Genesis Devotional Series: Week 7: Part 1
Genesis 4:1-2
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
- What might Adam and Eve be hoping for after their expulsion from Eden?
- Why does Eve credit God for Cain’s birth? What does she hope will happen now that she has a son?
Hebrews 11:4
“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
- In what ways do Eve, in childbirth, and Abel, in his offering, exercise faith? What is each of them trusting in God for?
- What did it mean that Cain made an offering without faith? Why then did he make the offering?
Genesis 4:3-7
In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
- Why do you think God rejected Cain’s offering? How does Cain respond to this?
- What does God require of Cain? What would it mean for Cain to master sin?