Preaching Christ from the Cain and Abel Narrative

By Sidney Greidanus

[Sidney Greidanus is Professor of Preaching, Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This is the final article in a four-part series “Preaching Christ from the Genesis Narratives,” delivered by the author as the W. H. Griffith Thomas Lectures at Dallas Theological Seminary, February 18-21, 2003.]

Genesis 4 completes the account of what happened to God’s good creation. The first human pair had fallen for the temptation to be like God, knowing good and evil (chap. 3). That is, they wished to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. They wished to be autonomous, a law to themselves. Genesis 4 then sketches what became of this rebellion in the next seven generations.

Narrative Features

Literary Art

This chapter has a complex plot. The first plot concerns Cain and Abel, and the second plot concerns Cain’s descendants, especially ruthless Lamech. The outcome of the narrative is that God makes a new start with Adam through Seth and his descendants. The literary unit is also signaled by a double inclusio.

A. “Adam lay with his wife” (4:1).

B. Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord (vv. 3–4).

A´. “Adam lay with his wife again” (v. 25).

B´. People “began to call on the name of the Lord” (v. 26).

The careful literary crafting is highlighted by the use of the number seven or its multiples.[1] For example the author underscores the significance of people calling “on the name of the Lord” (v. 26) by making this the seventieth time he uses a name for God. The name אַוֹּהִים occurs thirty-five times in Genesis 1:1–2:3, and thirty-five times various names for God are used in 2:4–4:26. The name “Abel” occurs seven times, and the fact that Abel is Cain’s brother is underscored by seven uses of “brother.” Lamech is in the seventh generation from Adam.[2] In Genesis 5 Lamech is contrasted with Enoch, who is in the seventh generation in the line of Seth.

Textual Theme And Goal

The narrative sketches the beginnings of the battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. After relating Cain’s murder of Abel and briefly tracing Cain’s descendants through the seventh generation, the narrative returns to Adam and Eve and their new son Seth. Although the narrative seems to be about murder and violence, the concluding verses call attention to God’s faithfulness in continuing the line of the seed of the woman. The textual theme can therefore be formulated as follows: In the battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman God provides for the continued existence of the seed of the woman. The goal of the author is to assure Israel that God is faithful in maintaining His covenant people throughout history.

Having determined the theme and goal for Israel, we can next explore how this message links to Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

Ways To Preach Christ

Redemptive-Historical Progression

The author of Genesis traces the redemptive-historical progression of the line of the seed of the woman from Seth, the “seed” that replaced the martyred Abel (4:25), to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. Beyond Genesis the trail continues in the nation Israel (the seed of the woman), its king, David, and finally Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman, who according to Luke’s genealogy of Jesus is “the son [descendant] of Seth, the son of Adam” (Luke 3:38).[3]

Promise-Fulfillment

The passage contains no promise of the coming Christ.

Typology

One can preach Christ from this passage by pointing out the typology between Abel and Christ. Abel, the seed of the woman who was killed by the seed of the serpent, is a type of Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman who would be killed by the serpent. As in all typology, here is both analogy and escalation. Hebrews 12:24 makes the same point: Believers have come “to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Why a “better word than the blood of Abel”? John provides the answer: “The blood of Jesus. .. purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Analogy

One could also preach Christ with the following analogy: As God assured Israel that He would sustain them as His covenant people, so Christ assures the church that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18).

Longitudinal Themes

One could trace through the Scriptures how God provides for the continued existence of the seed of the woman, giving Abram and barren Sarai a son, giving Isaac and barren Rebekah a son, calling Israel out of Egypt, returning a remnant from the Babylonian exile, sending His own Son, pouring out the Holy Spirit, and growing His church on earth until Jesus returns.

As part of this theme one could also trace the deadly battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman: Cain against Abel, Egypt against Israel, Canaan against Israel, Israelite kings against God’s prophets (Matt. 23:35), Satan against Jesus, the world against the church, and Satan’s final defeat by Jesus (Rev. 20:10).

New Testament References

Jesus spoke of “the blood of righteous Abel” (Matt. 23:35; cf. Luke 11:51). Other New Testament passages refer to Abel but do not link him directly to Christ. For example Hebrews 11:4 uses this narrative to illustrate that “faith is being sure of what we hope for.” “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.. .. By faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Jude 11 refers to false teachers who “have taken the way of Cain.” And 1 John 3:12–13 admonishes, “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”

Contrast

Preachers could possibly preach Christ from this narrative by contrasting the seed of the serpent (Cain and Lamech) with the Seed of the woman (Jesus). Cain did not master the devil who was “crouching” at Cain’s door (Gen. 4:7), whereas Jesus mastered the devil when He was tempted (Matt. 4:1–11). Cain took the life of his brother, whereas Jesus gave His life for His brothers and sisters. Lamech boasted that he would be avenged “seventy-seven times” (Gen. 4:24), whereas Jesus taught His disciples that they should forgive “seventy-seven times” (Matt. 18:22).

Sermon Theme And Goal

Since the New Testament confirms the message of this Old Testament narrative, the sermon theme can be practically identical to the textual theme: In the battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, God provides for the continued existence of the seed of the woman until Christ gains the final victory.

The goal in preaching this sermon can be similar to the author’s goal: To assure God’s people that God is faithful in maintaining His covenant people throughout human history till Christ gains the final victory.

Sermon Exposition

Genesis 4 begins, “Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.’ ” Eve must have thought that Cain was the seed of the woman. She said she brought forth not just a baby, not just a boy, but אִישׁ, a “man.” Cain, for her, is another Adam. Surely he would conquer the devil.

And Cain had much going for him, for, as his mother testified, he was born “with the help of the Lord.” He started his life with God. As the firstborn, according to the understanding of the Israelites, he would also have the rights of inheritance. And like his father he “worked the soil” (v. 2). Cain was the seed of the woman, so Eve must have thought.

Eve also gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel’s name הָבֶל means “breath” (or “meaningless,” as in Ecclesiastes). And in this narrative Abel lives up to his name of being a mere breath. He is vulnerable; he is passive; he does not speak in this narrative; he does not defend himself. He is like the Suffering Servant, who was “led like a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isa. 53:7).

The narrator brings out the contrast between the brothers with inverted parallelism:

A. Eve “gave birth to Cain” (4:1).

B. “Later she gave birth to his brother Abel” (v. 2a).

B´. “Abel kept flocks” (v. 2b).

A´. “Cain worked the soil” (v. 2c).

The narrative conflict begins in verse 3. “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” Here the narrator continues to use inverted parallelism to highlight the contrast between the two brothers:

A. Cain brought as an offering “some of the fruits of the soil” (v. 3).

B. Abel brought “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” (v. 4a).

B´. “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (v. 4b).

A´. “But on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor” (v. 5).

The narrator highlights the contrast even further in verses 4b and 5 with antithetic parallelism: “The Lord looked with favor.. .. He did not look with favor.”

Why did God look favorably on Abel and his offering and not favorably on Cain and his offering? The Israelites would have known the answer instinctively. Abel obeyed God’s instruction, which called for an offering of the very best: the firstborn, a perfect specimen, including especially the fat portions for burning on the altar.[4] By obeying God, Abel showed total dedication to the Lord, giving Him the very best.

The Lord looks on the person before He looks at the gift. “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (v. 4). The Lord looks first at the heart of a person, at his or her motivation, before He looks at the person’s offering. “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did” (Heb. 11:4). Cain, by contrast, “brought some of the fruits of the soil” (Gen. 4:3). His offering seems rather superficial, and apparently his heart was not in it. Therefore “on Cain and his offering he [God] did not look with favor” (v. 4). God bypassed Cain, the firstborn, and accepted the younger Abel—a theme that is repeated in Genesis with the younger Isaac being chosen over Ishmael and the younger Jacob over Esau.

As a result of God’s rejection “Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast” (v. 5). Cain was very angry with God for not accepting his offering. And he was jealous of his younger brother Abel. His anger even showed in his face.

But like a loving parent going after an angry child, the Lord pursued Cain. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?’ ” (v. 6).

Even after the Fall God suggests that Cain can do what is right, that is, obey God. He is not a helpless victim of Satan or of Adam’s original sin. He can fight sin, do what is right, and be accepted.

But this is followed by the warning in verse 7. “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door.” This is the first time the Bible uses the word “sin.” And sin is personified as a violent animal, crouching and ready to pounce. Similarly Peter wrote about Satan being like a lion ready to pounce. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:8).

But in the context of Genesis another animal comes to mind, namely, the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve. The serpent is ready to strike again in the second generation. This time he tempts Cain, the firstborn.

God urged Cain to do what is right (Gen. 4:7). But Cain refused to listen to God; instead he nursed his anger at God and his jealousy of his brother Abel. The story reaches a climax in verse 8. “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ ” For Israelites this reference to “the field” would have had a foreboding sound. Any crime committed in a field was considered premeditated.[5] Killing someone far away in a field does not allow the victim to scream for help and it leaves no witnesses. Was Cain really planning to kill his brother? Yes. “While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him” (v. 8). This was not an accident; the Hebrew word indicates that he murdered his brother intentionally.[6]

Seven times this narrative states that Abel was Cain’s brother. He does not kill an enemy or even a stranger. He kills his very own brother! Unbelievable! Sin crouches at the door of people’s hearts if they do not do what is right. In only the second generation Adam and Eve’s sin led to fratricide, the murder of a brother.

And there are no witnesses to this murder—except one. God has seen Cain’s awful deed. As with the sin of Adam and Eve God immediately sets up court and begins to interrogate Cain. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’. .. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ ” (v. 9).

This is a bold-faced lie. As Jesus said, the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). Cain’s lie shows that he has moved into the camp of the devil. When he was born, Eve thought he was the seed of the woman who would conquer the serpent. But Cain, nursing his anger against God and his jealousy of his brother, gives an opening to the devil. Since he intentionally kills his brother and lies to God, it is clear that Cain is not the seed of the woman. Instead he is the seed of the serpent and is out to destroy the seed of the woman.

The heavenly Judge confronts Cain with his crime. “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Cain has allowed himself to be mastered by Satan; he has become a traitor to the kingdom of God; he has murdered his brother Abel. Abel, then, turns out to be the seed of the woman, and Abel’s blood is crying out to the Lord from the ground.

Then the heavenly Judge pronounces sentence. “Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand” (v. 11). Earlier God had cursed both the serpent and the ground (3:14–15, 17–18), but He never cursed Adam and Eve. Now God curses their son Cain, confirming that he is the seed of the serpent. The enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman will split the human race into two camps. Some will be on the side of Satan and some will be on the side of God.

God continues sentencing Cain by saying, “When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth” (4:12). The farmer Cain will be exiled from civilization. Worse, he will be exiled from the presence of God.

Cain appeals to the Lord: “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me” (vv. 13–14).

In Israel when a person had been killed, a relative of the dead person would become “the avenger of blood.”[7] Like a bounty hunter he would hunt down the killer and kill him. “But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over’ [i.e., complete vengeance, perfect justice]. Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him” (v. 15).

The Bible does not state what kind of mark the Lord put on Cain. But that is not important. What is important is what the mark stood for, and that is simply amazing. Cain has switched sides in the battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Cain has joined forces with the devil by murdering the seed of the woman. God rightly curses him, and so we would expect God to condemn him.

Instead, God puts a mark on him to protect his life. It is a mark of God’s goodness and mercy. He bestows His good gifts even on traitors to His cause. As Jesus said, “Your Father in heaven. .. causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). That is God’s goodness and mercy. Even the traitor Cain receives God’s mercy.

The first plot in Genesis 4 ends with verse 16. “Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Cain, who was born “with the help of the Lord” (v. 1), went away from the Lord. “Nod” is a play on the verb נָד (“wandering”).[8] Wherever the land of Nod was, it was “east of Eden.” When Adam and Eve fell into sin, they were driven out of the Garden away from the presence of God, “east of Eden.” Now Cain is forced to move even farther away from God’s holy presence, “east of Eden.”

But God’s mercy goes with him. God’s curse on Cain does not entirely remove God’s original blessing to “be fruitful and increase in number” (1:28). “Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch” (4:17). Cain is seeking security in a human fortress, which anticipates the later city of Babel (11:1–9), built in defiance of God’s command to “fill the earth.” Augustine rightly observed that “Cain was the first-born, and he who belonged to the city of men; after him was born Abel, who belonged to the city of God.”[9] The author of Genesis continues, “To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech” (4:18). Lamech represents the seventh generation from Adam in the line of Cain.

The author then highlights the tremendous cultural developments in this line of the seed of the serpent. “Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron” (vv. 19–22). Again God’s goodness is seen in the cultural developments that enable people to cope in a harsh environment under God’s curse.

But all was not well. Lamech, in the seventh generation, breaks God’s creation order of marriage between one man and one woman. He marries two women. And then he begins to brag to these two wives. “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me” (v. 23). Lamech is a brutal killer. God’s law for Israel demanded that punishment must fit the crime: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an injury for an injury. But Lamech moves far beyond this principle of justice. He kills a young man for injuring him. And then he brags, “If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times” (v. 24).

Lamech takes God’s words to Cain about complete vengeance and vows to go much further. He is determined that if anyone harms him, he will attack that person with an unending vengeance. In seven generations, a complete number, sin has come to full fruition. Human beings boast about their power to defend themselves; they say they do not need God; they say they do not need His law; they think they can be gods for themselves. This is the sin of Adam and Eve, but it is many times more defiant. With their cultural developments they feel they can fend for themselves. In seven generations humanity has disintegrated from a world in which God was worshiped and adored to a world in which humans think they can live without God.

However, instead of ending the narrative on this awful note, the author flashes back to Adam and Eve. “Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, ‘God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him’ ” (v. 25). Eve now knows that Cain was not the promised seed of the woman. The younger Abel was. And Cain killed him. But God is faithful in continuing the line of the seed of the woman.

The narrator concludes with the significant observation, “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh [‘weakness’]. At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord” (v. 26). In the line of Cain people advanced culturally, but they increasingly declared that they did not need God. In the line of the seed of the woman there is “weakness,” but people call on the Lord’s name, that is, they recognize their dependence on the Lord, their King, and make the Lord central in their lives. They pray to Him and worship Him.

The author accentuates this positive development by making this the seventieth time he uses a name for God. This seventieth time is very special. In contrast to the seed of the serpent sketched in the line of Cain, in this line of Seth people “began to call on the name of the Lord.”

God is faithful in continuing the line of the seed of the woman. If God had not been faithful, this line would have ended with the death of Abel. But God raised up Seth and his descendants to continue a godly line on earth. This also means, of course, that the bitter battle with the seed of the serpent continues.

Abel was the first of many martyrs. The Egyptians drowned the Israelite boys in the Nile River. Jezebel killed so many prophets of the Lord that Elijah thought he was the only one left. But God kept the seed of the woman alive until the Messiah could be born. Then Satan managed to kill the Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ. They nailed Him to a cross. And the persecution did not stop there. Jesus had warned His disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.. .. All men will hate you because of me.. .. A student is not above his teacher” (Matt. 10:16, 22, 24). Soon these words came true.

A mob stoned the deacon Stephen; Herod Agrippa killed James; the Romans killed the apostles Peter and Paul. The early church suffered great persecution, which resulted in many Christian martyrs. But the church fathers saw rightly that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. In the battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman God has provided for the continued existence of the seed of the woman to this very day.

Perhaps some Christians, living in peace and prosperity, think they are not involved in this battle. But they are wrong, for all Christians belong to the one church of Jesus Christ. And our brothers and sisters are being martyred all around us. In fact in the twentieth century more Christians were martyred than in all the preceding nineteen centuries combined. Barrett and Johnson estimate that in the twentieth century a staggering forty-five million believers have died for their faith in Christ. They also estimate that every year since 1990 approximately 160,000 Christians have been killed in countries all around us.[10] How will believers in the United States respond when the battle comes here?

John’s first epistle is instructive, for he wrote to a persecuted church. “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:12–13). John continued by telling his readers about “the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (4:3). And then he wrote, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (v. 4). Even under the pressure of persecution the seed of the woman will conquer. We will be victorious in the battle against Satan because Jesus has poured His Spirit into our hearts. No matter how difficult the battle, God is faithful in preserving His church till Christ comes again to establish His perfect kingdom on the earth.

Notes

1. Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: TX: Word, 1987), 96.
2. For more words occurring seven or fourteen times, see ibid.
3. Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.
4. See, for example, Exodus 13:2, 12; 23:19; 34:26; Leviticus 3; 22:17–25; 23:9–14.
5. “In the law the circumstance that a crime is committed ‘in the field,’ i.e., out of range of help, is proof of premeditation; cf. Deut 22:25–27” (Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 106).
6. “Cain kills (hārag) Abel. This is the common verb meaning ‘to murder intentionally’ and is to be distinguished from the one mentioned in the sixth commandment (rạ̄aḥ,Exod. 20:13), which also encompasses manslaughter” (Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17, New International Commentary on the Old Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995], 230).
7. See, for example, Numbers 35:12; Deuteronomy 19:1–13; and Joshua 20:1–9.
8. “He who had been sentenced to nād settles in the land of nôd. The wanderer ends up in the land of wandering” (Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17, 235).
9. Augustine, The City of God, trans. Marcus Dods (New York: Random House, 1950), 478–79.
10. David Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 1:11.