Cain and Abel or Cain and God? Worshipping God on Our Terms

00:00 - James Spencer (Host)
The legacy of Cain is actually pretty problematic and I think Lamech actions highlight the ripple effects of sin Polygamy, his pride, the brutality he demonstrates, how rebellious against God he seems to be. It's spiraling out of control. And this isn't just about one man's arrogance. It's a commentary on the trajectory of humanity when it rejects God's authority.

00:20 - Speaker 2 (None)
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00:53 - James Spencer (Host)
Hey everyone, and welcome to PREPPED, the podcast where we explore biblical, theological and ministry topics to prepare you for life and ministry grounded in God's word. I'm James Spencer, and today we're diving into Genesis 4, which is normally called the Cain and Abel narrative. But I'd like to suggest today that this is about Cain and God. It isn't just a tale about sibling rivalry. It's a narrative rich with themes of worship and sin and the consequences of approaching God on our own terms rather than on his. And as we unpack this text, we're going to explore four key ideas. Number one, the dynamics between Cain and Abel, what their actions reveal about worship. Number two, the theological significance of Cain's offering, why it was rejected. And then we're going to talk a little bit about Cain's offspring, Lamech, how his life illustrates the destructive legacies of rebellion. And then, finally, we'll get to Seth, the child that Adam and Eve have after Abel is killed, and we'll talk about him as a glimpse of hope and restoration in the midst of sin. And so, hopefully, by the end of this episode, we'll reflect on how these truths really speak to our lives and challenge us to consider the quality of our own worship and how we should approach God on his terms rather than on ours. So let's dive in to the Cain and God narrative Now.

02:14
A lot of times when we think about this narrative and this will come out throughout the rest of the episode we often think about Cain being jealous of Abel. And throughout I'm not suggesting that Cain isn't jealous of Abel. I'm not saying that there wouldn't have been any jealousy that arose between the two brothers, but I actually see that as a minor motivation for what happens in the narrative. And so as I argue through this narrative and kind of talk about the way I read it, hopefully you'll kind of come around to that opinion yourself. Again, it's not that Cain wouldn't have been, you know, had some feelings of jealousy toward Abel, but I don't really think that's what the narrative is trying to convey. This is not a cautionary tale about jealousy. This is about figuring out how it is that we approach God on his terms, as opposed to trying to be self-determined and decide how we want to worship God.

03:05
So, with that said, genesis 4 is going to open with Adam and Eve's sons, cain and Abel, and each of them are going to bring an offering to God. Cain is a farmer and he's going to offer some of the fruit of the ground. Abel is a shepherd and he's going to bring the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions, and the two descriptions are important. We'll get into that a little bit, but on the surface there is definitely a difference in the vocations. So what we see is that Cain is offering some of the fruit of his labors. Let's say he's a farmer and so he's bringing God an offering from the ground. Some people have suggested that that is part of the problem that the ground was cursed and so the offering that Cain brings is from the cursed ground and God doesn't accept it. I don't agree with that interpretation. As we look later on in the Old Testament, there are offerings that come through vegetation. Like this is not something that's precluded later on in the Old Testament, and so what I would encourage us is, you know, while I may mention these every once in a while, I don't know that there's some deeper rationale for why Cain's offering is not accepted and Abel's isn't. I think what we're seeing in these descriptions is that Cain probably brought just some of the fruit of the ground, and I think the ambiguity of what he brought is actually part of the charm of the narrative we could say In specifying exactly what Abel brought, this firstborn of his flock and their fat portions, this firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. What we're also seeing is that Cain's offering is somehow lacking, that it isn't like the best of the fruits and vegetables. I don't think we can assume that, because the narrator is giving us this more generic view of what Cain's offering actually brought. So I don't think the problem is actually with Cain's produce versus Abel's animal offering.

05:07
God later accepts grain offerings in the Mosaic Law. The issue really does lie in the description of these offerings. Abel's is described with detail and care the firstborn of the flock and the fat portions. That's in Genesis 4.4. And I think that suggests that Abel brought his best, demonstrating devotion and reverence. In contrast, cain's offering is just described as some of the fruit of the ground, and the text's lack of detail hints that Cain's offering was less intentional, perhaps even careless. He wants to bring what he wants to bring and he's not concerned about bringing God the best offering. He's just bringing him something and he thinks God should accept that.

05:46
So worship isn't just about what we bring. It's about, sort of, the heart behind it. And what I would say is it's not, you know, sort of a sincerity of heart. It's a willingness to worship God on God's terms, and I think Cain's offering really lacked that desire to honor God, in other words to give God his due based on the way that God construes his own due. God then gives Cain this warning. So God accepts Abel's offering, but he rejects Cain's, and Cain gets angry. Yet rather than condemning him outright, god sort of coaches Cain a little bit, and he, you know. I think God's speech is really important here, because he says if you do well, will you not be accepted, and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. Now we've looked at that, that last half of that statement in a previous episode on the Ezra, and when we, when we looked at the, at the very similar phrase in Genesis 3.16.

06:47
But the first half of this is really important because God's word suggests that Cain knows how to do well. Cain knows how to go about bringing the required and proper sacrifice. He knows what he's supposed to do. He just didn't do it. And so God doesn't coach him and say okay, cain, I'm not going to take this offering, but let me give you some pointers on how to do. He just didn't do it, and so God doesn't coach him and say okay, cain, I'm not going to take this offering, but let me give you some pointers on how to do this better. You need to bring X, y and Z, and you need to bring them in this order, and they need to be of this quality, but he's not telling Cain any of that.

07:17
God's word to Cain is very short.

07:19
If you do well, your offering will be accepted. If you don't do well, sin is crouching at your door. There is a sense in which Cain knows exactly what he needs to do. He just didn't do it. So what it means to do well is not explained in the narrative, and so I think we have to assume that Cain sort of would have intuitively known what that was, and so what we see here is that Cain is obstinately, perhaps rebelliously, deciding that he wants to only offer God what he wants to offer God. He does not want to offer God what God actually requires.

07:57
So I would posit that Cain knew what was required for proper worship, but chose to ignore it, and, instead of humbling himself, cain allows his anger to fester, ultimately leading to the murder of his brother. So how do those two things fit together? How do we go from Cain being sort of wanting to determine what offering he's going to bring? He wants to make sure that this offering comes on his terms. He doesn't want to humble himself and bring an offering on God's terms. How does that situation result, then, in the murder of Abel? Well, let's take a look at that Again. I don't think Cain wouldn't have been jealous to some degree, but I don't know that, if we're looking at it from the terms of not even just the personal motivation, which is difficult to assess within the biblical narrative, we don't exactly know how Cain's feeling. What I'm arguing is that the flow of the narrative. I think it fits better to think that his act of murder actually reflects a rebellion against God's authority.

08:56
What I think is happening is that by eliminating Cain or, I'm sorry, by eliminating Abel, cain seems to think that he can manipulate God into accepting his worship. He's going to put God in a corner and he's going to say well, I hear what you're saying, god. I know what offering you want. I understand how I'm supposed to worship you on your terms. But here's the thing there's only two of us. And so while Abel can be the faithful, dutiful worshiper of God and he's going to continue bringing you exactly what you want and he's going to worship you on your terms what happens if he's gone and there's no competition for me? You'll take what I give you. And so that's what I mean when I think that Cain is trying to manipulate God into accepting worship on Cain's terms, and I think this is a tragic miscalculation and it ultimately leads to God's judgment. And so Cain is cursed and he's driven away, he's cut off from God's presence. So if you think about what's going on here, cain again, I'll just walk it through, because I know this is a different interpretation than many people have maybe heard.

10:05
What I think is happening is Cain wants to worship God on his own terms. He wants to bring whatever worship he wants to bring to God. Abel is going to bring a proper worship. He's going to worship God on God's terms. As these two conflict and God chastises Cain, coaches Cain and says look, you know what you're supposed to do. Just do that and you'll be accepted. But if you don't, then you're going to go down this other path. Cain decides that he doesn't need to follow that those two options are not his only two options, that he has a third option. He can make it so that God can only receive an offering on Cain's terms. All he has to do is eliminate the competition, get rid of Abel, and now he'll be able to worship God on his own terms, because if God wants worship, he'll only have Cain to get it from.

10:54
I think that's what's really going on in this narrative. Yes, there may be some degree of jealousy. Yes, it may be that Cain and Abel didn't get along and there's some weird backstory that we're not seeing in the biblical text. But the reality is that I think the flow of the narrative works better this way, and I would say that it works better this way, and I'll just sort of gesture toward it so we understand where I'm going. If we look at what's happening and we look at the overarching narrative of Genesis 4, the solution to the problem is interesting. It presents itself in an interesting way. So again, that whole piece that I just went through of Cain wanting to bring to God, whatever form that takes, by eliminating that competition, cain thinks he's going to have sort of the corner on determining what worship is and God's just going to have to accept it.

11:54
But what's God's next move Once he finds out that Cain has murdered Abel? What happens? Well, he sends Cain away, he banishes him. Well, he sends Cain away, he banishes him. And so we see that God is not concerned about having no proper worshiper. He's okay having no worshiper. In other words, just as you know, cain decides oh, this is his miscalculation. Is that like? Once I kill Abel, god's going to need me? But the punishment of Cain demonstrates that God doesn't actually need Cain. He's going to send him away. Now he graciously puts this mark on Cain so that no one will kill him, and he is, in the end, merciful to Cain.

12:38
But the point is that Cain's gambit doesn't pay off, and so now God is evidently left without worshipers until we get to the end of the chapter. And then what we see is we see that Seth is born, and the woman describes Seth as Eve describes Seth, as you know, this replacement for Abel, because Abel was killed. And then the text talks about, you know, when Seth was born, people began to call on the name of the Lord. And so what we see is this, this sort of stepped process where Cain thinks he can determine how how people will worship God. He thinks he can own that sort of religious function. He can determine it, and God really is going to have to accept whatever he gives. God, though, is not limited by these two people in front of him, cain and Abel, and so when Cain kills Abel, god ultimately works to replace Abel with Seth, who's going to call on the name of the Lord. So that's the broad scope of the narrative, and in between that, we end up looking at Lamech, and so Lamech is after Cain is banished. He has, you know, we have a short description of what Cain does, what his descendants do, and Lamech features prominently in that.

14:01
So this is in actually Genesis 4, 17 through 24, and I think it again, it sort of demonstrates a couple of different things. Number one what we're seeing is now Abel is sort of gone. Abel has very little, you know, presence actually in the narrative. If you look at the book of Ecclesiastes and I've actually got a buddy, russ Meek, who wrote on the book of Ecclesiastes, I'll link to the podcast episode where we talk about it and he talks about Ecclesiastes is always talking about vanity. All of this is vanity. Well, the Hebrew word for vanity is Havel. It's the same word for Abel, it's what we transliterate Abel to, and so this idea that Abel is just a breath, he's just there and gone, that's what he is in the narrative.

14:51
But I think, as we look at this, this sort of strife between two brothers is actually important, because as we go through the rest of Genesis, what we're going to see is strife between relatives. Now, that strife doesn't always end up being brought about by some sort of evil. For instance, abram and Lot separate because the land doesn't have the capacity to care for both of them. They've accumulated enough resources that the land just can't care for them, so Abram and Lot separate. But you can also see that Abram goes the way of faithfulness and Lot ends up in this very ambiguous situation in Sodom and Gomorrah, and even though the New Testament calls him Righteous Lot, at certain points he is in a very liminal space in Sodom and Gomorrah, which is all evil all the time. Then we see Esau and Jacob fighting. We even have tension between Ishmael, who is sort of Isaac's half-brother, and Isaac, and then obviously the Joseph story, where the 11 brothers sort of turn on Joseph and send him to Egypt. And so this is a beginning narrative where we're starting to see this sort of bifurcation of brothers, of family members, a separation between them and a divergence between those who are going to be faithful and those who are not going to be faithful. And so Lamech represents this sort of I would call it the unfaithful line.

16:19
And in Genesis 4, 17 through 24, we end up following Cain's descendants, culminating in Lamech, who is a figure who embodies the sort of degeneration of Cain's legacy. He's going to end up boasting about, you know, what Cain has done and how Cain did it, this sort of sign that God put on Cain that he would be avenged. You know, Lamech is going to use that sign as sort of a boast and he's got this very interesting way of thinking about life and his role in it. But if Cain's rebellion set this destructive trajectory, I think Lamech is meant to represent its full fruition in this narrative. And so we see in verses 23 and 24, Lamech declare I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

17:07
If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech is 77-fold Now if we just think about what that's hearkening back to. Right, cain murders his brother in an attempt to worship God on Cain's own terms. Lamech is looking back to that incident and saying look now, cain is protected by God. He is to be avenged if he is killed. Well, I killed a man for wounding me and a man for striking me, and so I look how much more righteous I am than Cain. I should be revenge 77 fold, and I think Lamech arrogance here is pretty palpable. Unlike Cain, who receives God's protection despite his sin, Lamech boasts of his own power to avenge himself. He twists God's promise of protection into a license for violence.

17:56
So the legacy of Cain is actually pretty problematic, and I think Lamech actions highlight the ripple effects of sin his polygamy, his pride, the brutality. He demonstrates how rebellious against God he seems to be. It's spiraling out of control, and this isn't just about one man's arrogance. It's a commentary on the trajectory of humanity when it rejects God's authority. This is, I think, if we think about that, warning that God gives. Sin is crouching at your zords. Desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. What I see in Cain's descendants is a group of people who have refused to allow themselves to rule over sin. Sin's desire has now had a hold of them and so they're spiraling out of control.

18:41
And the narrative of Cain's descendants really does show how unchecked sin compounds itself over the generations. Cain's defense is amplified in Lamech, who celebrates violent and dismisses God's authority entirely, and I think the progression serves as a warning Sin left unaddressed doesn't just persist, it multiplies. And so the story challenges us to reflect on our own lives. Are there areas where sin has taken root and begun to spread unchecked? But I think it also demonstrates this idea that our true humanity is not found in autonomy from God, it is found independence on, not independent from, but independence on God.

19:20
And so as we look at Seth then right, so Abel's been killed, cain has been banished we see the degeneration of Cain's line. And now we're brought back to the situation. What now happens If Cain has been jettisoned away and Abel is dead? How do we move forward with the worship of the Lord? Who's going to carry the torch? Later on in the Pentateuch we'll think about this in terms of who is going to be the firstborn, who is going to carry the standard of the covenant from Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob. This is largely part of the problem in the Jacob-Eson narrative. So this is fairly common stuff that we're going to see throughout the rest of Genesis. But in this instance we really do have sort of a problem, because if Cain's line has departed from God, there's no one left after Adam and Eve to worship God. And so we see in Genesis 4.25, we see this glimmer of hope. Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and they called his name Seth. And she said God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. Now Seth is gonna represent this new beginning, and while Cain's line spirals into rebellion, seth's lineage offers a return to faithfulness.

20:42
Verse 26 marks a pivotal moment. At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord, and this signals, I think, a restoration, a right worship, contrasting sharply with the defiance of Cain's line. And this is where we find that Cain's gambit doesn't pay off at all. He wants to worship God on his own terms, and he thinks that eliminating Abel will allow him to do that. He is banished, though, and so he's not worshiping the Lord at all anymore. He's not bringing God sacrifice, he's been banished from the presence of the Lord. And so now what happens? Well, god gives Adam and eve a replacement for abel seth, and seth is going to now bring right worship to the lord, and so god gets what he wants. He's not limited to just cain and abel, and this was cain's mistake. So I think seth's line leads to noah and abraham and ultimately christ.

21:33
Through seth, god demonstrates his faithfulness to his redemptive plan, even in the face of human failure, and so Seth's story reminds us that God's purposes prevail, offering hope amid sin and brokenness. Now the introduction of Seth reminds us of God's sovereignty and grace. Even as sin seemed to dominate through Cain's descendants, god's plan remains intact. He wants humanity to experience him, to be redeemed, to come into his presence in worship. He wants this relationship, and so Seth's lineage points us toward redemption, and it reminds us that God never abandons his creation, and this is a powerful encouragement for those of us who feel surrounded by brokenness. God's purposes are never thwarted and his grace can restore even the most dire situation. So the story of Cain, abel, Lamech, seth these reveal profound truths about worship, sin and God's faithfulness.

22:27
So let's unpack just a few takeaways. I think the first one is worship on God's terms. Cain's failure reminds us that worship isn't about what we think is acceptable, but about what God requires. True worship reflects the honor, devotion and humility that we are to bring to God, and we need to be bringing God what he wants, not what we want to bring him. God asks us for things. He has terms on the worship. He knows what is due him, and we're to give that to him. We're to give him his full due, and so that is one aspect of the story that I think really comes out in this reading is that we can't worship God on our own terms. I think also, we can see the ripple effects of sin.

23:12
Sin doesn't generally operate in isolation. I'm not sure that Cain really learns his lesson even after he's banished, and so what we're seeing is this sort of intergenerational notion of sin, where you have this division of lines, and I think that this culminates again in Lamech arrogance, and our choices do have consequences often exceeding far beyond ourselves, and I think that's a reality that just should call us to be vigilant in addressing sin and striving for holiness, making sure that we're passing on right things to the next generation, whether they be our own biological children or those who are discipling those within our church, because this stuff really matters. It can have an impact generation after generation, and I think, finally, this narrative reminds us that there is always hope for restoration. There's always hope for redemption. Despite all of the failures that Cain did and Cain's line, god is going to remain faithful. He's going to bring about a way, a door, and he does that in this case through Seth. And we see then the continuation of God's plan to redeem and restore, that he's going to bring about humankind and preserve an aspect or a portion of humankind who are going to be able to worship him and worship him on his terms. Now, I think that ultimately points us to Christ, the ultimate fulfillment of that hope. And in Christ we find the resolution to the tension introduced in Genesis 4. It's a perfect offering in the restoration of right worship.

24:41
So these takeaways, I think, challenge us to examine our own lives. You know, how are we worshiping God on our terms as opposed to his terms? You know, are we really addressing sin or are we allowing it to take root? Are we really living in light of the hope that God is going to redeem all things? And as we reflect, let's just commit to offering God our best.

25:03
I wouldn't even just change that language because I don't want it to feel like it's our best. What we're trying to offer God is worship that God is due. What is it that we give to God that he is due? Well, we give him our whole lives. There's not a balance that we strike. It's not as if I give God my best and then I keep the rest. It's not that idea. It's really a fullness. It's a full participation in glorifying God and worshiping God, and so I think that we really need to watch our language, and I know I said best.

25:37
I'm walking that back now, because I do think that what we are trying to do is simply worship God on his terms. We understand what those terms are, and we need to consistently be asking ourselves whether or not we are worshiping God on our terms or on his terms. So the story of Cain and Abel, or the story of Cain and God, challenges us to examine the heart of our worship. You know, are we giving God worship on his terms or are we trying to approach him on our terms? And as we reflect on this passage, I think we can just, you know, sit back and say this is an amazing God that we serve, who, even as human beings, murder each other to try to control what's happening in their own lives, that God is faithful, that God's plan is not stopped or derailed by that, and so we should just have hope that, even as we make mistakes, that God is not deterred by our mistakes. But we should really try not to hinder ourselves by sinning, but we should take God's advice. We know what is right to do. If we do well, we will be accepted, and so in Christ we've been fully accepted. But we also have these. We have the rest of our lives to live, and so as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we need to be careful to do well, and I think what he means by that, what he means by do well, is to worship him on his terms. Bring God what God is due.

27:07
Hey, thanks for joining me on PREPPED. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might benefit, subscribe to the podcast, leave a review. I'll see you next time as we continue exploring God's word together, and we're going to stay on this theme of Cain and Abel. Right, worship, worship, going on terms as we talk a little bit about the ex-evangelicalism phenomenon and deconstruction. So I'm looking forward to that episode and I'll see you next time on PREPPED. Take care everybody.

27:35 - Speaker 2 (None)
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