Cain, Abel, and the fight against sin (Genesis 4:1-7)

We’re no longer in God’s royal garden, but we’re still under God’s governance. Despite the unsuccessful coup, God’s providence remains:

Genesis 4:1-2 (NIV)
¹ Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” ² Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

God is still caring for his earthly project. Although Adam and Eve are now dying, God gave them a future in their children (as promised in 3:15). The focus moves to the next generation.

Genesis 4:3-5 (NIV)
³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Giving gifts to God recognizes his providence. Israel offered food offerings to God every morning and every evening, as did most Ancient Near Eastern cultures. You still see food offerings to the gods in some countries today.

We’re not told why God found Abel’s offering acceptable but not Cain’s. Some Christians assume God wanted a blood offering to cover their sins, but that’s wrong on so many levels: it’s a wrong view of God, a projection of their sinfulness into the text, a misunderstanding of the purpose of offerings, and a failure to understand that grain offerings were an acceptable form of worship (see Leviticus 2).

There’s no point speculating on why God looked with favour on Abel and his offering but did not look with favour on Cain (verse 4). What we miss is how shocking this was in their culture. Who was the older son?

The firstborn was trusted to lead the family. That’s why Cain was so upset: God’s favour rested on Abel. It wasn’t just about the offering: God looked with favour on Abel. Cain was very angry (verse 5) because God had bypassed him, favouring his younger brother instead.

This theme is central to the storyline of Genesis. Ishmael was born first, yet God chose Isaac (Genesis 21:12). Esau was born first, yet God chose Jacob (Genesis 27–28). Joseph was younger than his brothers, yet Jospeh received the double-blessing to care for the family (Genesis 47).

Cain is angry that God’s favour rests on Abel, so Cain plots to murder his rival. That way, in Cain’s twisted mind, God has no choice but to accept him.

The heavenly sovereign is aware of the plot:

Genesis 4:6-7 (NIV)
⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

This is the first mention of sin in the Bible. And what God says here does not match the way Christian theology usually speaks about sin.

“Original sin” is the doctrine that Adam’s original sin (in Genesis 3) means we’re all born as sinners, because our parents were born sinners—all the way back to Adam:

• Augustine—the most important theologian of the first four centuries—taught that we are all born sinful, and that baptism removes original sin. Any child who dies unbaptized is therefore doomed (since we’re sinful at birth).
• John Calvin—the most important theologian of the Reformation—taught that humans are born in sin. He described our human nature is “totally depraved” so we’re incapable of even asking for salvation unless God chooses to save us.

Does that fit with what God says to Cain? Does God say, “Your father was a sinner, so you were born totally depraved, incapable of making the choice to do right”? The warning God gives (in verse 7) implies that Cain does have a choice.

God’s understanding of sin is different from ours. We think of sin as our acts of disobedience, the things we’ve done that we feel ashamed of. God wasn’t talking about what Cain had done. God described sin as something external—an outside force wanting control over Cain.

Sin is a power wanting control of God’s creation. Throughout the Old Testament, sin wanted control of God’s nation. In the New Testament, Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin (Romans 3:9). People are ruled by sin, … slaves to sin (6:6). We are not to let sin reign over us, not to offer any part of yourself to sin (6:13). Because Christ has overturned the power of sin, sin shall no longer be your master (6:14). Through what Christ has done, you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God (6:22).

Romans has much more to say about how Christ overturned the powers of sin and death. Part of that discussion contrasts how the original human used the authority God gave him with how the Messiah used his authority to reverse what Adam did (Romans 5). That chapter is often used to construct the doctrine of original sin. We’ll discuss this further if we do Romans next term.

For now, just note that the first use of sin in the Bible is God defining sin as a power seeking control. At issue is who controls us. That’s the issue salvation addresses. It’s very different to say that every person is born into a world that is under foreign control than to say that every infant is born guilty, a wicked person deserving condemnation.

Perhaps Christian theologians have been quick to condemn because that puts salvation in our hands. By telling parents that their children were condemned unless the church baptized them, Augustine was putting salvation in the hands of the church. Calvin was reacting to the power claims of the Catholic Church when he insisted that only God saves (election) and wicked humans have nothing to do with it (total depravity). Yet, in trying to protect God’s sovereignty, Calvin’s condemnation of humanity was more vitriolic than Augustine’s.

A more balanced view of God’s sovereignty would recognize that both judgment and salvation belong to God. Instead of condemning people, we would echo God’s gospel (good news) proclamation that his Christ is our Lord because God freed the earth from the reign of evil by raising him from the dead.

Related posts

• Original good (Gen 1–4)
• The faith of Abel (Heb 11:4)
• The Tree of Life (Gen 3:22-24)