Summary
September 18, 2024 – Genesis 3:20-4:8
As Adam and the woman exit from Eden for a life of sin and suffering in the fallen world, God in his mercy establishes a covenant with them. He will not leave them to suffer alone, but will support them as they navigate through sin and temptation. Adam now sees his predicament, and re-embraces his duty to exercise dominion over his family. He renames the woman (formerly Isha) as Eve, using an archaic form of Hebrew (Havvah), indicating “mother of all living”. This name is an expression of Adam’s hope of future life through the offspring they will conceive, despite their prior rejection of obedience to God. God’s influence on their life outside Eden is foundational: He combines mercy with His judgement, He will never leave his people, and they may have hope in spite of their sinful actions. God provides clothing and protection for Adam’s family in the form of animal skin garments, both suitable for protection from the elements in the post-Eden world, but also symbolic of righteous protection for the faithful.
God’s mercy in judgement also tempers the imposition of temporal death on Adam and Eve. In order to prevent them from eating fruit from the tree of life, it is sequestered by cherubim administering God’s judgement in the form of furious, spinning swords. Had they consumed fruit from this tree, they would have become immortal in a state of sin, empowered to sin indefinitely, impervious to God’s grace and condemned to eternal death. This would have been an eternal punishment preventing their rebirth in the new Jerusalem. Mercifully, the tree of life is reserved for their later enjoyment in the New Jerusalem after their redemption.
After God mercifully bestows the deep joy of conception and child birth on Eve, she experiences a second horrifying fall when her older son Cain murders his brother Abel, thus initiating this terrible practice for mankind in the fallen world. The occasion follows the brothers’ attempt to heal their separation from God by each offering a sacrifice of their own choosing, also the first occasion of this practice in history. In conversation with Cain, God judges his sacrifice to be inferior to that of Abel. Abel’s gift of the first of his flock was given to God in deep gratitude, whereas Cain’s gift of wheat was given in the sense of satisfying an obligation. Cain’s rage slowly simmers, more so because Abel’s fleeting vanity would seem to undermine the genuineness of his gift, but this is ignored by God. God lovingly advises Cain in his conversation that if he tries but misses the mark of pleasing God, sin lies in wait, lusting for him outside the door, and he should take care to rule over sin, rather than sin over him. As his mother before him did, Cain turns away from God’s loving embrace, and lures Abel into the field to slay him in solitude. It is important to recognize the context of separateness in which this most horrible sin takes place. As Eve was tempted by the serpent in solitude from Adam, so did Cain open the door to his murderous impulse out in the wilderness. Satan’s intentions are served by deluding us to believe our independence is primary, which undermines our union with God. Not only was this the primordial murder, it was a symbolic emulation of Satan’s rebellion against the throne of God. Abel’s spiritual status had been temporarily elevated by God over Cain’s, and Cain’s pride motivates a fratricide as an act of sedition against what he sees as God’s misplaced favor.
Bible Study Notes
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