Genesis 4

The Explanation

Eve held her first baby in her arms and laughed. "I have gotten a man with Yahweh's help," she said. His name was Cain. Later came a second boy, Abel.

The brothers grew up. Cain worked the soil. He knew when to plant and when to pull weeds. Abel walked behind sheep all day. He knew every one of them.

One day both brothers brought a gift to God. Cain brought fruit from his fields. Abel brought the very best he had, the firstborn animals of his flock, the fattest and finest. God looked at Abel's gift and was pleased. At Cain's gift He was not.

Something went dark in Cain. His face fell, like a door slamming shut. He was very, very angry.

Then God spoke to him. Not shouting. God asked a question: "Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen?" And He warned him: "Sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it."

Do you see the picture? Sin is like a wild animal lying flat outside your door, waiting, ready to jump. God said: you can be the boss over it. You do not have to open that door.

But Cain opened it.

"Let's go into the field," he said to his brother. Abel came along. He trusted him. And out there in the field, where nobody was watching, Cain killed him.

Then God asked another question. "Where is Abel, your brother?"

Cain lied straight to God's face. "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" As if Abel were nothing to him. As if he had never carried him on his back when they were small.

God said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground." Nothing is ever hidden from God. Not even out in an empty field.

Cain had to leave. The ground would not grow good crops for him anymore, and he would wander far from home. Cain was terrified. "Whoever finds me will kill me," he said.

And here something surprising happens. God gave Cain a sign, a mark, so that nobody would strike him down. God protected the murderer. Even now He would not let go of him completely.

Cain went away east, and there he built a city. His family grew. His great-great-grandchildren invented wonderful things: tents and herds, harps and pipes, tools of bronze and iron. Beautiful things. But one of them, Lamech, boasted to his wives that he had killed a man for hurting him. The anger of Cain had not died. It had grown bigger.

Back at home, Eve had another baby. She called him Seth. "God has given me another child instead of Abel," she said. And Seth had a son too, Enosh. In those days, the book says, people began to call on Yahweh's name. They began to pray.

What Does This Mean?

Anger is not a small thing. It starts in your face and it can end in your hands. God warned Cain before anything happened. God warns us too, in that moment when something goes dark inside and we want to hurt someone back.

And notice: God asked "Where is your brother?" The answer is yes. Yes, you are your brother's keeper. You are supposed to look after him.

The Common Thread

Abel's blood cried out from the ground: unfair, unfair. Much later another innocent man was killed, out where people could watch. Jesus. But His blood does not cry for punishment. It cries out forgiveness, even for people like Cain, even for us.

For You

When the wild animal crouches at your door today, when you want to hit or shout or say something cruel, stop. Walk away. Count to ten. Then go back and be a keeper of your brother or sister: share something, help with something, say sorry first.

Talk About It

When did you last feel really angry, and what did you do with it?

Why do you think God still protected Cain?

Praying Together

Lord God, You see everything, even what nobody else sees. When anger crouches at my door, help me not to open it. Make me someone who looks after others. Thank You for Jesus, who forgives. Amen.