made, no “well, I’m a guy, so of course I’m going to lust after women…it’s just part of how God made me, and God understands that, so He sent Jesus to forgive all that lustful sinning.” That thinking justifies our sin, and in fact makes it God’s fault that we are tempted to lust. But James 1:13-15 one puts that down:
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed BY HIS OWN DESIRE. The desire, when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
God tells Cain in Genesis Chapter 4 that although sin is a reality, Cain must rule over it. He also tells Cain that if he does well, He will be accepted. There is a direct correlation here between obedience (doing well) and sin. It isn’t that Cain somehow earns God’s favor…it is that if Cain’s heart is oriented to God and lives in a way that places God first, rather than himself, Cain will be accepted…he will be at peace. But if Cain does not do well…if he turns from obedience and begins to serve himself…sin is crouching at the door. In fact, sin is closer than that, because we know sin resides in our members. But God still makes no allowance for it…telling Cain that he must rule over it.
BUT GOD!
How fortunate are we, in the light of God’s fully revealed Word, to know that we CAN resist sin! We can overcome it!
Romans 6:6-11 – “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Praise be to God for His revealed Word, and the love He shows through His Son Jesus Christ! And God could have stopped there…we could have been redeemed through the blood of Christ and reunited to God…but He goes one step more to enable us to experience this Freedom from bondage to sin…the Father and the Son come and make their home with us, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit…the very Spirit of God lives within the believer, making us supernatural, and uniting us to Him and His power…even as we live this human life!
I think that God held Abel’s offering in higher regard because his offering, being the firstborn of his flock, presented a larger sacrifice to Abel’s herd, thus showing greater devotion towards God. This is not to say herdsmen are held higher to God than farmers or that plant offerings are lesser than animal offerings.
God is merciful and challenges Cain to do better at the next sacrificial offering but Cain instead is jealous of God’s favor towards Abel’s offering, and proceeds to murder his brother.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”(James 4:2)
That last part of the verse shows that if Cain had asked for God’s favor and to do better next time, he would have surely received what he had asked for if he had faith.
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”(Matthew 21:22)
Instead, Cain was self righteous, he hardened his heart towards God, killed his brother, lied to God about it, and in turn received a burden that he says he cannot bear. Let this be a reminder to all that sin, not forgiven, leads to death.
“Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”(James 1:15)
But God, being rich in mercy offered us, sinners sentenced to hell, a way out of our sentence. Jesus died on that cross at Calvary and was the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice that would pay for all the sins of those who believe in Him.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”(Ephesians 2:4-6)
Praise the Lord for the love that He shows us and for being the great God that He is!
Great word, John. Thanks so much for sharing!
Genesis 4
7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
God makes clear here that there will be sins we struggle with and that we do have the power to prevail over those sins. Many times we feel justified in sins because of our overwhelming desire toward them and even assign blame to God for “making us this way” but here we are just a couple people in to the world and He is advising us that the Truth of God is the answer to the “feelings” we have. We can not be ruled by emotion but rather guided by the knowledge of His Truth.
And as for the obvious, extensive inbreeding that then must occur to create more people, I did read a commentary that at least made me feel more comfortable with it…
“Here, necessity demanded that Adam’s sons marry his daughters. And at this point, the gene pool of humanity was pure enough to allow close marriage without harm of inbreeding. But as a stream can get more polluted the further it flows from the source, there came a time when God decreed there no longer be marriage between close relatives because of the danger of inbreeding.”
He even had a plan for populating the earth…every detail so carefully handled.
I will comment on what Genesis 3 tells of Gods creation. Adam and Eve had perfect genetics and intellect to speak & understand & name all the created things and who knows how much else but it was more than sufficient.
Cain went out and built an entire city, showing he had construction knowledge. Other offspring worked with metal, made musical instruments etc. These are all firsts, nobody taught them. I find this all very amazing.
Genesis 4
Genesis 4
”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.“
Genesis 4:7 KJV
Obedience is a choice, sin is a choice.
Things digress from here , but we also see at the end of this genealogical information , it says: “ Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.”
What a powerful chapter showing the dynamics of sin and how God interacts with us in regards to it. First He gives instruction. When He says to Cain, if you do what is right, we can assume that Cain knew what the right was, based on what God had taught him. That would be in reference to the kind of offering to bring, or the motive to bring it in and/or that murder was wrong. Whatever was faulty about his offering, it would have been clear how to make it right. Secondly God gives warning and a means to do what is right. He lays it right out for Cain what was going on in his selfish and petty heart. And what a great picture of sin crouching like a wild animal seeking to destroy him (and us). And rather than it mastering you, you must master it. God always lays out our responsibility clearly that we must make the choice to defeat sin or it will defeat us. Thank God that He gives us provision to aid in His word, His Spirit and the new nature. Thirdly, God gives consequences for sin. Now Cain is the typical sinner/human being, who thinks more of what he is suffering in committing the sin than the one who has been sinned against. And fourthly, God provides a measure of grace even in the face of this great disobedience. And yet Cain, it appears, continues to walk away from God and the effects of sin and pride are seen. That is until Seth is born, and people turn to their creator once again.
I dropped back to make a comment on Gen. 4 for I was behind in making comments. About Cain and why his offering wasn`t acceptive by God. We all know that his attitude wasn`t good. Perhaps it was that the fruit of the ground should had been better fruit and that is why it wasn`t respected. But I tend to believe that it was not the right offering. There should had been a animal sacrifice. As Pastor said Cain knew what the right should had been. We just don`t know ourselves. But from scriptures the main offerings were animal sacrifices. Even though the law that came by God through Moses didn`t exist yet. But they were instructed by God at the beginning. Just look at what God did for Adam and Eve when He killed animals to give them skins to wear. I am sure that there must had been instruction from God. Perhaps this is why Cain was angry. After all shouldn`t his toil count for something? His pride was there afterwards but maybe before if he felt his works were more important than obedience. Like I said earlier this is only my thought for the scripture doesn`t actually say why God didn`t respect his offering. On another statement that Cain said to God. { Am I my brother`s keeper?}The answer would be : Yes we are. We are to look out for each other. In our prayers, actions, and anything else that may be needed. God bless you all.