Where is your Brother
Genesis 4:1-16

by Paul George

The questions that Adam and Eve probably asked when they looked back to where they were and where they are now was probably where do we go from here and what will happen next. When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, God didn’t abandon them. He blessed them with many children; the first was Cain. Eve didn’t lose sight of promise of a deliverer. It is believed by many scholars she believed Cain was the promised Seed that would bruise the head of the serpent. Her second son was Abel. Cain was a farmer and Abel a herdsman. Now there came a time when Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord, Cain from the fruit of the ground and Abel the firstlings of his flock. God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s. We are not told why God rejected Cain’s offering but He did. This didn’t set well with Cain. He became angry and all you needed to do is look at his face. You could tell he was filled with anger and rage. It was directed toward God for not accepting his offering and accepting his brother’s offering.

Although God knew what the problem was He asked Cain, “why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen?” God will always give us an opportunity to explain why we are acting the way we are, even though He knows and there is a reason behind this. Cain was wrong in what he was doing. He wasn’t admitting he was wrong instead he was following the example set by his father and mother, put the blame somewhere else. Cain didn’t answer the question. From the context of the passage of Scripture, God didn’t give him time to answer. God knew why Cain was angry and why his countenance was fallen. Cain had a big attitude problem. God asked Cain, “if you do well,” this is a promise of restored fellowship, “will not your countenance be lifted up?” What God tells Cain and us, if what we do is the right thing to do we will find joy in it? If not it will haunt us. This should have been a clue to why God rejected his offering. What Cain did was not fitting and proper. Then God told Cain, here comes a warning “if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” What is God doing? He is reasoning with Cain, trying to convince Cain either he must take control of his anger or his anger will take control. You think anger management is something new.

Ever done something that was not the right thing to do and there seemed to be a voice inside you telling you it wasn’t the right thing to do. This voice is often referred to as your conscience.  The question is not what is this voice, but who is it. You don’t have to be a Christian to hear this voice. The voice is the Holy Spirit. Remember God does not want anyone to perish. If He is a just and loving God and He warns people of the dangerous ground they are about to walk on. How does He do this, through the Holy Spirit?

What did God tell Cain? “If you do not do well sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Who is crouching at the door? Sin is a state, a condition. Cain was in that state, condition. But he has an opportunity to escape. If he doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity what will happen? Satan will take control of his heart and mind. In this instant it is God speaking to Cain, there is a struggle going on in Cain’s heart, a struggle between good and evil. The evil will use his anger and control him. Before Cain can do what is right he must control his anger.

Anger is an emotion. Emotions are not easy to control and can be deceiving. How can we control our emotions? Within ourselves we can’t. It takes a power beyond what we have in our fallen nature.  It takes the power of the Holy Spirit that comes into our heart when we believe in what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross and we accept Him as our Savior and Lord.

It appears from what is written in verse 8, “Cain told Abel his brother” there was some sort of restoration in the relationship between Cain and his brother. But something occurred in the conversation and the anger that seemed to be under control raised its ugly head and Cain killed his brother Abel. Ever wonder what was going through Cain’s mind when he saw his brother lying on the ground blood gushing out of the wound in his brother’s head or wherever he struck him? We know Cain knew what he did was wrong, from the conversation between God and Cain in verses 9 and 10.

God offers Cain an opportunity to confess to what he had done and ask for forgiveness, when He asked Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother?” Cain rejects the offer with the answer “I do not know,” an out right lie. Cain was both a liar and a murderer and he tries to conceal what he has done. Cain’s answer “am I my brother's keeper?” is a charge brought against God by Cain, He has asked a question Cain believes he is under no obligation to answer, it’s called self-incrimination today. It is a denial of responsibility. We all have the responsibility to be concerned about the welfare of our brothers and sisters, but it is generally neglected.

God did not respond to Cain’s question and asks, “What have you done?” Once more God gives Cain the opportunity to confess what he has done and Cain remains silent a sign of rejecting the offer.

The evidence is indisputable, why argue the point. There’s no plea bargaining. God told Cain, “the voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.” Abel’s blood is seeking justice. Cain probably buried the body of Abel thinking no one would find it. What is interesting the word blood in the English text is singular, in the word Moses used in his account of this event, is plural, meaning bloods, implying that not only was Abel’s blood crying out to God, the blood of all those who would have been his descendant are crying out. What Cain did was bring to an end a generation. No man on this earth or has been on this earth can trace his genealogy back to Abel. Do we see something here, a shadow? No man can trace his genealogy back to Jesus. Matthew traces Jesus’ genealogy back to King David through the descendants of David’s son Solomon, Luke through the descendants of David’s son Nathan. When Jesus died on the Cross the lineage of Solomon and Nathan ended.

God’s judgment is handed down, “now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” The curse for Adam’s disobedience was on the ground but for Cain it is on him. Why the difference? God was extending mercy to Adam, but not to Cain. Adam did not take the life of any of God’s creatures. Cain took the life of one who bares the image of God.

God could have taken Cain’s life as he took Abel’s life but once more we see the love and mercy of God. We also see Cain was punished for what he did. Cain was a farmer and from this day forward when Cain cultivates the ground his labors will no longer be productive and provide the necessities of life. From this day forward he will be a vagrant and wanderer, he will have no permanent residence. He will be the first of the nomadic people on this earth. This was the sentence passed upon Cain and it was mercy extended. He was given time to repent. Will he?

Cain’s response to the sentence is a complaint; his punishment is great to bear. This is a reproach and affront to the mercy of God. Cain saw his murdering Abel as no big deal. Now he sees the punishment as unjust, not deserving. He considers himself a man rigorously dealt when in reality mercy was extended to him. He considers himself, a man depraved of all the comforts of life and no place on earth he can call home, exposed to the hatred of all mankind.

When Cain went out from the presence of God he went out under the protection of God. He will be remembered as a man who committed the first murder and he took the life of his brother.

Was this part of God’s plan for Cain’s life? Cain was given the opportunity to be more than a vagrant and a wanderer. He chose to his own way and do his own thing and he paid the penalty. He had no one to blame but himself. When we choose to disobey God’s law and the law of nature we will pay the penalty, as the saying goes, “do the crime, do the time.” Cain did the crime and now he must do the time.

When God sentenced Cain He told him if any one would kill him there punishment would be seven times greater than his. God never told Cain it wasn’t possible someone would kill him; He told Cain what would happen to the one who killed him. What the sign was that was put on Cain we are not told. Whatever it was it was not meant to identify Cain as the killer of his brother but a sign he was under the protection of God and anyone who harmed him would answer to God.

Why didn’t God take Cain’s life? God has a reason for everything He does or permits to happen, even the prolonging of the lives of wicked men. Cain will be a lasting sign of God’s justice and mercy.

He went out from the presence of God to the land of Nod, east of Eden, where he built a city and named it after his son, Enoch. This may have been an attempt on Cain’s part to neutralize God’s sentence or provide a place of protection, whatever the reason the downward trend of humanity continues.

It will continue into the days of Noah when God will pass judgment upon the earth and man.

Jesus said it will be like it was in the days of Noah when He returns to this earth. We are living in a day that is like the days of Noah. The hostile attitude toward God, Christ, the Bible, and Christians in this nation should be a warning. God is about to do something most people do not believe. The question we need to answer is, are we ready for that day? If we know Jesus as our Savior and Lord and faithfully serving we are, if not now is the time to receive Him as your Savior and Lord, tomorrow may be too late. 

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