Cain has a sulk

cain & abel (Photo credit: gabork)

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Romans 6:12)

Consider: When was the last time you had a sulk? What was it about?

Bible Reading: Genesis 4:5-9

Insight: So Cain was angry and his face was downcast. In fact he went into a bit of a sulk and didn’t want to have anything to do with God. But God kept talking to Cain even giving him a warning, saying that if Cain deals with his disappointment and hurt appropriately then he will be accepted. If he doesn’t, then sin is waiting for him. He is in the same position as Eve was, he has the choice to do what is right or what isn’t.

John Goldingay explains that the word for sin used here is a verb that refers to ‘falling short of a target that you should have hit but that maybe you didn’t even aim at. It suggests wilful shortcoming, failure for which you can make no excuse.’

Cain falls very short of the target for his life. He asks his brother to go for a walk into the country, perhaps something they have done before and Abel appears to happily go along with this, not suspecting anything untoward. Whether Cain set out to trick and then kill his brother or whether they got into an argument and Cain lost his temper we don’t know. What we do know is that the jealousy and pride in Cain bred resentment and revenge.

God addresses Cain with a question reminiscent of the one He asked Eve and Adam – Where is your brother? And Cain’s response to Holy God is incredibly impertinent. In essence he is saying “How should I know? I just work the land and you don’t seem to think I’m doing that all that well!”

Tell Us: How do you react when someone suggests you have done something wrong?

Why do you think that Cain blamed Abel for his own sin?

Prayer Ideas: Praise God that he is still at work in our lives. Repent of any times where you have let selfishness or pride get the better of you. Pray for people that have hurt you and ask God to help you master sin and react appropriately when you are faced with disappointment and hurt.

Do: Has selfishness and pride hurt your relationships with family and friends? Where do you need to swallow your pride and go and make up with someone.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.

The first family

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. (Hebrews 11:4)

Consider: Have you ever stood in church and, while everyone else around you is in full flow of worship, you didn’t really feel anything?

Bible Reading: Genesis 4:1-5

Insight: Just as Adam sounds like the word for dirt and Eve sounds like the word for living so Cain sounds like the word for get or acquired. Abel on the other hand sounds like the word for vapour or a puff of wind. It means  something unsubstantial and easily blown away. The same word is used in Ecclesiastes to describe the uselessness of human achievements.

Eve doesn’t take conception or birth lightly and recognises God’s hand in the safe delivery of her child. God is still active outside of the garden.

It seems that Cain and Abel instinctively want to bring gifts in order to worship God. We don’t know whether the gifts were given because of gratitude, atonement for sins or love. We don’t know why Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s wasn’t or even how they knew that one offering was preferred over than the other. It leaves us with a lot of questions, not least, why some people seem to ‘experience’ God more than others.

It appears that Abel brought an offering of the first lambs that were born while Cain brought an offering of crops, it wasn’t perhaps the first of his crops that he brought. Is there a lesson that we could learn about giving to God the first portion of our money and time, not simply what is left over at the end of the day or the end of the month?

Tell Us: In what ways do you, or could you, bring offerings to God?

Prayer Ideas: Offer God your praise now. Repent of specific times that you have brought a half-hearted offering of worship to God. Pray for the worship leaders/team at your church and ask God to show you where your offerings are falling short.

Do: Spend some time worshipping God and listening to Him.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.