II.
Ge 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."
2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 "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."
8 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.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."
13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 "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 a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
15 And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son-Enoch.
18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
21 His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.
22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."
26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
(NKJV)
Sooo...We leave idolatry to discuss murder. This is a Christian blog, right?
Well, we really didn't leave idolatry, but we'll get back to that.
Yes, it is a Christian blog. The Bible is full of our flaws, and, as was mentioned last time, determined to let us know no one but Jesus is perfect, something we'll keep mentioning throughout as well. No one is totally evil either.
But we do find people coming awfully close.
Cain.
The first born. The Bible seems to have something against them. First Adam flopped. Second Adam was Christ. "Jacob have I loved. Esau I have hated." Plague in Egypt especially for the the first born. Cain and Seth.
The first born outside Eden.
One liberal commentary I read suggested this was God's comment that sheep herding was superior to farming. I would think it was more a foreshadowing of the killing of the Good Shepherd because he was the favorite of God.
Some detail from Matthew Henry:
Genesis 4:1 Ge 4:1
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS CHAPTER 4
In this chapter we have both the world and the church in a family, in a little family, in Adam's family, and a specimen given of the character and state of both in later ages, nay, in all ages, to the end of time. As all mankind were represented in Adam, so that great distinction of mankind into saints and sinners, godly and wicked, the children of God and the children of the wicked one, was here represented in Cain and Abel, and an early instance is given of the enmity which was lately put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. We have here,
I. The birth, names, and callings, of Cain and Abel, Ge 4:1-2.
II. Their religion, and different success in it (Ge 4:3-4) and part of, Ge 4:5.
III. Cain's anger at God and the reproof of him for that anger, Ge 4:5-7.
IV. Cain's murder of his brother, and the process against him for that murder. The murder committed, Ge 4:8. The proceedings against him.
1. His arraignment, Ge 4:9, former part.
2. His plea, Ge 4:9, latter part.
3. His conviction, Ge 4:10.
4. The sentence passed upon him, Ge 4:11-12.
5. His complaint against the sentence, Ge 4:13-14.
6. The ratification of the sentence, Ge 4:15.
7. The execution of the sentence, Ge 4:15-16.
V. The family and posterity of Cain, Ge 4:17-24.
VI. The birth of another son and grandson of Adam, Ge 4:25-26.
Ver. 1.
Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters, Ge 5:4. But Cain and Abel seem to have been the two eldest. Some think they were twins, and, as Esau and Jacob, the elder hated and the younger loved. Though God had cast our first parents out of paradise, he did not write them childless; but, to show that he had other blessings in store for them, he preserved to them the benefit of that first blessing of increase. Though they were sinners, nay, though they felt the humiliation and sorrow of penitents, they did not write themselves comfortless, having the promise of a Saviour to support themselves with. We have here,
I. The names of their two sons.
1. Cain signifies possession; for Eve, when she bore him, said with joy, and thankfulness, and great expectation, I have gotten a man from the LORD. Observe, Children are God's gifts, and he must be acknowledged in the building up of our families. It doubles and sanctifies our comfort in them when we see them coming to us from the hand of God, who will not forsake the works and gifts of his own hand. Though Eve bore him with the sorrows that were the consequence of sin, yet she did not lose the sense of the mercy in her pains. Comforts, though alloyed, are more than we deserve; and therefore our complaints must not drown our thanksgivings. Many suppose that Eve had a conceit that this son was the promised seed, and that therefore she thus triumphed in him, as her words may be read, I have gotten a man, the LORD, God-man. If so, she was wretchedly mistaken, as Samuel, when he said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before me, 1Sa 16:6. When children are born, who can foresee what they will prove? He that was thought to be a man, the LORD, or at least a man from the Lord, and for his service as priest of the family, became an enemy to the Lord. The less we expect from creatures, the more tolerable will disappointments be. (Leading me to wonder what expectations Matt had for his kids...)
2. Abel signifies vanity. When she thought she had obtained the promised seed in Cain, she was so taken up with that possession that another son was as vanity to her. To those who have an interest in Christ, and make him their all, other things are as nothing at all. It intimates likewise that the longer we live in this world the more we may see of the vanity of it. What, at first, we are fond of, as a possession, afterwards we see cause to be dead to, as a trifle. The name given to this son is put upon the whole race, Ps 39:5. Every man is at his best estate Abel--vanity. Let us labour to see both ourselves and others so. Childhood and youth are vanity. (There remains the possibility that Abel may have made Joseph's mistake in reveling in the blessing of God before his brother or in rubbing in that his offering was more acceptable as brothers have sometimes (okay, often,) chosen to do.)
II. The employments of Cain and Abel. Observe,
1. They both had a calling. Though they were heirs apparent to the world, their birth noble and their possessions large, yet they were not brought up in idleness. God gave their father a calling, even in innocency, and he gave them one. Note, It is the will of God that we should every one of us have something to do in this world. Parents ought to bring up their children to business.
"Give them a Bible and a calling (said good Mr. Dod), and God be with them.'
2. Their employments were different, that they might trade and exchange with one another, as there was occasion. The members of the body politic have need one of another, and mutual love is helped by mutual commerce.
3. Their employments belonged to the husbandman's calling, their father's profession--a needful calling, for the king himself is served of the field, but a laborious calling, which required constant care and attendance. It is now looked upon as a mean calling; the poor of the land serve for vine-dressers and husbandmen, Jer 52:16. But the calling was far from being a dishonour to them; rather, they were an honour to it.
4. It should seem, by the order of the story, that Abel, though the younger brother, yet entered first into his calling, and probably his example drew in Cain.
5. Abel chose that employment which most befriended contemplation and devotion, for to these a pastoral life has been looked upon as being peculiarly favourable. Moses and David kept sheep, and in their solitudes conversed with God. Note, That calling or condition of life is best for us, and to be chosen by us, which is best for our souls, that which least exposes us to sin and gives us most opportunity of serving and enjoying God.
Our flesh fell at Eden. It took the universe with it. Meteors meant to orbit forever started hitting planets. Comets began coming just a bit closer to Earth. If Satan had his way in the universe, one would have hit and wiped out the beginnings of humanity. Maybe he was hoping God would do that. Maybe he was really thinking like Dante that he would get to rule in Hell after that. There's a new Tom Hanks film based on Dante's idea of the Inferno and Hanks states in the ad that our idea of Hell today comes from Dante, which is, unfortunately, something that is true for a lot of people. His idea was that there were levels of Hell and each person went to a certain level which was where they spent eternity.
SF writers Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven wrote a novel called "Inferno" which dealt with a man cast into Hell working his way out through the various layers until he reached a wormhole to escape. For instance, on one level the greedy were given giant diamonds and they were forever running them up a hill to store them for themselves, but they were so worried they would lose the gems they never let them stay there, running them back down with them so they wouldn't lose them to other greedy people, never realizing they were in Hell or that they could escape. The diamonds were worn almost smooth by an eternity of rolling. The hero's benefactor through the whole event was a really nice guy who turned out to be Mussolini, who was working off his bad events until he could climb out of the place into a wormhole back to reality.
It is a comment on our fallen minds (the brain is also made of flesh) that we build these imaginary Hells in such a way that they have outs, that we suffer but can eventually earn our way out, the idea of Purgatory as a way back to God's grace which was freely given to begin with. This idea that we can bargain or earn our way out even after death, that God has given us a way back that we can use to get to Heaven is of course an idea of control. We are still in control. We can believe we only need 51% salvation and that we can assure it by marriage to a Muslim man or by dying in a Jihad. Or we can believe we can say fifty Holy Mary's for a rape and sixty for a murder. Or we can think we will do good for the rest of our lives and earn our way back. We want the power in our lives and we want the power in our salvation. We want to say when we stop sinning and when can just ask forgiveness.
That began with Cain. The idea that we should set the limits of our punishment. That we can talk God into an out.
Of course, his crime was profoundly larger than most of our. While sin is sin, God shows an deep dislike of this sin.
But the sin began with the sacrifice. Abel gave an acceptable one. It was a blood sacrifice. This gets the focus from most commentators. They stress that the sacrifice must have blood for god to accept it. I would suggest Abel went through and picked the best of his first born flock to offer to God. A spotless lamb even as god would send a spotless lamb.
Cain offered from his crops. He was the first one there, no doubt disgusted that his brother arrived second and was doing it correctly. I suspect he harvested a batch of crops and offered them rather than sorting out the ripest, freshest, most perfect. The lack of blood surely mattered but I suspect Cain's heart was the issue. The law would later provide grain offerings like the wave sheaf after the first fruits. This seems to be the failing here, that the offering was not the first fruits.
It becomes obvious when God confronts him.
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 "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."
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown:
7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?--A better rendering is, "Shalt thou not have the excellency"? which is the true sense of the words referring to the high privileges and authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal times.
sin lieth at the door--sin, that is, a sin offering--a common meaning of the word in Scripture (as in Ho 4:8; 2Co 5:21; Heb 9:28). The purport of the divine rebuke to Cain was this, "Why art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest well (that is, wert innocent and sinless) a thank offering would have been accepted as a token of thy dependence as a creature. But as thou doest not well (that is, art a sinner), a sin offering is necessary, by bringing which thou wouldest have met with acceptance and retained the honors of thy birthright." This language implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through faith (Heb 11:4).
unto thee shall be his desire--The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is described (Ge 27:29); and it was Cain's conviction, that this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother--hence the secret flame of jealousy, which kindled into a settled hatred and fell revenge.
So he lost his birthright? There are a lot of assumptions made when we comment on these sections. As far as we know, the "rules' of sacrifice were not established until the law. As far as we know the first humans had no notion of a birthright. As far as we know, what happened here was that his brother did the correct thing in giving to God from his "perfect" animals and THIS established the pattern to be acceptable to God while Cain gave from what he valued but didn't give the best of it. These acts established what was unacceptable as sacrifice and these were the test cases.
I suspect this is actually the first reflection of Paul's statement that nature reveals God's will. It is just aht nature is warped by sin and we are warped by sin so the message God sends to "Worship me." Gets interpreted as coming from nature not from God through nature. Abel heard that call correctly. Cain heard the wrong message.
The previous discussion of Abel taking an acceptable devotional life also leaves a little to be desired
since there were likely plenty of sheep to go around and plenty of land to till. Adam no doubt related that the curse was for men to till the land and Cain must have thought that would please God. We have to get over our "power" idea that one side is somehow better than the other. What 'our" side constantly has going for them is a heart of please God. Cain, I think, had that but he chose the wrong road. Many of us do. I suspect most of us do. We try something we think will please God and something else when that fails. We found our own religious ways and we can stick by them when they fail or we can turn to the real God. The experience at the altar showed Cain that his "religious" choice was not acceptable for God. Defining exactly what was unacceptable means going beyond what God says. He chastises Cain for not accepting His clear unhappiness and then doing the correct thing. Cain, in choosing farming or the wrong crops to sacrifice is angry with God for not accepting it. His anger is that God has not let Cain BE God in his own life. As we noted in the previous chapter, Cain has crafted an idol, has worshipped his own idea of sacrifice rather than the God he was sacrificing to. He hoped not to please God but to have God praise him for doing things Cain's way.
God' response to Cain's anger: tell him he has to control his temper. stop sulking and rule over his sin. Cain must understand that his action displeased god, accept that and do the right thing.
This is God's constant conversation with humanity.
"This is the right thing to do."
"Obey an you will please me."
"You are hurting yourself by disobeying."
"If you keep this up, it will get really worse."
The proper response was something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpGsvbCH6nU
But our first fallen flesh born into our fallen word had other ideas.
And, as was certain, things got worse, Our difficulty with these verses:
Ge 4:8 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.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."
13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 "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 a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
15 And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
(NKJV)
Is extensive.
First we don't know the conversation. We can wonder if Cain was ranting and raving or if he asked kindly what pleased God, what did Abel do that made it better. We can consider that Abel's name means vanity and wonder if he maybe refused to discuss it or flaunted the fact God took his offering. There was a comedy duo named the Smothers Brothers who rose to fame at the end of the folk music era and had a madly liberal TV show in the 70's the introduced Glen Campbell in their summer show. One part of their act was a bit where they would be playing a song, Tommy, the oldest would interrupt or do something goofy and Dick the younger would chastise him and then Tommy would blurt out: "Mom always liked you best!" We wonder if that went in there somewhere. We might cry "Manslaughter" ourselves but there appears to be a time between that conversation and Cain's act. He seems to have plotted a perfect time away from everyone, where no one could see.
Now, there are some commentaries that say he sacrificed Abel as an offering to God, being the first case of human sacrifice and making Cain the founder of that act. While intriguing, it seems unlikely. In fact, God asking where Abel is seriously voids that idea. He would likely have mentioned that when Abel was on the altar. And he also mentions that the blood has cursed the earth.
Thomas Haweis:
Verses 10-12: We have here, 1. God’s reply, pointed with conviction, covering him with confusion, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. Blood hath a voice to reach the skies; murder will call for vengeance, blood for blood.
(1.) Shall murdered bodies thus cry out, and murdered souls be silent? Hear, ye careless sinners, whose lips and lives cast abroad firebrands and death. Tremble, ye negligent pastors: how many immortal souls are laying their blood at your door! (2.) Where shall man flee, whose sin hath testified to his face, whose guilt is evident? To the blood of Jesus. This crieth louder for mercy, than Abel’s did for vengeance: happy the soul whose cries of sin are drowned in deeper cries of the blood of the Savior. Even a murderer need not despair.
2. God’s judgment against him: now thou art cursed. No judgment so heavy as the wrath of God, and how much more when without hope of mercy. He is spared to live upon the earth, not in prospect of repentance, but as a warning against sin; a reprobate sinner is a damned one in this world. How should we be afraid of sin, lest we provoke God to give us up to a reprobate mind, and then we are as desperate as if already shut up in the belly of hell! Two things shall make his abode here as miserable, as his prospects hereafter are terrible.
(1.) The earth shall withhold her sustenance: though tilled, it shall not yield her increase. Adam received it barren, but by sweat it brought forth fruit. Cain shall not only sweat to till, but shall find it barren still. Note, A wicked man hath the curse of God on whatever he hath and doth; and this, like the gall in the cup, embitters all.
(2.) It shall refuse him a settlement; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be. He shall be cast out from the society of men, and left to wander up and down, as much a terror to himself, as an abhorrence to others. Note, This fugitive and vagabond is every sinner; he seeks to fly from himself, but guilt, like a fiend of hell, haunts him; and conscience, with a scorpion’s whip, continually scourges him.
We've talked of idols and, in this case, God took the power of Cain's idol. He loved farming, growing things, he had the touch. He offered the fruit of the field, his true God to the True God. God understood it was an offering Cain valued because he valued the Earth, his love of the soil, above all else. What was meant as a curse was something that fed Cain's self. So God took the idol.
And Cain was overcome with grief. He lost his God and his family. He cried about the punishment. He could have said that he would then become a shepherd and nomad, wandering the world with his folk as Abel would have. Doing his best to properly worship God.
Instead, he whines. He lost all that mattered to him. Imagine God's pleasure if Cain had said he had lost what had mattered and understood that it was God alone which mattered.
Instead:
13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 "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 a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
He has killed a man and now men will want to kill him. Sin cascading through humanity.
This is a much larger society than we tend to think. There are men and women all around. None of them even thought of a sacrifice to God though Adam and Eve surely related their experience. There seems to have been only folks wandering around scraping out a survival. It suggests Adam and Eve may have had children in Eden. Suggests the others were worshiping in some way we never see shown here. Certainly there was some kind of society which apparently had never built a city, We can guess but the Bible doesn't make it clear, God's concern, Moses' concern here, was only the murder of Abel and the results in Cain's life. But keep that idea of other folks in your mind. We'll bring it up again in a blog or so.
John Wesley:
V. 11. And now art thou cursed from the earth-1. He is cursed, separated to all evil, laid under the wrath of God, as it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 2. He is cursed from the earth. Thence the cry came up to God, thence the curse came up to Cain. God could have taken vengeance by an immediate stroke from heaven: but he chose to make the earth the avenger of blood; to continue him upon the earth, and not presently to cut him off; and yet to make even that his curse. That part of it which fell to his share, and which he had the occupation of, was made unfruitful, by the blood of Abel. Besides, A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. By this he was here condemned, to perpetual disgrace and reproach, and to perpetual disquietment and horror in his own mind. His own guilty conscience should haunt him where ever he went. Now to justify his complaint, Observe his descants upon the sentence. 1. He sees himself excluded by it from the favour of his God; and concludes, that being cursed, he was hid from God's face, and that is indeed the true nature of God's curse; damned sinners find it so, to whom it is said, Depart from me ye cursed. Those are cursed indeed that are for ever shut out from God's love and care, and from all hopes of his grace. 2. He sees himself expelled from all the comforts of this life; and concludes, Ge 4:14. Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth-As good have no place on earth as not have a settled place. Better rest in the grave than not rest at all. And from thy face shall I be hid-Shut out of the church, not admitted to come with the sons of God to present himself before the Lord. And it shall come to pass that every one that finds me shall slay me-Wherever he wanders he goes in peril of his life. There were none alive but his near relations, yet even of them he is justly afraid, who had himself been so barbarous to his own brother.
But he pleads with God and God puts a curse on the one who kills Cain and marks him.
Hall's explication:
Genesis 4:15
Then the Lord said unto him, Fear not this danger of thy death. I would have it the chief part of thy punishment to live long and miserable, for fearful example unto others: whosoever therefore shall kill Cain, though so bloody a murderer, he shall be punished by many degrees more severely than Cain himself, for the blood of his brother. And God set a visible and conspicuous mark upon the body of Cain, that whosoever met him might hereby be warned, not to lay hands upon him, notwithstanding his just desert of death.
Genesis 4:16
Then Cain was shut out from the protection of God, and that place where were visible signs of God’s presence and means of his worship; and dwelt, after his uncertain and wandering manner, in that land, which was afterwards, from his aberration, called the land of Nod, toward the East side of Eden.
This mark gets discussed. Was it a tattoo? Some have suggested his skin was darkened and used it as an excuse to suppress the black race. Some have suggested it is the white race since they seem to gravitate toward cities. Most though suggest it was simply a special mark for Cain alone.
It does foreshadow the mark of the beast though. And makes me wonder of it was a variation on 666. Human imaginings get to play all manner of games here. Don't believe any of us; it was gthe mark God chose. Simple as that.
Matt Henry in summation and preparation for next time:
Ver. 16.
We have here a further account of Cain, and what became of him after he was rejected of God.
I. He tamely submitted to that part of his sentence by which he was hidden from God's face; for (Ge 4:16) he went out from the presence of the Lord, that is, he willingly renounced God and religion, and was content to forego its privileges, so that he might not be under its precepts. He forsook Adam's family and altar, and cast off all pretensions to the fear of God, and never came among good people, nor attended on God's ordinances, any more. Note, Hypocritical professors, that have dissembled and trifled with God Almighty, are justly left to themselves, to do something that is grossly scandalous, and so to throw off that form of godliness to which they have been a reproach, and under colour of which they have denied the power of it. Cain went out now from the presence of the Lord, and we never find that he came into it again, to his comfort. Hell is destruction from the presence of the Lord, 2Th 1:9. It is a perpetual banishment from the fountain of all good. This is the choice of sinners; and so shall their doom be, to their eternal confusion.
II. He endeavoured to confront that part of the sentence by which he was made a fugitive and a vagabond; for,
1. He chose his land. He went and dwelt on the east of Eden, somewhere distant from the place where Adam and his religious family resided, distinguishing himself and his accursed generation from the holy seed, his camp from the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Re 20:9. On the east of Eden, the cherubim were, with the flaming sword, Ge 3:24. There he chose his lot, as if to defy the terrors of the Lord. But his attempt to settle was in vain; for the land he dwelt in was to him the land of Nod (that is, of shaking or trembling), because of the continual restlessness and uneasiness of his own spirit. Note, Those that depart from God cannot find rest any where else. After Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he never rested. Those that shut themselves out of heaven abandon themselves to a perpetual trembling.
"Return therefore to thy rest, O my soul, to thy rest in God; else thou art for ever restless."
2. He built a city for a habitation, Ge 4:17. He was building a city, so some read it, ever building it, but, a curse being upon him and the work of his hands, he could not finish it. Or, as we read it, he built a city, in token of a fixed separation from the church of God, to which he had no thoughts of ever returning. This city was to be the head-quarters of the apostasy. Observe here,
(1.) Cain's defiance of the divine sentence. God said he should be a fugitive and a vagabond. Had he repented and humbled himself, this curse might have been turned into a blessing, as that of the tribe of Levi was, that they should be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel; but his impenitent proud heart walking contrary to God, and resolving to fix in spite of heaven, that which might have been a blessing was turned into a curse.
(2.) See what was Cain's choice, after he had forsaken God; he pitched upon a settlement in this world, as his rest for ever. Those who looked for the heavenly city chose, while on earth, to dwell in tabernacles; but Cain, as one that minded not that city, built himself one on earth. Those that are cursed of God are apt to seek their settlement and satisfaction here below, Ps 17:14.
(3.) See what method Cain took to defend himself against the terrors with which he was perpetually haunted. He undertook this building, to divert his thoughts from the consideration of his own misery, and to drown the clamours of a guilty conscience with the noise of axes and hammers. Thus many baffle their convictions by thrusting themselves into a hurry of worldly business.
(4.) See how wicked people often get the start of God's people, and out-go them in outward prosperity. Cain and his cursed race dwell in a city, while Adam and his blessed family dwell in tents. We cannot judge of love or hatred by all that is before us, Ec 9:1-2.
3. His family also was built up. Here is an account of his posterity, at least the heirs of his family, for seven generations. His son was Enoch, of the same name, but not of the same character, with that holy man that walked with God, Ge 5:22. Good men and bad may bear the same names: but God can distinguish between Judas Iscariot and Judas not Iscariot, Jos 14:15. The names of more of his posterity are mentioned, and but just mentioned; not as those of the holy seed (Genesis 5), where we have three verses concerning each, whereas here we have three or four in one verse. They are numbered in haste, as not valued or delighted in, in comparison with God's chosen.
Next we discuss that briefly mentioned family and examine the things God reveals about them and us.
Cain offers a glimpse of all our Fallen Flesh. No rules and making their rules rather than seeking God's rules. Rules of punishment and stretching the rules, crying to God how unfair He is to punish us in such a way. God revealing that all his punishments are to take away our idols, the one thing or things we choose to worship over him, revealing how we disguise that idolatry even to ourselves. As Teller mentioned "deep idols", things we cherish so profoundly we don't even notice they are idols. The source of our food or the source of our water, the source of our air or the source of our societies. But we cursed the Earth when we fell and Cain then personally cursed it by his actions. No matter, he still found a way to shout out against the Lord.
http://christianpersecutionindia.blogspot.com/2016/07/cobrapost-exposes-rss-web-of-conversion.html
New Delhi: On June 11, 2015, 31 tribal girls deboarded the Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express (Train No. 12501) at about 7.40 p.m. at the New Delhi Railway Station, tired and disheveled. However, no sooner had they touched down personnel from Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Crime Branch of Delhi Police, Government Railway Police (GRP) and other agencies swooped down upon them and their two women handlers, Korbi and Sandhya, both associated with Sewa Bharati, a social service organization of the RSS. The agencies had been tipped off by Child Line India Foundation, an NGO working for the protection of child rights in India since 1996, alleging that these poor girls, all minors aged between 8 and 14 years, were being trafficked. The girls were to be picked by one Ramanikbhai of Halwad in Gujarat and Bina of Patiala in Punjab, both working for the RSS, and before the authorities could establish a case of trafficking and rescue the girls from their handlers, a mob of about 200 descended on the station. Within hours the girls were handed over to their new handlers, who would take them to their respective towns, after the authorities conveniently found the reason of their movement from Assam valid: education. The event did not make any headlines as the authorities pushed the matter under the carpet.
Ge 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."
2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 "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."
8 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.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."
13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 "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 a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
15 And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son-Enoch.
18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
21 His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.
22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."
26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
(NKJV)
Sooo...We leave idolatry to discuss murder. This is a Christian blog, right?
Well, we really didn't leave idolatry, but we'll get back to that.
Yes, it is a Christian blog. The Bible is full of our flaws, and, as was mentioned last time, determined to let us know no one but Jesus is perfect, something we'll keep mentioning throughout as well. No one is totally evil either.
But we do find people coming awfully close.
Cain.
The first born. The Bible seems to have something against them. First Adam flopped. Second Adam was Christ. "Jacob have I loved. Esau I have hated." Plague in Egypt especially for the the first born. Cain and Seth.
The first born outside Eden.
One liberal commentary I read suggested this was God's comment that sheep herding was superior to farming. I would think it was more a foreshadowing of the killing of the Good Shepherd because he was the favorite of God.
Some detail from Matthew Henry:
Genesis 4:1 Ge 4:1
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS CHAPTER 4
In this chapter we have both the world and the church in a family, in a little family, in Adam's family, and a specimen given of the character and state of both in later ages, nay, in all ages, to the end of time. As all mankind were represented in Adam, so that great distinction of mankind into saints and sinners, godly and wicked, the children of God and the children of the wicked one, was here represented in Cain and Abel, and an early instance is given of the enmity which was lately put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. We have here,
I. The birth, names, and callings, of Cain and Abel, Ge 4:1-2.
II. Their religion, and different success in it (Ge 4:3-4) and part of, Ge 4:5.
III. Cain's anger at God and the reproof of him for that anger, Ge 4:5-7.
IV. Cain's murder of his brother, and the process against him for that murder. The murder committed, Ge 4:8. The proceedings against him.
1. His arraignment, Ge 4:9, former part.
2. His plea, Ge 4:9, latter part.
3. His conviction, Ge 4:10.
4. The sentence passed upon him, Ge 4:11-12.
5. His complaint against the sentence, Ge 4:13-14.
6. The ratification of the sentence, Ge 4:15.
7. The execution of the sentence, Ge 4:15-16.
V. The family and posterity of Cain, Ge 4:17-24.
VI. The birth of another son and grandson of Adam, Ge 4:25-26.
Ver. 1.
Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters, Ge 5:4. But Cain and Abel seem to have been the two eldest. Some think they were twins, and, as Esau and Jacob, the elder hated and the younger loved. Though God had cast our first parents out of paradise, he did not write them childless; but, to show that he had other blessings in store for them, he preserved to them the benefit of that first blessing of increase. Though they were sinners, nay, though they felt the humiliation and sorrow of penitents, they did not write themselves comfortless, having the promise of a Saviour to support themselves with. We have here,
I. The names of their two sons.
1. Cain signifies possession; for Eve, when she bore him, said with joy, and thankfulness, and great expectation, I have gotten a man from the LORD. Observe, Children are God's gifts, and he must be acknowledged in the building up of our families. It doubles and sanctifies our comfort in them when we see them coming to us from the hand of God, who will not forsake the works and gifts of his own hand. Though Eve bore him with the sorrows that were the consequence of sin, yet she did not lose the sense of the mercy in her pains. Comforts, though alloyed, are more than we deserve; and therefore our complaints must not drown our thanksgivings. Many suppose that Eve had a conceit that this son was the promised seed, and that therefore she thus triumphed in him, as her words may be read, I have gotten a man, the LORD, God-man. If so, she was wretchedly mistaken, as Samuel, when he said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before me, 1Sa 16:6. When children are born, who can foresee what they will prove? He that was thought to be a man, the LORD, or at least a man from the Lord, and for his service as priest of the family, became an enemy to the Lord. The less we expect from creatures, the more tolerable will disappointments be. (Leading me to wonder what expectations Matt had for his kids...)
2. Abel signifies vanity. When she thought she had obtained the promised seed in Cain, she was so taken up with that possession that another son was as vanity to her. To those who have an interest in Christ, and make him their all, other things are as nothing at all. It intimates likewise that the longer we live in this world the more we may see of the vanity of it. What, at first, we are fond of, as a possession, afterwards we see cause to be dead to, as a trifle. The name given to this son is put upon the whole race, Ps 39:5. Every man is at his best estate Abel--vanity. Let us labour to see both ourselves and others so. Childhood and youth are vanity. (There remains the possibility that Abel may have made Joseph's mistake in reveling in the blessing of God before his brother or in rubbing in that his offering was more acceptable as brothers have sometimes (okay, often,) chosen to do.)
II. The employments of Cain and Abel. Observe,
1. They both had a calling. Though they were heirs apparent to the world, their birth noble and their possessions large, yet they were not brought up in idleness. God gave their father a calling, even in innocency, and he gave them one. Note, It is the will of God that we should every one of us have something to do in this world. Parents ought to bring up their children to business.
"Give them a Bible and a calling (said good Mr. Dod), and God be with them.'
2. Their employments were different, that they might trade and exchange with one another, as there was occasion. The members of the body politic have need one of another, and mutual love is helped by mutual commerce.
3. Their employments belonged to the husbandman's calling, their father's profession--a needful calling, for the king himself is served of the field, but a laborious calling, which required constant care and attendance. It is now looked upon as a mean calling; the poor of the land serve for vine-dressers and husbandmen, Jer 52:16. But the calling was far from being a dishonour to them; rather, they were an honour to it.
4. It should seem, by the order of the story, that Abel, though the younger brother, yet entered first into his calling, and probably his example drew in Cain.
5. Abel chose that employment which most befriended contemplation and devotion, for to these a pastoral life has been looked upon as being peculiarly favourable. Moses and David kept sheep, and in their solitudes conversed with God. Note, That calling or condition of life is best for us, and to be chosen by us, which is best for our souls, that which least exposes us to sin and gives us most opportunity of serving and enjoying God.
Our flesh fell at Eden. It took the universe with it. Meteors meant to orbit forever started hitting planets. Comets began coming just a bit closer to Earth. If Satan had his way in the universe, one would have hit and wiped out the beginnings of humanity. Maybe he was hoping God would do that. Maybe he was really thinking like Dante that he would get to rule in Hell after that. There's a new Tom Hanks film based on Dante's idea of the Inferno and Hanks states in the ad that our idea of Hell today comes from Dante, which is, unfortunately, something that is true for a lot of people. His idea was that there were levels of Hell and each person went to a certain level which was where they spent eternity.
SF writers Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven wrote a novel called "Inferno" which dealt with a man cast into Hell working his way out through the various layers until he reached a wormhole to escape. For instance, on one level the greedy were given giant diamonds and they were forever running them up a hill to store them for themselves, but they were so worried they would lose the gems they never let them stay there, running them back down with them so they wouldn't lose them to other greedy people, never realizing they were in Hell or that they could escape. The diamonds were worn almost smooth by an eternity of rolling. The hero's benefactor through the whole event was a really nice guy who turned out to be Mussolini, who was working off his bad events until he could climb out of the place into a wormhole back to reality.
It is a comment on our fallen minds (the brain is also made of flesh) that we build these imaginary Hells in such a way that they have outs, that we suffer but can eventually earn our way out, the idea of Purgatory as a way back to God's grace which was freely given to begin with. This idea that we can bargain or earn our way out even after death, that God has given us a way back that we can use to get to Heaven is of course an idea of control. We are still in control. We can believe we only need 51% salvation and that we can assure it by marriage to a Muslim man or by dying in a Jihad. Or we can believe we can say fifty Holy Mary's for a rape and sixty for a murder. Or we can think we will do good for the rest of our lives and earn our way back. We want the power in our lives and we want the power in our salvation. We want to say when we stop sinning and when can just ask forgiveness.
That began with Cain. The idea that we should set the limits of our punishment. That we can talk God into an out.
Of course, his crime was profoundly larger than most of our. While sin is sin, God shows an deep dislike of this sin.
But the sin began with the sacrifice. Abel gave an acceptable one. It was a blood sacrifice. This gets the focus from most commentators. They stress that the sacrifice must have blood for god to accept it. I would suggest Abel went through and picked the best of his first born flock to offer to God. A spotless lamb even as god would send a spotless lamb.
Cain offered from his crops. He was the first one there, no doubt disgusted that his brother arrived second and was doing it correctly. I suspect he harvested a batch of crops and offered them rather than sorting out the ripest, freshest, most perfect. The lack of blood surely mattered but I suspect Cain's heart was the issue. The law would later provide grain offerings like the wave sheaf after the first fruits. This seems to be the failing here, that the offering was not the first fruits.
It becomes obvious when God confronts him.
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 "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."
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown:
7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?--A better rendering is, "Shalt thou not have the excellency"? which is the true sense of the words referring to the high privileges and authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal times.
sin lieth at the door--sin, that is, a sin offering--a common meaning of the word in Scripture (as in Ho 4:8; 2Co 5:21; Heb 9:28). The purport of the divine rebuke to Cain was this, "Why art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest well (that is, wert innocent and sinless) a thank offering would have been accepted as a token of thy dependence as a creature. But as thou doest not well (that is, art a sinner), a sin offering is necessary, by bringing which thou wouldest have met with acceptance and retained the honors of thy birthright." This language implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through faith (Heb 11:4).
unto thee shall be his desire--The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is described (Ge 27:29); and it was Cain's conviction, that this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother--hence the secret flame of jealousy, which kindled into a settled hatred and fell revenge.
So he lost his birthright? There are a lot of assumptions made when we comment on these sections. As far as we know, the "rules' of sacrifice were not established until the law. As far as we know the first humans had no notion of a birthright. As far as we know, what happened here was that his brother did the correct thing in giving to God from his "perfect" animals and THIS established the pattern to be acceptable to God while Cain gave from what he valued but didn't give the best of it. These acts established what was unacceptable as sacrifice and these were the test cases.
I suspect this is actually the first reflection of Paul's statement that nature reveals God's will. It is just aht nature is warped by sin and we are warped by sin so the message God sends to "Worship me." Gets interpreted as coming from nature not from God through nature. Abel heard that call correctly. Cain heard the wrong message.
The previous discussion of Abel taking an acceptable devotional life also leaves a little to be desired
since there were likely plenty of sheep to go around and plenty of land to till. Adam no doubt related that the curse was for men to till the land and Cain must have thought that would please God. We have to get over our "power" idea that one side is somehow better than the other. What 'our" side constantly has going for them is a heart of please God. Cain, I think, had that but he chose the wrong road. Many of us do. I suspect most of us do. We try something we think will please God and something else when that fails. We found our own religious ways and we can stick by them when they fail or we can turn to the real God. The experience at the altar showed Cain that his "religious" choice was not acceptable for God. Defining exactly what was unacceptable means going beyond what God says. He chastises Cain for not accepting His clear unhappiness and then doing the correct thing. Cain, in choosing farming or the wrong crops to sacrifice is angry with God for not accepting it. His anger is that God has not let Cain BE God in his own life. As we noted in the previous chapter, Cain has crafted an idol, has worshipped his own idea of sacrifice rather than the God he was sacrificing to. He hoped not to please God but to have God praise him for doing things Cain's way.
God' response to Cain's anger: tell him he has to control his temper. stop sulking and rule over his sin. Cain must understand that his action displeased god, accept that and do the right thing.
This is God's constant conversation with humanity.
"This is the right thing to do."
"Obey an you will please me."
"You are hurting yourself by disobeying."
"If you keep this up, it will get really worse."
The proper response was something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpGsvbCH6nU
But our first fallen flesh born into our fallen word had other ideas.
And, as was certain, things got worse, Our difficulty with these verses:
Ge 4:8 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.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."
13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 "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 a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
15 And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
(NKJV)
Is extensive.
First we don't know the conversation. We can wonder if Cain was ranting and raving or if he asked kindly what pleased God, what did Abel do that made it better. We can consider that Abel's name means vanity and wonder if he maybe refused to discuss it or flaunted the fact God took his offering. There was a comedy duo named the Smothers Brothers who rose to fame at the end of the folk music era and had a madly liberal TV show in the 70's the introduced Glen Campbell in their summer show. One part of their act was a bit where they would be playing a song, Tommy, the oldest would interrupt or do something goofy and Dick the younger would chastise him and then Tommy would blurt out: "Mom always liked you best!" We wonder if that went in there somewhere. We might cry "Manslaughter" ourselves but there appears to be a time between that conversation and Cain's act. He seems to have plotted a perfect time away from everyone, where no one could see.
Now, there are some commentaries that say he sacrificed Abel as an offering to God, being the first case of human sacrifice and making Cain the founder of that act. While intriguing, it seems unlikely. In fact, God asking where Abel is seriously voids that idea. He would likely have mentioned that when Abel was on the altar. And he also mentions that the blood has cursed the earth.
Thomas Haweis:
Verses 10-12: We have here, 1. God’s reply, pointed with conviction, covering him with confusion, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. Blood hath a voice to reach the skies; murder will call for vengeance, blood for blood.
(1.) Shall murdered bodies thus cry out, and murdered souls be silent? Hear, ye careless sinners, whose lips and lives cast abroad firebrands and death. Tremble, ye negligent pastors: how many immortal souls are laying their blood at your door! (2.) Where shall man flee, whose sin hath testified to his face, whose guilt is evident? To the blood of Jesus. This crieth louder for mercy, than Abel’s did for vengeance: happy the soul whose cries of sin are drowned in deeper cries of the blood of the Savior. Even a murderer need not despair.
2. God’s judgment against him: now thou art cursed. No judgment so heavy as the wrath of God, and how much more when without hope of mercy. He is spared to live upon the earth, not in prospect of repentance, but as a warning against sin; a reprobate sinner is a damned one in this world. How should we be afraid of sin, lest we provoke God to give us up to a reprobate mind, and then we are as desperate as if already shut up in the belly of hell! Two things shall make his abode here as miserable, as his prospects hereafter are terrible.
(1.) The earth shall withhold her sustenance: though tilled, it shall not yield her increase. Adam received it barren, but by sweat it brought forth fruit. Cain shall not only sweat to till, but shall find it barren still. Note, A wicked man hath the curse of God on whatever he hath and doth; and this, like the gall in the cup, embitters all.
(2.) It shall refuse him a settlement; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be. He shall be cast out from the society of men, and left to wander up and down, as much a terror to himself, as an abhorrence to others. Note, This fugitive and vagabond is every sinner; he seeks to fly from himself, but guilt, like a fiend of hell, haunts him; and conscience, with a scorpion’s whip, continually scourges him.
We've talked of idols and, in this case, God took the power of Cain's idol. He loved farming, growing things, he had the touch. He offered the fruit of the field, his true God to the True God. God understood it was an offering Cain valued because he valued the Earth, his love of the soil, above all else. What was meant as a curse was something that fed Cain's self. So God took the idol.
And Cain was overcome with grief. He lost his God and his family. He cried about the punishment. He could have said that he would then become a shepherd and nomad, wandering the world with his folk as Abel would have. Doing his best to properly worship God.
Instead, he whines. He lost all that mattered to him. Imagine God's pleasure if Cain had said he had lost what had mattered and understood that it was God alone which mattered.
Instead:
13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 "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 a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
He has killed a man and now men will want to kill him. Sin cascading through humanity.
This is a much larger society than we tend to think. There are men and women all around. None of them even thought of a sacrifice to God though Adam and Eve surely related their experience. There seems to have been only folks wandering around scraping out a survival. It suggests Adam and Eve may have had children in Eden. Suggests the others were worshiping in some way we never see shown here. Certainly there was some kind of society which apparently had never built a city, We can guess but the Bible doesn't make it clear, God's concern, Moses' concern here, was only the murder of Abel and the results in Cain's life. But keep that idea of other folks in your mind. We'll bring it up again in a blog or so.
John Wesley:
V. 11. And now art thou cursed from the earth-1. He is cursed, separated to all evil, laid under the wrath of God, as it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 2. He is cursed from the earth. Thence the cry came up to God, thence the curse came up to Cain. God could have taken vengeance by an immediate stroke from heaven: but he chose to make the earth the avenger of blood; to continue him upon the earth, and not presently to cut him off; and yet to make even that his curse. That part of it which fell to his share, and which he had the occupation of, was made unfruitful, by the blood of Abel. Besides, A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. By this he was here condemned, to perpetual disgrace and reproach, and to perpetual disquietment and horror in his own mind. His own guilty conscience should haunt him where ever he went. Now to justify his complaint, Observe his descants upon the sentence. 1. He sees himself excluded by it from the favour of his God; and concludes, that being cursed, he was hid from God's face, and that is indeed the true nature of God's curse; damned sinners find it so, to whom it is said, Depart from me ye cursed. Those are cursed indeed that are for ever shut out from God's love and care, and from all hopes of his grace. 2. He sees himself expelled from all the comforts of this life; and concludes, Ge 4:14. Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth-As good have no place on earth as not have a settled place. Better rest in the grave than not rest at all. And from thy face shall I be hid-Shut out of the church, not admitted to come with the sons of God to present himself before the Lord. And it shall come to pass that every one that finds me shall slay me-Wherever he wanders he goes in peril of his life. There were none alive but his near relations, yet even of them he is justly afraid, who had himself been so barbarous to his own brother.
But he pleads with God and God puts a curse on the one who kills Cain and marks him.
Hall's explication:
Genesis 4:15
Then the Lord said unto him, Fear not this danger of thy death. I would have it the chief part of thy punishment to live long and miserable, for fearful example unto others: whosoever therefore shall kill Cain, though so bloody a murderer, he shall be punished by many degrees more severely than Cain himself, for the blood of his brother. And God set a visible and conspicuous mark upon the body of Cain, that whosoever met him might hereby be warned, not to lay hands upon him, notwithstanding his just desert of death.
Genesis 4:16
Then Cain was shut out from the protection of God, and that place where were visible signs of God’s presence and means of his worship; and dwelt, after his uncertain and wandering manner, in that land, which was afterwards, from his aberration, called the land of Nod, toward the East side of Eden.
This mark gets discussed. Was it a tattoo? Some have suggested his skin was darkened and used it as an excuse to suppress the black race. Some have suggested it is the white race since they seem to gravitate toward cities. Most though suggest it was simply a special mark for Cain alone.
It does foreshadow the mark of the beast though. And makes me wonder of it was a variation on 666. Human imaginings get to play all manner of games here. Don't believe any of us; it was gthe mark God chose. Simple as that.
Matt Henry in summation and preparation for next time:
Ver. 16.
We have here a further account of Cain, and what became of him after he was rejected of God.
I. He tamely submitted to that part of his sentence by which he was hidden from God's face; for (Ge 4:16) he went out from the presence of the Lord, that is, he willingly renounced God and religion, and was content to forego its privileges, so that he might not be under its precepts. He forsook Adam's family and altar, and cast off all pretensions to the fear of God, and never came among good people, nor attended on God's ordinances, any more. Note, Hypocritical professors, that have dissembled and trifled with God Almighty, are justly left to themselves, to do something that is grossly scandalous, and so to throw off that form of godliness to which they have been a reproach, and under colour of which they have denied the power of it. Cain went out now from the presence of the Lord, and we never find that he came into it again, to his comfort. Hell is destruction from the presence of the Lord, 2Th 1:9. It is a perpetual banishment from the fountain of all good. This is the choice of sinners; and so shall their doom be, to their eternal confusion.
II. He endeavoured to confront that part of the sentence by which he was made a fugitive and a vagabond; for,
1. He chose his land. He went and dwelt on the east of Eden, somewhere distant from the place where Adam and his religious family resided, distinguishing himself and his accursed generation from the holy seed, his camp from the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Re 20:9. On the east of Eden, the cherubim were, with the flaming sword, Ge 3:24. There he chose his lot, as if to defy the terrors of the Lord. But his attempt to settle was in vain; for the land he dwelt in was to him the land of Nod (that is, of shaking or trembling), because of the continual restlessness and uneasiness of his own spirit. Note, Those that depart from God cannot find rest any where else. After Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he never rested. Those that shut themselves out of heaven abandon themselves to a perpetual trembling.
"Return therefore to thy rest, O my soul, to thy rest in God; else thou art for ever restless."
2. He built a city for a habitation, Ge 4:17. He was building a city, so some read it, ever building it, but, a curse being upon him and the work of his hands, he could not finish it. Or, as we read it, he built a city, in token of a fixed separation from the church of God, to which he had no thoughts of ever returning. This city was to be the head-quarters of the apostasy. Observe here,
(1.) Cain's defiance of the divine sentence. God said he should be a fugitive and a vagabond. Had he repented and humbled himself, this curse might have been turned into a blessing, as that of the tribe of Levi was, that they should be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel; but his impenitent proud heart walking contrary to God, and resolving to fix in spite of heaven, that which might have been a blessing was turned into a curse.
(2.) See what was Cain's choice, after he had forsaken God; he pitched upon a settlement in this world, as his rest for ever. Those who looked for the heavenly city chose, while on earth, to dwell in tabernacles; but Cain, as one that minded not that city, built himself one on earth. Those that are cursed of God are apt to seek their settlement and satisfaction here below, Ps 17:14.
(3.) See what method Cain took to defend himself against the terrors with which he was perpetually haunted. He undertook this building, to divert his thoughts from the consideration of his own misery, and to drown the clamours of a guilty conscience with the noise of axes and hammers. Thus many baffle their convictions by thrusting themselves into a hurry of worldly business.
(4.) See how wicked people often get the start of God's people, and out-go them in outward prosperity. Cain and his cursed race dwell in a city, while Adam and his blessed family dwell in tents. We cannot judge of love or hatred by all that is before us, Ec 9:1-2.
3. His family also was built up. Here is an account of his posterity, at least the heirs of his family, for seven generations. His son was Enoch, of the same name, but not of the same character, with that holy man that walked with God, Ge 5:22. Good men and bad may bear the same names: but God can distinguish between Judas Iscariot and Judas not Iscariot, Jos 14:15. The names of more of his posterity are mentioned, and but just mentioned; not as those of the holy seed (Genesis 5), where we have three verses concerning each, whereas here we have three or four in one verse. They are numbered in haste, as not valued or delighted in, in comparison with God's chosen.
Next we discuss that briefly mentioned family and examine the things God reveals about them and us.
Cain offers a glimpse of all our Fallen Flesh. No rules and making their rules rather than seeking God's rules. Rules of punishment and stretching the rules, crying to God how unfair He is to punish us in such a way. God revealing that all his punishments are to take away our idols, the one thing or things we choose to worship over him, revealing how we disguise that idolatry even to ourselves. As Teller mentioned "deep idols", things we cherish so profoundly we don't even notice they are idols. The source of our food or the source of our water, the source of our air or the source of our societies. But we cursed the Earth when we fell and Cain then personally cursed it by his actions. No matter, he still found a way to shout out against the Lord.
http://christianpersecutionindia.blogspot.com/2016/07/cobrapost-exposes-rss-web-of-conversion.html
SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2016
Cobrapost exposes the RSS web of conversion of Christians in Assam
Although it did not make headlines, 31 poor tribal girls, all minors, from Assam brought to Delhi on June 11 last year have ended up in RSS-run schools in Gujarat and Punjab, as Cobrapost finds, which is part of a well-orchestrated conversion programme targeting children from poor minority communities to initiate them into Hinduism at a young age. Given the resources and reach the RSS and its sister organizations command, what Cobrapost investigation reveals may just be the tip of the iceberg.
New Delhi: On June 11, 2015, 31 tribal girls deboarded the Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express (Train No. 12501) at about 7.40 p.m. at the New Delhi Railway Station, tired and disheveled. However, no sooner had they touched down personnel from Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Crime Branch of Delhi Police, Government Railway Police (GRP) and other agencies swooped down upon them and their two women handlers, Korbi and Sandhya, both associated with Sewa Bharati, a social service organization of the RSS. The agencies had been tipped off by Child Line India Foundation, an NGO working for the protection of child rights in India since 1996, alleging that these poor girls, all minors aged between 8 and 14 years, were being trafficked. The girls were to be picked by one Ramanikbhai of Halwad in Gujarat and Bina of Patiala in Punjab, both working for the RSS, and before the authorities could establish a case of trafficking and rescue the girls from their handlers, a mob of about 200 descended on the station. Within hours the girls were handed over to their new handlers, who would take them to their respective towns, after the authorities conveniently found the reason of their movement from Assam valid: education. The event did not make any headlines as the authorities pushed the matter under the carpet.
However, the motive of the alleged trafficking is least altruistic, as a Cobrapost investigation finds. Although some authorities and individuals involved in this case whom Cobrapost met tried to brush the allegation of trafficking aside and even claimed that the girls had been moved out of Assam for their own good, their new guardians have no qualms in admitting with a sense of pride that the girls have been brought in with the sole aim of converting them to Hinduism. In other words, it is proselytization at work, or Ghar Wapasi as the RSS and its affiliates would like to call it, disguised as social service.
The first authority to raise a stink was Sushma Vij, Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Mayur Vihar, Delhi. Apart from Sushma Vij who was, contrary to what her official report says, quite critical of the way the girls had been moved out of Assam to Gujarat and Punjab and questioned the motive behind it, Cobrapost reporter met and spoke with all the major players in this episode. He visited Halwad in Gujarat to meet Ramanikbhai at the Saraswati Shishu Mandir he runs where 20 girls out of 31 are receiving education RSS style and Patiala in Punjab where he met Bina, the caretaker of the Mata Gujari Kanya Chhatravas where the rest of the girls have been put, and Jyotika, an RSS Pracharika. Curiously enough, this girls’ hostel had already been shifted to new premises in an innocuous place and the Cobrapost reporter had a tough time locating it. In order to complete the investigation, Cobrapost reporter visited Nakheda village in Chirang district of Assam and met some of the parents who had been persuaded by the RSS workers to give away their darling daughters on the pretext of providing them free education, and, yes, as the parents claim they had been offered money as well to part ways with their daughters.
Our investigation into the alleged trafficking establishes the fact that these poor tribal girls from Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Gopalpara and Chirang areas of Assam were taken away from their homes without properly informing the appropriate authority of the state and seeking their approval. Written consent of the parents was not obtained either. The Child Welfare Committee and other such agencies of Assam, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab, which ought to be duly informed under the child protection and anti-trafficking laws that govern the movement of children from one state to another, were bypassed. Ending up in the RSS-run shelter homes and educational institutions, these girls are being initiated into or, in other words, converted to Hinduism to serve its cause. However, what our investigation reveals may just be the tip of the iceberg as the RSS and its affiliates have been working overtime on this agenda for many decades across the country.
Pursuing a tip-off about this alleged trafficking by RSS workers, Cobrapost reporter called on CWC Chairperson Vij at her Mayur Vihar office under whose jurisdiction New Delhi Railway Station falls. In her report to her counterpart with the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Vij alleges the GRP at the New Delhi Railway Station did not inform her office of the girls rescued by them because the officials concerned did not find it a case of trafficking as the girls were being sent to Gujarat and Punjab to receive education. The report says that Vij also spoke to her CWC counterpart at Surendra Nagar and her visit to Halwad shelter home, where 20 girls have been put, and the Saraswati Shishu Mandir where they are receiving education, satisfied her. Although her report sort of exonerates the persons involved in the alleged trafficking, it nonetheless says that the children were not produced before the child welfare body. The report alleges that the persons who had taken charge of these girls did not have written consent of their parents, as required under law, and the CWC of the concerned areas should have been informed when transfer of children takes place from one state to another.
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