CHAPTER 4

(4003 B.C.)

CAIN AND ABEL

¹And Adam knew Eve his wife (is the Biblical connotation of the union of husband and wife in respect to the sex act); and she conceived, and bore Cain (the first child born to this union, and would conclude exactly as the Lord said it would, with sorrow), and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD (by Eve using the title LORD, which means Covenant God, and which refers to the Seed of the woman, [Gen. 3:15], she thought Cain was the Promised One; she evidently didnt realize that it was impossible for fallen man to bring forth the Promised Redeemer).

²And she again bore his brother Abel (Abel means vanity; Cain being the oldest, this shows that Eve by now had become disillusioned with her firstborn, undoubtedly seeing traits in him which she knew could not be of the Promised Seed; she was losing faith in God). And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground (both were honorable professions).

³And in process of time it came to pass (the phrase used here refers to a long indefinite period), that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. (This was probably the first offering that he brought, even though the Lord had explained to the First Family the necessity of the Sacrificial System, that is, if they were to have any type of communion with God and forgiveness of sins. There is evidence that Adam, at least for a while, offered up sacrifices. Cain knew the type of Sacrifice that the Lord would accept, but he rebelled against that admonition, demanding that God accept the labor of his hands, which, in fact, God could not accept. So we have, in the persons of Cain and Abel, the first examples of a religious man of the world and a genuine man of Faith.)

⁴And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof (this is what God demanded; it was a blood sacrifice of an innocent victim, a lamb, which proclaimed the fact that Abel recognized his need of a Redeemer, and that One was coming Who would redeem lost humanity; the Offering of Abel was a Type of Christ and the price that He would pay on the Cross of Calvary in order for man to be redeemed). And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: (As stated, this was a Type of Christ and the Cross, the only Offering which God will respect. Abels Altar is beautiful to Gods Eye and repulsive to mans. Cains altar is beautiful to mans eye and repulsive to Gods. These altars exist today; around the one that is Christ and His atoning work, few are gathered, around the other, many. God accepts the slain lamb and rejects the offered fruit; and the offering being rejected, so of necessity is the offerer.)

⁵But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect (let us say it again, God has no respect for any proposed way of Salvation, other than Jesus Christ and Him Crucified [I Cor. 1:23; 2:2]). And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell (that which filled Abel with peace filled Cain with wrath; the carnal mind displays its enmity against all this Truth which so gladdens and satisfies the heart of the Believer).

⁶And the LORD said unto Cain (God loves Cain, just as He did Abel, and wishes to bless him also), Why are you angry (Abels Altar speaks of Repentance, of Faith, and of the Precious Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God without blemish; Cains altar tells of pride, unbelief, and self-righteousness, which always elicits anger)? and why is your countenance fallen (anger, in one form or the other, accompanies self-righteousness, for that is what plagued Cain; Gods Righteousness can only come by the Cross, while self-righteousness is by dependence on works)?

⁷If you do well, shall you not be accepted (if you bring the correct sacrifice, and thereby place your faith)? and if you do not well, sin (a Sin-Offering) lies at the door (a lamb was at the door of the Tabernacle). And unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him (the Lord promised Cain dominion over the Earth of that day, if he would only offer up, and place his trust in, the right Sacrifice; He promises the same presently to all who trust Christ [Mat. 5:5]).

CAIN MURDERS ABEL

⁸And 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 (the first murder; Cains religion was too refined to kill a lamb, but not too cultured to murder his brother; Gods Way of Salvation fills the heart with love; mans way of salvation inflames it with hatred; Religion has ever been the greatest cause of bloodshed).

⁹And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel your brother? (Adam sins against God and Cain sins against man. In their united conduct, we have sin in all its forms, and that on the first page of human history.) And he said, I know not: Am I my brothers keeper (He showed himself a liar in saying, I know not; wicked and profane in thinking he could hide his sin from God; unjust in denying himself to be his brothers keeper; obstinate and desperate in not confessing his sin)?

¹⁰And He (God) said, What have you done (this concerns mans sins, the fruit of his sinful nature)? The voice of your brothers blood cries unto Me from the ground. (There is some Scriptural evidence that Cain cut his brothers throat. Thus, with the first shedding of human blood, that ominous thought sprang up, divinely bestowed, that the Earth will grant no peace to the one who has wantonly stained her fair face with the life-stream of man.)

¹¹And now are you cursed from the Earth (Cain repudiated the Cross, murdered his brother, and is now cursed by God; this is the first curse leveled by God against a human being), which has opened her mouth to receive your brothers blood from your hand (was the beginning of what has proven to be a saturation; from then until now, the Earth has been soaked with the blood of innocent victims);

¹²When you till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto you her strength (presents the fact that Cain had polluted mans habitation, and now, when he tilled the soil, it would resist him as an enemy); a fugitive and a vagabond shall you be in the Earth (presents the search, not of a better lot, but under the compulsion of an evil conscience).

¹³And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear (Cain did not see the enormity of his sin, but the severity of his punishment; in other words, there was no repentance).

¹⁴Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the Earth (Adams sin brought expulsion from the inner circle, Cains from the outer); and from Your face shall I be hid (to be hidden from the Face of God is to be not regarded by God, and not protected by His Guardian care); and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the Earth (a wanderer); and it shall come to pass, that everyone who finds me shall (seek to) kill me. (The reference by Cain to other individuals proves that in the some 100 plus years since Adam and Eve were created, the first parents had other children. By this time, there could very well have been several thousands of people on the Earth, and no doubt were.)

¹⁵And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold (Cain was allowed to live in order that he might be a perpetual warning to others that the blood of their fellowman must not be spilled; however, very few heeded, as few presently heed). And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him (we arent told what the mark was, but evidently, all knew).

THE FIRST CIVILIZATION

¹⁶And Cain went out from the Presence of the LORD (those in rebellion against God do not at all desire His Presence, and for all the obvious reasons), and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden (Nod means wandering; the majority of the human race wander, because they dont know God and, therefore, have no peace).

¹⁷And Cain knew his wife (Biblical terminology for conception); and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city (actually means was building or began to build; the idea is, it was not finished; and so it has been, and is, with the human race; nothing is ever quite finished with the unredeemed, simply because what is built doesnt satisfy), and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch (carries the idea, due to the meaning of the name Enoch, that this city would be a place of education and learning but it was education and learning without God).

¹⁸And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat (fathered) Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech (all of this was three hundred or more years after the creation of Adam and Eve).

¹⁹And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah (the first instance of polygamy recorded in the Bible).

²⁰And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

²¹And his brothers name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ (it seems that Jubal was the originator of musical instruments; mans ear is now filled with other sounds than those which issue from Calvary, and his eye is filled with other objects than a Crucified Christ).

²²And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah (Tubal-cain was the first one to begin to work with metals; the name of Cain was probably added to show that these were Cainites; Naamah means beautiful).

²³And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

²⁴If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. (This is the first recorded poem in human history. Like so much poetry ever since, it glorifies immorality and murder, and denies coming wrath. Man has attempted to deny judgment ever since; nevertheless, judgment one day is coming [Rev. 20:11-15].)

THE SPIRITUAL SEED RENEWED

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth (after dealing with Cains line in the beginnings of corruption of violence, Moses goes back some years to the birth of Seth; the Holy Spirit will single out Seth, because he was in the lineage of Christ; the name Seth means appointed substitute): For God, said she, has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. (When Cain was born, Eve said, I have gotten a man from the LORD, indicating that she believed in the Covenant of Genesis 3:15. Now she uses the term God, in effect stating that she has lost faith in the Covenant. As stated, this seed would be the one through whom Christ would come, but because of faithlessness, Eve did not know or believe this.)

²⁶And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos (the name Enos means sickly, mortal, decaying man; the awful results of the Fall are now beginning to sink in): then began men to call upon the N ame of the LORD (probably refers to contempt; quite possibly the family of Cain, knowing that Seth had now taken the place of Abel, as it regards the firstborn or appointed one, contemptuously refers to them as the God people, or the Lord people).