The beginnings · Genesis 4
Cain and Abel
Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve, is a farmer; his brother Abel is a shepherd. Each brings an offering to the LORD: Cain brings some of the fruit of the ground, Abel the firstborn of his flock. God looks with favor on Abel and his offering, but not on Cain. Cain is furious. God warns him: “sin lieth at the door. … thou shalt rule over him.” In vain: out in the field, Cain rises up against his brother and kills him. “Where is Abel thy brother?” asks the LORD. The chilling reply: “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” But Abel’s blood cries out from the ground to God. Cain is condemned to be a fugitive and a wanderer; yet God puts a mark on him so that no one will kill him. He settles in the land of Nod. Later, Eve gives birth to Seth, “instead of Abel.”
What happens
- God accepts Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s Genesis 4:3–5
- “Sin lieth at the door”: God warns Cain Genesis 4:6–7
- Cain rises up against his brother in the field and kills him Genesis 4:8
- “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9–10
- Cain, a wanderer, receives a protective mark and leaves for Nod Genesis 4:15–16
- Seth is born; people begin to call on the name of the LORD Genesis 4:25–26
Who is in this story
The lesson
God looks at the heart of the one who gives: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice” (Heb 11:4). Sin crouches at our door like a wild animal lying in wait; we must master it before it masters us.
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Quick quiz on this story
What was Abel’s occupation?
“Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground”: hence their offerings, the firstborn of the flock for one, the fruit of the ground for the other. Genesis 4:2
Complete Cain’s reply to the LORD: “I know not: Am I my brother’s …?”
Asked about Abel, Cain lies and dodges: “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9
Where does Cain settle after going out from the presence of the LORD?
Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt “in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16
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