Genesis 4: 1 - 12

 

¹ Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.’ ² Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ But Abel also brought an offering – fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’

⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’

‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’

¹⁰ The Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’

Give Your Best to God.

We have just read of the consequences of sin in terms of the curse that came upon mankind due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God. Now, in chapter 4, the consequences continue, and we see how selfishness, pride and jealousy come together and lead to murder. It is a sorry story, and it is impossible to read it without a heavy heart.

The first question, which we cannot avoid when reading this passage, is why did God accept Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s? Well the answer has to be in the sincerity of their worship which is hinted at in the text. Cain was a crop farmer, whereas Abel farmed livestock. That in itself does not separate them. Equally, Cain brought an offering from the fruits of the soil and Abel brought an offering of an animal sacrifice. Those facts don’t separate the brothers either – we see later in the Law of Moses that offerings of crops and fruit of the soil are quite acceptable.

No, the key is that ‘Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord,’ whereas ‘Abel also brought an offering – fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.’ Cain just brought something – whatever he had. Just some of the fruits. Abel brought the best from his flock. Abel came in worship to God, whereas Cain came out of duty. What portion of what God has given you (time, effort, money, expertise, etc) do you bring back to him in worship? The best, or just something that is left over?

Cain had a choice. He could give God his best, or he could give his brother his worst. He had anger, resentment, jealousy, pride all boiling up inside him. Instead of turning from temptation, doing the right thing, coming to God to receive peace, he chose to allow the negative feelings to grow until he did the worst thing possible.

We noted this week that temptation is not the same as sin. Temptation is an idea to go the wrong way. We pass from temptation into sin when we allow the idea to grow in our minds and to become our chosen path. We always have an alternative. We can come out of the experience clean and stronger if we flee from temptation and to God. That is what Eve should have done when first considering eating the fruit. It is what David should have done (2 Sam. 11, mentioned on Wednesday), it is what Joseph did successfully (Gen. 39), and it is what Cain should have done. Cain’s anger and hatred would have dissipated and faded if he had done the right thing. The same is true for you and me. May we always turn from evil and towards God, so that temptation does not become sin in our lives.

 

Prayer

Dear Father, I worship you, and I seek to bring you my best in worship and in service. May I never just give you what’s left over. Please help me always to flee from temptation, and flee towards you. Amen.