- [Narrator] Exiled from Eden, canopied by grace,
Adam and Eve, the first pair
enter on their life experience of labor and sorrow
and the human race begins its onward course of development.
They had been exiled from the Garden of Eden
by a mystic cherubim and flaming sword.
The other members of the race were to be produced
while Adam was formed from the soil
and Eve from a rib taken from his side.
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."
However, just like Adam, the first man, fell,
something was about to take hold
of the first sons of the patriarchs.
Eve's designation of her newborn as a man
has been interpreted to mean
that she had previously given birth to girls
who had grown up to be women,
and that she anticipated her young and vulnerable babe
to mature as well.
Genesis chapter four, verse two.
"And she began again bare his brother Abel.
"And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
"but Cain was a tiller of the ground."
Genesis chapter four, verse three.
"And in process of time it came to pass
"that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground
"and offering unto the Lord.
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings
"of his flock and the fat thereof.
"And the Lord had respect onto Abel and his offering."
Firstlings of his flock means the firstborn of his animals,
which God afterwards demanded.
Exodus chapter 13, verse 12.
"You are to present to the Lord
"the first born male of every womb.
"All the first born males of your livestock
"belong to the Lord."
The firstlings also shows Abel's priorities.
He did not pay himself first
the fatness of them means the best he had
and the best of those best.
Genesis chapter four, verse five.
"But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
"And Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell."
And Cain was very wroth literally means
it burned with Cain exceedingly and his countenance fell.
Cain was in bitter resentment of his brother,
possibly in dissatisfaction with himself,
almost certainly in anger against God.
However, the Lord does not immediately abandon
the arrogant Cain,
but patiently expounds on and instructs him on a how he
too can obtain the same blessing
of acceptance that his younger brother did.
Genesis chapter four, verses six through nine.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, 'Why art thou wroth?
"'And why is that countenance fallen?
"'If thou doest well,
"'shall 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.'
"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.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, 'Where is Abel thy brother?'
"And he said, 'I know not;
"'Am I my brother's keeper?'"
Where is Abel* thy brother, a question fit to go
straight to the murderer's conscious
and no less fit to arouse his raffled jealousy
as demonstrating how truly Abel was the beloved one.
"I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"
That was the desperate last resort
of someone who felt he was being tracked
by avenging justice
and was about to be convicted of his crime.
Genesis chapter four, verse 10.
"And he said, 'What hast thou done?
"'The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me
"'from the ground.'"
The infinitely wise judge proceeds to charge the guilty
fratricide with his sin.
Satisfied that the guilty Cain
is determined not to acknowledge his deed.
Jehovah said, "What hast thou done?"
thus implying His complete awareness of the fact
that his prisoner was attempting to deny.
What a revelation it must have been
to the inwardly trembling perpetrator
of the impossibility of escaping the wrath of God.
The voice of my brother's blood is a common
biblical expression used in reference to murder
and other crimes.
The blood crying represents the soul
pleading for the right to live.
In this case, the cry was a demand
for the murderers punishment,
and that cry has echoed throughout all lands
and down through the ages,
proclaiming vengeance against the shedder of innocent blood.
Genesis chapter nine, verse five.
"Surely your blood of your lives will I require.
"At the hand of every beast will I require it,
"and at the hand of man.
"At the hand of every man's brother
"will I require the life of man."
Genesis chapter four, verses 11 and 12.
"And now art thou cursed from the earth,
"which has opened her mouth
"to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand.
"When thou tillest the ground,
"it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength.
"A fugitive and a vagabond shall thou be in the earth."
Convicted if not humbled,
the perpetrator is speechless
and can only listen in disbelief
to the threefold judgment that declares him
cursed in his soul, vagabond in his body,
and unprosperous in his labors.
He would now bear the displeasure
and indignation of his maker,
whose image in Abel he had slain,
of which indignation and displeasure
his expatriation was to be a symbol.
The terrible significance of this curse
is further opened in the words,
"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 was to be against him,
first in refusing him as substance.
"When now tillest the ground,
"it shall not henceforth yield,"
literally add to give,
"unto thee her strength."
Second, in denying him a home, a fugitive and a vagabond,
literally moving and wandering,
groaning and trembling, banished and homeless.
Thus, the earth was made the minister of God's curse.
Genesis chapter four, verses 13 and 14.
"And Cain said unto the Lord,
"'My punishment is greater than I can bear.
"'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 everyone that finds me shall slay me.'
"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."
Cain's apprehensions were allayed by a special act of grace.
Just like the covering of Adam and Eve,
God shows favor to Cain after his judgment.
There would be no such mitigation of the penalty
in the case of Cain's killer
as there was in the case of Cain himself.
On the contrary, he would be visited more severely
than Cain because he was guilty not only of homicide,
but also of violating the divine commandment
that said Cain was to live.
Cain was given this special privilege for a reason.
It was to demonstrate, one,
"To demonstrate that vengeance is mine I will repay,"
says the Lord.
Second, to serve as a deterrent to the crime of murder.
There is most likely a reference to this
in the concluding clause,
"And God put a mark on Cain."
Genesis chapter four, verses 16 and 17.
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,
"and dwelled in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
"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.
"And unto Enoch was born Irad,
"and Irad begat gap Mehujael,
"and Mehujael begat Methusael,
"and Methusael begat Lamech."
Years passed, the Cain family grew to manhood,
and they, like their parents,
established homes for themselves.
Genesis chapter four, verse 20.
"And Adah bore Jabal.
"He was the father of such as dwell in tents,
"and of such as have cattle.
"And his brother's name was Jubal.
"He was the father of all such as handle
"the harp and organ.
"And Zillah, she also bore Tubalcain,
"an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.
"And the sister of Tuba-cain was Naamah.
"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.
"'If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
"'Truly Lamech 70 and sevenfold.'
"And Adam knew his wife again and she bare a son,
"and called his name Seth:
"'For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed
"'instead of Abel; whom Cain slew.'"
The story now reverts to the fortunes
of the doubly saddened pair.
"And Adam knew his wife again.
"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."
Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve
and brother of Cain and Abel,
their only other child mentioned by name
in the Hebrew Bible.
And Eve believed that God had appointed him
as a replacement for Abel.
Out of Seth came other men of faith, including Noah.
What the Bible says about Cain.
His name translates as a possession, a spear.
He was a sullen, self-willed, haughty,
vindictive man, desirous of the religious element
in his character and defiant even towards God.
He was faded to be a wanderer and fugitive in the earth.
He left for the land of Nod
and his descendants can be traced back
to the sixth generation.
They gradually deteriorated in moral
and spiritual condition
until they were completely corrupt in the eyes of God.
This corruption prevailed
and God eventually sent the deluge
to prevent evil's ultimate triumph.
Seven things we know about Cain.
One, he worships in self-will.
Two, is angry with God.
Three, refuses to bring a sin offering.
Four, murders his brother.
Five, lies to God.
Six, becomes a vagabond.
Seven, is nevertheless the object of divine solicitude.
The New Testament warns us regarding Cain
and the importance of love.
Hebrews chapter 11, verse four.
"By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain,
"through which he obtained the testimony
"that he was righteous,
"God testifying about his gifts;
"and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks."
And why did he murder him?
Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.
What the Bible says about Abel.
Abel means a breath or vanity,
a grassy place, a meadow.
The blood of sprinkling is said to speak
better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 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 comparison here is between the sacrifice
offered by Christ and that offered by Abel,
and not between the blood of Christ
calling for mercy and the blood of the murdered Abel
calling for vengeance,
as has sometimes been supposed.
Three descriptions of Abel:
worshiper, righteous man, martyr.
There was a difference in the offerings they brought,
it is expressly said.
Hebrews chapter 11, verse four.
"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."
The Book of Hebrews is an outstanding resource
to understanding the Old Testament.
The significant difference was that Abel offered in faith,
whereas Cain did not.
There was a difference in the principle they followed.
Abel offered with God's will as his rule
and God's glory as his end,
and in reliance on the promise of a redeemer.
Cain was unhumbled.
His confidence was within himself.
He was like the Pharisee who glorified himself,
but was not so much as justified before God.
Abel was a penitent believer,
like the publican who went away justified.
The New Testament warns us regarding Cain
and the importance of love.
First John chapter three, verses 11 and 12.
"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning,
"that we should love one another.
"We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one,
"and murdered his brother.
"And why did he murder him?
"Because his own deeds were evil
"and his brother's righteous."
The deadly fruit of hate is taught
in the brief account of the actual murder.
Notice the impressive plainness and fewness of the words,
"Cain rose up against his brother and slew him."
Take note of how many times his brother
is repeated in the verse and throughout.
Take note of the story's vivid depiction of the sins
rise in progression.
It all starts with envy and jealousy.
Cain's offering was rejected, so he was not wroth.
What did he care about it?
But what irritated him was that his brother possessed
what he lacked.
So selfishness was at the bottom,
which led to envy, which led to hatred.
The story of Cain and Abel introduces the reader
to a harsh reality.
All generations of humanity are cursed by the curse of sin,
which Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden perpetuated.
The story of Cain and Abel teaches us a lot.
Sin and righteousness do not mix.
It also teaches us that we cannot hide our sin from God,
even though Cain tried to cover up his sin by lying,
God already knew what he had done.
Genesis chapter four, verse 10.
"And he said, 'What hast thou done?
"'The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me
"'from the ground.'"
The Bible, however, tells the story of a very righteous man.
His name was Noah.
To watch his story, click here.