Genesis 4

Hi everyone,

Shall we try a new approach this time? Let me know what you think of all the additions in the story. Do they help or hinder your understanding of what the Spirit is trying to show us?

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Genesis 4:1-15

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What follows are my views on the story. They might not be 100% correct, for we often fall short of the full light the Spirit would wish to give us, but they are somewhere to start from. I welcome any additions or comments, for in many counsellors there is much wisdom. Or do you think this part makes it too long?

This story has several principles in it. What are some of them?

First principle: God really has no favourites.

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Acts 10:34-35

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So far as birth and religious instruction were concerned, these brothers were equal. Both were born sinners, and both acknowledged the claims of God to reverence and worship and to certain actions on their part. To outward appearance their religion was the same up to a certain point, but beyond this the difference between the two was great, and it was necessary for this to be revealed.

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Hebrews 11:4.

"By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."

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Abel grasped the great principles of redemption. He saw himself born a sinner, and he saw sin and its penalty, death, standing between his soul and communion with God. He brought the slain victim, the sacrificed life, thus acknowledging the claims of the law that had been transgressed. Through the shed blood he looked by faith to the future, as well as the present, sacrifice. He saw Christ dying on the cross of Calvary; and trusting in the atonement that was there pictured, he had the witness that he was righteous, and had no doubt that his offering was accepted. He lived "by faith". Hebrews 11:4.

Cain had the same opportunity of learning and accepting these truths as had Abel. He was not the victim of an arbitrary purpose. One brother was not elected to be accepted of God, and the other to be rejected. Abel CHOSE faith and obedience; Cain, unbelief and rebellion.

Here the whole matter rested.

Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits. Theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring them into favour with God. See Romans 12:1-2.

It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. Acts 4:12. Those who feel no need of "the blood of Christ" (this is church talk which means "the offer of exchange of lives" made possible by the death of Jesus), who feel that without divine grace they can by their own works secure the approval of God, are making the same mistake as did Cain. If they do not accept the cleansing "blood" (the offering of a free pardon), they are still under condemnation. There is no other provision made whereby they can be released from the slavery of sin.

The class of worshippers who follow the example of Cain includes by far the greater portion of the world, for nearly every false religion has been based on the same principle – that men and women can depend upon their own efforts for salvation.

It is claimed by some that the human race is in need, not of redemption, but of development – that it can refine, elevate, and regenerate itself. This is called "evolution" and is taught today in all our schools and our children are completely exposed to it. As Cain thought to secure the divine favour by an offering that lacked the "blood of a sacrifice", so do these false teachers expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement. In their minds there is no "sin" against God today, only "crime" against humanity.

The history of Cain shows what must be the results of such thinking. It shows what mankind will become apart from Christ. Humanity has no power to regenerate itself. It does not tend upward, toward the divine, but downward, toward the satanic. Christ is our only hope. "There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." "Neither is there salvation in any other." Acts 4:12.

Another principle: Persecution

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2 Timothy 3:12-14

Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue you in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of Whom you have learned them...

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Cain hated and killed his brother, not for any obvious wrong that Abel had done, but "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." 1 John 3:12.

So in all ages "the wicked" (those who are habitually disobedient to God’s advice) have hated those who were better than themselves. Abel's life of obedience and unswerving faith was to Cain a perpetual reproof. "Everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." John 3:20.

The brighter the heavenly light/love that is reflected from the character of God's faithful servants, the more clearly the sins of the ungodly are revealed to them, and the more determined will be their efforts to destroy those who disturb their peace. See Jude 1:3-4.

The murder of Abel was the first example of the outcome of the enmity that God had declared would exist between the serpent and the seed of the woman – between Satan and his subjects and Christ and His followers. Genesis 3:15.

Through Adam's sin, Satan had gained control of the human race, but Christ had promised that He would enable them to cast off his yoke and take up His. Matthew 11:28-30. Therefore, whenever, through faith in the Lamb of God, a soul renounces the service of sin, Satan's opposition is aroused. The holy life of Abel testified against Satan's claim that it is impossible for man to keep God's law. When Cain, moved by the spirit of the wicked one, saw that he could not control Abel, he was so enraged that he wanted to destroy his life.

And wherever there are any who will stand up for the righteousness of the law of God, the same spirit will be manifested against them. It is the spirit that through all the ages has set up the stake and kindled the burning pile for the disciples of Christ. But the cruelties heaped upon the followers of Jesus are entered into by Satan and his hosts because they cannot force them to submit to their control. It is the rage of a vanquished foe. So God allows this to happen by leaving His children here on earth. They have nothing to fear from those who would kill the body. Matthew 10:27-28. Their very behaviour before their enemies will draw others to Jesus for it will be like a mini Calvary. Romans 12:20-21.

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Exodus 4:21

And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

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Although Cain had by his crimes brought upon himself the sentence of death, a merciful Creator still protected his life, and granted him opportunity for repentance. Romans 6:23. But Cain lived only to harden his heart, to encourage rebellion against the divine authority, and to become the head of a line of bold, abandoned sinners. This one apostate, led on by Satan, became a tempter to others; and his example and influence exerted their demoralising power, until the earth became so corrupt and filled with violence as to call stridently for its destruction. Genesis 6:6-7. (You still don’t believe that Jesus the Son of God killed them do you? Consider God’s statement about "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.". Hebrews 2:14.)

In sparing the life of the first murderer, the Son of God presented before the whole universe a lesson bearing upon the great controversy.

The dark history of Cain and his descendants is an illustration of what would be the result of permitting sinners to live on forever, to carry out rebellion against God. His forbearance only rendered the pre-flood wicked more bold and defiant in their iniquity and eventually the time came when ALL OF THEM rejected His salvation and He could do no more. Genesis 6:5; Romans 2:4.

Fifteen centuries after the protection from his self-destructive act was laid on Cain, the people of the universe witnessed the culmination of his influence and example in the crime and pollution that flooded the earth. It was made clear to them that the pronouncement of death brought upon the fallen race by the transgression of God's law was both just and merciful. Romans 6:23. The longer men and women lived in sin, the more abandoned they became, the more separated from God’s protection, and the more they affected the physical things around them, the more clearer it became that everything would collapse once God’s protective power was rejected by them all.

Therefore the divine declaration stating that the career of unrestrained iniquity was to be cut short, thereby freeing the world from the influence of those who had become hardened in rebellion, was a blessing rather than a curse. Genesis 6:11-13; Romans 9:28. It was recognition of reality rather than an abandoning of them to their fate. In no way was it a punishment from an angry God. No longer could Jesus righteously prevent them from destroying themselves. Hosea 13:9. He must now allow them the full result of their choice and in this decision the people of the universe agreed.

Only one righteous man actually survived the Flood, although there were seven others (sinners/rejecters) who were also protected in the ark through his obedience. See Genesis 7:1. On their release from that boat Satan immediately recommenced his wiles for he is constantly at work with intense energy and under a thousand disguises, misrepresenting the character and government of God. With extensive, well-organised plans and marvellous power, he is still working to hold the inhabitants of the world under his deceptions. He led the people to reject Jesus at Calvary, and he is now planning to get the nations to reject God’s law in the near future. Revelation 13:4-8.

God, the infinite and all-wise One, sees the end from the beginning, and in dealing with evil His plans are far-reaching and comprehensive. It was His purpose from the first sin, not merely to put down the mutiny, but to demonstrate to all the universe THE NATURE of the rebellion. God's plan is unfolding over the centuries, showing both His justice and His mercy, and fully proving His wisdom and righteousness in His dealings with evil.

In the same way, He has the present situation well in hand.

The holy inhabitants of other worlds were watching with the deepest interest the events then taking place on the earth. In the condition of the world that existed just before the Flood they saw illustrated the results of the new way of government which Lucifer had endeavoured to establish in heaven by rejecting the authority of Christ and casting aside the law of God. In those high-handed sinners of the pre-flood world they saw a picture of the fallen angels over whom Satan held sway. They were permitted to "see" into the changed characters of their friends.

The thoughts of men's hearts were only evil continually, and so it was with the rebel angels. Genesis 6:5; Jude v6.

Every emotion, every impulse and imagination on earth, was at war with the divine principles of purity and peace and love throughout the rest of the universe. It was an example of the awful depravity resulting from Satan's policy to remove from God's creatures the restraint of His holy law. By the facts unfolded in the progress of the great controversy, God then demonstrated (and will again in the future), the principles of His rules of government, which have been falsified by Satan, and by all whom he has deceived.

His justice will finally be acknowledged by the whole world, although this will be made too late to save the rebellious, for they will not repent. In the meantime, God carries with Him the sympathy and approval of the whole universe as step by step His great plan advances to its complete fulfilment.

He will also have their approval in the final eradication of rebellion on the earth. It will be seen that all who have forsaken the divine precepts have placed themselves on the side of Satan, are in warfare against Christ and that they refuse to change even when faced with the horrifying results of their choice. Revelation 20:15.

When the prince of this world shall be judged, and all who have united with him shall share his fate, the whole universe as witnesses to the sentence will declare, "Just and true are Your ways, You King of saints." Revelation 15:3.

Won’t you pray and ask the Spirit of God to show you if these things are true?

See you next week,

Ron