Doing What is Right: Genesis 4:1-8

In Genesis 4 Cain and Abel are both presented as productive members of God’s creation.  Respectively working as a farmer and a shepherd, both men are duly fulfilling the God given command to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28).  What is more, both of them choose to worship God by bringing a portion of their labors as an offering to the Lord.  Their acts of worship are particularly telling because to this point God has never commanded acts of sacrifice and worship.  They worship God not out of duty or obligation, but out of a natural response of gratitude for what God has given them. 

And yet, for someone reason God looks upon Abel’s offering with favor, and does not look with favor upon Cain’s.  Why?  What would cause God to respond so differently to these two offerings?

It has often been said that Cain’s offering was inferior to Abel’s.  While Cain brought “some fruit of the soil,” Abel brought “fat portions from some of the firstborn of the flock.”  Abel takes from the best of his flock and offers it to God, while Cain just takes some of his produce (not necessarily his best).  God’s favor goes to Abel because Abel’s offering is more reflective of a faithful sacrifice to God.

While that may sufficiently explain Cain’s lack of favor, I wonder if there is there something deeper happening in this passage.  For a farmer like Cain God’s favor would look like perfect amounts of rain and sun leading to an abundance of crops.  A season of drought and famine would cause a farmer like Cain to doubt God’s favor. 

What if, after dutifully working the land and making his offering to God, a drought overtook Cain’s farm, while Abel’s flocks continued to multiply?  That would almost certainly lead Cain to conclude that God was showing favor to Abel and none to him.  How many of us have looked at the success of others in the midst of our own troubles and wondered, “God, why do they have such success while I continue to struggle?”

With his face downcast, and his heart feeling dejected, Cain becomes angry with God.  But God isn't angry with Cain.  As a matter of fact, God is concerned about Cain.  God says to him, “Why are you angry?  Why is your soul downcast?” (Genesis 4:6).  While Cain believes that he has lost God’s favor, God hasn't come to that conclusion.  “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7).

In the midst of his troubles and anger God calls on Cain to “do what is right” – to continue to live according to God’s design.  The reality of sin, introduced to world in Genesis 3, means that in life there will be trials and struggles.  Droughts, famines, and misfortune can come even to someone who works hard and tries to please God.  In the midst of such troubles, God’s call is to do what is right.  Even when the days are hard, God’s call is to continue to live faithfully and to worship God. 

Unfortunately Cain chose differently.  Rather than remaining faithful to God in the midst of his struggles, he chose to take the life of his brother, in an act of jealousy, rage, and anger.  It’s a sad story about the challenges of navigating a world broken by the effects of sin.

How do you respond to trials and struggles in your life?  Do you assume that God is causing trouble to come your way?  Do you blame God for your problems?  The reality is that all of us will experience troubles in this life.  While they may not come to us in equal measure, we will all have days when nothing seems to go our way.  That’s the consequence of living in a sinful world. 

The challenge Genesis 4 lays before us is, “can we continue to do what is right and be faithful to God, even in the midst of our troubles?”  For our troubles are not, in fact, a sign that God has rejected us, but they are moments that test our faith.  It’s easy to have faith when the days are good, but it’s difficult when the days are hard.  May God give us a strong faith, that we might persevere in doing what is right, even in our troubles.

A Story for All Ages

Note: This post marks the beginning of a summer long series of devotions on the book of Genesis. Each Wednesday a new devotional will be posted.  These devotions are intended to be a companion to with Faith UMC's summer sermon series, "The Gospel According to Genesis" and the daily reading guide to Genesis.  You can access sermon online here and the daily reading guide here.

Imagine that you are an Israelite child, living in Babylon in 570 B.C.  Seventeen years ago your family was deported from Jerusalem when the Babylonian army laid siege to the city.  While you yourself have never stepped foot in Jerusalem, your parents always speak of the city with awe and reverence.  They tell you stories about how God created the heavens and the earth, and everything contained therein.  They speak of God’s goodness to humanity, and of humanity’s mistrust and disobedience to God.  They speak of a covenant God made with your ancestor Abraham, promising that through his family God would bring blessing to the whole world.  They recall that God promised the land of Jerusalem as an inheritance to Abraham’s family.

           

As you listen, you feel in your heart that these stories are your story.  While you weren't there when the world was created, you believe that you too were created by God.  While you never met Adam and Eve, you can relate to their mistrust of God and inability to keep God’s commands.  While you never met Abraham, you feel a kinship with him and a desire to be faithful to the covenant God started with him centuries ago.  You are a member of the people of Israel, and while all you have ever known is life in Babylon, you feel like your heart is in the Promised Land.

           

The book of Genesis was written so that the people of God from all generations might know where they come from, and their reason for existence.  Genesis – which means beginning – tells the story of God’s creation of the heavens and earth and of the beginning of God’s people, Israel.  The book is divided into two parts.  Chapters 1-11 tell a universal story about the creation and crisis of humankind.  They speak of humanity’s call to live in God’s image, how human sin distorts that image, and how the effects of sin spread so far across the earth, that God grieved the earth and laid waste to it by flood.

By the end of chapter 11, the story of Genesis has come to a major impasse.  A good and gracious God has created a good and beautiful world, but human sin continues to spread and disrupt God’s design, bringing death and destruction.  What will happen to world?  Will it die away, a victim of its own sin, or will God do something to rescue the creation?

The second part of Genesis, chapters 12-50, tells the story of what God does to redeem the world.  Rather than destroy the sinful world, God chooses to enter into relationship with a man called Abraham, promising to bring blessing to all the world through his family.  The story continues through four generations of Abraham’s family, showing how God remains faithful to the promise of blessing, even amid the continual failings of Abraham’s family.

This is the story of Genesis.  As the ancient Israelites knew from the beginning, the purpose of Genesis is not to provide a detailed historical account of the creation of the world.  Neither is it to provide scientific explanations for the various phenomena of the universe.  None of them expected Genesis 1 to be a literal account of the creation of the world, nor did they expect to be able to locate the bones of Adam and Eve in Mesopotamia.  Rather they knew that the purpose of Genesis is to convey the truth about the human condition and the good news about the God who loves the world too much to let it go.

As we enter into a summer long immersion in the book of Genesis, it’s important that we know what Genesis is for.  If we want to read every detail of the story as historical or scientific fact, we will quickly get frustrated and miss the point.  Many of the stories of Genesis, particularly in chapters 1-11, are full of symbolism and imagery that is not meant to represent what actually happened, as much as to convey truth about who God is and who we are.

As you read Genesis, pray that God would help you find yourself in these stories.  Pray that God would open your eyes to see God as he really is.  Pray that these stories would convict you of your own frailty and brokenness.  And above all, pray that these stories would become your story, that you too would believe that the same God who created the universe and called Abraham, is the God who created and called you.