Features Sampler: Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 15
page 13
4:8
Matt 23:35
1 Jn 3:12
4:9
Gen 3:9
4:10
Num 35:33
Deut 21:1
Heb 12:24
4:11
Deut 27:15-26
4:12
Deut 28:15-24
4:14
Gen 9:6
Job 15:22
•
GENESIS 4
8One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”* And while they
were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
9Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out
to me from the ground! 11Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which
has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12No longer will the ground yield good crops for
you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer
on the earth.”
13Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment* is too great for me to bear! 14You have
4:8 As in Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text lacks “Let’s go out
into the fields.” 4:13 Or My sin.
Eve
WE KNOW VERY LIT TLE ABOUT EVE , the first woman in the world, yet she is the
mother of us all. She was the final piece in the intricate and amazing puzzle of God’s creation.
Adam now had another human being with whom to share life—someone made in God’s
image just as he was. Here was someone alike enough for a deep connection, yet different
enough for a vibrant relationship. Together they were greater than either could have been alone.
Eve was approached by Satan in the Garden of Eden, where she and Adam lived. He questioned
her contentment. How could she be happy when she was not allowed to eat from one of the fruit
trees? And he questioned God’s goodness. Why would God keep the knowledge of good and
evil from them? Satan helped Eve shift her focus from all that God had done and given to the one
thing he had withheld. And Eve was willing to accept Satan’s viewpoint without checking with God.
Sound familiar? How often is our attention drawn from the much that is ours to the little that
isn’t? We get that “I’ve got to have it” feeling and don’t stop to think that God might have a good
reason for keeping it from us. Eve was typical of us all, and we consistently show we are her
descendants by repeating her mistake. Our desires, like Eve’s, can be quite easily manipulated.
To avoid being deceived, we need to keep God in our decision-making process always. We can
do this by reviewing our motives with him in prayer; seeking guidance in his Word, the Bible; and
asking him to lead us through his Spirit.
Strengths and
accomplishments:
• First wife and mother
• First woman made in the image of God; as such, she shared a special relationship with God
and shared responsibility with Adam over creation
Weaknesses
and mistakes:
• Allowed her contentment to be undermined by Satan
• Acted impulsively without talking either to God or to her husband
• Not only sinned, but also shared her sin with Adam
• When confronted, blamed others
Lessons from
her life:
• Women share equally in the image of God.
• The necessary ingredients for a strong marriage are commitment to each other, companionship with each other, complete oneness, and absence of shame (Genesis 2:24-25).
• The basic human tendency to sin goes back to the beginning of the human race.
• We can trust that God’s commands come from his goodness.
Vital statistics:
• Where: Garden of Eden
• Occupation: Comanager of Eden
• Relatives: Husband: Adam. Sons: Cain, Abel, Seth, and numerous other children.
Key verse:
“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who
is just right for him.’” (Genesis 2:18)
Eve’s story is told in Genesis 2:18–4:26.
4:8-10 This is the first murder—taking a life by shedding human blood.
Blood represents life (Leviticus 17:10-14). If blood is removed from a
living creature, it will die. Because God created life, only God should
take life away.
4:8-10 Adam and Eve’s disobedience brought sin into the human race.
They may have thought their sin—eating a piece of fruit—wasn’t very bad,
but notice how quickly their sinful nature developed in their children.
Simple disobedience quickly degenerated into outright murder. Adam
and Eve acted only against God, but Cain acted against both God and
another person. A small sin has a way of growing out of control. Let God
help you with your “little” sins before they turn into tragedies.
PEOPLE PROFILES —
4:11-15 Cain was severely punishedLocated
for this murder.
GodBible
judgesbooks
all sins
in the
and punishes appropriately, not out of vengeance, but because he desires
their
occur,
to correct us and restore our fellowshipwhere
with him.
Whenstories
you’re corrected,
profileswith
of people
include
don’t resent it. Instead, renew your fellowship
God.
strengths
weaknesses,
4:14 We have heard about only four
people so and
far—Adam,
Eve, Cain,
and Abel. Two questions arise: Why wasaccomplishments
Cain worried about being
killed
and
by others, and where did he get his wife (see 4:17)?
mistakes, and key lessons
Adam and Eve had numerous children; they had been told to “fill the
their
lives.
earth” (1:28). Cain’s guilt and fear over killingfrom
his brother
were
heavy, and
he probably feared repercussions from his family. If he was capable of
killing, so were they. Cain had set an example of disobedience, hatred,