Lesson 4 - Cain and Abel:
Attitudes and Reactions to Sin
Genesis 4-5 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.4

A pastor who suffered persecution first by the Nazis and then the Communists said, "When God is not God, man is not man!" He had seen how the rejection of divine authority inevitably led to inhuman actions.

That is exactly what happened to these first brothers, Cain and Abel. In the previous chapter Adam and Eve's disobedience to God broke their relationship with Him. Now we see sin spreading to family relationships as hateful attitudes lead to violent actions.

It is one of Satan’s lies to us that we can control how far we will go in a situation where sin is involved. We can stop at one drink. Watching just one questionable movie won’t change how we think about things. Just one kiss won’t lead to anything more serious. With those lies, he lulls us into not being careful how we react to things.

But look also at the danger of not following God’s instructions. God had said that sacrifice must include the shedding of blood. Yet, Cain did not bring a sacrifice of blood, but of harvest. Did God not make the harvest possible? Did He not make the fruits and vegetables grow for food? Harvest and fruit is our attempt to please God with our efforts, but blood is an acknowledgement to God that death is the only price God accepts for our sin. Cain did things the way that pleased him rather than what pleased God – and when his jealousy became strong enough, his actions became far more than he probably intended.


Another interesting thing to note about sin is found in chapter 4, verse 12. God’s judgment on Cain for the murder of his brother was that Cain was to be a wanderer and fugitive. However, in the following verses we find that Cain and his children found a way to not live with God’s judgment – they began to build fortified cities. Rather than be where they would have to rely on God for His protection, and thus also follow a way to reconciliation, they looked for ways to protect themselves. In the city, because they were not where God wanted them to be, their sin only grew (verse23-24). When we sin we tend to seek others to be with who will not condemn us, but will think as we do – and it becomes harder and harder for us to return to God to seek His forgiveness for fear we will have to bear the consequences for our sin.

*How does Genesis 4:7 illustrate the nature of sin and our response to it?
*How does Cain's failure to master his sin (Genesis 4:8) stress the seriousness of the conflict?
*How have you experienced God's judgment as a logical result of a wrong action?