This study is taken from Genesis 4.1-26
Adam and Eve have sex. Sex is beautiful! Yes according to the book Song of Solomon in the Bible, it is. Just read through it and see. They make a poetry out of it. It is holy, not to be shared with anyone and everyone but a spouse and not several spouses either. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Hebrews 13.4 That’s how it was meant to be. But now it is very lustful because of porn and other things like when we turn the t.v. on, we see it on billboards- women/men half naked. The world looks at this as normal. The Bible teaches that God made this so the two could become one flesh – the intertwining of 2 bodies, male and female, not male and male nor female and female.
“Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.” 1 Corinthians 6.16 and also, Romans 1.26-27, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” It is the closest intimacy one can have and should not be shared lightly. It was also made for creating children Genesis 1.28 “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
You know that God is the one who really creates us though. Psalm 139.13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. And we also know the scientific process– Sperm cells in semen swim up the vagina,, through the cervix and uterus, and into the fallopian tubes. If there’s an egg in the fallopian tube and it meets up with sperm, the fertilized egg moves down into the uterus. If the fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus, pregnancy begins.
Well back to the story I’m really trying to tell. Adam and Eve had sex and Eve got pregnant then gave birth to Cain. Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. When they grew up Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. They became the first people on earth to start sacrificing gifts to the Lord. So Cain brought things from the crops in the field that he cared for but Abel brought the very best and the first born lambs from the flock that he raised and cared for. God only accepted Abel’s gift. The reason was because it was the best. Abel didn’t give God just any random lamb. He chose the best ones.
That is a true gift especially if it’s the last money you bought it with like the widow’s offering in Mark 12.42-44 “But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”
Have you ever given a gift that wasn’t well thought out? As a young kid, we didn’t have much and I remember getting a gift from a friend. We were supposed to exchange gifts but when the time came I didn’t have one for her because I couldn’t buy one. So I took a box of bath soap that was hidden in my closet, dusted it off and hoped that when I gave it to her she wouldn’t notice that it was recycled. I was so embarrassed to give it to her. I’ve also been on the receiving end of that. It was a gift given to me for my birthday. A friend gave me a gift bag full of stuff. In it were a bunch of Tupperware items from spoons to bowls and whatever in between. “Whoa! There’s so much stuff in here!,” I said to myself and I felt so special. But when I saw her and thanked her she said, “Oh, really? What was in it? To be honest with you those were things I used for my Tupperware party so when I saw it in the closet I just grabbed it and gave it to you.” It kind of seems like karma. The difference is that, and I’m not trying to justify anything here, I was actually embarrassed about giving my friend a recycled gift but my friend who gave me that bag full of stuff was perfectly ok with it and it made me feel like I wasn’t worth much. Imagine how God might have felt when Cain didn’t give him the very best and being “okay” with it.
Well this made Cain very angry and his face showed sadness. God saw this and asked Cain why he was so angry and sad. “If you do what’s right you’ll be accepted. If you don’t do what’s right, as in refuse to do what’s right,” God said “watch out – (he gave a warning) sin is crouching at your door it wants to control you, it is eager to control you and you must master it and conquer it.” Genesis 4.6-7 He was telling Cain don’t let it control you.
Well who knows how much time had passed when one day Cain invited Abel to go out in the fields with him. It was his plan to kill him. God had already warned him that sin was going to happen and told him to control it but Cain did not heed those words and he killed Abel by attacking him. I believe this was the first envious situation on Earth. To kill anyone is pretty steep but to kill your brother? By the way, did you know that if you hold hatred in your heart towards someone, it is considered murder? 1 John 3.15 He knew what was coming. I cannot imagine how Cain got to this place in his mind.
I have 5 siblings, me being the youngest out of 6 and I feel I owe so much to them. Each one has a special place in my heart.
Agnes: The inspirational one who always tries to see the best in everything and everyone and every situation. She was momma after our mother passed away. She moved us out of our grandmother’s house and in to our parent’s old house and took care of us like a mother.
Ann: My mother figure. She’s the one I’d run to especially when I’m in trouble or troubled. She has a way of helping me get clarity and direction. She would always let me have it, the truth, and became my guardian when I was a teen when we lost our father.
David: The brother who understood me as a person and allowed me to be me. He’s fun and funny and wears his heart on his sleeve. He laughs at everything but deep down he is sensitive and loving and tries so hard at life.
Fred: The father figure of my life; stern and strong and faithful. He’s the one who taught me how to set goals. He was always so thoughtful and kind. He was also responsible for my being able to brush my teeth, buy bath soap, lotion, and shampoo because he made sure I had money for lunch which I used for those necessities.
Ida: The sister I could talk to about anything and everything without feeling judged. She bought me the things I needed; clothing, underwear, shoes. I’m thrilled to also call her my sister in Christ! That gives us a special bond.
Keep in mind that these siblings of mine all took part in raising me and caring for me, yet they were kids themselves. They didn’t have to. It was not their responsibility but they were there for me and each one of them met a particular need of mine that shaped me to be who I am today. I could never think ill of them! Let alone murder!
Back to Cain. He tries to deny what he did and becomes more concerned about what happens to HIM, instead. But God keeps him safe. That’s the kind of God he is. He puts a mark on Cain as a warning to anyone who would try to kill him to be punished seven times as great or as numerous. That mark identified Cain as a fugitive and homeless wanderer but still protected by God. He was banished from the ground. What does that mean? It means that no matter how hard he worked, the ground would not yield its strength. The Hebrew word is “koach,” pronounced ko’akh, meaning to be firm. So the ground would not be firm and yield its crops? I still haven’t come up with an answer that makes sense to me. He is also now cursed to be a wanderer, homeless and wretched. One commentary read that this may have been the first curse mentioned upon humanity. So Cain left and “settled” in the land of Nod which means ”wanderer.” Even though he “settled” in Nod we don’t know how long that was for or what other cities he may have wandered to. So far, scripture only mentions 2.
The Hebrew word for wanderer is”nud” pronounced, ”nood” meaning to nod, waver, wander, flee, disappear, shaking the head in sympathy, to console, deplore, or tossing the head in scorn, taunt, bemoan, flee, mourn, wandering. So not only was Cain a wanderer as in going around and not keeping still, he was also restless in his spirit and mind because there was no peace in his heart. That mark Cain had was also an indication to people that he was a murderer. People saw that and knew that he was protected by God because he had killed someone.
Cain went on to have a family. His first born son was Enoch. He founded a city and named it after him. Then there were his descendants Irad, Mahujael, Methushael, and Lamech. The consequences of Cain’s sin passed down to his descendent Lamech. Lamech was Cain’s great, great, great-grandson. He mocked God just like Cain did saying, “If someone who kills Cain is punished 7 times then the one who kills me will be punished 77 times.” Genesis 4.24 Neither one of them repented.
Years later, Adam and Eve had another son and named him Seth. In those days names meant something. Seth’s name means, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” Seth grew up and had a son named Enosh. At that time was when people first began to worship God and call on his name.
And speaking of calling on His name, won’t you do this now? Won’t you give your life to God? Why not be saved? I mean, if you think about it, what do you have to lose? I challenge you to obey the Gospel, to give it all you’ve got, to study it through and through. If you don’t see any changes in your life or within yourself, then you can always quit, give it up and throw it away but don’t just ignore it please. At least then you’ll know that you gave it your best shot!
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