As we saw last week, when the Lord rejected Cain and his offering, Cain reacted with great anger. The Lord responded with a gracious appeal to Cain: “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” The Lord warned Cain that sin desired to possess him if he didn’t humble himself, but Cain chose the way of sin. He rose up and killed his brother Abel (verse 8).
The first man recorded to die in this world was Abel, and it was by murder. We are so accustomed to death we think of it as normal, but it wasn’t so in the beginning. God made man without sin, knowing and enjoying communion with God. Sin made the separation between God and man, bringing death.
Abel died in faith. He believed the promise the Lord had given of a Savior who would destroy the works of the devil. In Hebrews 11, we read that though Abel died, his faith still speaks today. Abel’s way, the way of faith, is the way back to the Lord, in contrast to Cain’s way, the way of sin, which is the way away from the Lord.
When the Lord confronted Cain about his brother Abel, Cain responded by saying, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We see the blindness that sin works in a soul. Cain denies that the Lord knows all and sees all; he stands in defiance of the Lord’s sovereignty and challenges God’s justice.
Sin is a hard master, and Cain is in bondage to it. Sin is unchangeable and always evil; the only remedy is to turn away from it. Cain has life and death, blessing and curse set before him, yet death is chosen over life. When you feel unyielding and annoyed by the word of God calling you to humble yourself, consider the wretchedness of sin compared to yielding to a gracious God.
The Lord pronounces a curse upon Cain for his sin (verse 10). Cain will no longer be able to live off of the ground, and he will be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth. Cain laments his punishment, not because he is repentant, but instead he is remorseful over the consequences of it. He complains that he will be vulnerable to attack and death from others.
The Lord puts a mark on Cain to signify that any who kills Cain will face the justice of the Lord, the mark bearing witness that Cain will face the justice he deserves from God. In a sense, all sinners walk around with the mark of guilt upon them. Who among us can cast the first stone at Cain? Whatever problems sin causes in our life, the worst is guilt, and that can only be taken away by appealing to God’s mercy.
In verse 15, Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. “Away from the presence of the Lord” are frightful words. That means away from all light, all blessedness, and all hope of salvation. Cain’s physical departure from being near the Lord reflects the path he takes toward the abyss.
Cain’s progeny, (verses 17-24), reflect Cain’s position away from the Lord. Cain names the city he founded after his son. His progeny is productive and creative. There are shepherds, musicians, and inventors, but none are said to call on the name of the Lord. It might seem that Cain has escaped his sentence of being a wanderer, but his soul will find no rest apart from the Lord.
Cain’s descendant Lamech boasts of killing a young man who injured him. He declares his vengeance to be more severe than the Lord’s. In doing so, he mocks his sin and mocks the Lord, but there is a flood coming and mocking ends on that day. This is the sad ending sin leads to.
The story of Cain and Abel is the story of two men and their souls. One (Abel) turned from sin to embrace the Lord’s grace, the other (Cain) turned from the Lord and embraced sin. We will all be numbered either among the spiritually blessed like Abel, or the spiritually cursed like Cain. Of all things we seek, let the main one be that our hearts are right with Christ, and that we know what it is to humble ourselves before Christ for our sin.
