11 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 A lso for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—23 t herefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Cain Murders Abel
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Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to
G E N E S I S 4:9 pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 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.” 8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; a and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 4:8 a Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate add “Let us go out to the field.”
F ocus
• G e n . 3:22–2 4 God Limits E vil
By breaking God’s rules, the first couple gained a heartbreaking new knowledge. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve, who had known only good, came to know evil. One of the first results of their newfound knowledge was that they no longer lived unashamed of themselves as creatures made in God’s image. They sensed their nakedness and immediately covered their bodies (Gen. 3:7; compare 2:25). Self-hatred was a sad gain, and it was only the beginning of humanity’s trouble for acting on the serpent’s deception. Soon the loss of respect for God’s ways and for human dignity led to evil running rampant in God’s good creation (6:5, 6). God refused to let evil go unchecked. His response to the intrusion of sin into His world and into the lives of human beings was to limit evil. God imposed several restraints:
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He provided clothing, perhaps to limit lust and sexual abuses (3:21). He drove Adam and Eve from the garden, cutting them off from the Tree of Life and thus preventing them from living forever in a fallen condition (3:22–24). He prevented the first murderer, Cain, from continuing to farm and reap the benefits of the earth, perhaps to keep him from exploiting its resources to cause further destruction (4:11, 12). He sent a flood to halt the wickedness of Noah’s generation, preserving Noah and his family to repopulate the earth from an obedient people (6:1–22). After the Flood, He limited what Noah and his descendants could eat and established a penalty for murder and perhaps for other interpersonal abuses (9:1–7).
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When evil again gained momentum and the people of Babel banded together to establish their supremacy over the rest of the world, God frustrated their plans by confusing their language and halting their plan to build a tower (11:1–9).
Each instance of God limiting evil reveals the Creator as a kind and benevolent Sovereign who intervenes to protect His creation and prevent people from succumbing to wickedness and destroying themselves. From our perspective, God’s ways may seem severe. But He knows better than we do (Is. 55:8, 9). He will not allow evil to completely undo what He loves and wishes to redeem. God’s actions give us reason for hope in a world crying with pain, violence, and immorality. Evil and wickedness may seem out of control. But the Bible continually reminds us of God’s intervening love, urging us to persevere (Heb. 10:35–39; James 1:2– 4), give thanks in the midst of every circumstance (Col. 3:17; 1 Tim. 4:4, 5), and act as salt to preserve good and as light to show others the glory of God (Matt. 5:13–16). M o r e: One of the immediate effects of sin was to produce destructive family patterns. For an overview of family dysfunction in Genesis, see “Family Expectations” at Gen. 42:36. The Book of Job presents a revealing example of God placing restraints on evil. See especially Job 1:12; 2:6.
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