Genesis Chapter 4 Crouching Sin

Genesis Chapter 4 verses 3-9:

3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, "Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, "I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"....

Verse of Meditation:

“I will be accepted if I do what is right. But if I refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control me. But I must subdue it and be its master.”
—Genesis 4:7 (NLT), personalized

When sin crouches at the door, be ever vigilant and seek the Lord's face, get into His Word and repeat it out loud, so that your spirit will hear and your mind will absorb the truth and wisdom it provides, and you will not obey the temptation and the desires of the flesh.....

The first murder happened because two brothers went before the Lord and made their sacrifices, one (Abel) sacrificed a lamb, but the other brother (Cain) sacrificed grain, the produce of his efforts. When the Lord accepted one brothers' sacrifice and not the others' sacrifice, the one whose sacrifice was rejected became angry.

The Lord instructed him to do what is right instead of leaning deeper into a sinful behavior, but Cain did not listen. He allowed his anger to fester into jealousy, and then into rage, and that rage led to the first murder ever recorded in history.

What happened when Cain was questioned by the Lord? He pretended that he did now know where this brother Abel was, as if the Lord, the creator of the universe, could not have known what had happened!

Sin is pervasive, deadly, and destructive - it is not something to be handled lightly; we must always consider our actions and why we do the things that we do by applying God's word and His wisdom. There are many times that we do things for the wrong reason. We can't always see our faults and weaknesses.

What was Cain's mistake in this story?

1. He did not follow the rules for sacrificing to the Lord - This sacrifice was probably a sacrifice for atonement for their sins, but any sacrifice to the Lord must be given correctly and by His standards. The Lord required that the sacrifice be a lamb, and that is why Cain's sacrifice was rejected, but that did not mean that the Lord was rejecting Cain. Cain became angry because he may have thought the Lord should have accepted his sacrifice of grain, the product of his work and efforts, but the Lord wasn't looking for a token of Cain's efforts, He was looking for obedience and a sense of humbleness as this was not just anybody that Cain was dealing with, it was the Lord and He requires faith, trust, and obedience from his servants.

2. He refused to correct his actions and justified himself in his own mind. the scripture doesn't say that he tried to fix the problem and offer another sacrifice to correct the problem, it just says that he got angry, the Lord gave him a mild rebuke for this stinky attitude, and then later he spoke to and then killed his brother. All of this took place because he refused to do what he knew in his heart and mind was the right thing to do. Once you have gone past the part where you are willing to do what is right in God's eyes, there is no other recourse but to disobey and go deeper into sin.....

3. He spoke to his brother Abel, but the problem only got worse. The bible doesn't say what the two brothers said, but i believe that it ended in an argument, which stepped up Cain's anger and jealousy, which resulted in rage and murder. Whatever Abel did to try to correct or solve the issue was not enough to stop Cain from killing him. God says righteous anger prompts an individual into righteous actions, but unchecked anger often leads to deeper sin. There are many people who regret the actions they made when in a fit of rage.

4. When confronted by God about his brothers' death, Cain refused to confess his sin - this is as worse or as bad as the act of murder. Cain could not or would not confess his sin to the Lord. If you are not willing to confess the sins in your life, those issues and weaknesses will continue to wreak havoc and destruction in your daily life. Cain's punishment fit the crime, but perhaps the Lord could have comforted him if Cain had been willing to admit that he was wrong.

Can you imagine the pain and suffering Cain caused to Adam and Eve? There were not that many people living on the earth at that time, and the pain of losing a child must have been unbearable, especially since they lost two sons, one to murder and one to everlasting punishment. We cannot begin to understand what it must have been like to see Abel on the ground in the field, his lifeless body lying in pool of blood. He was gone and there was nothing that they could do bring him back. They would probably become very accustomed to death for the rest of their lives, but the first one must have been an shock to their hearts.

What should we do when we are confronted with our sinful behavior?

1. Do what is right in God's eyes - Obey His word and His will for your life.

2. If you do sin or make a mistake, ask for God's forgiveness and then correct the issue or the problem - do the right thing.

3. If the sin involves someone else, you should apologize to the that person and then do the thing you should have done in the first place, the right thing.

4. Confess your sins and then focus on God, get into the word, pray for help and guidance, and then wait for the Holy Spirit to change your heart and mind.