Commenting on Genesis Chapter 4

Story Summary

Genesis chapter 4 is briefly an account of the events in the lives of Cain and Abel. I can divide it into an account of how Cain killed Abel, the separation of Cain from the Lord and his genealogy, and finally the birth of Seth.

The story behind Cain Killing Abel

Cain was the elder to Abel. He was a farmer and His brother Abel was a shepherd. One day Cain and Abel offered offerings unto God(Jehovah) and Cain’s offering was rejected, whereas Abel’s offering was approved. Cain out of anger and jealousy killed his brother.

Was Cain Right or Wrong to kill his brother?
Obviously, the answer is no because nothing justifies murder. However, could his action be justified by ignorance?

Can we say Cain was not to be blamed because he didn’t know what type of Offering was required or Demanded by God? Conversely, can we say God is to be blamed?

This is quite an interesting question. It is my belief that the answer is found in the story. To answer this question I will ask “how did Cain or Abel know that their offerings were rejected or accepted respectively in the first place? (Gen 4:4-5)”. So much so that Cain will get angry and jealous at the acceptance of his brother and his offering and kill him.
Again, the answer is simple and it’s still in the passage. The answer is communication. God spoke with them clearly and they responded to Him clearly as well. Let’s see the first instance it’s been exposed.

1. Genesis 4:6 — God sees Cain angry and goes to chat with him. He asks him why he is angry then he proceeds in Genesis 4:7 to ask him if he did well, won’t him and his offering be accepted? Meaning: God is trying to reason with Cain to make him see for himself that he didn’t do the right thing. Even asking him such questions means that Cain knew Him to a certain level and knew that if he had given the offering as required, his offering as well would have been accepted.
   Already, we see God here with the behavior of someone sincere, who cares, and who is not guilty of anything but reaching out immediately in care and even warning him about the anger and jealousy in his heart. If he had cheated Cain I don’t think He would have approached him this way.
2. Genesis 4:9–15 — The subsequent instances where we see God discussing fluently with Cain are documented in these few verses. God comes again to Cain after he killed his brother and asks about his brother. Subsequently, He lets him know that because he has killed his brother, he is cursed by the earth, not God which opened her mouth to receive Abel’s blood. This is to tell us already that the earth has a mouth. Everything we see is not all there is. God keeps on telling him what henceforth his life will look like. The amazing thing here again is that Cain here clearly and responds to God around verse 13.
   One other interesting thing is his response in verse 14. He said things and added others God didn’t mention. God was only responsible for what He said and not what Cain understand and declared himself about his life. He said everyone the finds him will slay him. Then God responds again to put a mark on him and declare words to avoid that it happens to him(Cain) according to what he said.

Conclusion

It’s my belief that both Cain and Abel related with God on daily basis and both knew what was expected of them as an offering. One decided to do his own way whereas, Abel, followed the simple instructions to the precision of burning the fat (gen 4:4)

Lessons Learned

1. God has defined the ways for approaching Him. It’s up to us to follow those ways or reject them like Cain.
2. God has established all things from the beginning. We simply experience the consequences of violating or uplifting the invisible laws established.
3. Blood has a voice and it speaks to complain. (i.e: beware of kinds of stuff like abortion. You never know :) ).
4. The earth has a mouth and can curse you when it’s been defiled.
5. God is caring, supporting, loving, merciful, forgiving, and slow to anger. ex: He just witnessed a son being killed but not filled with rage, rather trying to help and rescue the killer. Indeed he leaves the 99 sheep for the 1 lost sheep.
6. God can not violate his principles and systems. Instead, he finds other ways to save us within the boundaries of the established laws. Ex: Like with Cain and the mark put on him so that no one kills him.
7. We are tempted, we decided to yield or not. Even a word of prophecy from God Himself won’t save us if we don’t believe and yield to him(the word) and take action. ex: Gen 4: 7 God declares to Cain that he shall rule over sin. However, Cain didn’t rule over sin but the contrary. Sin ruled over him as he yielded to sin. We can see that nothing good comes from sin.

Thanks for reading till the end. Your comments are welcome. Let me know what’s your opinion about this chapter in the bible and also if my perspective of this chapter helped you in any way. I wish you well until the next time I write.