Genesis 4 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Genesis 4

WHEN:

• God allowed the earliest men and women to live extraordinarily long lives. Adam lived to be 930 years old, and his grandson Enosh died at the age of 905.

• The lives of the characters mentioned in Genesis 4 span the first 1650 years of earth’s history.

CHARACTERS:

• Cain – Oldest son of Adam and Eve. He was the earth’s first murderer.

• Able – Second son of Adam and Eve. He was murdered by his brother Cain.

• The Family of Adam and Eve – Chapter 4 concludes with a genealogy of the growing population of the earth. Several key characters are mentioned in our outline. 

WHERE:

• Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden in chapter 3. We aren’t told exactly where they settled following their eviction, but this chapter picks up in that location.

• Chapter 4 tells us Cain’s family settled “east of Eden” in the land of Nod after God banished him for killing his brother.

• Keep in mind, this chapter covers 1000+ years of history, Adam and Eve’s family probably spread to many locations as their numbers multiplied and the years progressed.

OUTLINE:

• THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL (4:1-8):

  • Adam and Eve had two sons whose names were Cain and Abel.

  • Cain was a farmer and Abel was a keeper of sheep.

  • Both brothers prepared a sacrificial offering to make to the Lord. Cain sacrificed some of his produce and Abel offered the firstborn sheep of his flock.

  • God was pleased with Abel’s offering but disapproved of Cain's.

  • Cain, consumed by his anger, killed Abel while they were in the field together.

• GOD CURSES CAIN FOR MURDERING HIS BROTHER (4:9-15):

  • God approached Cain and asked him where his brother had gone.

  • Cain replied with the famous words, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”

  • But God knew what Cain had done and He placed a curse on him as punishment.

  • Because he had spilled his brother’s blood on the earth, the earth would no longer produce a harvest for him.

  • Cain could no longer be a farmer, instead he would wander as a “fugitive” on the earth.

  • Cain protested the harshness of his punishment. He was concerned other men would kill him when they found out who he was.

  • God placed “a mark” of protection on Cain, “lest any who found him should attack him.”

•  THE HUMAN RACE EXPANDS (4:16-26):

  • The rest of chapter 4 contains a genealogy of the growing family of Adam and Eve. I will only highlight a selection of the individuals listed.

  • Cain settled in the land of Nod (east of Eden) and had a son named Enoch.

  • Cain’s great-great-grandson, Lamech, is the first man recorded to have married 2 wives. He also claimed to have killed another man for striking him.

  • Lamech had three sons who specialized in three crafts. Jabal worked with livestock, Jubal played the lyre and pipe, and Tubal-cain was a forger of bronze and iron. 

  • Adam and Eve had another son named Seth.

  • The text tells us around this time, “people began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

APPLICATION:

• We aren’t all that different than the first humans.

• We struggle with jealousy like Cain, we seek vengeance like Lamech, and we desire things that God tells us aren’t good for us like Adam and Eve.

• The Spirit of God gave us the Bible, in part, to help us understand that all humans throughout time have struggled in similar ways, and that evil in the human heart has corrupted God’s good creation.

• But the Bible was also written to point us to the solution to our sin problem, the Savior Jesus who can fix the world and purge the corruption.