Answers for a study in the book of Genesis: Chapters Four and Five

Answers will vary…

Read Genesis Chapter 4 with your group then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

2.  Compare and contrast Cain and Abel by answering the following (4:1-7):

• Who were they?

The sons of Adam and Eve. Cain is firstborn and he was a “Tiller of the ground” while Abel was a “Keeper of the flocks.” Note: Eve said “I’ve gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.” Many Bible scholars say that Eve most likely believed that this was the “seed” that God promised for salvation, but that seed would actually come later on in Seth whose line would ultimately lead to Jesus.

• What offerings did they bring to God?

Cain brought “an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.” Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.”

• How did God respond to each of them concerning their offering?

“The LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.” In other words, there was something about what Cain did that was not right. In the book of Genesis, we are not told what was expected in an offering at this time, but it seems, from other Scripture later on, that it was a ‘heart’ issue toward God.

• Did God give Cain a choice to consider, if so, what was it?

God gave Cain a choice by saying “If you do well will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain could have given it another try, but he obviously did not have a real love for God, otherwise he would have tried again, instead he took his frustration out on his brother.

• Discuss: Why do you think Cain’s offering was unacceptable and Abel’s was? Cross-reference by reading Hebrews 11:4 and 1 John 3:12

“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.” Hebrews 11:4

 “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him?  Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.” 1 John 3:11-12

To summarize from these verses: Cain’s character was not one of love for his brother and his deeds were evil, (it even says he was of the evil one/Satan). This would seem to imply that his offering was with wrong intentions/motives, and that his heart was bent on evil. Abel, on the other hand, was said to be a man of “faith” and his offering was with right motives because, at the Scripture says, “he still speaks” to us today.

Note: The “Law” had not yet been given by God to humans concerning sacrifices. This would come much later during the time of Moses, so it had to be a “heart” issue, where Cain’s was bent on evil, according to 1 John 3:12, and not an issue of breaking the Law.

3.  What happened between Cain and Abel after the offering; and how did Cain respond when God confronted him (4:8-10)? Discuss: Do we ever try to justify ourselves to God? (If comfortable share an example)

“Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother and killed him.” This implies Cain told Abel what happened with God. Cain rose up and killed his brother, which also implies that they may have been arguing. It is also important to note that no human had died yet, and Cain may not have known that what he did in anger would result in his brother’s death. Some will say that it looks like Cain pre-meditated the confrontation with his brother. In either case, or both, this was the first murder.

God asked Cain (like a parent would ask a child, already knowing full well the answer), “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain answered God (like a child who knows they have done something wrong) “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

God then said to Cain “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out from the ground.” God then cursed Cain and banished him saying “Now you are you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” This curse included the fact that Cain would no longer be able to cultivate the ground as he did before; he would now be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said that his punishment was great and would be hard to bear because he would no longer be able to see God’s face, let alone bring any yield from the earth.

It is so astonishing that Cain actually had direct access to God, yet like Satan, he disregarded and disrespected God. Like Satan, his heart was full of pride because all he cared about was his own reputation and life, as seen in his reply when he said “anyone who finds me will kill me.” I believe we all have the issue of pride at times, some more than others, and it will negatively affect our relationship with God and others.

4.  How did Cain react to God’s discipline, what happened to him and how did God continue to take care of him even though he never repented (4:11-17)? Discuss: Why did God take care of Him, and what does this say about God’s character?

Through God’s mercy He took care of Cain, by “appointing a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.” God also said, “whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.”

From the rest of the story, we see that Cain was able to find a wife, have children and prosper through them, (remember Adam and Eve had many other children and lived 900 years, the DNA was still pure, the Law had not yet been given, and Cains wife would have been any female relative from a sister, to a niece, to a cousin). I believe God showed His unconditional love for all humans by his actions with Cain. God would (later on) put in place the “Law” through Moses, and the penalties for both accidental killing and murder would be established. Cain may not have known that his actions against his brother would result in his brother’s death (since this was the first human death), but Cain still had a choice until his own death to turn back to God and ask for forgiveness, through the gift of freewill. However, it appears that he never did. In fact, the evidence shows that evil continued to grow through Cain’s family line until the time of Noah and the Flood.

5.  Who was Seth (4:25-26; 5:3) and what was the importance of His mention since Adam and Eve had a lot of other children.

“Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”  Genesis 4:25-26

“When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters.

 Genesis 5:3-4

Seth was another son of Adam and Eve. Eve said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” Seth is important in the fact that he would go on to carry the “Promised Seed” in the lineage leading to the Messiah, Jesus. (See Luke 3:23-38)

6.  Discuss: Where do you think Cain and Seth’s wives came from? Is there Scripture support?

Both Cain and Seth would have either married a sister or a niece. Scripture tells us (5:3-4) that Adam lived over 900 years and had many other sons and daughters. We must remember that at this early point in human history God had not forbidden close family marriage. Scientifically speaking the human population, and therefore the DNA, would be very pure at this time. Mutations and disease would not come into play until several thousand years from now. This would be the only way to begin the human population and it would grow to be the only way to preserve families and tribes/clans for work, food gathering and protection. We see this through most of Genesis until the time of Moses where God will put in place family boundaries for marriage in the Law.

7.  Going Deeper: Contrast the line of descendants from Cain with that of Seth by making a chart, or list, of their genealogies (4:17 – 5:32), include their age of death (if listed) and anything relevant or interesting about their lives. Share some of the things you observe or have questions about.

Adam had Seth at age 130 and he lived a total of 903 years

Cain’s line (no ages are given)	Seth’s line (Seth lived to 912)
Enoch	Enosh – 905
Irad	Kenan – 910
Mehujael	Mahalalel – 895
Methushael	Jared – 962
Lamech (took 2 wives)	Enoch – 365 (then God took him, he did not die a natural death)
From Adah: Jabal and Jubal From Zillah: Tubal-cain  and Naamah (sister)	Methuselah – 969 (His name can mean: “When he dies, judgment will come”) He died the year of the Flood.
Cain’s line then disappears from the record…	Lamech – 777
	Noah – 950 (His name means: “he will give us rest or peace”)

Other comments and questions may vary…

Going Even Deeper: For further research we can explore the meaning of all these names in more depth. Hebrew names in the Bible usually have meaning that points to the person’s life or character. Sometimes names are changed in the course of their life (like Jacob to Israel), and sometimes names are related to prophecy or future events.

8.  Research and discuss: Cross-reference Luke chapter three and Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam. What is the importance of genealogies in the Bible?

• The main importance of the genealogies in the Bible is to point to Jesus. Everything in Scripture is pointing, picturing and foreshadowing Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of the Genesis 3:15 Promise. Jewish people, up to the time of Jesus, could also account for their tribal identity through protected records like the Biblical one.
• After the time of Jesus, and the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Jews no longer had access to these kinds of records, and today can no longer identify with a specific Jewish Tribe. All this to show God’s hand in the records that helps believers know that Jesus is the Messiah, and promised savior of the world from the beginning.
• We find two genealogies in the New Testament for Jesus: One in Matthew that traces His human line from his “step-father” Joseph; and the other in Luke that traces His promised line all the way back to Adam from Mary’s line.

Jesus genealogy back to Adam can be traced as follows:

“When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,  the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,  the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,  the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,  the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,  the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,  the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”  Luke 3:23-38

Note: I bolded and underlined some of the important Biblical names that we read about, and that are specifically related to Covenants later on in the Old Testament.

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Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15