Notes on Genesis 4
Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and
said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
There are some speculation that Eve may have thought this was the promised seed
that was to come as promised in Genesis 3. Sometimes when we read of God's
promises, we expect them right away or at least in our lifetime but God's time
clock is so different from ours. The apostles and other early Christians thought
Jesus would return in their day and many others throughout history have thought
the Lord's coming was near.
One sign of the Lord's coming though is that people are not looking for Him. The
reason we do not know the day and the hour is so that we will all strive to be
ready in that day and not lose sight of His coming.
Eve may have thought that Cain was this Christ that was to come. When this
promised seed did come though except for a few chosen of God, many did not
recognize Him.
The first coming was through the seed of the woman to fulfill Genesis 3. He had
to come and make the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all mankind. The
second coming will be one of power and glory.
Gen 4:2 And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
All events and all children born to Adam and Eve were not written for us to
read. Only certain facts were written so that we could know the lineage of the
promised Messiah and certain other lineages necessary for our understanding.
Adam and Eve had other sons and daughter other than the ones we read about.
Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the
fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 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:
Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very
wroth, and his countenance fell.
There is much speculation as to why the Lord did not accept Cain's offering.
Some say that it was not a blood sacrifice which typifies the time when the shed
blood of Christ would be offered for our sins. Perhaps the sacrifice of Cain was
not the best or not from the depths of his heart. We see from Cain's jealous
reaction to God's rejection, the condition of his heart was not pure so perhaps
the condition of his heart may give us a hint of the type of sacrifice he
offered but yet we see what is written in the New Testament scriptures it tends
to hint at the blood sacrifice offering.
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts:
and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
We see here that Abel had faith. His faith was what made Abel righteous. Cain
lacked this. Cain had some kind of faith or he would not have made any sacrifice
but it wasn't the faith that pleased God.
It could be that Abel sought God acknowledging His sinfulness and sought God's
forgiveness believing that God would send the perfect offering for sin. Cain may
have offered a sacrifice without admitting any sin and any need to repent or
change. We must recognize our need for God's provision and salvation. If we come
to God thinking we are righteous in ourselves, then we will be rejected. We need
to acknowledge our need for Him to save us. We cannot save ourselves by our own
religious acts or good works.
Both sacrifices were religious acts to seek or please God. One was accepted and
the other was not. We see from this that all religions or religious acts will
not save us from sin or cause us to enter heaven. There is only one way. That
way is the way God provides and not man. Manmade religion will not save any one.
God sent a savior, God made the way of salvation and that way is Jesus Christ.
Just being a good person does not save. The first step to eternal life is
believing in the one God sent to save us, His very Son, Jesus Christ. God had to
become man. Man had fallen and allowed sin to rule, a flesh and blood man had to
undo the curse that came upon us. Since no man is capable of living without sin,
it had to be God who came into the flesh of man and became the perfect sacrifice
for sin. The just and perfect Son of God died for our sins even though He did
not have any sin. Since He died undeserving, it counts for all of us who did
deserve to die. We can inherit eternal life by accepting this work Jesus did for
us and believing upon Him as Lord of our lives.
He reversed the curse but only for those who believe. To believe means to accept
Him to live by His word. We can't say we believe in something and not live by
what we believe. If I say I believe in the Republican party and what they stand
for yet I vote Democratic every time I go to the polls then of course I wouldn't
really believe in the Republican party in deed and in truth. If we say we
believe in Jesus and never talk to Him, never read His word and ignore
everything He has to say to us, how can we say we believe in Him. Believing in
Jesus means that we act like we believe.
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
The sacrifice of Abel pointed toward the perfect sacrifice to come and the
perfect and only way of salvation.
Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy
countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 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.
Cain had the right of the first born to rule and have authority but he could
lose that right if he allowed the sin that was in his heart to rule instead.
Cain's reaction of a perfectly normal reaction of human beings. However, we all
have the power to choose not to allow our feelings to rule and cause us to harm
another. We can control our reactions. Through Christ we have more power over
this. We can not only have more power to refuse to harm someone but we can have
the power of the Holy Spirit within us so that we can overcome the spirit of
jealousy and not desire to harm someone.
Not all of us yield to the power of the Holy Spirit but He is available to all
who believe in Jesus Christ so that the sin of hate, jealousy and greed does not
have to control us.
Gen 4:8 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.
Usually we find a place with no witnesses to do evil. Yet God sees all things
and nothing is hid from Him. We may think we get away with sin in this life and
no one sees but we will face the judgment of God if our sin goes into eternity
without repentance and change.
Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said,
I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Cain evaded the truth and lied in his heart. God knew the answer to the question
He asked Cain. I believed He asked the question to get a response from him. I believe God was giving Cain a place
to repent and acknowledge his sin. Had Cain of just repented here, he life would
have been saved. Instead he lied and tried to get away with murder.
Gen 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground.
Gen 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
Gen 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee
her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
The earth already was under the curse from Adam's sin but now the curse would be
increased and it would be harder to yield a good crop. Here was the beginning of
living a life of a wanderer or nomad which go from place to place instead of
staying in one place.
Gen 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can
bear.
Gen 4:14 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.
Gen 4:15 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.
We do not know what this mark was. All Cain had to have done was repent,
acknowledge his sin and it he could have been healed but he preferred to run
from God's presence and live a life without Him. How lonely a life that is and
how sad. God only requires that we repent and seek Him for salvation. When we
just believe in Him and the salvation He provided for us, His presence will be
with us always. Cain did not have to live like that. We do not have to live like
that. We can believe in Jesus and have fellowship with God. He sends His Holy
Spirit to us as soon as we repent of sin and believe in Jesus Christ.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Following we have a short genealogy of Cain. Notice that some of the names are
similar to the lineage of Seth so they must have been common names at that time.
Gen 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the
land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Gen 4:17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built
a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
Gen 4:18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begot Mehujael: and Mehujael
begot Methusael: and Methusael begot Lamech.
Gen 4:19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah.
This is the first recorded plural marriage. I believe in the beginning God meant
for man to have only one wife or He would have made more than one for Adam. It
is the hardness of man's heart that causes him not to be satisfied with one and
take another as well. God never once told man to take more than one wife. Just
because someone in the bible had more than one wife does not necessarily mean it
was ordained of God. Jacob was tricked into it. Abraham was compelled by Sarah
his wife to take Hagar. God did not command it at any time. Kings were warned
not to multiply wives unto themselves.
Gen 4:20 And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents,
and of such as have cattle.
Gen 4:21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as
handle the harp and organ.
Here we have an inventor of musical instruments.
Gen 4:22 And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, an instructor of every
artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Gen 4:23 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.
He killed in self defense so he claimed that if any killed him, it would be
worse than if they killed Cain.
Gen 4:24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and
sevenfold.
Gen 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name
Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom
Cain slew.
Eve knew by now that Cain was not the Messiah for sure if she thought so at the
beginning. Now she seems to have thought that Seth was either the chosen one or
the chosen seed from which the Messiah would come. Seth surely is the one in a way.
Through the line of Seth the Messiah or promised one is to come to save mankind
from sin.
Gen 4:26 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.
Looks like men and women ignored God up to this point and now they began to seek
Him and acknowledge that they need Him.
We can seek Him to. We do not have to live without the presence of God in our
lives.