Bible Study On Genesis 4 – Cain And Abel (Before 3000 B.C.)

Today’s bible study is all about the chapter of Genesis 4 when Cain kills Abel. According to scholars this incident roughly took place before 3000 B.C. This is the first killing that we come across in the Bible and in mankind. When Adam and Eve went against God by disobeying His commands, sin entered Adam’s generation. It is a classic example of generational sin passed on from generation to generation and it takes many forms.

Chronological Bible Study Genesis 4

I encourage you to get your bibles ready and turn to Genesis 4. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you through your bible as you read this chapter with me. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know. All the scripture references that you find in this post are from the NKJV.

Without much talk, let us delve into the word of God.

Eve Conceives Cain And Then Abel

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 sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 

Cain was the firstborn of Adam And Eve. The name Cain means acquired and Abel means a breath or vapour. In some dictionaries, it also says that the name Abel means nothing.

Abel And Cain’s Occupations

Verse 2 also says that Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 

Cain And Abel’s Offerings To The Lord

3And 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.

According to Verses 3 and 4 both Abel and Cain brought their offerings to the Lord. Cain brought the fruit of the ground and Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and their fat.

Observation: Cain brought only the fruit of the ground, whereas, Abel, brought both the firstborn of his flock and their fat.

Verses 4-5 tells us that the Lord respected Abel and his offering but He did not respect Cain and his offering. This angered Cain and his countenance fell. To respect, here, means to honour.

Observation: When we give our first offerings to the Lord, it pleases Him, and He honours it because a part of the first of whatever we receive is first given to God. He is the priority in our lives and holds the first place in our lives.

Firstfruits Is tied To Tithing

Firstfruits is tied to tithing. And this is why The Lord respected Abel and his offering because he gave the firstborn of his flock. He could have chosen to give even the least desirable ones or the middle ones or the last ones but he gave the firstborn and dedicated them to the Lord thereby putting the Lord first in his life. Moreover, he also gave the fat of the flock as an offering. Therefore, Abel tithed and also gave an offering and this pleased the Lord. Verse 3 clearly states that Cain gave “an offering” of the fruit of the ground. It was not the first fruits and hence certainly not a tithe.

The Lord Advices Cain

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.”

In Verse 6 the Lord questioned Cain about his anger. He further said if he did well he would be accepted

Here the Lord clearly explains why He didn’t accept Cain’s offering. If Cain did well he would be accepted. So what did Cain miss? What did the Lord want Cain to improve? If Cain had given the first fruits of the ground to the Lord (instead of an offering of any fruit of the ground), He would have gladly accepted Cain’s offering. Also, Cain had to control his anger and jealousy towards his brother.

The Lord said, if Cain did not do well, sin lies at the door and the desire of that sin is to ensnare Cain. However, the Lord said that Cain should rule over it. The Lord wanted Cain to overrule the sin.

There is a lot to unpack here. Sin enters through emotions easily. Anger and jealousy are emotions and they can be controlled. When unchecked, sin enters through anger and jealousy. That is why the Lord said that the desire of the sin is towards Cain because he had opened the door through his emotions of bitterness and jealousy to sin against his brother by killing him. However, Cain had the power to suppress his anger and rule over it and thereby rule over sin too, which, unfortunately, he did not do.

Cain Kills Abel

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.

According to some versions of the bible such as the Greek Septuagint Version, Samaritan-Hebrew Text, Syriac and Vulgate, Cain said to his brother Abel “Let’s go out to the field”. And when they were in the field Cain rose up against Abel and killed him.

This is not a casual, unintentional killing. It was a well planned-out premeditated killing. Cain had even thought about where he would kill his brother. That is why he invited his unsuspecting, innocent brother Abel to the field so that he could kill him there.

Bible study Genesis 4 Cain and Abel

The Lord Questions Cain And Abel’s Blood Had A Voice

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.

Verse 9 explains Cain’s failure to confess his sin when the Lord questioned him. He merely said he did not know and he was not his brother’s keeper. He was clearly lying that he did not know about his brother’s whereabouts. One sin most often leads to another sin. In this case, to hide his sin of killing his brother, he committed another sin by lying.

In verse 10 the Lord asks Cain – What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.

When the Lord asked Cain in Verse 10 -What had he done, it was Cain’s perfect chance to confess his sin to the Lord. The blood is where the life of human beings is and the blood has a voice. That is why the blood of Abel cried out to the Lord from the ground where it was spilt. So what did the blood cry? And why did the blood cry out to the Lord and not to God? The blood cried out to “the Lord” because it was crying out for justice! Because the Lord as I mentioned before speaks about the system of justice, sowing and reaping.

Cain’s Curse

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.”

The Lord God cursed Cain for the sin that he had committed. Verse 11 says that Cain was cursed from the earth which had opened its mouth to receive Abel’s blood from Cain’s hand. According to Verse 12 when Cain tills the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to him. He shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth.

Observation: A fugitive is someone who has escaped from captivity or is in hiding. A vagabond is a homeless person who wanders from place to place without a fixed house or a job. In short, Cain would be a stranger in his own country.

Cain’s Remarks About His Punishment

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.”

According to Verse 13, Cain realized and said to the Lord that his punishment is far greater than he could even bear. The word punishment here refers to iniquity. In Verse 14 he repeated what the Lord said and he added that anyone who finds him will kill him. He might have said that anyone who finds him would kill him because he is now a vagabond and a fugitive.

The Lord Marks Cain

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.

In Verse 15 The Lord said to Cain that whoever kills him shall have a sevenfold vengeance. So the Lord set a mark on Cain so that no one that found him would kill him.

My Understanding: I certainly do not believe that the Lord was letting Cain go Scott-free without paying for his wrongdoing. He put a mark on Cain and Cain was already cursed before the mark. The Lord nowhere said that Cain’s curse was removed. My interpretation is that anyone killing a cursed person is cursed even more than the cursed person. So the Lord said that anyone killing Cain would have a sevenfold vengeance taken on him.

Yes, Cain did sin but the consequences of what he did were between him and the Lord. It was not anyone else’s responsibility to touch and take vengeance on Cain, especially because he was already cursed for his wrongdoing. And a person who takes vengeance on cursed Cain would also have to pay the price for his own wrongdoing and also that of Cain’s and that price would be a sevenfold vengeance.

The Family Of Cain

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.

Verses 16-22 talks about Cain’s family and also the occupation of Lamech’s children. Jabal was the father of those who dwelt in tents and had livestocks whereas his brother Jubal was the father of all those who played the harp and the flute. And Tubal-Cain was an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.

Here is the family tree of Adam and Eve that I have prepared so that it is easier to read and understand.

Adam and Eve lineage

Note: Lamech is the first man to have two wives according to what we have read in the Chronological Bible Study until now.

Lamech’s Story

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.”

According to Verses 23-24, Lamech said to his wives to hear his voice and listen to his speech. He said that he had killed a man for wounding him and also killed a young man for hurting him. In short, Lamech had killed two people. Therefore he said if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold then Lamech shall be avenged seventy-sevenfold.

Observation: First off, we do not know who was the man and the young man that Lamech killed for wounding and hurting him. The difference is that in Cain’s case, God said that Cain would be avenged sevenfold. Whereas, in Lamech’s case, he self-proclaimed about the seventy-sevenfold vengeance that would come upon anyone who killed him.

Two Interpretations

Both Cain’s and Lamech’s wrongdoing are about killing humans. However, Cain killed one and Lamech killed two. If Cain was cursed for killing one, then Lamech would have been cursed for killing two, if he had killed them intentionally, that is!

  1. Hence, if Lamech was doubly cursed for killing two intentionally then anyone who kills Lamech would be avenged seventy-sevenfold. Basically, anyone who killed Lamech would be avenged for his own wrongdoing of killing Lamech and also avenged for Lamech’s wrongdoing. This is what Lamech proclaimed. Note that it was not the Lord who proclaimed this for Lamech.
  2. It could also mean that if Lamech had unintentionally killed two people by accident (by which Lamech might be innocent, according to olden days law) then anyone who killed Lamech would be avenged seventy-sevenfold because it could mean that they had killed someone innocent as Lamech who had already killed two people unintentionally.

Unknowns

We know that God placed a mark on Cain and then proclaimed sevenfold vengeance on anyone who would try to kill Cain. According to scripture, the Lord did not say that this is the fate of everyone who kills someone. So we do not know if the fate of Cain also applies to Lamech. Whereas there are no details as to if Lamech had a mark placed on him by the Lord. Also, Lamech did not speak anything about his curse to his wives. We do not know if Lamech had a curse for killing two (depends on whether it was intentional or unintentional) and if he indeed had a curse then there are no details in scripture as to what was his curse.

Adam And Eve’s New Son

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.

Adam and Eve gave birth to a new son and named him Seth which means “appointed”. According to Eve, Seth was God-appointed because Cain killed Abel and she was left with no other son in the place of Abel. Seth bore a son named Enosh. After Enosh was born the men began to call on the name of the Lord.

Note: It is not clear what was the reason for the men to call on the name of the Lord. Usually, people call on the Lord during dire situations or to ask for help. It could have been that the earth was morally corrupt at that time because of sin passing down generations through Cain’s line.

Cain and Abel

Conclusion

This brings us to the end of Chapter 4 of Genesis – Cain And Abel. It talks about the price of sin. It also explains how important it is to control our emotions, especially the negative ones. Uncontrolled and unchecked negative emotions could easily open the doorway to sin and thereby its consequences. And this is the reason why we must always be on alert and bring every thought in obedience to Christ.

Until Next Time!

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