Genesis 4, verses 9 to 15, am I my brother's keeper?

 

Genesis 4:9 ¶  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 10  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11  And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; 12  When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Cain asks an important question that has resounded all throughout history and played a particularly important role in our society as the Industrial Revolution began in earnest. Am I my brother’s keeper? Do you, as a Christian, feel any sense of responsibility for those around you? We are all children of Adam at birth and the sons, children of God at another birth, by virtue of our being born again into Christ’s kingdom. All men and women are our brothers and sisters and all Christians in particular. Do you feel any responsibility for them? If you do not, ask yourself if that makes you more like God, who died for all on Calvary and who causes the rain to fall on good and evil alike and the sun to shine on both, or less like Him.

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

1Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Specifically, though, in context, this is another one of man’s dodges as when Adam tried to pass the blame for disobeying God off on Eve and God Himself in the last chapter. Here, Cain, knowing he is the murderer of his brother, speaks as if he is ignorant of what happened to Abel.

God asks another question to which He already knows the answer, which he reveals right after the question. Cain will fail at tilling the ground and is to be cast out into the earth to wander, rejected and exiled.

Genesis 4:13 ¶  And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14  Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15  And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Like a modern-day criminal Cain is more concerned about the severity and supposed unfairness of his punishment than he is about his sin. While Abel is dead and Cain is living he still forgets what he has caused and whines about how his very life is in danger. As Matthew Henry noted, people like this go from presumption to despair. Many who come to the front of a church to prayer the prayer they are told leads to salvation often are more sorry for the punishment they have received for a wasted life than they are for the sins they have committed. Cain condemns the righteous judge rather than being sorrowful for the unrighteous sin.

Revelation 16:11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

The Christian is called to a different attitude toward his or her sin.

Psalm 32:5  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Here, a point needs to be made about dispensations. God has chosen to deal with men in certain ways that are different from age to age. Note here that revenge on Cain for Abel’s murder is forbidden by God. Note here, though, how that changes after the Flood.

Genesis 9:6  Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

The mark of Cain identifies him as under God’s protection so that his brethren, and they really would be his unnamed brothers, do not take revenge upon him. With Eve’s childbirth multiplied as part of the curse on her (see Genesis 3:16) there could have been dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of children by this time bearing children of their own, for we don’t know how long this was from creation or exactly when Eve began conceiving.