Cain & Abel: Attitudes & Reactions to Sin
Genesis 4-5
A Lutheran bishop who lived in East Germany suffered fierce persecution by the Nazis and then the Communists. He declared, "When God is not God, man is not man." He had seen how rejection of divine authority leads to inhuman actions. We now look at this principle at work in the newly created human family.
GROUP DISCUSSION. What situation in your life shows a link between people's view of God and their treatment of others?
PERSONAL REFLECTION. Think of a situation in which a wrong attitude on your part led to a sinful action. Present it to God prayerfully before you begin your study.
Read Genesis 4.
1. What impresses you about Cain and Abel?
2. In verses 1-5 what do we learn about the two brothers and their offerings?
3. How do verses 6-8 describe God's response to Cain and Cain's reaction?
4. Cain is told that sin is crouching at the door and he must master it. What happens when we refuse to admit that we are on the wrong track?
5. What resources do we have to overcome sin?
6. In verses 9-10 how does the exchange between God and Cain strike you?
7. Describe in your own words God's judgment on Cain and his reaction (vv. 11-14).
8. How does God protect Cain (vv. 15-16)?
In what way does seeing God's protection of Cain in the midst of punishment give us encouragement?
9. In verses 17-26 life goes on; describe Lamech's attitude and action.
10. The lifestyle of Cain's family is a picture of humanity: technical progress matched by moral decline. How do you see this reality in our own civilization?
11. What gives an element of hope in the midst of this sad story (vv. 25-26)?
12. How does the chapter help you understand the characteristics and consequences of sin?
Ask the Lord to help you recognize his voice urging you to stay on the track of his will.
Now or Later
Scan chapter 5 to trace the line from Set to Noah - the subject of the next study.
A Lutheran bishop who lived in East Germany suffered fierce persecution by the Nazis and then the Communists. He declared, "When God is not God, man is not man." He had seen how rejection of divine authority leads to inhuman actions. We now look at this principle at work in the newly created human family.
GROUP DISCUSSION. What situation in your life shows a link between people's view of God and their treatment of others?
PERSONAL REFLECTION. Think of a situation in which a wrong attitude on your part led to a sinful action. Present it to God prayerfully before you begin your study.
Read Genesis 4.
1. What impresses you about Cain and Abel?
2. In verses 1-5 what do we learn about the two brothers and their offerings?
3. How do verses 6-8 describe God's response to Cain and Cain's reaction?
4. Cain is told that sin is crouching at the door and he must master it. What happens when we refuse to admit that we are on the wrong track?
5. What resources do we have to overcome sin?
6. In verses 9-10 how does the exchange between God and Cain strike you?
7. Describe in your own words God's judgment on Cain and his reaction (vv. 11-14).
8. How does God protect Cain (vv. 15-16)?
In what way does seeing God's protection of Cain in the midst of punishment give us encouragement?
9. In verses 17-26 life goes on; describe Lamech's attitude and action.
10. The lifestyle of Cain's family is a picture of humanity: technical progress matched by moral decline. How do you see this reality in our own civilization?
11. What gives an element of hope in the midst of this sad story (vv. 25-26)?
12. How does the chapter help you understand the characteristics and consequences of sin?
Ask the Lord to help you recognize his voice urging you to stay on the track of his will.
Now or Later
Scan chapter 5 to trace the line from Set to Noah - the subject of the next study.
posted by Christinewjc at
11:59 AM
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GROUP DISCUSSION. What situation in your life shows a link between people's view of God and their treatment of others?
Lately, the abortion issue has been discussed a lot at my other blog. I think that those who do not believe in God as Creator and instead, think that macro-evolution is a fact, view the developing fetus as nothing but "a blob of tissue" that does not have value as a human being. This misconception causes them to rationalize that an unborn human being in the womb can be aborted for any reason. This is regarded as the 'choice' of the pregnant woman. They do not see the intrinsic value of the unborn as being made in the "image and likeness" of God. Therefore, they do not face the fact that abortion is indeed, murder.
1. What impresses you about Cain and Abel?
They were the first children of Adam and Eve. Cain was the firstborn son who tended the soil. Abel tended the flocks. They were able to 'talk' with the Lord.
2. In verses 1-5 what do we learn about the two brothers and their offerings?
Abel's offering was acceptable to the Lord. Cain's wasn't. This led Cain to be angry and probably jealous of his brother, too.
3. How do verses 6-8 describe God's response to Cain and Cain's reaction?
God asked him why he was angry. He admonished him that if he did what was right, wouldn't he be accepted too? Perhaps if Cain thought about it, he could have gotten an acceptable offering like Abel's and presented it to the Lord. Instead, he let his anger lead him to sin by killing his brother.
4. Cain is told that sin is crouching at the door and he must master it. What happens when we refuse to admit that we are on the wrong track?
The anger can lead to sinful actions. That is exactly what happened to Cain. Instead of listening to the whole counsel of God (by noting that he could have ALSO presented an acceptable offering to God like Abel did) he focused in on his own emotions and anger which led him to sin.
5. What resources do we have to overcome sin?
We are told to 'resist the devil and he will flee from us'. If we stay focused on the Lord and God's Word, we would 'master' when sin comes tempting us in our lives. Knowing what God wants (obedience) from us, being willing to submit to his commands helps us to overcome the temptation to sin. We are better off that way. Sin leads to harm in our lives. Obedience leads to righteousness and pleases the Lord. Sin leads us to bondage. The freedom to obey leads us out of bondage to sin.
6. In verses 9-10 how does the exchange between God and Cain strike you?
Cain tried to hide the sin of killing Abel from God. But God already knew what he had done anyway. Cain tried to dismiss the entire affair by saying, "am I my brother's keeper?" This struck me as an unrepentant attitude about having killed his own brother.
7. Describe in your own words God's judgment on Cain and his reaction (vv. 11-14).
He told him that he would no longer be able to work the ground as he had before. He would be a restless wanderer on the earth. Can stated that he wouldn't survive with this judgment placed upon him. He feared that someone would kill him. I noticed that he only cared about himself. Again, he was unrepentant about killing Abel.
8. a. How does God protect Cain (vv. 15-16)?
He put a mark on him so that no one would kill him. If someone did, they would suffer 7 times over.
8. b. In what way does seeing God's protection of Cain in the midst of punishment give us encouragement?
Even though Cain killed Abel, God saw to it that Cain would not suffer the same fate. He demonstrated mercy along with the need for righteous judgment required by God for his sinful action against Abel and the transgression against God.
9. In verses 17-26 life goes on; describe Lamech's attitude and action.
He married two women, continued to have children and did the same sin as Cain did. He killed a young man.
10. The lifestyle of Cain's family is a picture of humanity: technical progress matched by moral decline. How do you see this reality in our own civilization?
The heart of fallen man is deceitful, who can know it? The moral decline happening today is getting worse and worse as time goes on. When people forget God and do 'what is right in their own eyes', they live lives of disobedience, pain, tears, heartache, illness and death.
11. What gives an element of hope in the midst of this sad story (vv. 25-26)?
God gave Eve another son to replace Abel who was killed by Cain. Another example of mercy and grace bestowed upon her. It is mentioned that at that time, men began to call on the Lord. Perhaps it was a period of spiritual revival and fellowship/obedience to the Lord.
12. How does the chapter help you understand the characteristics and consequences of sin?
Sin harms and spreads its deadly destruction when men's hearts are hardened and left on their own. Those who are likely to forget God and His Commandments suffer the consequences of their sin.
Scan chapter 5 to trace the line from Seth to Noah - the subject of the next study.
One more post to share here. I found it absolutely fascinating when I found out the following:
GENESIS 5
I find it interesting that the passage in Hosea about God using models and types comes within the context of Him using names to illustrate a point. This is how we find our first type in this study…
Who loves reading through all the genealogies in the Bible? While at first glance they seem long and boring, they are there for a reason. Take a look at this passage…
1This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
2He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
3And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
4After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters….
…And on and on it goes. However, there is a great mystery under the surface of this chapter just waiting to be discovered.
What’s in a name? How many of you have looked up your name to see what it means? As a society, this practice is all but lost today, but in ancient times it was simply the way it was done. Parents named their children after key events of the times, or after God (or gods in pagan cultures). That’s why the term “el” appears in so many Hebrew names for instance. It is a name for God. With this genealogy however, not only do the names give insights to man’s early history, they also paint a much broader picture. Let’s take a look…
ADAM
The first name, Adam, comes from adomah, and means "man." As the first man, that seems straightforward enough.
SETH
Adam's son was named Seth, which means, "appointed." When he was born Eve said, "For God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." (Genesis 4:25) See, the Bible even helps us out with the name meanings.
ENOSH
Seth's son was called Enosh, which means "mortal," "frail," or "miserable." It is from the root word anash: which means to be incurable; used of a wound, grief, woe, sickness, or wickedness. (It was in the days of Enosh that men began to defile the name of the Living God by the way)
KENAN
Enosh's son was named Kenan, from which can mean "sorrow," dirge," or "elegy."
MAHALALEL
Kenan's son was Mahalalel, from mahalal, which means "blessed" or "praise"; and EL, the name for God. Thus, Mahalalel means "the Blessed God."
As I said, often Hebrew names included El, the name of God, such as Dani-el, "God is my Judge," Nathani-el, "Gift of God," etc.
JARED
Mahalalel's son was named Jared, from the verb yaradh, meaning "shall come down." Some authorities suggest that this might have been an allusion to the "Sons of God" who "came down" to corrupt the daughters of men, resulting in the Nephilim ("Fallen Ones") of Genesis 6, but that’s a whole other study…
ENOCH
Jared's son was named Enoch, which means "teaching," or "commencement." He was the first of four generations of preachers. In fact, the earliest recorded prophecy was by Enoch, which amazingly enough deals with the Second Coming of Christ. (Found in Jude 14-15)
METHUSELAH
The Flood of Noah did not come as a surprise. It had been preached on for four generations. But something strange happened when Enoch was 65, from which time "he walked with God." Enoch was given a prophecy that as long as his son was alive, the judgment of the flood would be withheld; but as soon as he died, the flood would be sent forth.
Enoch named his son to reflect this prophecy. The name Methuselah comes from two roots: muth, a root that means “death”; and from shalach, which means "to bring," or "to send forth." Thus, the name Methuselah signifies, "his death shall bring."
And, indeed, in the year that Methuselah died, the flood came. Methuselah was 187 when he had Lamech, and lived 782 years more. Lamech had Noah when he was 182. The Flood came in Noah's 600th year. 187 + 182 + 600 = 969, Methuselah's age when he died.
Here’s a riddle for you…
If Methuselah was the oldest man in the Bible, how could he die before his father?
The answer: Enoch never died, he was translated, or raptured, before the flood (a type of the Church before the great tribulation)! “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5
It is interesting that Methuselah's life was, in effect, a symbol of God's mercy in forestalling the coming judgment of the flood. It is therefore fitting that his lifetime is the oldest in the Bible, symbolizing the extreme extensiveness of God's mercy.
LAMECH
Methuselah's son was named Lamech, a root still evident today in our own English word, "lament" or "lamentation." Lamech suggests "despairing."
NOAH
Lamech, of course, is the father of Noah, which is derived from nacham which means, "to bring relief" or "comfort," as Lamech himself explains in verse 29...
“And he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
Let me ask you this; was the curse lifted after Noah? Did man no longer have to toil with his hands, or work for his provision? No. In fact, one doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that the curse is very much alive, well, dead actually, today. So even here we see an allusion to something greater within the text…
So let’s see what all these names say when we put them together, in the order they are given in the Bible…
Hebrew
English
Adam
Man
Seth
Appointed
Enosh
Mortal
Kenan
Sorrow
Mahalalel
The Blessed God
Jared
Shall come down
Enoch
Teaching
Methuselah
His death shall bring
Lamech
The despairing
Noah
Rest, or comfort
Simply add a few simple conjunctions and read it again…
Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.
Here is a summary of God's plan of redemption, hidden here within a genealogy in Genesis! You will never convince me that a group of Jewish rabbis deliberately "contrived" to hide the "Christian Gospel" right here in a genealogy within their venerated Torah!
Remember our key verses here…
“The volume of the book it is written of me…” and “ Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Now just for something to throw out to you, these types of models (actually called Macrocodes) are all throughout the Old Testament. For our purposes here I am only going to cover those that illustrate the cross. Remember, “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”, and also Jesus’ words directing us to the Law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms.
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