Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Genesis 4:9-24 01/27/02

Introduction: The story is told of a family who went camping.. Dad searched the motor home for butter to melt over the popcorn. 'Where's the butter? Who hid the butter?' he kept muttering, loud enough for the rest of the family, sitting outside to hear. Finally he yelled out the door to his daughter 'Judi, Where is the butter?' Judi answered back 'How should I know Dad, Am I your butter's keeper?'

 Open your Bibles to Gen. 4:9 where we will see what God has to say about being our brothers keeper!

Read: Genesis 4:9

 Once again God comes to Cain and now asks 'where is your brother Abel?'.  Sound familiar? God had a similar conversation with Adam in Gen. 3:9 'Adam where are you?'

 God, graciously attempted to give Adam and now his son Cain the opportunity to confess their sin

 Adam came clean and confessed that he had eaten of the forbidden fruit. Cain didn't confess and went as far as to lie to God when he said that he didn't know where his brother was.
 
 Then Cain utters those famous words of self-serving pride. 'Am I my brothers keeper?'.

 What he was really saying was, 'I don't know where he is, God, he is old enough to take care of himself, besides it's not my turn to watch him I thought that was your department.'

 If we were honest, don't we sometimes silently give the same answer. We live so full and busy lives that we don't want to take the precious time or use our valuable resources to be our brothers/sisters keeper...to care for them, to help them when in need. Sometimes we just want life to be about us...am I right?

 Then there are some who go to the other extreme. They act like our brothers watcher. They like to keep an eye pealed, watching for their brother or sister in Christ to fall into sin. Then they pounce upon them with their holier than thou attitudes.

 Neither extreme is what being our brothers keeper is all about. I want you to note that the word 'brother' is used 5 times in just 4 verses.  That is to show it's importance. Don't let that get by you.

 You see, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not simply enough to look out for others, to encourage them to walk faithfully before God and one another. We must love one another, as if brothers by blood...

 Because we are..brothers and sisters joined by the blood of Christ for all eternity...and for NOW as well.

 I believe being our brothers and sisters keeper is about relationship and our responsibilities in that relationship. What is our responsibility?

 This is the message we have heard from the beginning that we should love one another.

 It means our relationship with one another in the body of Christ is to be about love. We are to love one another.... as Christ has loved us.

Read: Genesis 4:10-12
 
 Cains relationship with his brother was ruined and it reflected a broken relationship with God.
 
 God, who first spoke to Cain in love, now speaks to him in condemnation.  God's action serves notice that He is both a God of Love and a God of Judgment.  He is concerned about the individual, but He must judge sin, where it is not confessed.

 In our world today, in the shadow of September 11th, in the wake of the atrocities of abortion on demand, euthanasia, rape, child abuse and murder, we desperately need to know that God is a Righteous Judge, who can not and will not tolerate sin. His righteousness and holiness demands his judgment of sin and those who commit such sin.

 And God will judge sin. Rom. 12: 19  says 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord.'

 Well, what was Cain's judgment?

 
 First, God told Cain that he can farm all he wants and God will not allow any harvest. Cain will have to find a new job.

Interesting note: For Adam his sin meant farming would be difficult. For Cain's sin, farming would now be impossible. As sin grows so do the consequences.

 Second, because he has broken the close relationship of brother to brother, he will be expelled from his families home.

 Third, he will become a loner, and a wanderer, forever restless, separated from the presence and peace of God.

Read: Genesis 4:13-14

 'O God you are too tough on me, I can't bear the punishment you have placed upon me, woe is me....boo hoo, boo hoo'

 Notice, Cain is not sorry for his sin. His heart is not breaking because of the guilt of his sin. He is just not happy with the consequences God has given for his sin.

 He should have been thanking God for His leniency, for his goodness and grace. God, justifiably, could have taken his life.

 But, Cain's only regret was getting caught and being punished. Sound familiar? We see that attitude in our children when they get caught doing something they shouldn't.

 God showed His grace and goodness to Cain and he still didn't ask God to forgive him.

 And notice that once again Cain blames God for his situation.

 You , God have driven me away from my family and You God have taken away my  vocation and You God have driven me from your face...You...

 What really drove Cain away? His unconfessed sin. He blamed God for what his own actions and attitude caused.

 But, even in his coldness of heart, Cain still was afraid. What did Cain fear?

Read: Genesis 4:15
 Isn't God truly amazing? When God would have been justified in telling Cain to suck it up and bear his punishment like a man, instead, God recognizes Cains fear and meets it once again with grace.

 God tells him, 'No one will take your life Cain. That was mine to take and I, in my grace and goodness  have chosen to spare you.'  This was as much a promise to Cain as it was a warning  to all that God's judgment is perfect and not to be challenged.

 But what about the sign? Was Cain a marked man? Yes. But that is all we know.  The text does not tell us whether the sign was physical or something else.

 What do we know for sure? That Cain was somehow protected by God, that he would live a long life BUT he would live it always feeling restless and separated from the presence of God.
Isa 48:22 says 'there is no peace for the wicked says the Lord.'

Read: Genesis 4:16
 

 Cain left his family and home and in a final act of rebellion against God settled down in the Land of Nod. God said he would be a wanderer and Cain was not happy with that. After having experienced time and time again the marvelous grace of God, he still chose to defy God and His Word.

 But, this really shouldn't surprise us. Cain was not a Believer, he was a sinner , willfully separated from God. He took God's grace for granted. But Cain had no true regard for God Himself.

 Sound familiar? This is why some people you and I know can experience the grace of God, and hear the Word of God and never be in a right relationship with God.

 They may be very nice, loving, good people or they may be bad, unloving, evil people but they are all children of Cain.

 They bask in God's goodness and grace yet deny His power and authority. And their end will be like Cains...eternal separation from God.
 

 But, the story doesn't end here. Cain hands down his rebellious nature and actions to his progeny.

Read: Genesis 4:17-18

 'Where did Cain get his wife?' The answer is he married one of his relatives. Remember, Gen. 4:1-16 is about Cain and Abel and not about their siblings and relatives that Gen. 5:4 tells us they had.

 And know that at that time, it was not wrong or unhealthy to marry a close relative. The gene pool, although now corrupt, was still much more pure than it is now.

 Anyway, Cain married, had a son and began to build a place to live...a city. This city was a monument to his pride, to his open defiance of God's command to be a wanderer.

 He built a city because there were those who like Cain, were not rightly related to God and wanted a place to live apart from the righteous Adam and Eve.

Read: Genesis 4:19-22
 In Gen. 4:19-22 we see what people are like who live for several generations without God..the text focuses on Lamech.

 Lamech had two wives. Adah and Zillah. It seems Lamech wanted to study women from A to Z. Someone once said that pologamy has it's own punishment...two mother-in-laws! But this may not even been true since Lamech could have married sisters.

 In any event, Lamech was not satisfied with just one wife as God had ordained. He chose to disregard God and do what was right in his own eyes.

 Second, you would expect such a family of sinfulness to be cursed by God. But, is that what we see in these verses?

 No, we see the start of civilization. We see the beginnings of nomadic herdsmen, skillful musicians and technology involving metalurgy. Even sinful mankind produces things that are beneficial to humanity.
 
 

 So we should not be surprised by or reject the beauty and technological advancements made by our culture because God's common grace falls down on the evil as well as the righteous.

 But, we must be careful, because too close an association with our  culture may lead us along the path of Lamech.

Read: Genesis 4:23-24

 Lamech brings us to the point in history where sin is not committed secretly, but boastfully.

 Lamech brags to his wives and even writes a poem, being the man of culture he was, about his murdering ways. He believed that since he was injured by another he had the right to take revenge upon himself and kills him.

 Here we see the first victim's rights defense.  I am the victim here, I have my rights. Cain killed for no reason, I was only defending myself....right.
 

 Then, Lamech twists God's words when he says if Cain is avenged 7 fold then Lamech 77 fold. He was claiming God's protection for his sin. A rather creative reworking of God's Word since that was a promise made specifically to Cain.

 But before we condemn Lamech, aren't we often guilty of the same thing. We want to prove our point, to show we are justified in some sinful action or attitude and we twist and take God's Word out of context to make us look good...or at least right. Lamech did it and we often follow suit. Think about it.

 So, Genesis 4:9-24 gives us a picture of an affluent society defying God and His laws, seeking pleasure and self-indulgence. Sound familiar? ...Read the headlines of the newspaper, watch the news.

Conclusion
 Our text for the past two weeks has not been merely the record of two men who lived long ago and far away. Scripture tells me that it is the description of two ways, the way of Abel and the way of Cain.

 Tim Shultz, two weeks ago, reminded us of the same thing...when he spoke of the  broad, easy way that looks logical but leads to destruction and the narrow, difficult way that seems foolish but leads to eternal life.

 Young people especially are being lured more than anyone else by the siren call of the world with it's appeal to luxury, comfort, ease, achievement and the accumulation of things.

 It is not that Christians can't use and appreciate these things. But throughout Scripture we are warned  'Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world' (1 Jn 2:15)

 Into this world Israel and later the Church would come as a kingdom of priests to proclaim God's righteousness

 Are you living as a priest, walking the narrow road, proclaiming God's righteousness?

 Or are you living as a descendent of Cain, walking the broad road, trusting in your own right-ness?
 

 God was good to Cain but Cain rejected God's goodness and grace and was therefore separated from God's loving presence.

 Do you feel restless or lonely? Do you feel separated from God's loving presence? Look inside?

 Believer, is there unconfessed sin you are hiding from God? Confess it and be restored to fellowship with God.

 Perhaps, you never have really asked God to forgive you for your rebellion and sin against Him, for living life your way instead of God's way. This is the time to do it.

 Recognize His goodness to you throughout your life and trust in Jesus Christ, God's Holy Son. Accept Him as the one who forgives you and has died on the cross to secure your place in heaven.

 When we are rightly related to God though faith in Jesus Christ, we can truly be our brothers keeper.