More than a few parents have shaken their heads and lamented, “Where did we go wrong? How can our grown children be so different?” They know how Lindsey and Lori’s parents feel: Lindsey works faithfully children’s church. She is a good wife and mother, and she maintains a proper testimony in her neighborhood. Lori, on the other hand, refuses to attend church. She has been married twice, and now she shares an apartment with a man she met at a bar. “We brought both daughters up in Sunday School and church, had family devotions, and showered them both with love. How do you explain the difference?
Huge question! How do you explain the difference in some siblings? Joe became a police officer, but his brother Jim becomes a bank robber. Mike is a deacon. His brother Mark is an alcoholic.
Adam and Eve wasted a golden opportunity. God had placed them in paradise, the Garden of Eden, and had given them free access to His heart. At first they talked with Him, worshiped Him, and served Him; but then they chose to disobey Him. They squandered their opportunity, fell into sin, marred God’s image in them, experienced separation from God, and could no longer live in the Garden of Eden. Nevertheless, before leaving the Garden they received an object lesson about redemption and the promise that a Deliverer would crush the serpent’s head. They had a spiritual hope, to pass along to the children who would be born to them. But like many parents after them, they would look at their two grown sons, Cain and Abel, and have reason to shake their heads. After all, Abel worshiped God, but Cain committed murder.
Read Genesis 4
Two Distinctly Different Brothers – Genesis 4:1 – 16
1. How would you respond if a parent asked you why one of his or her children grew to love God, while a sibling raised in the same way turned away from God?
2. What did Eve say when Cain was born? (v. 1) Cain’s name means “acquisition” or “gotten.” What might Eve have been thinking? See Gen. 3:15
3. The family is growing. What do we learn in Genesis 4:2 about the first family?
A. Approached God in two different ways
4. We are not told about the childhood of these two brothers. It seems reasonable to assume that Adam and Eve taught them what they had learned the hard way: Satan is a wily foe; temptation is powerful; disobeying God carries painful consequences; and only the shedding of blood atones for sin. When it came to worshipping God how were Cain and Abel different? (v.3, 4)
B. Received two different response from God
5. How did the Lord react to Cain’s and Abel’s offerings? (v.4, 5)
6. What character qualities are assigned to Abel & Cain in Matthew 23:35 & 1 John 3:12
7. Why did God accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s? See Hebrews 11:4. What is more important to God than the offering we bring to Him? See Psalm 51:16, 17; 1 Samuel 15:22.
8. How does Cain react to an unacceptable offering? (v.5)
9. What method of counseling does God use with Cain? Why? What admonition does God give to Cain? (v6, 7)
10. Where did Cain’s pride, anger, and unrepentant heart lead him? (v.8) See James 1:15; 1 John 3:15.
11. What opportunity does God give Cain by questioning him in Genesis 4:9?
12. How did the Lord punish Cain for his sin? (v. 10-16)
13. How does Cain respond to the Lord’s judgment upon his sin? (v.13,14)
14. How does God show mercy unto Cain? (v.15)
Two Distinctly Different Human Lines – Genesis 4:17 – 26
A. Cain’s wicked descendants
15. The wanderer Cain was protected by God. He could not succeed as a farmer. What did Cain become? What kind of culture did his descendants develop? (v.17 – 24)
B. Seth’s righteous descendants
16. With whom did God replace Abel? (v.25)
17. What indication is there at the close of this chapter that Seth’s line will be different than Cain’s family line? (v.26)
Application:
What lessons can we learn from Cain’s action and subsequent punishment? How do you usually react when you have been accused of doing something wrong? What makes us vulnerable to Cain’s kind of sin? What can you do to resolve conflicts with God and others? When should you take care of such problems? See Matthew 5:21 – 25.
8. How does God show mercy unto Cain? (v.15)
Two Distinctly Different Human Lines – Genesis 4:17 – 26
A. Cain’s wicked descendants
9. The wanderer Cain was protected by God. He could not succeed as a farmer. What did Cain become? What kind of culture did his descendants develop? (v.17 – 24)
B. Seth’s righteous descendants
10. With whom did God replace Abel? (v.25)
11. What indication is there at the close of this chapter that Seth’s line will be different than Cain’s family line? (v.26)
Application:
What lessons can we learn from Cain’s action and subsequent punishment? How do you usually react when you have been accused of doing something wrong? What makes us vulnerable to Cain’s kind of sin? What can you do to resolve conflicts with God and others? When should you take care of such problems? See Matthew 5:21 – 25.
