The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.                Genesis 4:6 ESV

In our Sunday School lesson we are studying the first human murder recorded in the Bible, when Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain was angry and had a scowl on his face. God asked him why he was angry and why had his face fallen? There is nothing in Genesis 4 to indicate that Cain answered God, but from the actions he took, we know that he did not take God’s words to heart. And herein lies the problem.

God was trying to enlighten Cain as to what would take place if he did not deal with his anger. The only reason one could surmise for Cain’s anger is he was jealous of the fact that his brother Abel’s offering or sacrifice had been found pleasing to God and his had not. Now there are some reasons for this. For one thing God looks at what is in our heart when we present an offering to Him. He wants obedience more than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). We can’t live like the devil Monday through Saturday and offer up something to Him in the plate on Sunday and think that it’s all good. He wants us to be obedient. He wants us to bring Him glory, honor and praise in all that we do.

Abel presented the firstborn of his flock along with the fat portions. Cain presented an offering of the fruit of the ground. It doesn’t say that it was the first fruits gathered or even that it was good fruit, just fruit from the ground. This could imply that he simply picked up the leftovers from the field. We don’t know. But either way, God was pleased with Abel’s offering and not so much with Cain’s offering. So, it probably started with a heart problem. Abel’s heart was in the right place and Cain’s was not.

Then jealousy rears its ugly head and this leads to anger on Cain’s part. This is where God tries to warn Cain against his anger. He tries to steer him away from any evil intentions. The biggest problem is that Cain’s heart was already not right with God. Now when our heart is not right with God this adds another problem. Mark 4:12 says that “so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive and while hearing, they may hear and not understand. Otherwise they might return and it might be forgiven them.” When we get knee deep into sin, we may hear God but we may not understand what He is saying. If Cain had truly understood what God was saying to Him, he would have stopped and thought about what he was doing. But if you read on to verse 8, Cain spoke to his brother Abel and while they were out in the field, he killed him.

Now God had warned Cain letting him know that his anger had sin “crouching at the door”. He told him to rule over the sin before the sin took control of him. The Bible tells us that we should be angry and not sin (Ephesians 4:26). Anger is a natural emotion, it’s what we do and say in anger that presents the problem. Cain could have heeded God’s warning and stopped with the fallen face. He could have turned to God and let Him turn that frown upside down, but he chose another route.

Now because of this, God punished Cain. Cain was a farmer, but God told him that nothing he planted would ever grow again. So, he lost his career, his job, his livelihood. He also told him that he would become a wanderer and a fugitive. This implies that people would be hunting him down. He would spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.

Interestingly enough in verse 13, Cain tells the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”  Well, my friend, that’s the ugly truth about sin. As I have often heard it said, “Sin takes you farther than you wanted to go, keeps you longer than you wanted to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.” Nothing good comes from our sinful behavior.

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. When God warns us against our sinful behavior, we have a choice to make. We can choose to stop sin before it starts or we can sin and deal with the consequences. I pray that you choose wisely.

Have a great day!