Genesis 4:1-15 - Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Genesis 4:1-15

Cain Murders Abel (Luke 11:51; Hebrews 11:4; 12:24)

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, a man from the LORD as she called him after experiencing  the pain of childbirth as a consequence of the curse of sin.  Then she had another boy and called him Abel.  They grew up to be a shepherd and a farmer; Abel the youngest was a keeper of sheep and Cain the elder became a tiller of the ground.  Eventually, they both brought an offering of their work to the LORD, first Cain with something grown out of his hard toil (Genesis 3:17-18, 19), and then Abel presented the LORD with the plump firstborn of his sheep as a blood offering.  We see the picture of the second animal slaughtered for sacrifice, the first being one God had sacrificed to make coverings (Genesis 3:21) for the sin of Adam and Eve.  We later read that the sacrifices of animals was symbolic because the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and their blood was shed until the perfect sacrifice of God’s Son would be the last and only effective sacrifice to cover sin (John 6:53, Hebrews 9:12, 10:10, 13:11-12) permanently, one time for all who come to Him and are made clean by His lifeblood.  God therefore did not approve of Cain’s sacrifice because it was part of the curse to work in futility to scrape by, while that of Abel was patterned after the sacrifice that God made in the Garden to cover the sin of his parents with the sacrificed animal skins.  The sacrifice of Abel looked forward to the hope of God’s solution to sin while that of Cain only perpetuated it as a reminder of the Fall.  Cain was furious that his offering of his work was rejected and jealous that his younger brother’s following the example of the LORD was accepted.  Abel’s offering also was something of value, a lamb without blemish and provider of wool for covering and meat for food as well.  God knew Cain’s heart and therefore had warned him about his anger and perceived lost face in having offered less than his brother.  He reminded Cain that if he did what was right, he would be accepted along with his offer, but if not that sin’s desire for vengeance is ready to overtake him.  He did not take God’s word to heart and murdered his brother as we all recall the account of scripture.  When asked what happened to his brother, Cain roughly and disrespectfully answered, “am I my brother’s keeper?”  He was to watch over and protect his brother as his keeper but chose to refuse his responsibility and eliminate the one who God had accepted.  This almost cost him his life.  God heard the cry of Abel’s blood from the grave of the earth’s dust that Cain labored over and cursed Cain for his sin of murder.  His work in the dust was made unfruitful and he was a criminal and tramp doomed to roam the world as punishment.  Cain cried out for mercy because he knew that others would hunt him down for what he did to hold him accountable and put him to death as well.  God in His mercy marked Cain so nobody would kill him if they caught up with him or face God’s vengeance in return.  This is the pattern of the grace of the LORD for sinners such as you and I.  We are covered in dust of our own works until we accept the sacrifice of the lifeblood of Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb who sacrificed Himself to give us life in His blood which our efforts of earthly work and offerings are completely unable to accomplish.  We are to show the grace showed by God to Cain the murderer and forgive sins against us while not becoming jealous and angry when God accepts what others do and not for the unacceptable works we do to earn His favor in our own strength to be accepted.  This is the answer to Cain, that we are our brother’s keeper to watch over and protect, not to take our own vengeance (Romans 12:19) and commit sin.