During the Welsh Revival of 1904, churches were packed and people were singing for hours. God was clearly at work. But as the crowds grew, a preacher named Evan Roberts noticed something. Some people were showing up just to experience the moment, and not to meet with God. So, he stopped a particular service and called it out. He basically said, “You’re here… but not really here for Him.” It was the same room and same songs, but they had very different hearts.
We often replicate this problem in our modern day worship services. We come to a worship service for the music, or for a program, or to simply appear spiritual, but not to truly set ourselves apart to worship the one true God. It is crucial we examine our attitudes towards worship.
First Acts of Worship (4:1-7)
Adam and Eve have children at the beginning of chapter 4. Family life begins. Consider the pain of child birth without modern healthcare at the beginning of time! In Genesis 3, the Lord revealed that the curse on the woman would be pain and sorrow in bearing children. By chapter 4, they are experiencing exactly what that meant. God means what He says and says what He means! God meant what He said about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and He meant what He said about the curse on the serpent, woman, and man.
The Bible does not reveal how much time has passed between Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 4:3; however, we can assume a significant amount of time has passed. After all, verse 1 and 2 describe their birth and verse 3 describes their occupations. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd (4:2). We are told of their occupations as they prepare to bring offerings to the Lord. We are literally reading about the first acts of worship in the Bible! Cain brought “fruit of the ground” (4:3) and Abel brought “the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof” (4:4).
4:4-5 – The Lord accepts Abel’s offering and rejects Cain’s offering. Look at the differences in their offerings:
Abel brought the best portions of his flock (“firstlings,” “the fat”)
There is no mention of Cain bringing best portions from his garden.
We should also note that Abel’s offering is a blood sacrifice, and Cain’s offering is not. Keep in mind this is not the first sacrifice of scripture. In Genesis 3, the Lord God sacrificed an animal in order to provide clothing for Adam and Eve after they sinned. Blood was even needing to be shed after the first sin.
Is your worship genuine, purposeful, and consistent? Let me illustrate it this way. Tim and Jen work hard, long hours every week. So, when Sunday arrives, they stay home. They had spent their Saturday with chores in the morning, golf in the afternoon, and dinner out with friends in the evening. They stayed out late. On Sunday morning, they reasoned, “we need to rest. It has been a crazy busy week!”
I would agree they need to rest; however, my question is why they didn’t rest on Saturday night. Why do they choose to spend their prime energy on other things and give God the leftovers?
What do you bring to the Lord in your worship? How do you come to God in your worship? These kinds of offerings in Genesis are no longer needed today, but God still speaks of coming to worship Him with a heart to worship Him (Eccl. 5:1; Jn. 4:24; Heb. 10:22) with no known sin on our ledger (Matt. 5:23-24; I Jn. 1:9), and with a willing heart to sacrifice our wants (Rom. 12:1-2). Are we literally yelling at one another, cursing, lying, and gossiping the day of or days before we come to worship God…and then wonder why we don’t get anything out of the worship service?
4:6-7- Cain is angry because God rejected his offering, but God challenges Cain on why he is angry and why his countenance had fallen. God concludes that Cain would not be in this situation if he had done well. This response from God clearly reveals that God had taught them what was acceptable worship.
The heart attitude that is motivating and supporting worship is crucial.
I Samuel 16:7 reveals that man looks on the outward appearance, but that God looks on the heart. There is something problematic about Cain’s motivation and heart attitude seen in his response to the Lord’s correction. He was angry and got really moody! However, this was something Cain could correct. God tells Cain that he will be accepted if he does what is right (4:7). The heart attitude that is acceptable to God in our worship is characterized by 5 different things in Cain’s response:
Yielding to God’s Way (Gen. 4:3-4). Abel brought what honored God. Abel brought God’s way and it was costly to him. Cain brought what was convenient. This is the difference between “What does God desire?” and “What do I feel like giving the Lord?”
Giving God my Best. Abel brought the “firstlings” and “the fat,” indicating the best portions. God deserves our best, not our leftovers.
Being Genuine with God (Gen. 4:5). The Lord rejected Cain AND his offering. It seems the Lord is drawing a connection between the heart and the offering. Hebrews 11:4 also points this out with “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain….” The right heart attitude flows from our faith, not from our activity. We can be really good at spiritual appearances, but struggle with genuine desires of our heart. The heart attitude of acceptable worship begins from within (where only God can see and know) and then it is revealed for others to see. When we emphasize our appearance without genuine heart attitude, we will crash and burn.
Responding to God’s Correction (Gen. 4:6-7). Cain was corrected and got defensive. The acceptable heart attitude of worship says, “When God corrects me, I will respond with humility and repent.”
Surrendering to God. Cain embraced jealousy and pride as he compared himself to his brother. The acceptable heart attitude of worship is about honoring God. It is not about being noticed.
First Act of Murder (4:8-16)
As the chapter continues to unfold, we have a shocking chain of events blast across the page. The first murder in all of history is committed! Look at the chain of events:
Cain devises his own way of worship, and it is unacceptable to the Lord. He ends up getting really mad about this rejection.
God tells Cain he will be accepted if he does well (4:7)…so all hope is not lost…but Cain digs in and refuses the Lord’s offer.
Cain chases after jealousy in his wounded pride and has a “talk” with Abel in the field (4:8). Cain already responded with anger after God corrected him, so I can only imagine what the talk among brothers was like!
All of Cain’s wrong choices conclude with his murdering Abel!
Wow. When we reject God’s way (how to worship Him), reject God’s rebuke (why are you so angry?), and reject God’s hope (if you do well you will be accepted), we will be shocked to discover how far down our rejection of God will take us! Pride, jealousy, and rebellion are powerful sinful choices that bring more misery and destruction than we would have ever thought possible!
4:9- Cain reveals his determined rebellion, hatred, and pride when he answers God with “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s guardian?” This is a straight out lie AND it shows an incredible level of insolence!
4:10-16- God brings judgment on Cain and it is severe. Cain’s farming will no longer reap good crops, and he will live like a fugitive and wanderer. God’s judgment brings Cain to an overwhelming reality check, and he fears he will be an easy mark for anyone to kill. So, the Lord puts a mark on Cain to protect him from such attacks and promises that such perpetrators would be punished 7 times over.
I believe the greater hurt in this account is that Cain leaves the relational presence of the Lord when all is said and done (4:16; Prov. 14:12). We are desperately dependent on the Lord to be and do everything (Jn. 15:5; Gal. 5:22-23)! To leave the relational presence of the Lord would be devastating!! What a tragic account!
The Bible goes on to describe and warn the New Testament church using the life of Cain.
Jude 1:11 says, “They have taken the way of Cain.” This phrase is used to describe lawless men.
I John 3:12 says, “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.” In short, those with evil actions will hate those with righteous actions.
At the end of chapter 4, God brings new life after the death of Abel. Seth is born. Eve acknowledges this in verse 25.
There is one more NT verse that teaches us something from the life of Cain. Hebrews 12:24 says, “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Jesus Christ also died at the hands of evil men. Christ’s death was payment for our sins. It was a payment we deserved to suffer, but Jesus suffered in our stead. The difference between Abel’s death and Jesus Christ’s death is that Abel’s blood calls out for vengeance and Christ’s blood calls out for forgiveness!
I want to end with these two things as we come to conclude our time of worship with communion.
1. Personally embracing evil actions will end with destruction. Have you confessed and repented of known sin? The longer you hold it, the harder it will be for you to see it. Embrace humility, confess pride, and repent today.
2. Rehearsing the Lord’s actions for you will lead to greater victory. Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested, scourged, beaten, abused, and tortured for you and me. He gave His life and died. He rose from the dead and conquered all we could not! Yield to Him…give Him your best…be genuine with Him…respond to His correction with humility…and surrender all to Him!