As I was studying and praying for Sunday’s sermon, I noticed a few things about the passage we are looking at this coming (June 17, as I write this) Sunday. I am always amazed at the Word of God. Time and time again I read old, familiar passages and find something I have never seen before. Indeed, there are great depths to God’s Word.

First, I’d like to consider Eve’s first recorded words after the couple’s expulsion from the Garden In Genesis 4:1, we read this: With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man. On the one hand, this comment seems very positive as Eve appears to acknowledge God’s help in enabling her to have a child who might possibly be the promised “seed” that would deal with Satan (3:15).

However, there is another way to read this sentence. Cassuto, in his Commentary on the Book of Genesis, offers this verse in a less positive light when he translates it like this: I have created a man equally with the Lord. What Eve is saying, if the latter view is correct, which I believe it to be, is that just as the Lord created a man, so now she has created a man. The reason I believe that Eve was boasting rather than rejoicing is, first, there appears to be a recurring theme throughout the book of Genesis of man attempting to gain God’s promised blessing by his own effort. Time and again, we see God promising to bless man and we see man pushing God aside in order to get that blessing his own way. The story of the building of Babylon in chapter 11 comes to mind, but we need look no further than the first sin ever committed. Adam and Eve wished wisdom, which God surely would have given them had they only asked. Our God, as James would teach thousands of years later, withholds no good thing from His children. Yet they sought wisdom by being disobedient; they sought wisdom by their own means and suffered for it. In the story of Cain and Abel that same theme continues and Cain sought to approach God and receive His blessing on his own terms.

Here we see, in Eve, continuation of the same sin. She had assumed that she had “obtained” the man who would crush the serpent’s head; she had assumed that she had produced a man equal to God’s creation.

The second reason I believe Eve was boasting is Eve’s later statement regarding the birth of Seth: God has granted me another child in place of Abel, verse 25. Again the stress on the fact that she provided the man. This new man was to replace Abel, not Cain. This suggests that Eve had placed her hope in Abel, not Cain and not the Lord.

Indeed, Eve’s situation and attitude is not far removed from that of Sarah, is it not? Abraham had been promised a large posterity and Sarah, who was barren, sought to bring about this miracle by giving her servant, Hagar, to Abraham to get the ball rolling, so to speak.

So, it is my contention that Eve’s words here give expression to her confidence in her ability to fulfill the promise of 3:15.

Second, is a consideration of Cain. How we view Cain is dependent on how we understand verses 13 and 14. In verse 13, we read this: My punishment is more than I can bear. On the surface, it appears as though Cain is almost complaining to God about God’s punishment, especially when we read verse 14. But, is this the correct, or only understanding of verse 13? First, we need to understand the the Hebrew word translated “punishment” in the NIV and most modern translations has another, more frequently used translation. In fact, the word is “woni,” and almost always means “iniquity” or “guilt.” Only occasionally does it mean “punishment.” The early versions of Scripture understood it to mean the former, not the latter. In other words, Cain is not complaining about his punishment, but rather is owning up to and bemoaning his extreme guilt. And so, as the footnote in the Amplified Bible and other versions read, Cain said this: My guilt is too great to bear.

The notion that this alternate translation is the correct rendering is further buttressed by verse 15, in which we read the Lord’s response to Cain. It is full of compassion and mercy and protection and suggests that the Lord understood Cain’s words as those spoken by a repentant sinner. Granted, by themselves they do not necessarily indicate a repentant heart, but taken with God’s response (basically, if anybody kills you , I will kill them) implies that Cain’s words of verse 13 are indeed words of remorse if not repentance.

Third, is the infamous “mark of Cain.” Cain was marked by God. Today, when we hear the phrase “the mark of Cain,” it carries with it a negative connotation, like “the Scarlet Letter.” Yet was the mark of Cain something bad? On the contrary, the mark of Cain identified Cain as one of God’s own. The mark of Cain was God’s symbol of divine protection. Nobody could mess with Cain, and if they did, God would deal with them harshly. In fact, there is a New Testament parallel to the mark, and it is the special seal which is given each and every believer: the Holy Spirit. We are told in the NT that believers are sealed. Cain was also sealed; marked by God as belonging to God, as being God’s possession.

No doubt this goes against the grain of many sermons some of you have heard in the past. Perhaps it is time we all started reading the Bible for the first time, again.