Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
As I was reading commentary on Gen 4 this morning, I was caught off guard when I read “It is likely Eve thought Cain was the seed that God promised, the deliverer who would come from Eve (Gen 3:15).” I totally missed the promise of a Savior in that verse. And the name Cain is so synonymous with evil and murder that my head is spinning just a bit.
Gen 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
I have held a newborn in my arms, heart swelling with pride and promise of all the child might become, yet I have never thought of the Cain who cold-bloodedly killed his brother as a newborn full of untapped potential. And it has never occurred to me that Eve might have held said newborn in her arms thinking, mistakenly, that she was holding the Savior of the world. Did that thought, that hope, translate into how she raised him? Did she show Cain, intentionally or otherwise, favor as he grew? Did she somehow pass on to him an air of entitlement that later translated into pride, arrogance, and anger when God accepted Able’s sacrifice and not Cain’s?
Gen 4:4-5 …The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this new layer of understanding, these new questions and thoughts. I’m not sure what to do with these pieces, Lord. They don’t fit into my religious paradigm, but I know You have placed them before me for a purpose. Help me to sit with this information, to ponder the implications, to lift all of it up to You in prayer and praise. I want to know You better, Lord. I want to praise You fully. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 4:5b …So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Have a blessed day.
My faith, my life, my teaching–it's all a work in progress.