Gen 4:1-16, 25-26 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
At the end of the last lesson, “the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken” (Gen 3:23). God placed cherubim at the east of the garden and a flaming sword, “to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen 3:24).
In this lesson, Adam and Eve have children outside the garden.
1The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with the LORD’s help.”
2Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3As time passed, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the ground.
4Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. The LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.
6The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen?
7If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.”
8Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.
9The LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10The LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
11Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.”
15The LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” The LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him.
16Cain left the LORD’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
The passage goes on to list Cain’s descendants (vv. 17–24).
25Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
26A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the LORD’s name.
I have gotten a man. The first thing outside the garden is the birth of a child. Eve “conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, ‘I have gotten a man with the LORD’s help’” (v. 1). Then she gave birth to Abel; “Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground” (v. 2).
The offerings. Both brought what their own hands had produced to the LORD (vv. 3–4). “The LORD respected Abel and his offering, but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering” (vv. 4–5). Why, Genesis does not say. The New Testament says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Heb 11:4); and it says Cain killed his brother “Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:12).
Sin crouches at the door. “Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell” (v. 5). Before he did anything, the LORD spoke to him first: “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it” (vv. 6–7).
Where is Abel, your brother? “Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him” (v. 8). The LORD asked, “Where is Abel, your brother?” (v. 9). In Lesson 2, God asked, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9); this time the question is where his brother is. Cain said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (v. 9). From parents eating what they were told not to eat, to a son killing his brother, was only one generation.
The voice of blood. “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground” (v. 10). Cain would be “a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (v. 12). He said, “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (v. 13). “The LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him” (v. 15). “Cain left the LORD’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (v. 16).
Another child. At the end of the chapter the story returns to Adam and Eve. “Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, ‘for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him’” (v. 25). She had not forgotten Abel, nor who had killed him.
Calling on the LORD’s name. “A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the LORD’s name” (v. 26). The story of Adam and Eve stops on this line.
One of Israel’s psalms begins like this: “See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!” (Ps 133:1).
Readers can see this: a brother killing a brother is one of the first sins Genesis records; brothers living in unity is what Israel later sang about. They knew that both ways lay before people.
Perhaps there is a rift in your family, too: brothers and sisters who do not speak, wounds between parents and children that cannot be put into words, perhaps even harm that has been done.
This lesson does not say every rift in a family can be mended, and it does not ask you to pretend nothing is wrong. What it shows you is this: before Cain did anything, God spoke to him first (vv. 6–7); after the brother died, God asked, “Where is Abel, your brother?” (v. 9); Eve lost a son and still said, “God has given me another child” (v. 25). The New Testament says: “If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men” (Rom 12:18).
This week: Think of a relationship in your family or around you that has a rift in it. This week do one small thing for it — a word of greeting, a conversation without blame, or first simply praying for the other person. If there is danger or harm in that relationship, don’t face it alone; first talk with someone you trust.
Scripture: World English Bible.