“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Genesis 16:6 (NIV)
In a single verse, both the “sin of omission” and the “sin of commission” come into play. Sarai sins in her treatment of Hagar; Abram sins in his failure to stop her.
Both are guilty.
This is about the grief and suffering of the dying.
We have a vocabulary about death. We say things like “at least it was a quick death,” or “at least they died in their sleep.”
In the sadness of loss, we acknowledge the mercy found in certain kinds of death. This sort of death is… better. Better than suffering.
For the one experiencing the loss of a loved one, these phrases don’t lessen the pain, but it is helpful to know that the words are true, isn’t it? It’s good to know that loved ones who die this way did not experience prolongued agony and pain before they passed.
But it doesn’t lift the grief. It is still sorrowful.
But what about those who do suffer in agony?
I won’t describe any of it, because there are those who know already know people who have died this way, and they don’t want to be reminded. We have witnessed it. We have grieved it. And we have prayed for it to be over. We have prayed for an end of the suffering. For mercy.
And when the end comes, we are left with the most troubling and turmoil-filled spirit. We prayed for the end, but then we grieved the loss. We are relieved that their suffering stopped, but we didn’t want to lose them.
This is sorrow.
In Genesis 6, prior to the flood, the text mentions the “wickedness of man.”
We’ve been taught to read this as written in the English. Humanity is completely wicked, so the Flood waters are a judgement to wipe out the earth in God’s wrath.
But that is not the whole picture.
The word here for “the wickedness” is the noun-form of the word ra’. We translate it as “wickedness” or “evil,” but the word carries the connotation of suffering. So when we read “…and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time,” we are being told something important.
Can you see it?
III. evil, misery, distress, injury
1. evil, misery, distress
2. evil, injury, wrong
3. evil (ethical)
H7451: רַע (raʿ)
The text is not describing a humanity in defiance or disobedience to a holy God who must respond in wrath. That’s not the story. It is describing a humanity that is suffering. They are in misery. And they are dying. The curse of sin (death) has laid hold of all of them.
And when the text says “the Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled,” we see it clearly.
This form of “regretted” is compassionate mercy.
1. (Niphal)
1. to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2. to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to comfort oneself, ease oneself
H5162: נָחַם (nāḥam)
And this form of “grieved” is precisely that feeling of troubling and turmoil-filled sorrow. It is the ending that you wish didn’t have to happen, but you understood that it would be worse if it didn’t.
5. (Hithpael) to feel grieved, be vexed
H6087: עָצַב (ʿāṣaḇ)
This is what our God is showing us with this story.
This stems from Adam and Eve’s eating from the tree of the knowledge of Good & Evil. This evil is the source of the suffering of humanity.
The narrative isn’t pointing to a God who is punishing us for doing the wrong thing. It is about a God grieving our suffering from it.
But God does not leave us in our suffering.
In Noah (whose name means “comfort“), we see God pointing to restoration. We see God making a new covenant and promising that this Flood will not happen again. Perhaps it’s because He will one day end all of our suffering.
Genesis 4 does the same, but in an entirely new way. But we are given clues throughout the narrative.
We are shown two brothers: Cain/Abel. Two sacrifices: works/faith.
In Cain’s line, we have Lamech who has two wives. Adah has two sons: Jabal and Jubal. Zillah has two children: Tubal-Cain and Na’amah.
It’s like we are being shown a river that has split into two streams. Paths.
Interestingly, we also are introduced to words that have TWO meanings that are often opposites of one another.
SIN and SIN-OFFERING
Mehujael means both “ALIVE in God” and “KILLED by God”
And then the chapter ends with an EXTREMELY strange word: halel.
Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 4:26 (NIV)
Most of our bibles end Genesis 4 with this sentence:
“At that time men began to CALL upon the name of the Lord.” (implying worship)
But some render it this way:
“At that time men began to PROFANE the name of the Lord.” (implying the OPPOSITE of worship)
If you look at the concordance for this word, it’s very odd. Most meanings of this word basically equate to blaspheme, or piercing/wounding (interesting), or (oddly) playing the flute.
But also “to begin.”
1. to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin
2. to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore
3. to play the flute or pipe
H2490: חָלַל (ḥālal)
So translators tried to use context to figure this out.
The problem is that context does not help. It can either mean that people began to worship, or began to take God’s name in vain…
or… both?
I believe some of these words are actually intended to be seen BOTH ways; how you read it depends on what God is showing you.
Consider the central message of the sacrifice God found unacceptable: the fruits of Cain’s labor from the ground is cursed (Genesis 3). His best efforts. His accomplishments. His works.
And God says “I don’t want your works.”
Depending on who you are, this has two meanings.
If you are rooted in works, doing everything to EARN God’s favor, you’ll die trying. God won’t accept it. The words kill you.
If you are seeking God’s heart, you’ll know God is telling you that it’s not the works, but your very heart He desires. The words give you life.
So in Genesis 4, we see God separate something again, this time splitting our works from God’s work, and we also get a glimpse into what the consequence of works vs faith does with this character’s name Mehujael, which can mean “alive in God” or “killed by God.”
So at the end, when the text says that “men began to [something] the name of the Lord,” I suspect that it’s both. Some called out, pleading to God. Some profaned the name of God.
In some ways, that’s our own souls, isn’t it? We do both. We, too, ascribe God to our works.
But Genesis 4 is also about choices after our sin. In Gen 3, we hid and covered ourselves in fig leaves. In Genesis 4, we either lean into God, or try to cover our shame with our works. We live this choice.
But God accepts only one of them. He will not accept the other.
If you have followed me so far, you know that I’m quick to acknowledge my errors, and that my posts aren’t made from a boastful understanding of the Hebrew language, or tied to any claims of moral or theological superiority. I just have a lot of questions. I think we all do.
The question that Genesis 4 presents us with is this horrifying, theologically problematic, guilt-inducing, burden-laying rendering of Genesis 4:7.
Sin is crouching at your door; it’s desire is for you, but you must rule over it.
Almost all of them
Nearly every translation says it similarly (with the notable exception of Youngs Literal Translation (YLT), which is what started me on this journey!)
But let’s think about this statement that God is making to Cain, and how it applies.
SIN is CROUCHING at YOUR DOOR, and it DESIRES YOU, but you must MASTER it.
What is this saying? And why would this message be God’s instruction to Cain?
What doctrine is this?
Now, think about the sin in your life. Think about your own moral failings, and personify them for a second. It says sin desires us. Odd. I mean, I desire it more, but maybe God is telling me that sin is “alive” in some way. It is a thing that crouches and desires me.
So we are given this picture of a creepy, crouching thing that wants to… eat us? Is that what this “desire” is? Are we pointing back to the serpent, with an implied message that the serpent’s intent is to consume us?
Maybe? Sin is bad, so… sure.
But then…
“but you must master it.”
What the works-based-salvation messaging is this? We must MASTER it? Rule over it? I mean, this might point back to “dominion over all the earth,” and include the serpent, but what is this saying? That we must… save ourselves?
For anyone who has wrestled with true spiritual bondage in their own lives, being told “you just need to stop and master your sin” is a death blow. Because it is impossible.
Unfortunately, we KNOW people who defeated addiction and bad behavior. “I did it. Why can’t you?”
But this response from them doesn’t help. It makes it so much worse at times, and it’s often from this pit of despair that we finally cry out to God. We learn that only God can deliver us. And then we read the Exodus and see: only the hand of God could free His people. We learn that it’s only by faith, and not our works that we are saved.
Our entire walk with Jesus teaches us to depend not on ourselves, but on him and what he did on the cross, and through the empty tomb. This is our hope. He is our salvation.
That’s the premise of our entire faith.
So why does God tell Cain that he must “rule over” his sin?
I don’t think God did. Or at least, I think the Hebrew text might be written in a way to understand the message another way. The key is in this word “sin.”
It is translated two different ways in our Bibles:
SIN… and SIN OFFERING
(Sin: 182x; Sin Offering: 116x)
The only way to know which way to translate it is through context. In the next usage of the word, it’s quite clear that it can ONLY mean “sin,” because “sin offering” would make no sense here:
And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
Genesis 18:20 (NASB)
In fact, if you ONLY read Genesis, you’d think that the word could only be translated as “sin,” but note that each time, it’s connected to the word “offense” or “outcry.”
And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
Genesis 18:20 (NASB)Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?
Genesis 31:36 (NASB)‘This is what you shall say to Joseph: “Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Genesis 50:17 (NASB)
But when you get to Exodus, AFTER Israel’s deliverance, when God teaches Israel how to sacrifice and worship rightly, we have these renderings of the SAME word. The context is what gives you the right meaning.
But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
Exodus 29:14 (NASB)Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it.
Exodus 29:26 (NASB)However, Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
Exodus 30:10 (NASB)
So let’s go back to Cain, and see another problematic word. This time, it’s DESIRE.
I said earlier that a serpent desiring to eat you is a fine picture for sin. But that word “desire” is not used to describe the desire of a predator in the scriptures.
It’s longing. It’s love.
To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you shall deliver children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
Genesis 3:16 (NASB)“I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
Song of Songs 7:10 (NASB)
So now let me paint this picture for you.
Cain has just been rejected. His heart wasn’t right. He was filled with pride of his own work, and that isn’t an acceptable offering.
So God tells him, “if you do what’s right, you’ll be favored. But if not… ”
“… then see that I have placed a sin-offering at your door. It longs for you. It’s a lamb that knows nothing except love for you, but… you have to grab hold of it. You have to bring it to the altar, as your brother did.”
God tells Cain that a sacrifice is available.
This passage is NOT saying we have to overcome our own wickedness. That is impossible. It’s saying that, just like for Abel, an offering was made available for Cain. An offering he did not work for. He did not earn. It’s there FOR him, just like for Abel.
It is always God who provides. It’s the same message Abraham understands when he tells his son Isaac, “God will provide a lamb.”
That has always been the message. It is the only answer to sin. It is the only thing God requires: a sacrifice HE gives us to offer.
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:7 (NIV)
“Accepted” gives us a picture of seeking acceptance by God. But the Hebrew word is significantly richer.
The one who does right isn’t merely “accepted.” They are elevated, exalted, dignified…
elevation, exaltation, dignity, swelling, uprising
dignity, exaltation, loftiness
swelling
uprising
H7613: שְׂאֵת (śᵊ’ēṯ)
However, Adam is noticeably absent from any mention of the raising of his sons, and in a post-fall world, this can be seen as a sin of omission.
We are told that Cain “worked the soil” in the NIV. If you’ve followed along the previous weeks’ studies, you’ve heard this word “worked” before, but in a different form. And connected to a different man.
Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
Genesis 4:2 (NIV)
It’s Cain’s own dad, Adam. In Genesis 2, we’re told that Adam’s role was to “till the ground.” This word “till” is the Hebrew word “abad,” which means to “labor” or to “work.” And in Genesis 2, the work is GOOD.
Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground.
Genesis 2:5 (NIV)The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15 (NIV)
But in Genesis 3, the ground gets cursed.
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:17 (NIV)So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
Genesis 3:23 (NIV)
What does it mean that the ground is cursed? What does it mean that the work will result in painful toil, thorns & thistles? Why does this point to death?
Cain’s name means “acquired.” As in, “I worked to acquire this.”
This is death.
God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering is unrelated to his own accomplishment. He simply brought the best of what he had: the “fat” (or choicest/best part) of the “firstborns.” The best we have.
It’s the same thing God asks of us today. Not the sacrifice, but our heart.
The word here is “ruah,” which is the same word that describes the Spirit of God. It’s the breath that brought life into humanity. It’s a wind, as though it happened during the windy time of day.
It’s fascinating.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8 (NIV)
But the rabbis point to a different strangeness in the verse: In what way did the man and his wife hear the sound of God walking? What does that sound like?
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:14 (NIV)
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:17 (NIV)
God doesn’t say this to the woman. Unlike with the Serpent and with Adam, God does not appear to assign blame to her.
And then God tells Adam that he will RETURN to the ground.
This “return” is also repentance. Dying… to self.
H7725: שׁוּב
Genesis 3:19 (NIV)