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GENESIS 4
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page 12
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
3:18
Job 31:40
Heb 6:8
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
3:19
Gen 2:7
Pss 90:3; 104:29
Eccl 12:7
1 Cor 15:47
Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment
20Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all 3:20
Cor 11:3
who live.* 21And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. 21 Tim
2:13
22Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings* have become like us, knowing
3:21
both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then 2 Cor 5:2-3
they will live forever!” 23So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and
he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24After sending 3:24
10:1
them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And Ezek
Rev 2:7; 22:2, 14
he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
2. Cain and Abel
Now Adam* had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant.
When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced* a
4:2
man!” 2Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3When Luke 11:50-51
it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4Abel 4:3
Lev 2:1-2
also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord Num 18:12
accepted Abel and his gift, 5but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very 4:4
Exod 13:12
angry, and he looked dejected.
Heb 11:4
6“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7You 4:6
will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch Jon 4:4
out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be 4:7
Rom 6:12, 16
Jas 1:15
its master.”
4
3:20 Eve sounds like a Hebrew term that means “to give life.” 3:22 Or the man; Hebrew reads ha-adam.
4:1a Or the man; also in 4:25. 4:1b Or I have acquired. Cain sounds like a Hebrew term that can mean “produce”
or “acquire.”
TEXTUAL NOTES —
Related
toand
theEve
New
was
perfect,directly
and if Adam
had obeyed God, they could have lived
there
forever.Translation
But after they text,
disobeyed him, God told Adam and Eve to
Living
leave. If they
had examine
continued tothings
live in the Garden and had eaten from the
textual
notes
tree of life, they would have lived forever. But eternal life in a state of sin
such
as
alternate
would mean forever trying to hide from God. Like Adam and Eve, all of
translations,
us
have sinned andthe
are meanings
separated from fellowship with God. But because
of
sacrificial
death forterms,
us, we do not have to stay separated from
ofJesus’
Greek
and Hebrew
God.
In fact, God is preparing a new earth as an eternal paradise for his
variant readings in ancient
people (see Revelation 21–22). To ensure our place there one day, let us
biblical
manuscripts,
accept
his invitation
to come to him (Revelation 22:17).
more.
3:24 This and
is how
Adam and Eve broke their relationship with God:
(1) They became convinced their way was better than God’s and acted
on that belief; (2) they became self-conscious and hid; and (3) they tried
to excuse and defend themselves. To build a relationship with God we
must reverse those steps: (1) We must drop our excuses and self-defenses;
(2) we must seek God, not hide from him; and (3) we must become
convinced that God’s way is better than our way and act accordingly.
4:1 The phrase “had sexual relations with” is literally “knew.” Sexual
union means oneness with and total knowledge of the other person.
Sexual intercourse is the most intimate of acts, sealing a social, physical,
and spiritual relationship. That is why God has reserved it for a man and
a woman in marriage alone.
4:2 No longer was everything provided for Adam and Eve as it had been
in the Garden of Eden, where their daily tasks had been refreshing and
delightful. Now they had to struggle against the elements in order to
provide food, clothing, and shelter for themselves and their family. Cain
became a farmer, while Abel was a shepherd. In parts of the Middle East
3:22-24 Life in the Garden of Eden was like living in heaven. Everything
today, these ancient occupations are still practiced much as they were
in Cain and Abel’s time.
4:3-5 The Bible doesn’t say why God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice.
Perhaps Cain’s attitude was improper, or perhaps his offering was not up
to God’s standards. Proverbs 21:27 says, “The sacrifice of an evil person
is detestable, especially when it is offered with wrong motives.” God
evaluates both our motives and the quality of what we offer him. When
we give to God and others, we should have joyful hearts because of
what we are able to give. We should not worry about how much we are
giving up, for all things are God’s in the first place. Instead, we should
joyfully give to God our best in time, money, possessions, and talents.
4:6-7 How do you react when someone suggests you have done
something wrong? Do you move to correct the mistake or deny that
you need to correct it? After Cain’s sacrifice was rejected, God gave him
the chance to right his wrong and try again. God even encouraged him
to do this! But Cain refused, and the rest of his life is a startling example
of what happens to those who refuse to admit their mistakes. The next
time someone suggests you are wrong, take an honest look at yourself
and choose God’s way instead of Cain’s.
4:7 For Cain to subdue the sin that was crouching at the door, he would
have to give up his jealous anger so that sin would not find a foothold in his
life. Sin is still crouching at our doors today. Like Cain, we will be victims
of sin if we do not resist it and master our sinful desires. But we cannot
master sin in our own strength. Instead, we must turn to God to receive
faith for ourselves and turn to other believers to receive encouragement
and strength. The Holy Spirit will help us master sin. This will be a lifelong
battle that will not be over until we are face-to-face with Christ.
