Genesis chapter 4, we're considering the case of Cain and Abel. Last week we looked at verses 1 to 8, and tonight we'll look at verses 9 to 16. And essentially what we find in this section is a record of the first brothers in verses 1 and 2, the first offerings in verses 3 to 5a, the first murder in verses 5b to 8, and tonight the first trial and sentencing in verses 9 to 16. But I'll begin reading in verse 1.
Now, Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now, Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen?
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. 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. Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel, your brother?
Cain's Lie and Arrogant Rhetoric
He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 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. And Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
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.
And the Lord said to him, therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on him, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. Amen.
Introduction: Cain's Escalating Sin
Remember from last week, we noticed that the text, the section, the narrative, highlights the fact that Abel is Cain's brother seven times. We see it in verses 2, 8, twice, verse 9, twice, again in verses 10 and 11. Kyle and Dalich make the observation that Moses intentionally repeats again and again the words, his brother, to bring clearly out the horror of sin. Cain was the first man who let sin reign in him.
He was of the wicked one. And so this section exacerbates or highlights or shows the rapid decline after the introduction of sin in the fall of man. We see escalation, we see escalation in terms of the gravity and the the tendency towards sin, we see decline in terms of man and his station and his position as an image-bearer. He comes to this place where he's actually engaged in what's called fratricide, which is the murder of a brother.
So last week we saw, as I said, the brothers, their offerings, and the murder. And God had respect for Abel but he did not have respect for Cain and his offering. We saw that that was not because Cain didn't bring blood, but we see in Hebrews 11, it's because Abel brought the heart. Abel had faith.
He brought his sacrifice in faith to the living God, and the Lord had respect for him and for his offering. Of course, Cain took that as a slight. Cain was upset. He was very angry.
His countenance fell. God gave him warning, God told him that he needed to guard his heart, and yet we see that Cain does not do so. He invites Abel out to the field, and there he murders Abel. So we come now to this first trial and sentencing.
The Arraignment of Cain
In the first place, we see the arraignment of Cain in verse 9. Secondly, the indictment of Cain in verse 10. And then thirdly, the punishment of Cain in verses 11 to 16. But notice where God comes to him in verse 9.
It says, Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? We have seen throughout chapter 3 and already before this in chapter 4 that God is not looking for information. It's not the case that God really doesn't know where Abel is. He says in verse 10, the voice of Abel's blood cries out to him from the ground.
Rather, he is giving opportunity to Cain to own his sin, to repent from his sin, and to come to God for mercy. It's a means by which to promote conviction for sin. He does this with Adam and Eve in chapter 3 at verses 9, 11, and 13. He does it previously in this Cain and Abel narrative. in verse 4 when he says, why are you angry?
Of course, God knows why he's angry. And of course, God knows where Abel, his brother, is. But he's trying to bring conviction to this man to show him his sin and his wickedness before a holy God.
The Attempt to Evade God
Now, note his plea in verse 9. We see he said, I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? In the first place, he engages in a flat-out blatant lie. His outright denial shows already that he is hardened even beyond what Adam was.
Because when God comes to deal with Adam, who had fallen, who had sinned against God Almighty, he doesn't deny outrightly that he did the actual act. In other words, when God asked him if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that tree which was prohibited to him, he doesn't say, no, I didn't eat from that. But here Cain says, I didn't do it. He says, I do not know.
This is a blatant, flagrant lie in the face of Almighty God, and then he makes this attempt to evade God's question through arrogant rhetoric. This instance where he says, am I my brother's keeper? Now, he probably overstates the case there. The Bible really never tells us to be our brother's keeper.
It certainly tells us to be our brother's lover in a righteous sense. It tells us to look out for our brother. It tells us to be kind to our brother. But in terms of actually being our brother's keeper, the Bible doesn't tell us to do that.
So he probably overstates the case to show that he was able, or rather, why he denied it completely. Now, the Bible never does say you are your brother's keeper, but the Bible everywhere does say, and Cain would have known this because he bore the image of God Almighty, that you are never to be your brother's murderer. So there's a great disparity there. I'm not supposed to be my brother's keeper.
That doesn't mean you get to murder him. So, again, he's trying to evade the clear question posed by God when God says, where is Abel, your brother? He does it with a flat-out lie, and then he does it with this arrogant rhetoric. Am I my brother's keeper?
Perhaps the implication being, he's your pet, he's your favorite, you had respect for him, and you had respect for his offering. Why aren't you on the lookout for him? Why aren't you guarding? Why aren't you supervising?
The Indictment of Cain
Now notice, secondly, we see the indictment. God asks him again in verse 10, what have you done? The attempt to cover sin by lying and arrogant rhetoric never ends well. I think that's a great lesson for us to learn in this particular passage.
In fact, when we look at Genesis chapters 3 and 4, we see a lot of the sorts of things that sinners still do today, but we ought to observe that those things never end well. Never ended well for Adam and Eve when they tried to hide themselves from God. Never ended well when they tried to shift blame when God came to examine them. And it certainly isn't going to end well for Cain when he tries to lie to God and when he engages in this arrogant rhetoric.
God asks him, where is Abel, your brother? We learn from this that it's never good to cover sin. We saw this In Proverbs 28, 13, whoever covers his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes it will find mercy. John Calvin says we are warned by his example that pretexts and subterfuges are heaped together in vain when sinners are cited to the tribunal of God.
I think this is a very valuable lesson, a very important lesson. There might be that attempt on our part to try to obey the clear teaching of Scripture on a particular sinful activity. Denying it, lying about it, or trying to cover it up in some other sort of way may avail with men. We may be able to get away with it with our husbands, our wives, our sons, our daughters. our parents, we might for a time be able to get away with it.
But we know the chronicler said, your sin will always find you out. And if it's not found out on this side of eternity, it will certainly be found out on the day of judgment. God knows when we are lying, and God certainly knows when we're engaged in arrogant rhetoric. Now notice, God goes on to present the evidence in terms of Cain's crime.
He says in verse 10, the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. And again, I think there's several practical lessons that we ought to draw from this. In the first place, the Lord knows the deeds of men. The Lord knows what's happening on earth.
At times, I think we forget that. At times, we look around and we say, well, doesn't God know what's happening on the earth? Doesn't God know the great tragedies that are occurring on the earth? Well, we see in this particular instance that the Lord does, in fact, know the deeds of man.
As well,
God's Esteem for Human Life
the Lord prizes human life even after death. Let me just say that again. The Lord prizes human life even after death. Abel is dead, and yet God is still concerned with him.
Not in the sense of a sort of Roman Catholic, after death we pray for them, but God shows his esteem for humanity with reference to this searching examination of Cain to bring the guilty party to judgment. John Calvin says, He said, God holds the life of man too dear to allow innocent blood to be shed with impunity. Those familiar with the book of Deuteronomy will know that in Deuteronomy chapter 21, verses 1 to 9, there's a particular sort of a situation, or a law rather, given to deal with unsolved murders. If a body is found, they didn't just say, well, you know, that's the price of doing business on earth.
People just die. No, there was a pretty elaborate scheme to try and, or rather to atone for that blood that had been shed. It was used, using a heifer, breaking the neck of a cow, having the elders of the city involved and the priests and all these things to solve one unsolved, or rather to atone for one unsolved murder. If you go to Numbers 35 for just a moment, you see how God values human life.
Numbers 35.
Capital Punishment in the Law
Notice specifically in verse, we'll pick up reading in verse 29, and these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations and all your dwellings. Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses, but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a witness, I'm sorry, but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. Moreover, listen to this, you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. See, there were certain crimes in Israel where a monetary fine could be imposed or where other forms of punishment, lesser forms of punishment could be imposed.
But with reference to murder, you couldn't take a lesser form. of punishment. It had to be execution. It had to be the death penalty. It had to be capital punishment.
Notice in verse 32, you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it." And I simply read these things to highlight what we find here in this narrative concerning Cain and Abel. God is concerned to bring the guilty party to judgment in the murder of Abel. God is concerned for the sanctity of life.
Some see the death penalty as barbaric. They see it as absolutely inconsistent with being pro-life. Perhaps we ought to modify it and say pro-innocent life, but the Bible certainly demands the execution of judicially guilty violators of God's holy law. I got a thing in the mail recently.
My brother, Kurt Anderson, actually made this observation. He said, you know, I got this thing and I checked it for myself when I looked and saw it that had come through our mailbox. You know, I think it was from our local MP and it was, you know, the Conservative Party. What things are important to you in terms of national issues or political issues or, you know, those things that ought to be a concern with reference to a body politic?
Didn't quite say it like that. But, you know, conspicuously absent are things like abortion. Conspicuously absent are things like euthanasia. Conspicuously absent are things like the death penalty, wherein I would believe, or I would suggest, that the Bible simply tells government to do those particular things, not all the other stuff. that they are sort of having us chase around, the primary emphasis with reference to civil government is the protection of life from criminal offenders, whether foreign or domestic.
That's it. And so there is this disregard for life right across the board, and oftentimes we fall prey to it. 100,000-plus abortions a year in Canada, a million in America, And yet, God, in Deuteronomy 21, has this elaborate ritual for one unsolved murder. You know, we look at the Old Testament, or some look at it, and they say, oh, it's so barbaric. It's barbaric, really, to try to atone for the blood of somebody that was murdered?
And nobody has the ability to capture who it was that did it? That's not barbarism. Barbarism is throwing babies in dumpsters. Barbarism is the kinds of things that we see on a regular basis.
Barbarism is executing the elderly and the infirm because they're taking up space. That's barbaric, not biblical law, and we need to keep that in our minds. God Most High is concerned for the lives of human beings. Notice, as well, the Lord hears the blood of innocent Abel cry from the ground.
Again, John Calvin says, Abel was speechless when his throat was being cut or in whatever other manner he was losing his life. But after death, the voice of his blood was more vehement than any eloquence of the orator. And the rest of the Pentateuch illustrates for us the value of blood. Life is in the blood, according to Leviticus 17.
The books of Numbers and Deuteronomy provide these places called cities of refuge. Now, the murderer was to be executed. Excuse me. We'll see that in Genesis 9 at verses 5 and 6, though I will argue that that's written on the heart of man.
Cain knew that he was liable to death. Cain knew that he deserved death. I believe that when God creates us in his image and he writes that law upon our hearts, we know there are certain things, certain violations that are punishable by death. Cain knew that.
At any rate, we'll see that murderers are to be executed by the civil magistrate. There's these places called cities of refuge for somebody who engages in accidental homicide. Somebody accidentally kills somebody. Well, that still causes a lot of strife and mayhem and grief for the person who loved that particular victim.
So your life is going to be inconvenienced for a while when you move away to this city of refuge. You're protected there from the avenger of blood, but nevertheless, you leave your life and family and livelihood. The idea being, you need to be more careful in daily life. You need to be more cautious, because even accidental homicide is a terrible thing.
You don't want to end anybody's life. So we see the value of blood with reference to the scripture, And of course, if we're thinking in terms of the New Testament, Hebrews, I tried to figure out how to work this in in terms of application, but I'll just say it now. The blood of Jesus Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel. Abel cries out for vengeance, the blood of Jesus Christ cries out for forgiveness, and in that we can greatly rejoice.
The Punishment of Cain
Let's just move through the text. Notice, thirdly, the punishment of Cain. And I want to break this down into three sections. First, the curse upon Cain.
Secondly, the response of Cain. And then third, the word of Yahweh. But
The Curse Upon Cain
note this curse in verses 11 and 12. And we see escalation. Not only do we see escalation in terms of man's sin, but we see escalation in terms of man's punishment of sin. In the first place, notice that Cain himself is cursed.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve were not cursed. The serpent was cursed, according to verse 14, and the ground was cursed, according to verse 17. As a result of that, Adam would suffer and toil with great hardship to try and get the ground to produce, But in terms of God's curse, it wasn't directed at Adam and Eve. They had consequences associated with their fall and rebellion and their sin.
We've already looked at that. But with reference to Cain, notice. So now, verse 11, you are cursed from the earth. which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand." Interesting language there. The land cares more for your brother than you cared for your brother.
It's very physical. The earth has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. Cain murders Abel and the ground receives Abel's blood. Now notice as well the escalation of curse upon Cain.
Adam will have difficulty with the land according to chapter 3 verses 17 to 19. Cain, rather, is going to have impossibility. It's not going to yield. This isn't sort of a comprehensive all men after Cain.
This is Cain specific. This is relative directed to Cain. Life is going to be miserable and terrible for Cain. Some get to the end of this narrative and say, well, why didn't God have him executed?
It was worse that he let him live. The punishment was even more severe that he actually lived. And we never take our view of ethics on what God does in terms of suspending a capital punishment. For instance, he suspends capital punishment with reference to Cain, and he will do so later with reference to David.
But we don't argue from that. We argue based on what God has said. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed, for in the image of God he made man. In other words, we don't look at the exceptions that God in his sovereignty imposes for particular reasons, but rather we take our ethical cue from the written word of the living God.
God is free to not execute Cain. God is free to not execute David. But civil government is not free to not execute murderers. We've gotten to the point where somehow that just seems outlandish, and yet it's outlandish when we don't do what God so clearly commands, one of the primary aspects of civil government, and yet we don't even think about it.
It's not even on our radar anymore. Look at Deuteronomy 28 for just a moment. Deuteronomy 28, to see that sort of familiar theme, that man's sin affects the environment around him. We know that comprehensively from Romans chapter 8, the creation itself is in bondage until the redemption of the sons of God.
But a man who continues in patterns of sin and the corporate community, or the covenant community rather, of Israel. if they go into the land and they sin, it's going to have adverse effect upon their environment. In other words, God's judgment and the consequences for such sin are going to be real. You'll feel them, you'll see them, you'll touch them, you'll know them. You'll feel the hunger pangs.
You'll feel the consequences of your having sinned against God. Now, notice in Deuteronomy 28.15. But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. You see, Cain knows something of this presently.
He has violated the law of God, and as a result of that, it says, when you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. In other words, Cain You are going to reap the consequences for the sin against God. Calvin again says, Cain was not only condemned to personal exile, but was also subjected to still more severe punishment. Namely, that he should find no region of the earth where he would not be of a restless and fearful mind.
Look at the text again. 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." That's not a good life. That's not a happy existence.
That's not good. Better to be Adam, at least somewhat still close to the garden. still able to work the land, and while it's difficult, and while there's thorns and thistles, and while there's hardship and heartache, there's still nevertheless going to be blessing. There's still going to be fruit, there's still going to be vegetables, there'll still be something for the pot. And yet with Cain, because of this murder, because he engages in this fratricide, he will be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth.
The Response of Cain
Now note the response of Cain. Verse 13, Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. Is that the right response? Absolutely, positively, 100%.
No. Repentance is always the best response. You see, Cain needed to learn the lesson, when you're in a hole, stop digging. Cain is in bad shape.
He's already committed murder. He's lied to God most high. He's engaged in arrogant rhetoric. And now God has come to impose punishment upon him.
And instead of Cain saying, God in heaven, please be merciful to me, the sinner, he whines and grumbles and complains about the punishment that's imposed. You see why I say that man today can trace a lot of the things that he does back to Genesis chapter 3 and 4. We try to cover ourselves and hide from God. We try to shift blame when it comes to sin.
We try to flat out lie. We engage in angry rhetoric. arrogant rhetoric and call into question God's goodness. And then when God comes to deal with us severely with reference to our own sin, instead of saying, God, please forgive me, we complain about the consequences. It is absolutely wicked.
And it's easy to see the absolute wickedness with reference to Cain. It's not always so easy to see it with reference to us. You see, oftentimes people do very sinful, very foolish and very terrible things, and they end up with a whole host of bad consequences. Instead of saying, boy, I should learn my lesson and stop digging when I find myself in a hole, they complain and they grumble and they get upset because of the consequences that they have invited, that they have brought on themselves.
Do you understand? It's like your kids, when you tell your kids, if you do this, you're going to get a spanking. And then they do it, and then you spank them, and they say, well, that's not fair. Or how dare you do that?
It's kind of like that time many, many years ago under the presidency of Bill Clinton, when there was a family that was visiting Singapore. And a young man graffitied. He wrote on a wall. Well, the law in Singapore says that if you write on a wall, you get caned.
Now, we may not like that law, and we may think it's a bit harsh and a bit severe and a bit barbaric, but knowing that, we probably wouldn't move there. And certainly, if we vacationed there, we would take paint cans away from our children. We would take big felt pens away from them. We would not allow them to do such a thing.
Well, this young man does the graffiti and of course the Singaporean authorities want to cane him because that's the law. Well, there's this outcry in America that that's unfair and you can't do that. President Clinton himself even sort of imposed himself on the situation and all of this rigmarole. I've got a great bit of counsel.
If you don't want to get caned for having graffitied, don't graffiti. It's quite simple, isn't it? And here we have a man that murders his brother that shows absolute disregard for one of the best and most choice relationships in all the world. It always pains me as a pastor when families don't get along.
It's like, this is what we've got. This is the best thing that we have. God and His goodness bound us together in families. We ought to fight for, not fight with, but fight for this relationship.
We ought to bleed, sweat, and cry in order to promote peace with one another. We ought to be willing to fall on our sword. We ought to be willing to give deference to the others. We ought to be willing to suffer so that we may preserve the unity of that family.
Cain has that with Abel, and a righteous Abel. Abel wasn't a bad fellow. Abel was a godly man. Well, we know that it was a religiously motivated crime.
But all that to say he engages in this, God meets out the consequences, and then he whines, my punishment is greater than I can bear. He cries out concerning his punishment, not the sin he is being punished for." It's a very common thing. We focus on or we fixate on consequences or punishment, and we don't think about, well, it was my sin that got me here. Perhaps I ought to repent, or perhaps I ought not to do that ever again.
Notice also he implies, at least to some degree, we might hear a hint of this, that God is too harsh in his judgment. My punishment is greater than I can bear. It's almost like, God, you've done too much. I can't handle this.
It's not consistent. It is not equal to the crime that has been committed. Matthew Henry said, impenitent, unhumbled hearts are therefore not reclaimed by God's rebukes because they think themselves wronged by that. They think themselves wronged by God's rebukes.
Instead of saying God's rebukes is absolutely consistent with who God is and what He's always commanded us, we get upset, we get hardened. Matthew Henry says, and it is an evidence of great hardness to be more concerned about our sufferings than about our sins. Now that's Puritan theology, brethren. We all love the Puritans, but that's Puritan theology.
Are we able to say it is an evidence of great hardness to be more concerned about our sufferings than about our sins? Notice in verse 14, he says, 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." Now some say, well, how in the world could there have been others?
The narrative doesn't detail the entire genealogy of Adam at this particular point. The focus is upon Cain and Abel. Of course there was other offspring. Of course there were other people.
Genesis, the rest of chapter 4, and Genesis chapter 5 will show that Adam and Eve had a great amount of progeny. There were others peopling the earth. But it is intriguing to see that Cain knows in his heart of hearts that there are those who will want to kill him. Now, look at Romans chapter 1 for just a moment.
Romans chapter 1. Those who have been taught presuppositional apologetics will know that Romans chapter 1 is a very valuable and a very sort of excellent place to launch from. Because Paul the Apostle in Romans 1 is not trying to prove the existence of God. Rather, he says, all men already know that God exists.
All men everywhere already know that God exists. It's the fool who says in his heart, there is no God, because he knows there is a God. Jonathan Edwards says that ought to be translated, the fool says in his heart, no God. There is no God as if it's rational discourse.
Rather, it's a no God. But when we get to Romans 1, there are several things that men apart from God's saving covenant know about God. Notice in Romans 1, verse 19. It says, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
This is Paul's whole argument. Going back to verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. They hold it down. They suppress it.
They bury it in a hole. They try to step on it and tamp it down so that it doesn't haunt them. He says, "...because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." You see Paul's argument.
He says, God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. In other words, the created order tells us something concerning God, especially as we are image bearers of God. We're all created in His image, we look out around us, and because we bear God's image, we know that God is. And specifically, the things that are taught to us, His eternal power and Godhead.
And then he says at the end of verse 20, so that they are without excuse. In other words, there's enough knowledge of God, even in the heathen, to provide suitable grounds for their everlasting damnation. Again, people don't like that. I'm sorry, we don't have time to develop that, but that's what the text says.
But there's another important piece of data that the non-connected to the covenant community, of God, those outside still know about God. Notice verse 32, who knowing the righteous judgment of God. These people that he has described know God. His invisible attributes are clearly seen through the created order, even His eternal power and His Godhead.
There's certain facts, certain non-negotiables, things people just know. Though they work hard to suppress that truth in unrighteousness, though they try to concoct all sorts of arguments as to why He really doesn't exist and, you know, He's this or He's that or He's not there. But notice in verse 32, man at his heart, or in his heart, knows the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death. You see, that is what man knows, even apart from special revelation.
See, Cain had that built in as well. I think it's an aspect of the image of God wherein we are hardwired to understand something of the righteous judgment of God. We know it's wrong to do certain things. We know it's right to punish certain criminal offenders.
We just know that. Why? Because we bear God's image. Try as we might, try as hard as we can to evade that, it is still there.
People typically, generally, unless life keeps going the way it's going, like to see people that harm little children, they like to see them punished. Not in some weird, sadistic, sick way, but because we know intrinsically it's wrong to hurt little children. Jesus says it would be better for somebody to have a millstone hung around his neck and be cast out into the depths of the sea. We know that it's right for the civil government to punish people that harm little children.
It's because we image God, we bear that image. But in this instance, Cain manifests this understanding that somebody is liable to clean his clock. And this provides or promotes in him great fear. He manifests the fear that undealt with guilt always produces.
Isn't that what happens, undealt with guilt? What do we learn from Proverbs with reference to the righteous? They are as bold as a lion. But the wicked flee when no one pursues.
Why is that? Because their heart isn't right with God. They've got a guilty conscience. They know, at least at some level, that they are the man.
And it promotes this fear, or it instigates this fear in them. John Owen has this great quote concerning, I'm going to paraphrase it. I think I have it written down, but I'd take too long to find. He says, when men are in any kind of storm, or tempest, or thunderings, or lightnings, and they find that terror in their hearts, it's not so much from the outward circumstances.
It's not from the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the tempest, and the storm. It's from the fact that God is nigh, and that he is a consuming fire. Cain bears that within his own heart. He's not a righteous man, he's not a godly man, but he's a created-in-the-image-of-God man, and therefore he knows that I will be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
The Word of Yahweh: The Mark of Cain
And then note the word of God in verse 15 to Cain. 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. Now I don't know that I have a sufficient reason as to why God didn't axe Cain right then and there.
I mean, he had it coming to him, but for God's purposes, he spared Cain. In fact, he threatens judgment upon anyone who would kill Cain. And this sevenfold, some suppose that it meant Cain's killer and six of his relatives would be put to death. Some suppose that it would be the seventh generation from Adam, which would have been Lamech or from Cain himself.
Others suppose, and I think this is probably along the right line, it's a poetic form of speech meaning full divine retribution. In other words, if anybody harms Cain, he's going to deal with God. So why does God preserve Cain? Well, as I said, I'm not sure I have the right answer, but I have books and trust John Gill.
I think he's at least on the right track. He says, it was the will of God that though Cain deserved to die, yet that he should not die immediately, but live a long and miserable life. You know, sometimes the punishment of life imprisonment might actually be worse than execution. Sometimes being a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth where you fear everybody on that earth might actually be worse than being executed.
And then Gill goes on to say that it might be a terror to others not to commit the like crime. In other words, when you see that man, you avoid what it is he has done in his own life. And then with reference to this mark on Cain, the Lord set a mark on Cain lest anyone finding him should kill him. I always think it's helpful to at least sort of survey the opinions of the church when we look at passages like these.
There have been many things offered in terms of what this mark on Cain was. Some have suggested it was a horn on his forehead. That would have certainly been an easily identifiable marker. A horn on the forehead would certainly indicate that you were marked out by God.
Others that he had leprosy of some sort in his face. Others suggest a shaking and a trembling in all his limbs. Others have said it was the dog that guarded Abel's flocks now accompanied Cain wherever Cain went. You know, where they got that, I don't know.
I mean, this is just now pulling stuff out of the air. Some suggest it was a letter on his forehead. Others suggest it was the name of Cain himself. and others have said that it was the city that he ultimately went and found it. I think Calvin is right.
He says, it may suffice for us that there was some visible token which should repress in the spectators the desire and the audacity to inflict injury. In other words, Calvin says there's been a lot of things suggested as to what the mark was, but the text doesn't tell us. We need to be content with the reality that there was some visible token, whatever it was, that Cain bore, that the spectators, the persons with whom he surrounded himself or around who came near him, would not inflict injury upon him. And then notice,
Banishment from God's Presence
verse 16 tells us, in some sense, the most depressing piece of data in the text. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. Don't you see what's happening? As sin sort of escalates and as it starts to become more pervasive, man is further from God.
Initially, God makes man, he's upright, and they enjoy fellowship with God in the garden temple, in the garden sanctuary. Of course, Adam and Eve rebel against God, and they are cast out of Eden. But when it mentions Cain, we sort of get the idea that Adam and Eve are still somewhat close to the garden. They're out, not in, but they're out.
Nevertheless, they're still able to know something of blessing in terms of being able to till their own ground and it yields some produce and some good things. But Cain is now sent out further from the presence of the Lord. And all the more ironic or sad or unsettling when we consider how the story of Cain and Abel begins. The story of Cain and Abel begins with the introduction of the two brothers and then the mention of the two offerings.
Why the two offerings? Because Cain and Abel, at the end of days, wanted to draw near to God. And instead of drawing near to God, Abel has been murdered and Cain is being driven further away from God. So I think that these sorts of things are a hint to us, or hopefully a strong suggestion to us, on just how bad sin is.
It never makes life better, it never brings us closer to God, it never heals relationships, it never smooths out relationships, it only complicates, it only exacerbates problems, and it only highlights the separation between God and man.
Concluding Lessons from the First Murder
In terms of some concluding lessons, I think we ought to appreciate, not in a good sense, boy that's great, but some things we ought to consider rather with reference to this first murder. The first murder demonstrates the antithesis announced in Genesis 3.15, this enmity that would exist between the seed of the woman and the serpent. Secondly, the first murder was religious in nature. Remember, Jesus links Abel, or Jesus tells us that Abel was a religious martyr.
In fact, Meredith Klein, in his commentary on Genesis, he says with reference to this first murder, it was not mere social disorder was involved, but radical religious discord. The enmity of the serpent's seed against the seed of the woman. Jesus interpreted Cain's murder of Abel as the first shedding of martyr's blood in Matthew 23, 35. Thirdly, we ought to appreciate by way of a lesson that we should internalize that the first murderer did not heed the warning of God.
It didn't happen that he got angry and then he went out and killed. He got angry and God warned him. He got angry and God called him out. He got angry and God stopped him.
He listened to the voice of God and then he continued down this path of rage and ultimately murder. And I think there's a lesson for us here. We hear God, not audibly speaking to us in the cool of the garden. We hear God not audibly speaking to us through Siri, but we hear God speaking to us through the scriptures.
We need to take heed to that word. We need to listen to that word. We need to resist the temptation to compromise that word and not engage in acts of wickedness. Fourthly, the first murderer was ignorant and arrogant enough to actually believe he could lie to God and cover his sin.
Now, it's just outlandish, isn't it? I mean, when we know what we know about God, and we know what we know about God and His relationship with Adam and Eve, I highly suspect that Adam and Eve would have passed those nuggets on to Cain, their son. and forecame their son to try and lie his way out of murder to this God who is omnipotent, this God who is omniscient, this God who is omnipresent, shows the hardening influence that sin has upon us. That's another byproduct of sin. It doesn't make you smarter.
It doesn't make you wiser. It might make you more cunning in a more diabolical sort of a way, but it doesn't bring genuine wisdom. And it's anti-wisdom that we see demonstrated here by Cain in his attempt to lie to God, and then use this arrogant rhetoric of, am I my brother's keeper? Fifthly, the first murderer imaged the devil, who was a murderer and a liar from the beginning.
John 8, 44, Jesus describes the devil in those terms. He's a murderer and a liar. Those are what are characteristic of the devil, and this is exactly what Cain is exhibiting. And then finally, in terms of the nature of the first murderer, the first murderer experienced banishment from the presence of the Lord.
Has anybody ever heard of Bishop Joseph Hall? Church of England, man, three volumes, was published by Soli Deo Gloria. Maybe RHB now publishes them. But Joseph Hall has a three-volume set, sort of expository thoughts on scripture.
And what he says here concerning Abel is profound. He says, he that would not keep his brother is cast out from the protection of God. He that feared not to kill his brother fears now that whosoever meets him will kill him. The troubled conscience projects fearful things, and sin makes even cruel men cowardly." Isn't that what happens?
He was the big man on campus when he's bashing Abel in the field, and now he's a whining, sniveling little baby that doesn't want to see anybody because they might kill me. God saw it was too much favor for him to die. He therefore wills that which Cain wills. Cain would live.
It has yielded him, but for a curse. He shall live banished from God, carrying his hell in his bosom, and the brand of God's vengeance in his forehead. God rejects him, the earth repines at him, men abhor him, himself now wishes that death which he feared, and no man dare pleasure him with a murder. How bitter is the end of sin, yea, without end!
Still Cain finds that he killed himself more than his brother. We should never sin if our foresight were but as good as our sense. The issue of sin would appear a thousand times more horrible than the act is pleasant. Wow, that's very profound, very pointed, and I think a very excellent statement concerning what we find here in terms of Cain.
As well, I want to end on the high and encouraging note of the glory of the God of justice. The Lord God knows the deeds of men. Proverbs 15.3, the eyes of the Lord are in every place. keeping watch on the evil and the good. I think this is an important emphasis that we as the people of God need to maintain.
Remember that situation when Ahab wanted to increase his holdings, so he takes Naboth's field. Jezebel concocts this plan and accuses Naboth of having been a blasphemer, and the man is executed. We see that sort of gross injustice, and we wonder, how long, O Lord? In fact, you see that in the book of Revelation.
In Revelation chapter 6, the saints, the souls of those martyred under the altar, cry out to the Lord, Oh Lord, how long till you avenge our blood? That is a legitimate expression of the blood-bought people of God. And yet we need to be reminded that God will avenge, God will bring judgment to bear upon those who engage in the act of murder. Whatever sin, but murder is the particular thing here.
The Lord is ultimately the champion of the sanctity of life. I mentioned that case of the unsolved murder in Deuteronomy 21, 1 to 9. Christopher Wright says, it is often when the Old Testament seems most culturally remote from us that we need to pay closest attention to its challenge. What ought to strike us from this law is not the oddity of a cow with a broken neck, in an uninhabited brook, but the expected response of a whole community through its civic, judicial, and religious leaders to a single human death.
That is profound. And then finally, the Lord God hears the voice of Abel's blood. Note the verb, crying out from the ground, and the Lord avenges him. Gordon Wenham is helpful here.
He says, here Abel's blood is pictured crying to God for vengeance. Don't miss that verb. Didn't you say it? didn't just call out, but rather it is crying. He says, cry is the desperate cry of men without food, Genesis 41, 55.
Men expecting to die, Exodus 14, 10. Or men oppressed by their enemies, Judges 4, 3. He says, it is the scream for help of a woman being raped in Deuteronomy 22, 24, and 27. It is the plea to God of the victims of injustice, Exodus 22, 23, and Exodus 22, 26.
The law, the prophets, and the Psalms unite with narratives like this to assert that God does hear His people's desperate cries for help. And we ought never to forget that. We know there are brothers and there are sisters that are suffering all over the world. And there are great injustices not only all over the world, but in our own country, in persons that we know, situations that we're aware of, and it's easy for the people of God to fall into a distressful condition and think, nothing is ever going to be done about this.
Well, if it's not done on this side of the Day of Judgment, it will certainly be rectified. when Jesus Christ comes in the glory of His Father to judge the living and the dead. And the people of God need to maintain faithfulness in their, or faith in their God that He will, in fact, right all wrongs, bring glory to His name, and vindicate His church. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your Word, and thank you for this narrative concerning Cain and Abel, and the great instruction that it affords to us. And may we see the seriousness of sin, may we see it not only in Cain, but may we see it in our own hearts. And God, help us to resist temptation, help us to resist sin, help us to pursue those things that are indeed pleasing in your sight. And to that end, Father, we cry out for the Holy Spirit, we cry out for wisdom from on high, And we know, God, that You are a great Father, a good Father, who loves to give good gifts to His children.
Give us these things, we pray, and go with us now, and watch over us. We do pray for the proctors. We thank You for their greetings. We thank You that they're able to have a good time.
Give them safety as they travel home. And be with all the brethren that are traveling during these summer months, God. We just pray that You'd watch over Your people, that You'd give good times of rest and relaxation with family, And may you be glorified in all of our goings out and our goings in, our comings in. And we pray these things through Christ our Lord.
Amen.