Coachlight Bible
Study – Genesis Lesson XIV - Genesis 3:20 – 4:16
The Curse – Part
VIII – A Parable Of The Farmer And The Shepherd
Adam & Eve sinned because they choose to believe a corruption of God’s Word above God’s pure holy Word, which God exalts above all His holy Name. (Psalm 138:2). The result of this choice was a curse upon Satan, Eve, Adam, and the earth, and a provision of atonement (covering) by God after an acceptance of God’s Word.
The result of the curse on Satan resulted in a prophetic revelation to mankind of a battle between two seeds that would continue for ages to come. This prophetic message insured that the coming “Seed of the Woman” would, after many battles, eventually crush the head of the “seed of the serpent”. God’s message to mankind continued with God’s provision of the “coats of skins”. These “coats of skins” also gave a prophetic lesson, teaching that man’s way to atonement (or covering) for sin was useless, but God’s provision would lead man on a path back to paradise. (Revelation 22:3)
The result of the curse on Eve has played out in Eve’s life as pain and suffering in childbirth, but God’s merciful prophetic Word has actually made Eve a “type of Christ” (Isaiah 53:10), Who would be the final sacrifice for sin.
The result of the curse on Adam and the earth, much
of which we also are affected today, played out in Adam’s life in the form of
sorrow, pain & suffering, sweat & tears, and eventually death. God’s “very good” creation now seems to be
wearing down and under the “bondage of corruption”. The entire “creation was made subject to to vanity”, and the earth began to “wax old as doth a
garment (Hebrews
After Adam’s confession (Giving his assent to God’s Word) by naming his wife Eve, the mother of all living, The Second Triune Council meet and decided to remove Adam & Eve from the garden. So that Adam could not re-enter the garden, God placed “cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way” at the east side of the garden. We can see the same type of picture all through the Bible, and is associated with the Throne of God. God still spoke to man after the fall, but now at a distance. Now when Adam and Eve or their descendants approached God, they must approach God by no other way than by His Word. The “coats of skins” taught man that the covering of guilt had to be (1) By a gift given by God and God alone, (2) By the death of an innocent substitute, and (3) By the shedding of blood.
We will see Adam & Eve experience the reality of
the age-long “
Today also a person’s heart desire in approaching and knowing God actually determines his destiny in eternity. If the person accepts God’s Word by approaching God in faith in God’s provision of the blood of Jesus Christ, he then becomes one of the heaven born “seed of the woman” and is restored into the presence and fellowship of God. On the other hand, if that person continues to twist and reject God’s Word, relying on his own way, he is imposing his own will in place of God’s will. He is actually presuming to be “as gods, knowing good and evil.” This person then becomes the “seed of the serpent.”
I. Adam’s
Confession After The Curse
Genesis
God had pronounced the great curse, with all its intricacies and implications, but He had also given an even greater promise – that of the coming Redeemer. When Adam heard God’s Word this time, he believed God and His promise of salvation in spite of Adam’s sin and the resulting curse.
This time Adam believed God’s Word instead of
corrupting it or doubting and rejecting it.
God’s purpose in a trial is to
change the heart not just modify behavior.
A. This time Adam believed God At His Word
B. Adam called his wife’s name Eve – chavvah meaning “life”
1. This indicates that Adam had faith in God’s promises
a. Adam believed that Adam & Eve would have children
b. Adam knew the Seed of the Woman would come from that offspring
2. Adam Had A Change Of
Heart – Agreed With God’s Word
II. The Lord God’s Provision
Genesis 3:21 Unto
Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed
them.
A. In response to Adam’s Confession, God Provided A Covering For
Nakedness
1. Their self-made fig leaves were completely inadequate to cover guilt & sin
2. This taught that the provision could only come from God, and God alone
3. God’s provision of Innocent blood was shown to be needed for the covering:
Leviticus
4. This taught that complete salvation was only to those who:
a. Worshiped God
1. Approached God with a proper offering
2. Worship literally means to: “Bow down to God’s will”
b. Forgot their
own will, and accept God’s Word
1. Acknowledged their own guilt and helplessness
2. Trusted in God alone for complete salvation & provision
B. This
Provision Was Completely Opposite To Satan’s Advise
1. No appeal to the physical or mental senses
2. It required putting down human pride & accepting God’s Word
C. The typical
teaching was that the woman’s Seed would
1. Shed His own blood in the coming conflict
2. This would happen before the complete deliverance could occur
D. The Application
Today: We also should heed to this typical teaching
1. By reckoning our own “fig leaves” as filthy
rags:
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
2. By allowing God to
clothe us with the garments of salvation:
Isaiah 61:10 I will
greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels. {decketh: Heb. decketh as a priest}
III. The Second
Triune Council
Genesis 3:22 And
the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and
evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life,
and eat, and live for ever:
Genesis 3:23
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the
ground from whence he was taken.
Genesis 3:24 So he
drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to
keep the way of the tree of life.
A. Man Now
Knew The Evil Of Rejecting God’s Word
1. The council recognized that “Man had become one of Us, to know good and evil”
2. This statement was made in sadness
a. Man had once known only the goodness of God
b. Now man has known the evil in rejecting God’s Word
c. Now man knew the suffering that results from rejecting God’s Word
d. Now man’s “goodness” as promised by the serpent was not what was hoped
e. Man had been created in God’s image – That image was now marred by evil
3. God had to drive out man from the garden
a. Adam & Eve Were Reluctant to leave their paradise for the unknown world
b. They were afraid of never seeing God again
4. To guard the garden’s entrance to the tree of life, God placed two cherubim east
B. Cherubim
(And Seraphim) are always associated with the throne of God
Psalm 80:1 Give
ear, O Shepherd of
Psalm 99:1 The LORD
reigneth; let the people
tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims;
let the earth be moved. {be moved: Heb. stagger}
C. Cherubim
Are Associated With The Throne Of God
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Cherubim Are Associated With The Throne Of God |
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Genesis 3:24 So he
drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to
keep the way of the tree of life. |
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|
|
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|
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Ezekiel’s Cherubim |
Isaiah’s Cherubim |
John’s Cherubim |
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Ezekiel
1:4-28; 10:1-22 |
Isaiah
6:1-6 |
Revelation
4:6-8 |
D. It Is Likely
That God Continued to Converse with Adam
1. From God’s Throne
2. However, now from a distance
IV. God’s Purpose
Is To Change Hearts – Not behavior modification
I John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
I John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
I John 1:7 But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us
from all sin.
I John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.
I John 1:9 If we
confess<3670> our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I John
I John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye
sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous:
I John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
I John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his
commandments.
3670 omologew homologeo hom-ol-og-eh’-o - from a compound of the base of 3674 and
3056; TDNT-5:199,687; v
confess 17, profess 3, promise 1, give thanks 1,
confession is made 1, acknowledgeth 1; 24
1) to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with, assent
2) to concede
2a) not to refuse, to promise
2b) not to deny
2b1) to confess
2b2) declare
2b3) to confess, i.e. to admit or declare one’s self guilty of what one is accused
3) to profess
3a) to declare openly, speak out freely
3b) to profess one’s self the worshipper of one
4) to praise, celebrate
A. True
Confession Is Much More Than The Telling Of Your Sins
B. True
Confession Is Agreeing With God’s Word
C. True
Confession Is Giving Your Assent To God’s Will Not
Self
D. True Confession
Is Giving Up Our “Fig Leaves” & Agreeing with God’s Word
E. True
Confession Is A Change Of Heart
V. Eve’s
Confession
Genesis 4:1 And
Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. {Cain: that is, Gotten,
or, Acquired}
A. Eve cried,
“I have gotten a man from the Lord” – Literally “From the Lord”
1. Eve believed the Lord
2. Eve believed God’s promise in Genesis 3:15
3. Even though Eve had experienced pain in childbirth
4. Eve had seen God’s faithfulness in giving her a son
B. The name
Cain means “gotten” – Obviously from Eve’s exclamation
1. Eve was not only happy that she was given a child, but a man
2. Eve believed God’s promise of a Deliverer
3. Cain was not this deliverer, however, he was the first of the “serpents seed”
1 John
1 John
VI. The Shepherd And The Farmer
Genesis 4:2 And she
again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a
tiller of the ground. {Abel: Heb. Hebel} {a keeper: Heb. a feeder}
A. Able was
very different from his brother
1. Abel is
found in the “Hall of Faith”
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
2. He is called righteous
Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom
ye slew between the temple and the altar.
3. He is called a prophet
Luke 11:50 That the
blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may
be required of this generation;
Luke 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias,
which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It
shall be required of this generation.
4. These
testimonies from Christ, can only mean that Abel
believed God’s Word
B. The name
“Abel” means vapor or vanity
1. The impact of the curse has had long enough to manifest on Eve
2. The creation was “subject to vanity”
Romans
C. The Boys
Had Different Occupations
1. Cain became a farmer, Abel became a shepherd
2. Both occupations were honorable
a. The fruit from Cain’s labor provided food
b. Abel’s sheep provided clothes for the family
c. It is also probable that the sheep were used for sacrifice to God at the throne
VII. The Sacrifice And God’s Mercy
Genesis 4:3 And in
process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground
an offering unto the LORD. {in process…: Heb. at the
end of days}
Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and
of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Genesis 4:5 But
unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and
his countenance fell.
A. It looks as
though there was a regular time to sacrifice to God
1. This sacrifice was probably not the first sacrifice
2. The phrase “Process of time” suggests this literally meaning “the end of the days”
3. Adam and Eve were driven from the presence of God
(Genesis
4. By God’s grace it looks as though His people could approach Him – His way
B. This was
the first time Cain received a Rebuke – His others had been acceptable
C. Why Was
Abel’s Sacrifice Acceptable? – Abel Believed God’s Word
1. It was not a product of Abel’s own labor – God had blessed him with a fat lamb
2. It was by the death of an innocent substitution
3. It was by the shedding of blood
D. Why Was
Cain’s Sacrifice Unacceptable? – Cain Tried To Do It His Own Way
1. It was a product of Cain’s own labor
2. It was not by the death of an innocent substitution
3. It was not by the shedding of blood
E. Undoubtedly
Cain Began To Resent His Situation
1. His own labor would not please God
2. He probably had to purchase a lamb from Abel every time he approached God
3. Cain rebelled against God’s Word and brought his own labor approaching God
F. Cain’s
Countenance Fell Because Of God’s Rejection – He Became Angry
1. Pawneem translated “Countenence”, has a root meaning of a “look” - glance
2. Where his glance was haughty and conceited at first, became angry looking
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
VIII. The Murder
Genesis 4:6 And the
LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is
thy countenance fallen?
Genesis 4:7 If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth
at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt
rule over him. Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came
to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his
brother, and slew him.
A. God
Promised Cain In Spite Of Cain’s Anger
1. Cain would be accepted “If he “doest well”
2. That obviously means “Obey God’s Word”
B. But If Cain Continued In Rebellion, He Would Become the
“seed of the serpent”
1. Sin “lieth at the door” – “Lieth”, Rabats literally means “couched”
2. The desires of sin would be Cain’s desire
3. Cain would become the “seed of the serpent”, using sin as his obedient servent
4. Notice the similarity to Genesis 3:16
C. Cain Talked
With his Brother In The Field
D. Why Did
Cain Rise Up And Kill Abel?
I John
E. The “seed
of the serpent” Very Quickly Struck At The Seed Of The
Woman
1. He first corrupted her first son
2. He then killed her second son.
F. The “seed
of the serpent” Was Trying To Prevent The Fulfillment
Of Genesis 3:15
VIII. The Judgment
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?
Genesis
Genesis 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened
her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
Genesis 4:12 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.
A. This Time
Cain Did Not Go To The Place Of Sacrifice
B. God Went To
Where Cain Was
C. God asked
Cain where his brother was
D. Cain’s
Response
1. He outright lied too God
2. He questioned God’s right to ask the question
E, God Could
No Longer Deal With Cain In Mercy, But Rather Judgment
F. Cain Had
Been Abel To Stop The Voice Of His Prophesying Brother
G. But Cain
Could Not Stop The Voice Of Abel’s Blood
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. {yet…: or, is yet spoken of}
H. Abel Was A Type Of The “Seed of The Woman”
1. He was righteous before God
2. He died violently at the hand of the “seed of the serpent”
3. Abel’s blood crying is a type of all righteous suffering through the ages
4. The climax was Christ on the cross
a. The very people Christ had called of your father the devil cryed out:
Matthew 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us,
and on our children.
b. Like Cain, they would rather shed innocent blood than obey God’s Word
I. The
1. The Blood Of Christ Speaketh Of Better Things Than That Of Abel
Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than
that of Abel.
2. At the present time it seems like it is a victory for Satan
3. Satan’s defeat is only waiting the Second Coming Of Christ
Romans
J. God
Punishing Cain Is A Type Of The Ultimate Crushing Of The
Serpent’s Head
1. Cain was driven out from the presence of the Lord
Genesis 4:14 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.
2. So will All Those Who Obey Not The Gospel Of Christ
II Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from
the glory of his power;
K. Cain Could
No Longer Produce The Fruits That He Used To Approach
God
1. The Earth
would no longer yield its increase for him
2. Those who
do not believe God’s Word can only produce thorns & thistles