Recall the proclamation against Satan after he deceived Eve in the garden.
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed…” Genesis 3:15
Firstly it is noted that God said, “I will put…” In other words the enmity between Satan and the woman, and his seed and her Seed, would be initiated by God to execute His plan devised from the foundation of the world. Synonyms for ‘enmity’ include hostility, adversarial, hatred, i.e. to be foes.
After Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden clothed in animal skins, they had two sons.
“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD.’ Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Genesis 4:1-2
The two sons were very different. Abel was obedient while Cain was independently headstrong. Both knew God’s desire for animal sacrifices; however, Cain chose to offer what he thought would be more fitting.
“And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry…” Genesis 4:3-5
The term ‘respect’ in the above means to inspect, consider, and then have compassion on. In other words God was well pleased with Abel’s offering of a sacrificial animal, but was not pleased with Cain’s idea of an acceptable offering. As a result Cain was very angry. In Hebrew angry or wroth meant to be incensed or indignant.
God asked Cain why he was angry. He told Cain that if he had obeyed instructions, all would have been well. He went on to say that sin desired to pounce on him but a blood sacrifice would protect and atone for, or expiate his sins.
“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Genesis 4:7
To do well means to be pleasing.
The ‘door’ in the above, in addition to meaning entrance or opening, also means to remove one’s protection.
It might have been expected that Cain would have listened and heeded God’s instructions; however, such was not the case. Cain in his jealousy took revenge on his brother.
“…Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” Genesis 4:8b
Cain was then cursed to be a vagabond and fugitive on the earth. Vagabond and fugitive are synonyms meaning to be a wanderer and/or to flee. He recognized that this curse was a punishment for his sin. The Hebrew for punishment means the results of a depraved action, or perverseness.
It is extremely important to note that Cain left God’s presence and wandered to the east.
“Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16
‘Nod’ means exile or vagrancy. Much more will said about the ‘east’ later.
The first two sons of Adam and Eve represent the enmity between Satan and the woman, and his seed and her Seed. Cain is associated with evil while Abel is considered righteous.
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother…we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” 1 John 3:10-12
The murder of righteous Abel by the seed of the ‘wicked one’ was Satan’s first attempt to destroy the lineage of the Seed of the woman.
The righteous son was killed leaving the son of the devil. The battle of good vs. evil had just begun.