I’m currently in Vilonia (yesterday and today) teaching the adults at VBS, studying the Flood. Yesterday our discussion focused on the two little chapters in between man’s expulsion from the Garden (ch3) and the calling of Noah (ch6). There’s not much to be said about Genesis chapters 4-5 but of the three big details Moses provides, there is a commonality.
In the text, Moses talks about the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, the translation of Enoch from this life to the next, and the long life of Methuselah, who lived 969 years before dying in the year of the Flood. Other than a long genealogical list that links Adam to Noah, there’s not much else to be found in those two little chapters. And yet, there is a commonality…
Death.
Enoch never saw it, Methuselah went the longest before succumbing to it, and of course, with everyone listed in Adam’s lineage, they all have that one refrain in common: “…and he died.” Except for Enoch, death comes to us all.
As for Abel’s death, despite how it may seem, his murder was not the first sin recorded outside of Eden. That distinction belongs to the false worship that Cain offered to God; the Lord wanted animal sacrifices and Cain presented Him with herbs. Abel’s death was not the second sin recorded, post-Eden, either. In that case, it was Cain’s stubborn pride, that refused to allow him to offer a sin offering and make peace with God. Even then, the murder was not sin #3, either: Cain’s third sin was the obvious envy (or maybe resentment) he felt toward his brother. Does the text say that? Not in so many words, but the fact remains, Cain murdered his brother. Something sinful stirred within him that resulted in him taking his evil feelings out on Abel.
Thus, the murder (sin #4), but even that was not the last sin in this account. After the deed was done, God questioned Cain about the whereabouts of Abel, to which Cain replied: “I don’t know…” Cain lied to God (sin #5), knowing full well where Abel was (lying dead on the ground). And even still, THAT was not the final lie to be read in this text. Cain also asked the question, rhetorically: “…am I my brother’s keeper?”
Yes! Yes you are! A failure to take care of each other is sin, a lack of love for each other is sin, and a dismissive attitude toward others (leading to a willingness to do harm to them) is sin, too.
Cain killed his brother; that’s the part we remember, but that was just one of many sins that happened not one generation after man was expelled from the Garden and given a second chance at life. Today, there are many who have disdain for others, who murder others, who lie, who envy, who stew in stubborn pride, and who offer false worship to God. Cain’s sins are not antiquated. They are not unfathomable to us due to how long ago they occurred. His sins are common and universal. Thus the account written by Moses, in Genesis 4, remains universally relevant, too.
~Matthew