Cain and the beast
a generational curse
The first murder, according to the Biblical account, was a fratricide. Genesis 4 conveys the story of Cain and Abel, the first sons born to Eve and Adam. Cain means “possessed” or “acquired.” Abel means “breath” or “vapor.” It is similar to the word used throughout Ecclesiastes. (Everything is vapor.)
“Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (vv. 2b-5a).
Is there anything particularly wrong with Cain’s offering versus Abel’s? Are sheep more acceptable than crops? Is shepherding better than farming? There have been numerous notions on the matter, but let’s wait a bit before answering those questions.
“So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it’” (vv. 5b-7).
Have we ever felt rejected by God? I’m not talking about something relatively minor, like being egotistic and put in our place. No, this is a soul-shaking rejection, perhaps even if we’re planning something immoral. (Though not necessarily.) Would we not be angry, an anger perhaps shot through with embarrassment? I imagine that would result in a fallen countenance!
Jordan Peterson, in his book We Who Wrestle with God, quotes the Scottish preacher, Alexander Maclaren. He said in 1910, “Now the word translated here lieth [“is lurking”] is employed only to express the crouching of an animal, and frequently of a wild animal.” The word translated is רׇבַץ, rāb̠as̠. “The picture, then, is of the wrongdoer’s sin lying at his door there like a crouching tiger ready to spring, and if it springs, fatal. ‘If thou doest not well, a wild beast crouches at thy door.’” (119)
God warns Cain, and by extension all who sin, there’s a ferocious creature, just waiting to attack.
Maclaren continues: “We have the picture of the sin, that was thought of as crouching at the sinner’s door like a wild beast, now, as it were, wedded to him. He is mated to it now, and it has a kind of tigerish, murderous desire after him, while he on his part is to subdue and control it.” Cain has married sin!
That speaks to the nature of sin, to its appeal. It rarely appears as a full-grown monster. It begins as a harmless kitten, a playful puppy. Sin usually presents itself as an innocent little critter. As we bring it in, we learn its ways. “What were we thinking? It’s no big deal. In fact, it obviously has its sound and thoughtful uses.”
Beware, though, it is seductive! Again, at first it doesn’t resemble a grotesque goblin. In fact, sin can be a heavenly body, in more ways than one. We learn to embrace it. But before we know it — it’s got us.
Still, we can resist it. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Its desire is for us, but we must master it. Cain is called to restrain the urges. Unfortunately, such restraint doesn’t occur.
He invites his brother to go for a little stroll in the countryside. However, Abel is treated to a horrific surprise. He encounters the Grim Reaper. Later the Lord asks about Abel’s whereabouts. Cain gives an evasive and sarcastic reply. “Beats me. Who am I, my brother’s keeper? Am I in charge of him?” But the Lord is horrified. “What have you done? Listen, your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!” (v. 10).
Cain has cursed the ground, and it will be revisited upon him. He is to be a fugitive and wanderer, a wanderer to the land of Nod (a word which means “wandering”!)
Peterson tells us we are called to pursue the best we possibly can, the best of our time here on earth. “This enables establishment of the proper relationship with what is highest. Cain’s failure to do this properly means that he deprives himself of what could be the true romantic adventure of his life; the adventure that might justify that very life and provide it with the significance that is the most effective antidote to nihilistic bitterness and resentful rebellion.” (129)
He deprives himself of what could be the true romantic adventure of his life. The true romantic adventure. This doesn’t have to be the lovey-dovey kind of romance. There is the grand quest for treasures untold, the overcoming (or attempt at overcoming) every obstacle hindering the liberation of the enslaved.
At this point, let’s return to the Lord’s disdain for Cain’s offering and acceptance of Abel’s. Again, there are many viewpoints on the offerings per se. But it appears to go to the brothers themselves, as just noted in Peterson’s comments.
Cain is mentioned three times in the New Testament, including Hebrews and Jude. His appearance in 1 John is especially instructive. We read in 3:12, “We must not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
Having said all this, we need to be careful of portraying Cain as a cartoonish, two-dimensional figure. There is a little bit of Cain in all of us!
Cain laments that his exile will leave him at the mercy of whoever takes a mind to kill him. This leads us to a change in the narrative. The Lord intervenes, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And this is where we have the mark of Cain, “so that no one who came upon him would kill him” (v. 15). As with the meaning of the offerings, there are abundant opinions on what this mark actually signifies. Was it a physical feature? What did it look like? Was it something to be carried?
I want to introduce a certain take on the matter. Again, many alternatives have been presented, but I find this one to be rather intriguing.
R. W. L. Moberly offers thoughts regarding a preposition used in the text. (Trust me, I have no interest in going down a rabbit hole on Hebrew grammar!) Suffice to say, he believes the term should be translated not as mark “of” or “on” Cain — but mark “for” Cain. [R. W. L. Moberly, “The Mark of Cain — Revealed at Last?,” Harvard Theological Review 100:1 (Jan 2007), 14.]
Starting at verse 17, we have the lineage of Cain. They are the “Cainites,” so to speak. They bear the character of Cain; they are chips off the old block. Does anyone want to suffer sevenfold vengeance? This crew with the mark for Cain has quite a reputation! The mark for Cain is a warning — don’t mess with us. These descendants of destruction, this posterity of persecution, boasts a twisted family crest.
An especially charming character is Lamech, who makes much of the family name. He brags to his wives, “You’re married to a tough guy. Forget sevenfold vengeance, they’ll get a taste of seventy-sevenfold.” I imagine Adah and Zillah already know, through bitter and tiresome experience, Lamech is not exactly a knight in shining armor.
Moberly has an interesting observation, based on Jesus in Matthew 18. (27) Peter asks him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Seven times? That sounds like a lot. In fact, it seems like he’s going above and beyond. Nevertheless, Jesus says, “Hold your horses there, dear Peter.”
Lamech’s worldview holds vengeance without limit in the highest regard. Jesus would turn that on its head. Jesus responds to his puzzled disciple, “Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times [or seventy times seven]. Vengeance without limit gives way to forgiveness without limit.
That measure of forgiveness can work wonders for Cain and his progeny. Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methushael, Lamech, and on down seem to be dealing with a generational curse.
We ourselves might be the recipient of a generational curse. Are there experiences or realities exempt from discovery or investigation? Are any secrets continually passed down from parent to child, and so on? Even a legacy of violence, of transmitting a curse. We, or one helping us, could do a lot worse than learning some lessons of this story!
Adam and Eve had another son, Seth. Seth was father to Enosh. Chapter 4 ends on the note: “At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.” Out of disaster, a hopeful note is sounded.
When the power of forgiveness enters the picture, it overturns the power of the curse. The endless forgiveness of Jesus Christ displays the utter toothlessness of vengeance. The power of Jesus Christ overcomes the ultimately powerlessness of sin.
By the grace of God, we can resist it.
