Genesis 4:9 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a full account of the trial and judgment of the first murderer. At this point, there were no human courts set up for such a case, as there were later (Genesis 9:6), so God himself sits as Judge. He is the God to whom vengeance belongs, and he will certainly investigate bloodshed, especially the blood of his saints.

Notice Cain’s accusation. The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” Some think this happened the next Sabbath after the murder, when the sons of God came, as usual, to present themselves before the Lord in worship. Abel was missing, and his place was usually not empty, because the God of heaven notices who comes to public worship and who stays away. Cain is questioned not only because there is strong reason to suspect him, since he had shown hatred toward Abel and was last with him, but also because God already knew he was guilty. Still, God asks so that Cain may confess his sin, since anyone who will be made right before God must accuse himself, and a repentant person will do that.

Now look at Cain’s answer. He pleads not guilty, and then adds rebellion to his sin. First, he tries to cover a planned murder with a deliberate lie: “I do not know.” He knew very well what had happened to Abel, yet he had the boldness to deny it. In Cain, the devil was both a murderer and a liar from the beginning. See how sin blinds the mind and hardens the heart. People are strangely blind when they think they can hide their sins from the God who sees everything, and they are strangely hardened when they think it is better to hide them from the God who forgives only those who confess.

Second, he speaks insultingly to his Judge by asking, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” He should have humbled himself and said, “Am I not my brother’s murderer?” Instead, he speaks as if God had asked something foolish and had no right to demand an answer. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he says, as if Abel were old enough to care for himself and as if he had never had any responsibility for him. Some think Cain is also speaking against God’s providence, as if he were saying, “Are you not his keeper? If he is missing, blame you, not me, since I never agreed to keep him.” A loving concern for our brothers and sisters, as their keepers, is a great duty. It is strongly required, but usually neglected. Those who do not care about the needs of others, and who do nothing when they have a chance to prevent harm to their bodies, property, reputation, and especially their souls, are in effect speaking Cain’s language (Leviticus 19:17; Philippians 2:4).

Then comes Cain’s conviction in Genesis 4:10. God gives no direct answer to his question, but rejects his excuse as false and useless: “What have you done? You treat it as something small, but have you thought about how evil it is, how deep the stain is, and how heavy the guilt is?” Cain thinks he can hide it, but it is pointless, because the evidence against him is clear. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out.” God speaks as if the blood itself were both witness and accuser, because God’s own knowledge testifies against Cain, and God’s own justice demands satisfaction.

Murder is one of the loudest sins of all. Blood calls for blood, the blood of the murdered calling for the blood of the murderer. It cried in the dying words of Zechariah, “The Lord look and require it” (2 Chronicles 24:22), and in the cry of the souls under the altar, “How long, O Lord, holy and true?” (Revelation 6:10). The sufferers themselves prayed for mercy, saying, “Father, forgive them,” but their blood cries for justice. Though they may be silent, their blood keeps crying out, and the righteous God always hears.

The blood is said to cry from the ground, the earth, which is said to have opened its mouth to receive Abel’s blood from Cain’s hand, in verse 11. It is as if the earth blushed to see itself stained with such blood, and so opened its mouth to hide what it could not stop. When heaven exposed Cain’s evil, the earth also rose against him (Job 20:27) and groaned under the curse of corruption (Romans 8:20, Romans 8:22). Cain likely buried the blood and the body to hide his crime, but murder always comes to light. He did not bury them so deep that their cry could not reach heaven.

In the original, the word is plural, “your brother’s bloods.” This may mean not only Abel’s blood, but also the blood of all who might have come from him, or the blood of all the seed of the woman who would later seal the truth with their own blood. Christ speaks of all this as one account (Matthew 23:35), or it may mean that every drop of blood shed is remembered. How good it is for us that the blood of Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). Abel’s blood cried for vengeance, but Christ’s blood cries for pardon.

Now comes Cain’s sentence: “And now you are cursed from the earth” (Genesis 4:11). He is cursed, set apart for evil, and left under God’s wrath, which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness (Romans 1:18). Who can measure the weight of a divine curse, or how far it reaches and how deeply it cuts? When God says a person is cursed, that person is truly cursed. The curse for Adam’s disobedience fell on the ground, “Cursed is the ground for your sake,” but the curse for Cain’s rebellion fell directly on Cain himself: “You are cursed.” God still had mercy in store for Adam, but none for Cain. We all deserve this curse, and only in Christ are believers saved from it and brought into the blessing (Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:13).

He is cursed from the earth. The cry rose to God from the earth, and the curse comes back to Cain from the earth. God could have punished him at once from heaven, by an angel’s sword or a thunderbolt, but instead he chose to make the earth the avenger of blood. He would let Cain remain on the earth, not destroy him immediately, yet still make that earth part of his curse. The earth is always near us, and we cannot escape it. So if it becomes the tool of divine wrath, punishment cannot be avoided. Sin itself brings punishment to our very door. Cain found his punishment where he had chosen his portion and fixed his heart.

We usually expect two things from the earth, and this curse removes both from Cain, support and rest. First, the earth would no longer give him a living. This is a curse on his enjoyment of life, and especially on his work: “When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you.” Every creature is to us what God makes it, either a comfort or a burden, a blessing or a curse. If the earth does not give us its strength, we must admit God’s justice, because we have not given our strength to him. The ground had already been cursed for Adam, but now it was cursed again for Cain.

The part of the ground that Cain worked, and that belonged to him, was made unproductive and painful because of Abel’s blood. The wickedness of the wicked brings a curse on all they do and all they have (Deuteronomy 28:15). That curse makes their lives bitter and leaves them frustrated in everything they try.

Cain was also denied any true settling down on the earth. God said, “You will be a restless wanderer in the earth.” This sentence meant, first, lasting shame and disgrace among other people. It should always be seen as a shameful thing to welcome him, keep company with him, or show him favor. A man who had thrown away all humanity was rightly hated, shunned, and made infamous.

It also meant lasting unrest and fear in his own mind. His guilty conscience would follow him wherever he went and make him a terror to himself. What rest can a person find, or what settled life can he have, when he carries inner trouble with him everywhere? People are bound to wander when they are driven like this.

There is no more restless fugitive on earth than someone constantly chased by his own guilt. There is no worse wanderer than someone ruled by his own lusts. This was Cain’s sentence, and even in it there was mercy, because he was not struck down at once. He was given time to repent, for God is patient with us and does not want anyone to perish.