The Mark of Cain (Genesis Chapter Four - Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. So Cain and Abel, that's the title of the message. Last week in chapter 3, we looked at the fall of man and the disastrous results.

The Judgment and Mercy in Cain and Abel

And now here in this chapter, those results are on full display. Let's begin reading in verses, starting in verse 1 through verse 12. Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And said, I have acquired a man from the Lord.

Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.

Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.

So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

Now 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 killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother?

And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you, and a fugitive and vagabond you shall be on the earth. Now if you read this, if you think about it, it's actually very similar to what we saw last week in Chapter 3.

You have two people, Adam and Eve in Chapter 3, Cain and Abel in Chapter 4. One was more innocent in both cases, the other plainly guilty. The offense in both cases leads to death. Here it's physical death, but back in Chapter 3 it was spiritual death.

As soon as the offense happens, God shows up demanding an answer. In both chapters, the response was not the correct response. There's no immediate repentance. And then because of what they did, God banishes them.

First, Adam and Eve, he banishes from the garden, and then Cain is banished from where he lives to be a vagabond or a wanderer on the earth. So I think we see some parallels between the two chapters. In both situations, Adam and Cain were sorry.

Sometimes we miss that part. In both cases, Adam and Cain were sorry. You remember what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7? He talks about the sorrow of the world. This is the I'm sorry I got busted type of an attitude.

Or the I'm sorry because now I have to live with the consequences type of a thing. But here's the amazing part. In both cases, while God does punish them, the Lord is still gracious to them. More than they deserve.

So I just want to stop here and ask you what is a definition? What's the meaning of the word grace? We use it a lot. We throw it around a lot. What does grace mean, though? Yeah, good, exactly. Unmerited favor.

Or we could say that the Lord has goodwill towards those who are undeserving. God, don't miss this, God is a benevolent God. He's not just up in heaven waiting for people to slip up so he can lower the boom on them.

That is not the way God is. God is gracious. What did he do with Adam and Eve? He clothed them with animal skins. And with Cain, he set a mark on him. And that was actually a gracious thing. Look at verses 13 through 15.

Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. Surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground. I shall be hidden from your face. I shall be a fugitive and vagabond on the earth.

And it will happen that anyone who finds me will do what? They'll kill me. The word will get around. They'll know what I did. I'm a dead man walking, basically. And the Lord said to him, therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

So God is protecting Cain. Did Cain deserve this? Absolutely not. And the Lord set a mark on Cain lest anyone finding him should kill him. So again, let me ask you, is God just up in heaven? He's just waiting for people to mess up so he can punish them.

Is that the way God is?

No.

He's long-suffering. He's gracious. He's benevolent. So Cain did not deserve this. God was gracious towards Cain as he was gracious towards Adam and Eve. I didn't really cover this last time in chapter 3, so I need to make a few remarks.

Yes.

I like G-R-A-C-E. God's reward at Christ's expense.

That's good.

Just because the guilty ones, that sin.

Thank you.

So back in chapter 3, the Lord could have allowed Adam and Eve to remain in the garden, right? God could have allowed them to remain there, eat of the tree, the tree of life, and to live forever in their sinful condition.

But God had something better. God drove them out of the garden so they couldn't eat the tree of life. They couldn't live forever. God had something better, and that was the plan of redemption. Think about it.

When God clothed Adam, that animal skin, you realize what that means. That day, instead of Adam dying, an animal died. It was a sacrifice, symbolic of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. We are clothed in what?

Christ's righteousness. So Adam's clothing was a picture of that. So God was gracious to Adam and Eve, and now he's gracious to Cain and gives him this mark, which is really just a sign of ownership and protection.

This does not mean, however, that Cain was redeemed. When we get to heaven, I do not expect to see Cain there. I think the New Testament is pretty clear on this. 1 John chapter 3 verse 12 says that Cain belonged to the evil one.

How many of you have heard of the expression raising Cain? I think you've all heard of that. It's synonymous with the expression raising hell. So to go out and raise Cain means you go out and you intentionally go out to do evil things.

Obviously, it comes from this story. So the mark of Cain, the Bible doesn't tell us what this mark was. It is really an act of mercy by God. So what we learn from this is even those who don't deserve it, even people who do evil things still receive of God's benefit.

The rain falls on the just and the unjust. So here's the thing to get. Before we go through these verses more closely, here's the thing to understand. These stories are written for us. These are examples for us to learn from.

All throughout the Bible, there's good and evil. There's salvation and damnation. There's light and there's darkness. What God wants from us is to choose the light. God wants from us to choose the good.

He wants us to trust him by faith, which is what Abel did and what Cain did. This is a story of what not to do. So let's dig a little deeper into this account. Look at verse 1. Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.

And she said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. That's an interesting statement. She had given birth. Yes, she says, I have acquired a man from who? From the Lord. Not from Adam, but from the Lord.

So Adam knew his wife. So the term to know here is a euphemism for you know what. So Eve conceives, and this is presumably the way you read it. It gives you the idea that this is the first child ever born.

Remember, Adam was created directly by God. Eve was created from Adam's rib. So this would have been, from what we can tell, the first human ever born. So Cain is born, and then she says, well, I received a man from the Lord.

She acknowledges that God is the giver of life. Verse 2, then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. So Abel, you get the idea that Abel was born right after Cain. Some people think they were twins.

We don't really know. Verse 2, though, says she bore again, and this time his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So the name Cain means possession. The name Abel means breath or vapor.

We might put it this way. Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd. Keep in mind, both are living post-fall. So both men, Cain and Abel, they have the sin nature. And to deal with that sin and the sin nature, God set a precedent back in the last chapter of that animal sacrifice.

The animal died, blood was shed, and Adam and Eve were clothed. So that's the precedent. So these two men now come and they offer up sacrifices to God. Now, what precedent was the first sacrifice? What should they offer based on that sacrifice in chapter 3?

Some corn and some broccoli and some grain? No, it had to be a blood sacrifice. Right? So I think that's the issue here. Whose offering gets rejected?

Abel or Cain?

Abel brings the lamb or the blood sacrifice. Cain brings the produce. Whose offering gets rejected?

Cain's.

Some people say, well, it's an issue of his heart or his motivations weren't right. Or he didn't bring the best of the fruit, the best of the vegetables. I mean, that may all very well be true, but I think the main issue is he did not bring a blood sacrifice.

Look at verses 3 and 4. And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground of the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.

And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. So whatever the reason or reasons that God did not accept Cain's offering, now the bigger issue is his response.

Okay?

It was one issue here and now things are just getting worse. Cain is what? He's angry. So God goes on to tell him, hey, you have another chance. You can make this right. But no, Cain is angry. But who is Cain angry at?

Yeah.

I think that's the common response.

And you would read this.

Yeah.

Cain is angry at his brother, Abel. After all, who did he rise up and kill? He killed his brother, Abel. And that's true. But I submit to you that while it may appear that Cain is just angry at his brother, which is true, Cain's anger, I believe, primarily is directed at God.

This is another thing that's similar to Chapter 3. When Adam sinned and God called him to account, yes, he blamed his wife, Eve, but who else did he blame? He said to God, the woman that you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I ate.

So it's God's fault.

Right?

It's God's fault. God's the one who rejected the offering. That's what made Cain angry. It's God's fault. Adam blamed God. God does not respect Cain's offering. Cain kills Abel for what? What did Abel do wrong?

Abel is completely innocent. Abel did nothing wrong. So this leads me to believe that Cain's real issue is with God. But here's the thing. Cain can't do anything about God. Cain can't touch God. What are you going to do to God?

So the next best thing, you take it out on the one who is the servant of God. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.