CAIN REJECTS GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY, Sarah Barry
CAIN AND ABEL
Passage: Genesis 4:1~16  
Key verse: 7
Cain and Abel
4 Adam[a] made love to his wife(A) Eve,(B) and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[b](C) She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth[c] a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.(D)
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.(E) 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering(F) to the Lord.(G) 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions(H) from some of the firstborn of his flock.(I) The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,(J) 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?(K) Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;(L) it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.(M)”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[d] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(N)
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”(O)
“I don’t know,(P)” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.(Q) 11 Now you are under a curse(R) and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.(S) You will be a restless wanderer(T) on the earth.(U)”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;(V) I will be a restless wanderer on the earth,(W) and whoever finds me will kill me.”(X)
15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[e]; anyone who kills Cain(Y) will suffer vengeance(Z) seven times over.(AA)” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence(AB) and lived in the land of Nod,[f] east of Eden.(AC)
Footnotes
- Genesis 4:1 Or The man
- Genesis 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired.
- Genesis 4:1 Or have acquired
- Genesis 4:8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have “Let’s go out to the field.”
- Genesis 4:15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well
- Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).
Cross references
- Genesis 4:1 : ver 17, 25
- Genesis 4:1 : S Ge 2:20
- Genesis 4:1 : Heb 11:4; 1Jn 3:12; Jude 1:11
- Genesis 4:2 : Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; Heb 11:4; 12:24
- Genesis 4:2 : S Ge 2:7
- Genesis 4:3 : Lev 2:1-2; Isa 43:23; Jer 41:5
- Genesis 4:3 : Nu 18:12
- Genesis 4:4 : Lev 3:16; 2Ch 29:35
- Genesis 4:4 : Ex 13:2, 12; Dt 15:19
- Genesis 4:4 : Heb 11:4
- Genesis 4:6 : Jnh 4:4
- Genesis 4:7 : Ge 44:16; Nu 32:23; Isa 59:12
- Genesis 4:7 : Job 11:15; 22:27; Ps 27:3; 46:2; S Ro 6:16
- Genesis 4:8 : Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; 1Jn 3:12; Jude 1:11
- Genesis 4:9 : S Ge 3:9
- Genesis 4:9 : S Jn 8:44
- Genesis 4:10 : Ge 9:5; 37:20, 26; Ex 21:12; Nu 35:33; Dt 21:7, 9; 2Sa 4:11; Job 16:18; 24:2; 31:38; Ps 9:12; 106:38; Heb 12:24; Rev 6:9-10
- Genesis 4:11 : Dt 11:28; 2Ki 2:24
- Genesis 4:12 : Dt 28:15-24
- Genesis 4:12 : Ps 37:25; 59:15; 109:10
- Genesis 4:12 : ver 14
- Genesis 4:14 : 2Ki 17:18; Ps 51:11; 139:7-12; Jer 7:15; 52:3
- Genesis 4:14 : ver 12; Dt 28:64-67
- Genesis 4:14 : Ge 9:6; Ex 21:12, 14; Lev 24:17; Nu 35:19, 21, 27, 33; 1Ki 2:32; 2Ki 11:16
- Genesis 4:15 : Eze 9:4, 6
- Genesis 4:15 : Ex 21:20
- Genesis 4:15 : ver 24; Lev 26:21; Ps 79:12
- Genesis 4:16 : Jude 1:11
- Genesis 4:16 : S Ge 2:8
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. Cain's and Abel's offerings (1-5)
God accepted Abel's offering, but he did not accept Cain's. Cain offered something as if he were doing God a favor. Abel brought the first and best of his flock. He came by faith, knowing that he was a sinner. He feared and thanked God. When rebuked, Cain did not repent. He became angry.
2. If you do what is right (6-8)
God loved Cain and gave him a precious word. He warned him that sin, like a crouching lion, was at the door of his heart. He could take hold of God's word and overcome sinful desire. But Cain rejected God's word. Sin conquered him; he murdered his brother.
3. A restless wanderer on the earth (9-16)
Cain talked back to God, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' God cursed the ground, and Cain became a restless wanderer, a man with no roots and no heavenly destination. He was full of fear and anxiety. He was cut off from the source of spiritual life. Still, God protected him with a mark--but he was marked as a murderer.
Prayer: Father, help me to keep your word in my heart so that sin may not master me.
One Word: Don't become a restless wanderer