The Wicket Gate

You can turn to chapter 4 of Genesis and we will cover all of chapter 4 which is the story of Cain and Abel. As we get into this text, I want to make certain we are all clear on something.  I hold to and am preaching from the stance that all these stories we read in Genesis are true.  Not just true in a spiritual sense but true in a literal and historical sense.  We aren’t even debating as to whether or not these people actually lived or that perhaps these characters are just allegorical to the personalities they represent.  No, these people actually lived. 

We take this stance because of Chapter 5 of Genesis which lays out the genealogy from Adam to Noah and then later in Genesis we get Noah to Abram (Abraham) and then Matthew lays out Abraham to Christ.  So we have given to us in the Scriptures, the direct physical line from Adam to Christ (the seed of the woman).  If the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, was actually a person, who actually lived, then the people from which he came must also be actual people.  If it troubles you how the entire world could be populated from just two people or how there were other people on the world when Cain was cursed by the Lord, as we will read, just know that it is entirely possible.  

A study was done in England a while back and they traced the genealogy of people born after WW2.  What they found was that if you went back about 700 years you would discover that 80% of the entire county of England had a common ancestor.  Meaning in just 700 years two people could populate nearly the entire country of England which presently sits at about 55 million people.  Adam lived to be 930 and it would seem from Genesis 5 that Adam was having kids for potentially hundreds of years.  So could there have been thousands or even millions of people on the Earth even before Adam died, absolutely, and the most basic of math and genealogy study proves that.  

With that firmly settled, let us move on to the text.  What I really want you to see here is the provision of God to maintain his people. The text will show this morning and what is evident through the Scriptures is that no matter what the seeds of the serpent do in their attempt to crush or cut-off the seed of the woman, our God will always provide.  Our God proves over and over again that he will maintain his people, he will not let his plans fail, he can not fail, he’s God.  Not just a god, our God is The God.  What should you take away this morning? God will maintain his people until the victory is complete.  Until that victory is fully realized in our time and space, that victory which was already promised and confirmed before the ages began, our God will maintain and provide.  So let’s read from our text this morning, please stand with me as we read Genesis, chapter 4.

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 

17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 

23 Lamech said to his wives: 

  “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; 

you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: 

  I have killed a man for wounding me, 

a young man for striking me. 

 24  If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, 

then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” 

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

The First Hope

I listened to a sermon a while back, that brother Fuchs sent me, by Joe Rigney and in this sermon Rigney talks about the naming of Adam and Eve and the significance of their names.  I am going to summarize, very poorly, his point.  The Hebrew word for ground is Adamah. So when God takes from the ground (Adamah) and creates man he calls him Adam because he was taken from the ground.  In doing that, God is showing Adam not only how to name things but the significance wrapped up in a name.  A name or a word isn’t just a collection of letters and sounds, it means something, it says something, it communicates something.  

Adam took this lesson well because when God took from Adam and made Eve, Adam got the opportunity to name her and he did what God did.  He says, “she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” The name from Adam consisted of the same play on words that God did.  Again there is significance to the name.  That is the very quick summary of Rigney’s intro to his sermon on naming.  

Fast forward to our text this morning and we see that the first person born to Adam and Eve is Cain whose name is a play on words to the Hebrew for “I have produced.” So when Eve declares “Caniti”, I have produced, she calls that which she produced Cain.  Further she doesn’t say that she produced a baby, or a boy, she specifically says she has produced a man with the help of the Lord.  What do you suppose is on the mind of Eve when she is thinking about the joy in her heart over the fact that she has produced a man with the help of the Lord.  What did God promise would crush the head of the deceiver? The seed of the woman.  

It is this thought that makes the bible so real for me, picturing Eve, still broken in her sin, bringing forth, with the help of the Lord, a man and looking upon this child and thinking surely this is the one to undo what I have done.  We see that in her words, and it is utterly heartbreaking given the fact that we know he wasn’t the one.  We get a sense of the longing even there for the promised redeemer.  Imagine then how much more humanity was longing, or should have been longing for the seed of the woman thousands of years after the fall.  Many lost that hope and turned from the faith in the promise of God but God always maintained the seed, and the hope of the promised deliverer. 

We see a glimpse of that also in Abel.  Abel was the second to be born and his name means “breath”.  The same Hebrew word that is translated as vanity in Ecclesiastes.  Abel certainly lives up to the name breath, or vapor as that is all his life really was right? Abel is vulnerable, passive, meek, and in Scriptures we don’t get a word from him.  From our perspective, he opened not his mouth. Abel was also a shepherd.  An innocent man, devoted to the will of God whose blood was spilled on account of jealousy and revenge.  Does that sound at all familiar to you? Here the words of Isaiah 53:7-8

7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, 

yet he opened not his mouth; 

  like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, 

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, 

so he opened not his mouth. 

 8  By oppression and judgment he was taken away; 

and as for his generation, who considered 

  that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people? 

That sounds eerily like Abel doesn’t it? And the story of Able sounds eerily like Christ.  This happens all throughout the Scriptures where we get these prophetic bridges that connect the history of God’s plan and purpose with the future promise that is ultimately fulfilled in Christ so when we read the story of Cain and Abel we totally miss the the point if we don’t walk across that bring that leads to Christ.  The first hope that Eve felt and longed for when she produced Cain and that was ultimately crushed when her hope crushed another is the same hope that is found in the person of Christ.  Christ is the man who came from Eve, Christ is the better Abel.  The truly innocent one who offered an eternal and perfect offering to God which ultimately also cost him his life.  We must see Christ in Abel and we must see a better offering and a better sacrifice in Christ.  

The First Offering

So that brings us then to the first offering.  We read that Cain and Abel both brought an offering to the Lord while it does say that Abel brought the “firstborn” of his flock and Cain simply brought an offering, we don’t get specifics about the quality of the offering.  We can assume that Cain’s offering was not of the same quality as Abels but I don’t think we can say much more about it than that.  Well then why did the Lord regard Abel’s offering and not Cain’s? It’s a fair question and just reading the text in Genesis, I am not sure we can get a definitive answer.  Many would steer toward the quality of the offering saying that the Lord rejects less than our best.  If you bring less than the best, the firstfruit, to the Lord he will not regard it.  

Is that what the text is telling us?  Make certain that you always give the Lord you best or he will reject you and your offering? When we get to unclear passages the rule is always that Scripture interprets Scripture.  We don’t get to force our interpretations on Scripture, the word has to interpret the word for itself.  So what else does the word have to say about this?  Let me turn your attention to a few passages. 

12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 1 John 3: 12

Why were the deeds of Cain evil and led to murder? Because he was of the Evil one.  It turns out that Cain was not the seed of the woman as she had hoped but rather he was the seed of the serpent.  A child of the deceiver.  

11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain. Jude 11

Not only was Cain of the Evil one but he sought selfish gain.  He was bitter and jealous and didn’t want to share an inheritance or support his brother.  Sounds a lot like the evil one doesn’t it? 

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. Hebrews 11: 4

What then was the good in Abel’s offering that was not present in Cain’s? Faith.  Abel was commended as righteous not because of the quality of his offering but by his faith in the one whom he was presenting the offering to.  This is the point that the writer of Hebrews is making through the entire 11th chapter of Hebrews.  The same point that I hope I knocked you over the head with enough times as we went through Ecclesiastes, without faith all is vanity.  But through faith, our God will accept even the most humble of offerings as delightful in his sight.  

What is a fattened sheep, even the best one, to the eternal God of the universe? What does the Almighty really need with the blood of goats?  Or is the point to lead us to Christ.  The only worthy sacrifice ever given.  The only offering that was ever truly good enough to be pleasing in the sight of God. The only shedding of blood or firstfruit that actually did something.  And we now come to the table with empty hands saying what more can I give?  God you have my money if you want it, you can have my house or my cars, I can grow all the fruits and vegetables and raise all the cattle and you can have it all.  But what value is any of that if we don’t have the faith of Abraham who was willing to give even his only son while confessing, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. my son.” 

Provide one he did. God doesn’t care about your stuff or your money anymore than he cared about Abraham killing his son.  What he desires is that we trust in him, that we have faith in his offering.  That we know him and depend on his provision.  That is the reason why he has done all this.  It’s why he chose Abel the younger and Issac the second born of Abraham.  It’s why he chose and loved Jacob (the younger) and not Esau.  It’s why he chose Joseph, the youngest of the brothers, Ephraim and not Manasseh.  It’s why he chose David, the youngest out in the field with the sheep. It’s why he always uses the weak to shame the strong.  

10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  Romans 9: 10-13

God does what he does so that man would fall before him in faith knowing that it is God who has done it.  We exist because of him, we are sustained because of him, we live and breathe because of him, we are regarded because of him, we are accepted because of him, we will be saved only because of him. 

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9: 14-16

Abel and his offering by faith points to Christ and his mercy.  

The First Mercy

That brings us to the topic of mercy and specifically the first mercy.  It’s not really the first mercy but I needed to say the first Mercy so that all of my headings matched.  I am of course talking about the mercy that God showed to Cain pushing him further out away from his presence but still allowing him to prosper and preserving his life.  

It was the custom of the day, and we see it carried all the way through the first 5 books of the Old Testament, that if you killed someone, even accidentally, a kin of the person that was killed would kill you as a matter of justice.  This person was called the avenger of blood.  So when Cain is expressing concern that he is going to be killed for his crime, that is why.  So not only is God himself not going to immediately avenge the blood of Abel but he is going to protect Cain so as not to allow anyone else to take his life.  God is extending mercy to Cain and not justice.  

It is true that God is pushing him further out to the edges as it were or further from his presence but God is still sending rain on him, presumably, and still allows him to prosper.  If anyone thinks that the God of the Old Testament is not a loving, merciful, personal God, they simply haven’t read it.  In fact, the only reason why there is an Old Testament or that any of us are even here today to read it is because God is at least equally as merciful as he is just.  For a God of justice only would have crushed us all a long time ago.   

So even in Cain, a child of satan, a murderer, and a liar, we see a beacon pointing back to Christ.  We see the mercy of God that supersedes our customs, and offers mercy instead of justice.  This is precisely what Christ does for us. Make no mistake though, the day of justice is coming, the avenger of blood will ride his white horse and strike down all who side with the evil one.  There will be a day of justice when the prayers of martyred saints will be answered, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10). 

Justice will be done but today is the day of mercy.  As we will see next week, the door of the Ark is still open wide, cry out to him for mercy and it will surely be shown to you.  How long will you test the patience and kindness of our God?  Turn from evil and he shall surely receive you.  

The First Complete Generation

Our final point and then we will close is that we see the real world hardening of those who do not turn from evil.  We see this on full display by the end of the first complete generation (that is 7 generations).  Hear again the words of Lamech, 7th in the line of Cain. 

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; 

you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: 

  I have killed a man for wounding me, 

a young man for striking me. 

 24  If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, 

then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”

The corruption in the line of Cain has reached its zenith.  It’s no longer blood for blood as a matter of justice but Lamech is now bragging to his wives that he killed a man who wounded him.  This is also the first time where we see the corruption of God’s original design for marriage with Lamech taking multiple wives instead of one.  So within the first 7 generations from the line of Cain when see the complete corruption of man.  Destruction of life, destruction of marriage, and mockery of God.  “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” There is no fear in Lamech here.  This is Lamech looking at all the prosperity that he has and all the things that he has now gotten away with and says If this is Cain’s revenge then keep it coming God.  If this is all you got, God, I think I’m good.   Do we still see such mockery today? 

One other side note, we see that the line of Cain are the ones who are gathering together and building cities, they are making instruments of bronze, working with iron, and playing the lyre and flutes.  We might say that these in the line of Cain are the “cultured” ones.   These are the ones building vanity fair and trading their goods without any regard for God.  These are the ones who are puffing themselves up as modern and progressive.  I am sure they do splatter art and listen to heavy metal music too. Just kidding, kind of.  

Conclusion

There is another kind of culture though.  The one we see from the line of the seed of the woman, our savior. God provided another way, a better way.  He gave our first parents another man whose name was Seth, which means weakness. Through the line of Seth we see not a people who mock God and don’t need God because they have cities and stuff but “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” On the one hand we see a people defined by their sin and their stuff and on the other we see a humble people defined by their worship of the Lord.  

We see that through the true seed of the woman, in and through the line of Christ there will always be a people who call upon the name of the Lord.  The biggest question of application is what kind of culture excites you and stirs your heart?  I hope and I pray that, above all, we desire to be a people who are defined by and known for our worship of God.  Seven generations from now, when there are literally 10’s of thousands of people on this earth and in this city that came directly from this humble group, may it please the Lord for that generation to look back upon this one and say, “at that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Amen.