He still loves his sin, he still wants his sin. And he adds this: Itll come about that whoever finds me will kill me. I know whatll happen. Weve covered a lot and yet weve covered only one thing, one great subject, what it is to be an unbeliever, with all of its facets. Now let me tell you something, folks, thats where the sinner ends up. Repent, acknowledge your self-righteousness, acknowledge your hypocrisy, acknowledge the failure to recognize your desperate sinfulness and need of a sacrifice, and then go do whats right. Grasping the individual messages of Genesis which make up the larger plan and purpose of the book presents no small challenge since both the individual accounts and the books overall message offer important lessons to faith and works. 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 told his brother Abel- or spoke, rather, to his brother Abel, and as a result of that conversation we read on, It came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. I mean there were only the two of them and their parents. May they fall at your feet in gratitude over the forbearance and patience that you exhibit in becoming even the protector of the unrighteous. The curse was on the woman. At the point of your cherished pride, at the point of your cherished profession, you will not succeed. Pastor John MacArthur tells of reading a book that told of a pastor who had been sent to prison for robbing 14 banks to finance his numerous engagements with prostitutes. Why has your face slumped? Luke-Acts Guest. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22', There are options set in 'Advanced Options', The Whole Bible John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, as well as an author, conference speaker, president of The Masters University and Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You media ministry. She knew that this child was a gift from God, as are all those precious little ones that come into the world, some of whom we have celebrated even tonight in our parent dedication. East of Eden somewhere. The Gospels Genesis 12:13 established a primary focus on Gods promises to Abraham. Cain shows us that even the lost and the damned have hopeful beginnings. Verse 6, The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? Each custom must be treated according to the immediate context of the passage before any attempt is made to explain it based on customs recorded in extrabiblical sources or even elsewhere in Scripture. Isnt it true that even Jesus said to Peter, Put down the sword. There must be adults in the world who would kill him. Guest. The Lord then said to Cain, Where is Abel, your brother? And again, remember, God doesnt need information. God never seeks information. Used by permission. The English title, Genesis, comes from the Greek translation (Septuagint, LXX)1 meaning origins; whereas, the Hebrew title is derived from the Bibles very first word, translated in the beginning. Genesis serves to introduce the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the OT) and the entire Bible. And why does God do that? Now, the man had relations with his wife, Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This is direct revelation from God, God speaking pointedly, specifically, to no one but Cain. And Cain, who the New Testament says (1 John 3) is of the evil one, he was the seed of the serpent. One, grace- and certainly thats true, isnt it? John Piper Jan 28, 2007. God had already pled with him to make a right choice. Prophets He said to the Lord in verse 13, My punishments too great to bear. Youre not fair. The New Testament Major Prophets This is more than I should have to bear. 13:1; Dan. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. 3:15) ascribe this composition to Moses, who is the fitting author in light of his educational background (cf. Im not surprised that through the history of the world Gods people have been killed, slaughtered, persecuted, and that its going on even today. conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy 8:4; Mark 12:26; Luke 16:29; 24:27, 44; John 5:46; 7:22; Acts 15:1; Rom. The word killed- end of verse 8- common word in the Old Testament for intentional murder, not manslaughter, not an inadvertent kind of killing. Historical Books There are the origins of the material world here and there are the origins of the spiritual world as well. The Gospels Poor Eve. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. Eventually, they all wind up at the bar of God. He let him live. He loved the world, so the love of God was not in him, 1 John 2. Prophets Woe to them, meaning false teachers, who have gone the way of Cain, who have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Its reasonable to assume he died somewhere in his teenage years when everybody else potentially lived to be eight or nine hundred years old, so his life was very brief. Please login or create an account to use this feature, Learn More | Livestream | Bulletin Isnt it true that if you take a life, you give a life? 9:11, 13; Mal. 1405 B.C.). God takes an innocent animal and slays that animal as a substitute to provide a covering for sinners. Theres more, another thought that comes out of this text, and well hurry to a conclusion. If you try, youre going to get absolutely nothing. Sinners will deny their sin. So, God, I cant get anything out of the ground, youve cursed me. 111); 2) the Promised Land (chaps. Oh, Lord, may they repent at your invitation to do whats right. Genesis was written after the Exodus (ca. He says, How could you have done this? essentially. This is that pattern that you see in the sinner who will not acknowledge his sin. And the blood of dead Abel, obviously, couldnt actually speak, but the fact that there was blood on the ground spoke volumes to God. All rights reserved. Destruction and misery are in their paths, and there is no fear of God before their eyes. They dont fear God, they dont care about God, they love their sin, and if it needs be, theyll kill. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs. God gives him a choice. And I think theres a third reason God allowed him to live. All have turned aside. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point They also enjoy the enthusiastic company of their fifteen grandchildren. Starting in chapter 2, verse 4, you start to follow the history of man. Pentateuch Here at Grace to You Europe we take our data protection responsibilities very seriously and, as you would expect, have undertaken a significant programme of work to ensure that we are ready for this important legislative change. The rest of Scripture bears out the fulfillment of these promises. If he wanted to have a conversation, he only had one person he could pick except his parents, so he had to hang around this righteous man. Amen. You either worship the true God in the true way or you have a damning worship, a worship that is rejected by God. GDPR is the new European privacy regulation, which will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK and the equivalent legislation across the EU Member States. And lust, when it conceives, brings forth what? May well have been that she believed this was that fulfillment in her son. God doesnt have to do this, He could have killed him. They must be explained against their ancient Near Eastern background. It is part of their attitude to be angry with the Bible, to be angry with the God of the Bible, to be angry with those who believe the Bible. General Epistles Thats all he had to say. Why doesnt someone come to Christ? One final theme of both theological and historical significance sets Genesis apart from other books of Scripture, in that the first book of Scripture corresponds closely with the final book. So He says to him in verse 12, Youll be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. This is what they call a hendiadys, which is just, Youll be a wandering wanderer. Youll be a roaming roamer, is the kind of idea. Major Prophets He loved his sin and he was fulfilled by his sin. And you remember that God had already instituted that back in chapter 3, verse 21, when God killed the first animal to make coverings to cover Adam and Eve in their sinful shame. In biblical words, the more sin abounded the more did Gods grace abound (cf. No more questions. God is saying to them, I do not accept you. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today? The voice of your brothers blood is crying to me from the ground.. Major Prophets Why is God gracious to the sinner? Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. When you cultivate the ground, if you try, itll no longer yield its strength to you. Youre never going to be able to produce anything out of the ground. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. - their deeds are evil. They love their sin. What this does reveal is that Cain was no longer near the body. Either you come to God and your sins are forgiven and youre delivered out of that realm of sin into the world of righteousness or you spend your whole life in a losing war, trying to master this lion that wants to chew you up and spit you out. So here what you have is the first example of false worship of the true God. Saturday, 09 July 2022 07:25. Please respond to confirm your registration. They may even reclassify it as personal expression of individual freedom. That is saying, God, you got to be kidding, you cant be that hard on me. Rather than repent and be forgiven so as to have the curse removed or mitigated, this lover of sin only complains about the unreasonable burden and unkindness of Gods sentence. Passwords should have at least 6 characters. This is a man who was getting a direct evangelistic message from the creator God Himself. It may be the true God, truly worship the true God; falsely worship or a false god worshiped; or self. The curse is the woman is going to have a sort of predatory desire toward the man and he is going to have to battle to subdue that. And He said, What have you done? 14:6; Ezra 6:18; Neh. He put some mark, some visible mark on Cain, so that everybody would know thats the mark of God, and if you kill him, you will receive the vengeance of God. Please respond to confirm your registration. Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year. And when there was no court to sentence him to death, God graciously allowed him to live. Why? That terrible, dreadful, disastrous, deadly serpent who had led the human race into sin needed to be destroyed. You remember the- Luke 18, the publican went into the temple to pray with the Pharisee, and he was beating on his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner and the text says he wouldnt so much as do what? Register. He hated his brother and he loved his sin. The best way we can handle it is just say, Cain talked to Abel, his brother. They had a conversation. You are cursed from the ground. This, by the way, is a direct commentary on the offering of Cain. You cant grow anything, you dont have any animals. Might have been the best thing to kill him rather than have him go on with the horrible life he lived, but if God had killed him, then there wouldnt be anybody to see what an ungodly life is like. And so she names her son that one that was made with the help of the Lord. What hopeful beginnings she must have felt in her heart when that first child was born. Be penitent and Ill lift up your face. God would have applied right then and right there the sacrifice of Jesus, who wouldnt die for thousands of years. All rights reserved. Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. The story line of salvation which begins in Gen. 3 is not completed until Rev. First for Abel, and when it says He had regard for Abel, it meant that God saw the heart of Abel was in exercising pure worship. Luke-Acts All rights reserved.For details about our copyright policy, click here: https://www.gty.org/about#copyright That is Gods common grace. Cain (qayin in the Hebrew) means a formed thing, a creature, something made. And God was giving to the sinner two choices: this way, that way. Under Johns leadership, Grace Community Church's two morning worship services fill the 3,500-seat auditorium to capacity. On the case of Cain, God had no regard for Cain or his offering. Here is demonstration that somebody innocent has to die in the sinners place, and thats what substitutionary death was all about. Why are you angry? Number four. Not surprisingly, in the final chapter of Gods Word, believers will find themselves back in the Garden of Eden, the eternal paradise of God, eating from the tree of life (Rev. Your face will be lifted up. But if you dont do that, sin is crouching at the door like a predatory lion, and its going to rip and shred you, and youre going to have to spend the rest of your life trying to control it. Reminds us- doesnt it? Actually, its possible to translate: and from thy face I will seek to hide. The influence of Genesis in Scripture is demonstrated by its being quoted over 35 times in the NT and hundreds of allusions appearing in both Testaments. Text: Author and Date. My punishment is too great to bear. That is not repentance, folks. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point He needed to be overturned, his power needed to be vanquished, and paradise needed to be regained, and God said there would come a seed out of the woman who would do just that. And sin has pounced, turned him into a murderer, turned him into a liar. Complete vengeance. Verse 16, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. No comment, no comment on Gods invitation to him to do the right thing, no comment on God sparing his life and giving him space to repent, no comment on God becoming His protector. These are the only four people on the planet. 2023 Grace to You. Series: The Battle for the Beginning. Theres no getting around it, theres no equivocating. The sinner resents what God says. The creation account is laid out from Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3, and the outline of the book of Genesis falls into two parts. And for what reason did he slay him? There are two elements there, very, very important. Salvation is by grace through faith and not of works.. They are ultimately indicted by God and under judgment and, inevitably, they protest divine judgment. Judicial execution is indeed the usual punishment for murder, prescribed by God, but at the time, there were no established courts. Wisdom Literature Cain married his sister, and out of his loins came the population that follows. Cain had absolutely no appreciation for that whatsoever- absolutely none. Pentateuch Prophets Poetical Books Their feet are swift to shed blood. The literary structure of Genesis is built on the frequently recurring phrase the history/genealogy of and is the basis for the following outline: This Grace to You article originally appeared here. So the doomed have hopeful beginnings but offer to God unacceptable worship. God places that vengeance in the hands of a duly constituted government, a court, but no personal vengeance. And that, too, pictures the ultimate sacrifice for sin, Jesus Christ, the very best of the very best, the perfect, spotless, Lamb who was offered for sinners in order that they might be covered by His righteousness. Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. It just ground on him that Abel was righteous. He still speaks directly through the pages of Scripture. . Remember that? Here it is: Have a hopeful beginning but offer unacceptable, hypocritical, self-righteous worship; resent God and His people, reject Gods Word and refuse to obey it, hide your sin by denial or redefinition, be obstinate when confronted by the divine judge, and when being delivered from immediate death, make no repentance, protest only Gods judgment and refuse to be broken under it, fail to appreciate Gods common grace, which lets you live and enjoy His wonderful world, and settle defiantly into the system of Satan. Your partnership makes all we do possible. Right? Wisdom Literature GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, (Hebrew/Greek Search by English Definition), * 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order', Search verses, phrases, and topics (e.g. Passwords should have at least 6 characters. Historical Books Same context as we read earlier about Cain. And we saw last time, importantly so, verse 4, The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, He had no regard.. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed Is that not amazing? The customs of Genesis often differ considerably from those of our modern day. And the last point is the doomed settle defiantly outside the presence of God. He chooses to live apart from God. In verse 5, it says Cain became very angry and his countenance (or his face) fell. Cain told his brother (could be talked with, spoke with his brother) and the conversation either occurred in the field or set up a meeting in the field. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. When your kids do something terrible, What have you done? Again, God is not asking for information. There were only four people on the planet, and he knew who was talking to him. 21, 22 where the eternal kingdom of redeemed believers is gloriously pictured. In fact, He becomes the protector of the killer, becomes the protector of Cain. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed By the way, that is the same phrase at the end of verse 7 that is used over in verse 16 of chapter 3. That is an assault on Gods fairness, that is an assault on Gods kindness and Gods justice. Rather, Israels God distinguished Himself clearly from the alleged gods of her neighbors. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), Select a Beginning Point John MacArthur-The First Sacrifice (Genesis 3:20-24) Published in John MacArthur. Its really- its an incomplete sentence, even in the Hebrew. Solid Joys. And the sad reality is, by the time you get through that first generation, theyre so bad that God only saves how many from the flood? And we havent said the half of what should be said but can only pray that weve at least begun to understand the greatness of this passage. He didnt say, Oh, God, Im sorry, forgive me, I cant bear this curse. He just said, Youre not fair. Theres no repentance, theres no contrition, theres no desire to overcome sin, theres no longing for forgiveness. He will hold onto that sin even if it means he has to live an unfulfilled life of a wanderer under a divine death sentence. And Im going out and Im going to hide from your presence. And its desire is for you; you must master it. And Im just going to wander all over the place all my life as a vagrant and a wanderer in the earth. Thats the best we can say, God didnt kill him because of grace, He didnt kill him because there hadnt been government and duly appointed courts established, and God wasnt going to set an example for personal vengeance. But really, in the end, there are only two possibilities. It must have been that God revealed that what He wanted was a sacrifice of an animal, that there needed to be a death. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. You know, the doomed person can deny his sin all he wants, and we may not see it, but God sees it and knows it. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point So here was God. So here is the prototype of the doomed, and He gives us the path to damnation. If you continue the way youre going, youve got a life of conflict and youll lose. God is by nature gracious. Pauline Epistles They all wind up before God. And that was what God offered Cain. This teaching is made available from Grace to You. The next thing that the text yields for us is in verse 9. We began last Lords Day, and let me remind you that only the first point is positive. For those of you visiting with us, we are in a study of origins, and Genesis is the book of origins. He lured him in and killed him. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Perhaps that child was to be the one who would bring the end of Satan and restore paradise. Sin was deeply embedded in Cain. So hes saying, Im not only going to have to hide from you, Im going to have to hide from everybody else. And that opens us up to another mark of an apostate, a mark of a doomed man. Poetical Books The author of the book was convinced that the man was a true Christian. If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? Doesnt have to be this way if you do well. What does He mean? Log In Founded in 1969, Grace to You is the nonprofit organization responsible for developing, producing, and distributing John MacArthur's books, audio resources, and the "Grace to You" radio and television programs. Written by John MacArthur. And it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Back to John MacArthur's Bio & Resources, David Guzik :: 1 Corintios 7 Principios Sobre el Matrimonio y la Soltera, David Guzik :: Hechos 9 La Conversin de Saulo de Tarso, David Guzik :: Apocalipsis 20 Satans, el Pecado y la Muerte son Finalmente Eliminados, David Guzik :: Gnesis 3 La tentacin y cada del hombre, David Guzik :: 2 Samuel 22 El Salmo de Alabanza de David, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus and the Holy Trinity (Walter Martin), The Meaning of the Cross Part 2 (Elisabeth Elliot), Spiritism: Prophecy and Astrology (Walter Martin), 2 Thessalonians 1-3 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith), Genesis 2-3 (1979-82 Audio) (Chuck Smith), Intro. But for Cain and for his offering, He had no regard. Prophets He doesnt allow blood revenge. 1445 B.C. This is the sinners obstinate rebelliousness. If we come to God, repentant for our sin, embracing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then we are triumphant over sin. Isnt that what it says in Genesis 9:6? All you have to do is just get up in the church and preach judgment, preach the judgment of God, hell, damnation, and all of that, and sinners resent that. The New Testament 818-909-5500. It is the Lord who allows us the privilege of having that life come into our family. As the years develop and as people populate the world, theyre all going to know the story about you. 4:4) and the NT (Matt. ; 2) 20901897 B.C. Even though sin is inherited and actual, it can be defeated- but only as we come to God on His terms, embracing His sacrifice for us, with no hope of self-righteousness. Just believe me, just do what I told you to do with a right heart. I dont want righteousness, I dont want God, I dont want forgiveness, I want sin. Jesus said it this way, Men loved darkness rather than light because- what? God promised land, descendants (seed), and blessing. So heres a doomed unbeliever. He was showing in his physical body the attitude of anger in his mind. Did you find incorrect or missing information related to a sermon? And in his case, it was very hopeful. God would have still applied the sacrifice of Christ to Cain and forgiven him if he had repented. In 1969, after graduating from Talbot Theological Seminary, John came to Grace Community Church. In Johns own words, And there shall be no more curse (Rev. First John 3:15, Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. This was a murderer who hated his brother. He brings what God wants, he comes in obedience, he offers God the sacrifice, which is a way the sinner can say, Im not good, I know Im a sinner. He comes in an attitude of self-righteousness based upon human achievement, and he worships God in a false way, offering hypocritical worship. General Epistles Cookie Notice: All of John's 3,000 sermons, spanning more than four decades of ministry, are available for free on the Grace to You website. 22:3). He flees the scene of his crime, carries on the ruse of his self-righteousness. Major Prophets On the other hand, verse 7, If you do not do well, or if you do not do what is right, you havent seen anything yet. Youre thrown out, you go out on your own. Were born sinners. Therefore whoever kills Cain- or whoever would kill Cain- vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. Seven is sort of the number of completion. Adam was a believer, as we've learned, Eve was a believer, and this passage indicates to us that Abel was a believer. If Cain doesnt repent in faith, if he doesnt trust God to save him and not his own righteousness, if Cain doesnt admit his disobedience to the prescribed heart attitude of faith and obedience to the prescribed sacrifice, if Cain doesnt do that, if he doesnt do whats right, then sin, like a lion, is just waiting at the door to pounce and try to destroy him, and hes going to try to have to master that. And he knew what God could do in his life because his parents had surely told him very often about paradise and about walking and talking with God in the cool of the day. He chose not to do what was right, and sin that was crouching on his door pounced and turned him into a killer. Then on top of that, he rejects the very Word of God, who comes to him in a gracious way and offers him forgiveness. This is a one-on-one conversation. Everybody worships at some shrine, everybody has some god. Those are the wonderful, wonderful promises of the Bible in many scriptures, but the one that always comes to my mind when I think about that is the sixth chapter of Romans, verse 12.