Genesis 4b Commentary

Genesis 4b Commentary

Genesis is a book of firsts. We have the first-ever recorded offering. It is probably ‘millennias’ before the Law of Moses! 

Why these sacrifices? We could make some guesses. The LORD God who interacted with Adam in the Garden was no longer present. Probably these initial interactions involved sharing of meals. It’s a tradition that Adam maintained in an effort to perpetuate, commemorate, or merely miss the good old days. He believed the now physically absent God would still participate in these meals via sacrifices.

We shall see the LORD God share a meal with Adam. The LORD Jesus would share meals with His disciples. The risen Jesus prepared a meal for His disciples by the lakeside.

While sacrifices would later serve other purposes like sin offerings, the sacrifices by Cain and Abel are suspected meal offerings. “Let the LORD God also enjoy the meal.”

Reaching out to the LORD God isn’t a primitive concept. The New Testament teaches love and care for the “least of my brothers” as an important way to interact with the physically absent LORD God. You will have given to the LORD God when you help the least of the brothers. And you want to do a good job!

The case of Cain reveals the heart of God. It is a complex situation! Cain is both punished and restored at the same time! What do I do with this thing called Cain? Throw or keep? Throw then keep? Keep then throw? We can see aspects of everything in the way the LORD God reacts.

Cain is a murderer – the first murderer. An example should be made out of him. And we have it! Some will learn never to behave like Cain. Others will think of Cain as a hero, like his own descendant, Lamech. The evil spirit of Cain running through generations to Lamech is an interesting situation – sin reaching a new level!

The chapter closes with Adam’s other son, Seth. It is through Seth that the Seed to defeat the serpent shall come. The Gospel of Luke lists the genealogy of Jesus this way: …the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

The scripture shall focus on the line of Seth though we know Adam had other sons, including the evil Cain. Thus the holy script defines its agenda! Seth’s line is too broad but it shall narrow down to a specific group of people we know as Israel. But that’s a long way from this point!

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