Learning from Cain -- 10/19/08

Sunday, October 19, 2008

LEARNING FROM CAIN
Gen. 4:1-16

Let’s begin this morning by reading Gen. 4:1-15…
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7. 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. 8. And 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 slew him. 9. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10. And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Now let me ask you a simple question. In this little report, who gets the most press? Who is spoken of the most in this passage – Abel or Cain? In the first 4 and a half verses, there is perfect equality. Cain is born; Abel is born. Abel was a shepherd (rancher, if you prefer), while Cain was a farmer. Cain brought an offering and Abel brought an offering. The Lord had respect for Abel and his offering, but He did not have respect for Cain and his offering. But that is where the equality ends. From that point on, it is the story of Cain. Oh yes, Abel is mentioned, but only as the victim. Abel is snuffed out, but Cain continues on. The righteous man is no more, but the murdered lives on and will have many descendants.

With that introduction, let’s look more closely at this story. Anyone can see that there are three main characters – God, Abel, and Cain. While we will not say as much about Abel as about Cain, he is a principal character here. And as we go through this passage, we will look at three main themes…
1. Cain, as a picture of the person who is lost
2. Sin – give it an inch, and it will take a mile
3. God, who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy (Ps. 103:8)

These three themes are woven throughout the story. Watch them carefully. In Cain we will see the attitude and actions that typify the lost man, the one who does not have God’s life within, the one who has not been redeemed. And in this passage, there is much to learn about the power of sin. There’s an old song that put it like this…
Sin will take you farther than you ever wanted to go.
Sin will leave you longer than you ever wanted to stay.
Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay.
(Slightly adapted from the song by Harold McWhorter)

But praise God that He is merciful beyond understanding and explanation.

In order to get a handle on this story, we will break it down into four sections…
1. The birth
2. The offering
3. The murder and what led to it
4. The resulting conversation between God and Cain

I. The Birth

Up until now we have read about only two human beings – Adam and Eve. By now, we know the story well. God made them and put them in the Garden of Eden, which was a paradise. They lacked for absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, Eve listened to the serpent and disobeyed God’s command concerning the fruit in the middle of the garden. In short, she trusted Satan instead of trusting God. And then Adam, to whom the direct command was given, also ate the fruit.

Instantly the promise of Satan went sour. Instead of being promoted to be like God, their eyes were opened and they were filled with guilt and shame. These two who had walked and talked with God were now cut off from Him, hiding under the fig leaves they threw on themselves. But even in the midst of that situation, God gave them hope. When the Lord spoke to Satan, He said, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15). God promised to send a deliverer who would crush the head of that lying deceiver.

Not only did the Lord speak, but He also acted. He killed an animal and used the skins to make adequate clothing for both Adam and Eve. Don’t take the killing of that animal lightly. There is a sense in which it was wrong for God to kill that animal. After all, the animal was innocent; it had done nothing to deserve death. So why would God do it? He did it to fulfill His eternal principle: “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). That animal served as a substitute for Adam and Eve. They deserved to die, but the animal died instead. And what qualified that animal to be a substitute for them? It was a substitute in that it represented the ultimate sacrifice and substitute, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). God was looking forward to the death of His Son, upon whom He would pour out all His wrath.

And that brings us to 4:1-2a, “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel.” The KJV says, “Adam knew Eve his wife.” The NASV says, “Adam had relations with his wife.” The NIV says, “Adam lay with his wife.” Yes, that is what it means, but when we discard the language which the Holy Spirit used, we lose something. The word “know” in the Bible has rich meaning. Adam knew his wife in the most intimate way.

As most of you are aware, biblical names had meaning. Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord,” because the name Cain means “acquisition….” Can you imagine the excitement of Adam and Eve, when Cain was born? God had told them to multiply and replenish the earth, but they had messed up. They had disobeyed God. Yes, He had promised that Eve would have a seed, but now the evidence was at hand. They could actually hold this little boy in their hands. What a blessing! What joy! Eve had gotten a man from the Lord (or “with the help of the Lord”).

Eve conceived again and bore a second son, Abel. Some believe that they were twins, but it can’t be proved from the text. At any rate, Cain was the firstborn. The name “Abel” means “breath.” The idea seems to be that Abel was a mere breath. That is why some give it the meaning “frail.” So now Adam and Eve had two boys.

Let’s zero in on Cain for just a moment. What a fabulous beginning. The first child born into this world, a man from the Lord. He had the full attention of his loving parents. We don’t know why they named their second son “frail one.” Perhaps he was small at birth or had some birthmark. We don’t know, but if we were to judge only by what we have read so far, we would have to say that the greatest hopes for the human race were pinned upon Cain, the man acquired from the Lord.

Many think that Adam and Eve believed this first child to be the fulfillment of the promise God had given in Gen. 3:15. God had promised a descendant who would crush the head of Satan. They knew nothing about the long history of generations. They may have believed that this was the descendant. We don’t know this for sure, but it is certainly a possibility. If that was the case, then there were even higher hopes attached to the birth of Cain.

The end of verse 2 tells us that Abel kept the flocks, while Cain tilled the ground. Some have tried to say that because Abel was frail, he was not strong enough to till the soil, but there is no evidence for that in the text. These were the two most basic occupations of the ancient world. The people got what they needed from the ground and from the animals.

II. The Offering

Now verses 3-4a, “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” “In process of time” is literally “at the end of days.” This may indicate that there was a specific time that God required the bringing of an offering. This tends to be supported by the fact that here at one time we read of both of them bringing an offering.

We see that Abel and Cain did not bring the same kind of offering to God. Cain brought some produce from the ground, while Abel brought an animal from the flock. At first, we might think this was just the natural result of their differing occupations. Cain farmed, so he brought some of what he grew. Abel tended the flocks, so he brought one of his animals. The first thing that would warn us against such an understanding is the fact that it would make God’s acceptance of one offering over the other an arbitrary act. In other words, Abel would be received and Cain would be rejected just because he had the wrong occupation. Such an understanding would be accusing God of injustice. Surely it will be wise to look for some other understanding.

So the question becomes: Did Abel and Cain know what kind of offering God expected? If so, how did they know? In this passage, there is nothing said about the kind of offering that would please God, until after they had offered. But think with me for a moment. Both Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve. Their parents knew what it was like to walk with God. They had enjoyed perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden. They also knew what it was to lose that fellowship, to be cut off from God. And yes, they knew what caused the loss of that fellowship with God. It was their own sin. And finally, they knew what had been done to restore fellowship, to bring forgiveness for their sins. They would never be able to forget how God had spilled the blood of that animal and then clothed them with its skin.

Do you think Adam and Eve loved their sons? Of course, they did. They were parents. As loving parents, the one thing they would want to instill in their boys was the truth about sin and how God had provided a substitute. I can’t imagine loving parents telling them only once. Adam must have gone over this with Cain and Abel many times. Whenever an animal was killed and its skin was used, it would have been another opportunity for Adam to go over the story again, for every killing of an animal must have reminded him of that first death.

The other clue is found in the New Testament. Turn to Hebrews 11. What do we often call this chapter? “The faith chapter,” or “The Roll Call of the Faithful.” Abel is one of the faithful ones listed in this chapter. Let’s read it in Heb. 11:4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." We see that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

Come back to the end of Gen. 4:4, “…And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.” It has been pointed out that before the Lord had respect for Abel’s offering, He had respect for Abel himself. The same is true of Cain in the next verse. “But unto Cain and his offering He had not respect.” The offerings Abel and Cain offered came out of a certain attitude of heart. Nevertheless, the offering was very important because it accurately revealed what was in the heart. And Abel’s offering was better than Cain’s.

The big question is, “Why?” Why was Abel’s offering better? Because Abel brought what God required. But is there anything here in Heb. 11:4 that tells us? Yes. The key is in the theme of this chapter. Notice the words “by faith.” It was by faith that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. And what is faith? It is simply taking God at His Word. He who lives by faith hears what God says and obeys. That is the nature of faith. But in order to act by faith, a person has to know what God says. Do you see it? Abel had a word from God. Whether simply through his parents testimony or through an additional direct revelation from God, Abel knew what God required. And the remainder of this passage in Gen. 4 reveals that Cain also knew. That is why God could reject Cain and his offering just as surely as He received Abel and his offering. Abel trusted and obeyed. Cain did not.

Now I want you to note something here. Cain was not an atheist. He was a religious man; he brought an offering. He knew God required an offering and he brought one. But he brought the offering he chose to bring rather than what God required. No doubt, he had some justification for what he did. At the root of it must have been pride. “God has asked for an animal, but I have the fruit of the soil which is much more appealing than a bloody animal. Surely God will accept my offering. Surely He won’t be so picky that He would reject what I bring.” Whatever the details, Cain followed his own agenda instead of God’s. And here is revealed a heart that is departing from the Lord, for he doesn’t trust and obey.

III. The Murder and What Led to It

And now things begin to happen rapidly. Verse 5 again, “But unto Cain and his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” We don’t know how God indicated the fact that He accepted one offering and not the other, but it was very clear to both Abel and Cain. Many believe that He consumed the offering of Abel by fire, as he did with the sacrifice offered by Elijah on Mt. Carmel (as well as a number of other similar examples).

Notice especially the response of Cain. He got angry, so angry that his face revealed his anger. Perhaps it was an attitude of pouting. Or maybe it was what we would call depression. It was not something he could hide. God rejected Cain and his offering, and Cain was mad.

What an opportunity he missed. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to read, “And when God rejected him and his offering, Cain was brokenhearted. He could not bear the displeasure of his Creator. So he quickly ran to the flock, asking Abel for one of the animals. Then he killed the animal and brought it to God, falling on his knees in repentance. ‘O God, please forgive me for my sin. Will you now accept my sacrifice?’” Do you think the Lord would have accepted Cain and his offering? Surely He would have done so, delighted to see such an attitude. We read in Ps. 34:18, “The Lord is nigh unto them who are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Unfortunately, that is not what we find here. Instead, we find a rebellious Cain who is filled with anger.

We have the Lord’s response to Cain in verses 6-7, "And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7. 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." Cain, why are you angry? Why are you looking so downcast? Didn’t the Lord know? Of course, He knew. Remember that the Lord never asks questions of man to find out information. The Lord knows all; He doesn’t need any additional information. As John would say about Jesus, “[He] needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man” (Jn. 2:25). The Lord asks questions like these to help a person evaluate his own motives. Cain needed to think about these things. “Cain, do you really have reason to be angry?”

Then comes another more pointed question: “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Even now, Cain, if you do right, will I not accept you? So what does the Lord mean by “do well”? He is not saying, “Cain, if you will just be a better man, if you will just try harder to live a good moral life and be kind to others, then I will accept you.” We must read this question in light of the context. The Lord is simply saying, “Cain, if you will repent of your pride and go back and bring me the proper sacrifice, will I not accept you?” What did Abel do to be accepted of God? He trusted God and brought the sacrifice God required. Abel was a sinner just like Cain, but He trusted the Lord and did what He said. That is what the Lord is urging Cain to do.

But what if Cain doesn’t do well? What if he still refuses to repent and bring the proper sacrifice to God? The Lord makes it clear: “And if you do not well, sin lies at the door.” Some translations read, “Sin is crouching at your door,” bringing out the fact that the language here pictures a beast of prey. It is very much like what we read in I Pet. 5:8, “Be vigilant; be sober; for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” “Cain, if you refuse to do well, to bring the sacrifice I have required, be sure that sin is ready to devour you.” Remember, the subtle increase of sin is one of our themes. Give it an inch, and it’ll take a mile. That is exactly what God is saying to Cain. “Cain, you can deal with your sin right now by trusting me and obeying me. If you don’t, sin is going to do a number on you.”

Down through the years, interpretations of the last words of verse 7 have been varied. The key words are “his desire.” Some take it to mean “Abel’s desire.” “Abel’s desire will be to you, and you shall rule over him.” Adam Clarke suggests that these words were spoken by God to remove Cain’s envy. But surely envy isn’t removed by the outward circumstances. It seems better to take it to refer to sin’s desire. That sin, which is crouching at your door, desires to master you, but you must master it. Either way, it is still a fact that sin lies at the door and is seeking to destroy Cain.

Now we come to 4:8, "And 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 slew him." We are not told what Cain talked to Abel about (though some translations try to supply the subject; Ex. – NIV, “Let’s go out to the field”). I get the sense that Cain was disguising his true feelings toward Abel. He acted like everything was just fine. But when they were in the field together and Abel was not suspecting anything, then Cain quickly murdered him. The word used clearly speaks of murder. This was not some spur-of-the moment action; it was premeditated murder.

But why did Cain kill his brother Abel? Abel hadn’t done anything to Cain. The Bible gives us a direct answer to this question, but not in this passage. We find the answer in I John 3:11-12, "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Did you catch that? Abel’s deeds were righteous, while Cain’s deeds were evil. Cain was extremely jealous. Nevertheless, there was nothing to prevent Cain from doing what was right… except his stubborn pride.

Here we see Cain as the prototype of the unbeliever. Unbelievers are against true Christians. They often hate them and are jealous of them. Remember the words of Jesus: "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also" (John 15:20). We find the same theme in Gal. 4:29, "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." Cain was not only mad at God, but he was also angry enough with his brother to kill him. How many people in our day would do away with Christians, if there were no restrictions?

IV. The Conversation between God and Cain

So now Cain has committed cold-blooded murder. We can be sure that God knows about it. As a matter of fact, the Lord came to Cain and asked him, “Where is your brother Abel?” (4:9). Again, it wasn’t that the Lord didn’t know, but He wanted to hear it from Cain. Perhaps he would feel the full weight of it when he said, “I killed him.” But that isn’t what Cain said. His reply was simply, “I don’t know.” One sin leads to more sins, and so it is with Cain. Now he tries to cover up murder by lying. Imagine trying to conceal the truth from the Creator of the universe.

Notice the contrast between Adam and Cain. When the Lord confronted Adam, he did indeed try to shift the blame, but in the process he said very clearly that he ate the fruit (3:12). He didn’t try to deny the act itself. But Cain refused to acknowledge that he had killed his brother.

Then Cain added one other note. He had a question for God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Can you sense the disrespect in Cain’s question? This was not a man who feared God. “Why do you expect me to keep up with him? He’s your problem, not mine.” Do you sense that Cain’s heart is rapidly becoming harder and harder? That is exactly what sin does. Sin never leaves us the same. We either repent and run to the Savior, or our heart becomes harder. Do you see how sin is indeed ruling his life more and more?

Now listen to the Lord’s reply in verses 10-12…
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

The Lord knew what he had done, but He wanted Cain to think about what he had done. He had just killed his own brother over petty jealousy. Now listen to the Lord’s words again: “The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.” No one else could hear the voice of that blood, but the Lord could. Cain tried to conceal his act, but Abel’s blood cried out and would not be silenced. That very blood of Abel is mentioned twice in the New Testament (three times if you consider both Matthew and Luke, which are parallel accounts). In Matthew 23, Jesus was strongly rebuking the scribes and Pharisees. In that context, He says in Matt. 23:34-35…
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Notice that it is the blood of righteous Abel. But as we see in Heb. 12:24, there is blood that speaks even louder than the blood of Abel: "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Yes, it is the blood of the Lord Jesus, the mediator of a new and better covenant.

In verse 11 we find the first time that a human being is cursed by God. Adam wasn’t cursed, only the ground for his sake, but God says to Cain, “Now you are cursed from the earth.” The curse was related closely to the ground which Cain had tilled. From that point on, his tilling the ground would do no good, because God said that the earth would no longer yield its crops to Cain. And because Cain would not be able to farm, he would be a wandering fugitive on the earth. Cain would have to scratch and claw for a living wherever he could find it.

Now it’s time for an important question. Why didn’t God just kill Cain? Isn’t that what he deserved? Not only had he committed murder and lied to God about it, but he refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing on his part. Surely this guy was a lost cause. Why not destroy him and be done with it? It is here that we see the amazing mercy of the Lord. God could have killed him with a word or with a breath. Instead, he continues to deal with Cain. Even in the pronouncement of this curse, there is mercy, for it was far better than what Cain deserved. What could be a more adequate description of God than the words of David in Ps. 103:8, "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." We see that mercy demonstrated in God’s treatment of Cain.

So how would Cain respond to the sentence of the Lord? Verses 13-14, "And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me." Don’t miss this – Cain was more concerned with his punishment than with his sin. When God rehearsed what he had done to his brother Abel and how serious it was, Cain’s heart was not pricked with the conviction of sin. Instead, he accused God of being unfair.

I remember spending 10 or 12 hours with a man going through the Stranger Study. Most of you have been through that study, and you know how the seriousness of sin is emphasized, along with the grace of God in Jesus Christ. At the end of the study, the response was not at all concerned with the man’s sin, but only with the injustice of hell. Cain pictures beautifully the general attitude of the non-believing world, which sees greater evil in God’s so-called injustice than in its own sin. Cain’s punishment should have been destruction, but God gave him mercy, but Cain could only complain.

In verse 14 Cain restates the Lord’s punishment. It seems to be his effort to emphasize how unfair God was. At the end of verse 14 we see the additional comment from Cain: “And it shall come to pass, that everyone that findeth me shall slay me.” It is obvious that there are other people in the world by now. There is only one explanation – these were other children of Adam. We don’t know what the population was at this time, but there was a population. But why was Cain worried that those people around him would seek to kill him? Because they were all related to him and more importantly to Abel. What would they do to a man who had murdered their righteous relative? Cain had a pretty good idea, and it frightened him greatly.

If you had been the Lord, I could hear you saying, “Cain, you reap what you sow. You live by the sword, and now you will die by the sword. I will not lift my hand against you, but be sure that someone will.” But that is not what we read in verse 15. Instead, Gen 4:15 “Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."

God deliberately protected Cain from those who would want to kill him. How did He do that? By announcing a very severe penalty upon anyone who would kill Cain. Such an avenger would be repaid seven fold. But how would the avenger become aware of this deterring threat? God put a mark on Cain. This mark would identify Cain and the danger faced by anyone who would kill him. We don’t know what the mark was. Was it a physical mark on his body? We don’t know. Speculation abounds, but it isn’t very helpful. What the mark was makes absolutely no difference. What is important is that God did indeed identify Cain and warn against killing him.

Now the bigger question: Why would God protect Cain? “O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever” (Ps. 136:1). In Psalm 136, those words “for his mercy endureth forever” occur 26 times. They are in every single verse of that Psalm. Perhaps there is no better commentary on this passage than Psalm 136, which emphasizes the mercy of the Lord.

But doesn’t the Old Testament teach capital punishment. Many times did the Lord not tell His people that certain crimes were to be punished by death? And was not murder one of them? It certainly was. However, it was never personal vengeance. The Lord gave those instructions in the context of some governing authority. In this case, such authority has not yet been established. The Lord guards against Cain’s enemies taking matters into their own hands. So, in His great mercy, God protects this lawless murderer.

What a picture of how God handles the unbelieving sinner. You are here and have not fallen on your face before God in repentance and faith. You continue to rule your own life, even as Cain did. Why doesn’t the Lord go ahead and destroy you and send you to hell, which is what you deserve? Why does He continue to leave you in this world, where you have opportunity to repent of your sin and throw yourself on the Savior? It is because of His great mercy. “He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:10). Praise God for His mercy.

And finally, verse 16, “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” This is the ultimate end of sin’s work – “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.” He dwelt in the land of Nod. We don’t know where Nod was, except that it was east of Eden. It doesn’t matter where Nod was located. What is important is the fact that it was out of the presence of the Lord. The word “Nod” means “wandering” and it is a picture of any place where God is not considered. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.

Yes, this is the ultimate end of sin. And what a picture of the unbeliever. He continues to go out from the presence of the Lord. He is a restless wanderer. Unlike Abraham who wandered physically through this world but looked for an eternal city with foundations, the unbeliever is restless wanderer on the inside. And if he does not come to a place of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, he will some day go out from the presence of the Lord for all eternity.

Conclusion

We have seen that Cain paints a striking picture of the unbeliever. However, sin is capable of working in believers too, as we see in the life of a man like David. What we must remember is that sin always starts small. It doesn’t begin with actions, but with thoughts. Wrong thoughts cultivate wrong feelings, which lead to wrong actions. If we tolerate sin in its beginnings, it will devour us.

I remind you of what our Lord Jesus said in Matt. 5:28-30…
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

The immediate context is lust, but it doesn’t stop there. After talking about plucking out the eye, Jesus then speaks of cutting off the hand. The hand has nothing to do with lust. Jesus is dealing with a proper attitude toward sin. It is difficult to read this passage without asking the question, “Does Jesus intend us to take His words literally? If you find yourself lusting, should you literally pluck out your eye?” No, I don’t believe the application is literal. But let me explain that answer. It isn’t because plucking out the eye would be too radical. The problem with plucking out your right eye is that you would still have a left eye, and the left eye is just as capable of lust as the right eye. Jesus didn’t say we should pluck out both eyes. Plucking out the right eye would hinder lust very little. To effectively deal with lust in this manner, you would not only have to pluck out both eyes, but you would also have to destroy your mind as well, because that’s where the real problem is.

So what is Jesus trying to say? He is simply saying that we must cultivate a radical hatred of sin. Don’t wait for physical adultery, but deal with the first beginning of lust. Don’t spare yourself. If you have to avoid every newsstand where there are magazines, do it. If you have to get rid of the TV, do it. But remember that this isn’t just about lust; this is about sin.

What happens when you drop an acorn on the ground? Nothing immediately. But leave it two or three years and see what happens. It is a thousand times easier to pick up the acorn after you drop it than to try to eliminate it after it has sent down its roots deep into the soil. For Cain, it would have been much easier to respond to the Lord’s first rebuke than after he had killed his brother. Ps. 97:10, “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil; he preserveth the soul of his saints…”

As we have seen, Cain got most of the press. He is the main human character in this passage. Abel passes off the scene with a whisper, but Cain will go on to have many descendants. But praise God that isn’t the end of the story. For those of us who have the life of Jesus, we will see Abel in heaven. We will have fellowship with him forever and ever and ever. But there will be no trace of Cain there. Heaven will not tolerate his tolerance for sin. Abel looked beyond the here and now.

Let’s read one more time Heb 11:4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Even now Abel testifies that God is faithful! Yes, He was faithful to Abel and merciful to Cain. But let us never forget that a person can step beyond the mercy of God. What great hope there was at the beginning of Cain’s life, but when sin had done its work, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2).

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I recommend the sermon “The Way of Cain,” by Zac Poonen. You can find it at sermonindex.com