The Bible: One Bite at a Time Expository Sermon Series Notes Genesis to The Revelation Sid Galloway © 1999

Cain & Abel: Me & You - Biblical Counseling  Genesis 4:1-24

Audio Tape # 31   June 11, 2000         (Notes Updated June 29, 2000)

Review: (Gen 3)

The Text: Genesis 4:1-24 (Strong's #'s in parentheses)
Genesis 4:1-24

     "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” 8 Now 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 killed him.
     9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 “So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 “When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 “Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
     16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 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. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
     19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for hurting me.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

Condensed Exposition and Commentary - (Gen 4:1-24)

IX. Cain & Abel / Me & You - Biblical Counseling

     The passage can be divided into two sections:

* 1-15 = Disorder causes dysfunction, even after repentance.
* 16-24 = Bad seed yields bitter fruit (Cain's legacy).

vv. 1-15 = Disorder causes dysfunction which causes dishonor to God's image in His creation, to some degree even after repentance. When the family members (especially the father) are not "in-line" under God's authority structure (husband/father, wife/mother, child), then the family cannot function as God designed and accomplish His goals. (Note King David's sin and the subsequent trouble in his family).

v. 1 "Knew" = intimacy both physically and spiritually (personal knowledge) Joh 17:3; Eph 5:22-33. God does not use the term "knew" out of prudish attitudes toward sex. God created sex and the Bible is very graphic about it.God's design for marital sex is a spiritual act, not just physical (see the article, "Sexual Intimacy").

"Cain" = "got". "Got a male child from the YHWH".
(Maybe she was hoping he would be the seed to crush the serpent's head. But he crushes his brother's head.) This is the beginning of the Elder brother syndrome of prideful jealousy.

v.2. "Abel" = breath or nothing. Why this name? Was it a comparison to Cain?
Originally Adam was both the shepherd and the farmer, but he apparently delegted to his sons. Abel was shepherd. Cain was a farmer. Neither job is better than the other.

v. 3-5. Cain merely offers some of his fruit. Able offers a "firstborn" lamb, and "fat pieces".
(He gives the first and the best, & blood sacrifice) (Num 18:17)
The LORD "respected" (accepted) "Abel" (Abels heart attitude, Heb 11:4) and his offering.

1 Sam 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Abel's heart submissively trusted in God to provide more for him, even if he gave God the first and best. The LORD did not respect Cain or his offering. Cain merely practiced "religious rituals", with outward behavior. Not only is his heart not right (not of "faith"), but he may also have been rejected because his offering was not a blood sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:22).

* Note that the Bible does not state that God was the one who killed the animal whose skin was used by God to clothe Adam and Eve after they sinned. That animal may have been killed by another animal after escalating entropy (the dysfunction of the second law of thermodynamics) entered the world, along with the social entropy of violence. Similarly, there is no record in the Bible of God directly instituting the sacrificing of animals for sin. He merely accepts man's offering of life for life, and then much later regulates it through the law given to Moses.  The rebellion of Adam (Gen 3) and the subsequent escalation of "entropy" (disorder, death, & decay - dysfunctional 2nd law of thermodynamics) is the reason for imperfections as well as the selfish competition, violence, pain, suffering, fear, and death we see in the "wild kingdom" now.  *  The second law of thermodynamics was functional before Adam sinned, such as in the process of digestion, chemical processes, etc., but death and disease were not.

When Cain's man-made religion was not acceptable to God, he responded not with humility and repentance, but with bitter, depressive ("down cast") self-pity. (His problem was not low self-esteem, but that he esteemed his assessment of the situation as better than God's assessment.)
(A heart attitude of depression thinks, "This is not fair, I deserve better than this.").

v. 6-7 The LORD as Counselor ........ Father Knows Best.
God asks questions just as he did with Adam and Jonah.
God is asking, "Why is the fruit of the flesh hanging on your tree?" Gal 5:16-25
Why questions can be very effective in biblical counseling. Yet the secular counseling therapies shy away from them because they sound too "judgmental". Even some biblical counseling organizations have absorbed this secular idea about "why questions".
God is encouraging self-confrontation (examination of the heart motives, attitudes).
This is the root (Mat 15:19) of the behaviors and the full countenance (A.B.C.s of J.O.Y.).

God / Counselor - "If you do well", you will receive acceptance. If not, then sin, like a predator, desires to control and use you (1 Pet 5:5-9), like a wild animal ready to attack.
(The term for "desire" is used 3x's and always refers to a desire to control, and rule over. It is used for Eve's post-sin desire to rule over Adam, sin's desire to rule over Cain, and the third use is of Solomon's desire to rule over his bride as her husband.)
James 1:13-15 gives us the progression of sin from root to fruit.
"... but you must rule over it" = God counsels Cain that he must choose to be the boss of his own ABC's (attitude, behavior, & countenance). He must make a choice of his will. But how?
Real saving faith, in contrast to demonic faith (James 2:19) is hypotasso (submissive) faith. This means a choice not of will-power, but of will-surrendered. God initiates and reaches out in grace, and man is responsible to respond with, "Not my will, but thy will be done".

v. 8 Cain the Counselee responds with only a worldly sorrow, not a godly sorrow. 2 Cor 7:10 "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." Worldly sorrow only changes the fruit, not the root. The result is that the weed of sin keeps growing and leads to death (murder). I've seen people in discipleship counseling cry and cry in sorrow, but the lack of a transformed life in the months and years to follow demonstrated that the root was merely a worldly, superficial sorrow. They were sorry that they had been caught, and that their sin was now going to cause more difficulty in their life - just like brother Cain!

v. 9 God the Counselor: (more confrontational) "Where's your brother?" (1 John 3:16-18; 4).
Cain the Counselee: "It's not my responsibility". (I became a zookeeper before I was a Christian, because I didn't like people and was afraid of them. I didn't want to be my brother's keeper. So I became a shepherd over animals.)

v. 10-12 God the Counselor: Even more direct confrontation now (Mat 18:15-20; Heb 12). This and God's loving, firm, confrontation of Adam and Eve is the cornerstone of the principle for God's people to L.E.A.D. one another toward restoration and maturity in God's image. Church discipline is the loving rod of accountability and correction for us today.
Consequences = The first curse on a person for the first time....... the first homeless person.
(* Many homeless people, but not all, are bitter and full of self-pity.)

v. 13-14 Cain the Counselee: He whines & grumbles (weeps & gnashes teeth), "It's not fair".
(This is a common response from homeless folk's when loving confronted.
Cain doesn't mention any recognition of his own responsibility. He is the original counselee from hell, folks. Be careful folks, that you don't blow up at such counselees and nuke them. No matter how frustrating they may be, don't respond with the Nehemiah therapy:

Neh 13:25 "So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, . . . . "

v. 15 God the Counselor: God gives mercy & grace. He gives Cain a "sign" for protection. This is not necessarily a "mark" on his body, and it certainly is NOT the color of his skin as claimed by some racists pseudo-Christians. The Bible doesn't tell us what it is, so we should not speculate.

vv. 16-24 = Bad seed yields bitter fruit (Cain's legacy).
                   * Sin and social entropy escalate exponentially!

Cain goes to NOD, the twilight zone of wandering (the WILDerness)
He builds a city to settle down (against God's directed punishment).
He names the city after his own son, without any reference to God.

v. 19 First bigamist.
v. 20 First mobile homes. A good thing.
v. 21 First musical instruments. Good things.
v. 22 First "Craftsman" tools. Good things.
(Man apart from God emphasizes things and pleasure over relationships, and uses technology to create his substitutes for satisfaction. The good (technology) swallows up the best (intimate, simple relationships with the people we love, especially God). (2 Tim 3-4)

v. 23-24 Lamech - A new self-esteem king, who sets his own rules (no rules/no fear).
Lamech leads the way to the flood. Prov 14:12; Gen 6:5-12.

Questions for Application:

- Does your life reflect the character of Cain?
- How can you change to reflect the character of Christ in your relationships, according to the ranks, roles, and responsibilities God has given you?