Chad Werkhoven

Jan 6, 20222 min

Genesis 4 - Multiplication Leads To Division

The division we continue to experience today is nothing new; it's the consequence of sin.

Read / Listen to the chapter:

Watch / Listen to the DIG DEEPER video:

Genesis 4 Summary

  • v1-2 - Life goes on for Adam & Eve after their eviction, and they begin to have children.
     

  • v3-15 - Both brothers bring an offering to the Lord, but only Abel's is accepted.

    • God's love for Cain remains evident, as He counsels Cain against succumbing to the welling anger inside of him.

    • Cain kills Abel, and then famously denies knowing where Abel's at.

    • Even in His punishment for Cain, God provides mercy.
       

  • v16-24 - Cain's family line grows, and along with it civilization:

    • v17 - cities are formed

    • v21 - music is developed

    • v22 - they begin forging metal

    • v23 - but these advances in technology continue to be marred by sin & death.
       

  • v25-26 - Adam's shattered family begins to be rebuilt.

Dig Deeper

Immediately, division and differences creep into the human race after the fall, in which man was divided away from God's presence. Note how these divisions grow in magnitude, quickly leading to ongoing hatred and murder:

  • v2 - Abel kept sheep, Cain worked the ground
     

  • v3-5 - Different offerings are brought by both.

    • The text gives no indication that what Abel brought was inherently better, but the division is evident:

    • The Lord was pleased with Abel's offering, but not Cain's.
       

  • v5-7 - Although God reaches out to Cain, Cain distances himself from God and nurses his bitterness and temptation.
     

  • v8-9 - The division has quickly degenerated to murder, the result of Cain "rising against" Abel.
     

  • v15 - Cain is divided away from the rest of humanity, being marked as different.
     

  • v16 - Cain is further divided away from God: "Cain went away from the presence of the Lord..."
     

  • v23 - Division & murder remain in Cain's descendants.
     

  • v26: The biggest division of all: Adam's descendants "began to call upon the name of the Lord."

    You're invited to our Evening Service this Sunday (1/9/22) where we will focus on this passage

AAA Prayer:

  • ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who provides for all and calls sinners back to Him;

  • ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask for the strength to resist the "sin crouching at your door," which seeks to amplify divisions and hatred.

  • ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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