Life and Death Outside the Garden
To listen to the audio file for today, click here: ADAM-Friday-Week1
Genesis 4:1-16, 25-26
Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”* And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment* is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”
15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
25 Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.
Something to Think About
In this story, the reality of life outside the Garden hits Adam and Eve right between the eyes. The extent of the ripple effects of their original sin is beginning to be seen and felt. Can you imagine how devastated they would have been, losing one son at the hand of the other? And then losing their relationship with the remaining son?
In this story, we also discover what Adam and Eve are made of. When tragedy strikes, faith in God is either strengthened or abandoned. It appears in verses 25-26, that Adam and Eve have maintained a strong faith in God. We see their faith and love for God when they have another son and name him Seth, which means “granted” or “bestowed upon.”
The significance is that they are thanking God for giving them another son; they are not angry at God or holding a grudge against Him. Their faith has remained strong.
Questions to Think About
Do you think Adam and Eve blamed themselves when Cain killed Abel? Do you think they blamed God?
If they could have foreseen the future, do you think they still would have eaten the forbidden fruit?
How do you see Adam and Eve living by faith at the end of this story?
How do you see them passing that faith on to others?
What have you learned from Adam’s story this week?
