Genesis, chapter 4

• NIV Genesis 4:1 Adam lay with 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."

Genesis, chapter 4

• Luther’s translation.

• “I have gotten the man of the Lord”

Very Interesting!

• QACHA -- When Eve was taken from Adam, Adam said that he RECEIVED (qacha).

• QANA -- When Cain is taken from Eve, she said that he was ACOMPLISHED, ACQUIRED, DONE (qana) with the Lord. This is what many would come to call synergism. We work with the Lord to accomplish our salvation.

Freedom

• Our Lord gives free will but it must always be in the larger picture of His control and care, lest all falls apart. To emphasize this, all glory must be given to God alone for our salvation to ascertain our affirmation of this truth.

Martin Luther

• Eve did not call Cain son. For sake of her great joy and awe, she was unwilling to call him son but had something even greater in mind… She calls him the man of the Lord whom God had promised: “Your seed will crush the head of the serpent.”

• Footnote: This is Luther’s quotation of the verse.

• Actual wording of verse Genesis 3:15.

• Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Martin Luther

• She believes Cain will put to an end to the misfortunes of the serpent.

• She names him, “I acquired him.”

• Cain will have a permanent share in the LAND becoming a farmer.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

Martin Luther… in summary• Without doubt, Cain was highly regarded

while Abel was not. His name shows this. His name means nothing... He was named such so as not to detract from the great things his brother would accomplish…

• Cain was entrusted with something lasting – Land.

• Abel was given something that would change and be consumed – Flocks.

• Abel is a wanderer with no lasting share of land for his name.

• Cowboy novels often have a similar theme.

Luther on Genesis ch. 4

• Cain was made to be chief from the start.

• The Lord will show his great reversal that the least will be shown greatest.

• Discuss other shepherds mentioned throughout the Scriptures.

Shepherd

• Faith is joyful acknowledgement and dependence upon the presence and care of another. An example of this is a sheep with a shepherd.

• Abraham and his descendants, Moses (for 40 years), David, and Bethlehem shepherds.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

What types of sacrifices were these?

• Atonement? To make satisfaction for sin.

• Praise? To be inspired to respond to the Lord’s grace.

• These were praise offerings.

Helpful Footnotes

• Grain offerings of praise were a staple part of the Tabernacle / Temple ceremony.

• Malachi stated praise offerings were not acceptable without graciousness of the husbands in the home towards their wives. Malachi 2:13-14.

Genesis, chapter 4• Cain is a historical person but also

foreshadows all religions that trust self- control. The mentality is this: “Unless I secure the best for myself, who will?”

• Those who want to be seen as religious without true sacrificial faith do this all the time. Many seek friends, popularity, salary, etc., by withholding their life’s best from the Lord. This confesses that they do not trust the Lord can secure a better glory for themselves than they can.

Christ on the Cross

• Christ poured out His best and all. Yaweh, the Father, secured His glory for Him.

• We live in the pattern of the cross. We can pour out our best to others and the Lord will secure truer and better glory for us than we can for ourselves.

Genesis, chapter 4

• Abel reflects the true faith. Abel cannot help but pour forth himself to the Lord (our original and intended purpose as we reflect the Lord who pours forth self for all).

• Stewardship is faith. Looking forwards and backwards to the pattern of Christ, we pour out our best and are dependent upon the Father for a better glory that we are to receive from Him and in His grace alone.

A Matter of the Heart

• The Lord wants the heart to be included in the sacrifice. He does not want the sacrifice to be given merely to be seen as religious.

• Matthew 6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

• Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

Genesis, chapter 4

• NIV 2 Corinthians 8:12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

• NIV 1 Samuel 16:7 Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

The Gift of Motives

• NIV Acts 5:3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

• This is another example of Cain worship.

• NIV Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

• PLEAOINA – Greater, more abundant, more generous.

Genesis, chapter 4

• So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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 master it.”

Crouching Sin?

Genesis, chapter 4

• As a rabbit would not flirt with the idea of being prey for a wolf, we must not flirt with sin – indifference towards the Lord.

Mastered by Sin or Mastering Sin

Or ANOTHER understanding.

• The literal translation:• At the door, sin

abides.• The thought: “Sin is

at the door, will it find a permanent haven.”

• The “crouching” is an example of where a traditional teaching influences the translation of the text today.

• Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Holiness is not being immune from wrong thoughts. Holiness

detests contentment to give them home, haven, and harbor.

• MISHAEL IT• NIV Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your

master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

SAQ - MISHAEL.

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 master it.“

• We see an earlier framework of this thought.

Desire and Rule

Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.“

This clearly shows the show the contention in the home with a lack of empathy. The Bible emphasizes men to be empathetic, not controlling. In fact men are to pour out their best as Christ did with hearftfelt empathy (as they would for their own bodies).

Genesis, chapter 4

• 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Cain’s Solution

• Cain’s solution is not personal repentance.

• Cain’s solution is to discredit the one he sees as a rival.

• This occurred among the religious in Jesus’ day and occurs with the antichrists today.

Genesis, chapter 4

1. The mere existence of Abel clashes with Cain’s pride and worldview.

This is why Christ was crucified and why the Church is persecuted today.

2. The sin (hostility) directed towards the Lord’s presence and care is also directed against His true people who have first fruits faith.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?“

• The Lord questions Cain as He did Adam and Eve.

• Why did He do this the first time?

• Why now with Cain?

Genesis, chapter 4

• 10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

• With sin as his master, he resides under it and its curse. Satan and the earth were cursed before, God did not curse Adam and Eve.

Genesis, chapter 4

• God cursed Satan and the earth.

• As Cain is under Satan’s power, he also receives a curse.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

• Remaining under sin and its curse, Cain will pass away just like the earth.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

• Cain does not want to be treated as he treats the Lord or others.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

• If someone gives a blow to Cain, they will receive seven blows in turn from the Lord.

Genesis, chapter 4

• Even though the heart of Cain is not led to saving faith, God provides protection. God determined the right retribution for Cain and mankind was not to interfere with that.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.

• Notice early man was not primitive.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.

• What are the two things needed for a civilization to progress? Domesticated livestock and ore. We see both in early man.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 23 Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."

Genesis, chapter 4

Notice the DISTORTION AND IGNORANCE of thehistory of God’s people among the peoples of theearth.1. Instead of using the account of the violence

against Abel as a warning, it is used as justification.

2. Instead of using the account of the mark of Cain as a lesson that God alone is responsible for retribution, the lesson is utterly lost.

3. We see a foreshadowing of the anti-christs.

The Tendency to Corrupt Truth for Selfish Designs

• Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. While the name of Yaweh and accounts of the beginning of history may have persisted from Noah’s descendants, we see the corruption of truth is the natural tendency of sin.

• In 1448 B.C., Yaweh clarifies what actually happened.

• NIV Luke 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

Genesis, chapter 4

• 25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him."

• The name means “He has established.”• This is a far cry from “I got him with

YAWEH” in Eve’s attitude. And supports Luther’s views that Eve believe she contributed toward the salvation from sin.

Genesis, chapter 4

• 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.

• The beginning of prayer.

• As people were no longer face to face with the Lord and naturally able to recognize Him in all things, they must resort to prayer and fellowship with His name.

• This shows the needed work of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer is a continual attitude in the restored world to come.

• NIV Isaiah 11:9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

• NIV Isaiah 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

Prayer is joy and comfort in Lord’s presence and sustaining care in

every need and blessing

• NIV Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer is Faith.Joy for Lord’s presence in need and blessing is faith.

• The Samaritan rejoiced in need and blessing.

• NIV Luke 17:19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well.“

• NIV James 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

Faith is needed in everything (worship, life) to please God

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

The Messianic Old Covenant

• We are only 4 chapters into the Bible.

• We have a Lord who wants to be known face to face and acknowledged.

• We have a prophecy of the Messiah crushing the head of Satan.

• We have a prophecy of the Messiah that the shedding of blood covers shame (remember the garments of skin).

The Messianic Old Covenant

• We have a prophecy that those who pour out their best to the Lord are rejected by the world

• We have a false interpretation of the Messiah from those deemed the children of God.

• We have the natural tendency to corrupt truth for self-justification.