Genesis 4:11-12 reads “And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.”
Close scrutiny of these verses reveal a hidden truth in it. For the very first time in all of history, God pronounces a curse on man. God tells Cain, “And now art thou cursed …” and then tells him that he would need to labor and toil for the produce of the ground and that he shall be a fugitive and vagabond. Even when Adam, Cain’s father, disobeyed God, Adam (the man) was not cursed. Instead God cursed the ground for man’s sake. Then why did God curse Cain?
The answer is hidden in plain sight in this very chapter of the Bible although it warrants a little bit of diving deep to unravel it.
1. Cain was given a chance to do what is right and not let sin rule over him. (Genesis 4:7)
2. Cain willfully chose to ignore God’s warning and opportunity to do right, instead he talked his brother into leading him to slaughter. (Genesis 4:8)
3. Cain acted on his pre-mediated evil thoughts to sin against God and his brother and willfully sinned by murdering his own brother, (not loving his own – 1 John 3:11-12), ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit of God. (Genesis 4:8)
4. Furthermore, when God asked Cain, what he had done, he lied to the Holy God, deserving death as did Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10), instead of admitting (confessing) to his sin. (Genesis 4:9-10).
5. Finally, Cain goes one to counter-question God shrugging off his responsibility without any remorse or penitence. (Genesis 4:9)
But still, did Cain deserve to be cursed? The Bible states that anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit of God commits the unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:31). To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit of God is continued unbelief, rejecting the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God, who convicts the world of
– sin (Cain’s act of committing murder and letting sin rule over him),
– righteousness (found only in Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God, who was slain before the foundation of the World – for Adam, and Cain, and all of mankind) and
– judgment (Cain’s punishment).
Those who reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit have no means to Salvation and are hence accursed. This is why, God has to tell Cain, that cursed he was.
Points to ponder:
After we have the foreknowledge of the Salvation found solely in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, if we continue to keep on sinning willfully, without remorse or repentance, there remains no more sacrifice by which we can be saved, but a fearful looking forward to the indignation of God (Hebrews 10:26-27). For by willfully sinning, we trample the Son of God under our foot, treating the Holy blood of his covenant of love and grace as an unholy thing (Hebrews 10:29).
If we, like Cain
– allow sin to rule over us
– willfully choose to ignore God’s warning and voice
– willfully act on our sinful lusts and desires, ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit
– refuse to admit (confess) when convicted by the Holy Spirit
– shrug off our responsibilities to bring glory to God, without remorse or penitence
then we, like Cain
shall be cursed.
If we love God (Jesus), we shall keep his commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). This means that we shall not let sin rule over us (Genesis 4:7). And any one who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is accursed i.e., let him be Anathema Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22). Let it not be so, that God has to tell of us, “And now art thou cursed.”
Genesis 4:11-12 (KJV)
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
Hebrews 10:26-29 (KJV)
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
John Cherukuri
Thanks Bro for the insight on willful sin and its implication. So I wanted to make a comment.
Does this mean today we as believers dont sometimes sin willfully?. I would be a hypocrite if I say that is not true of me. We know it is wrong but then in our human weakness we sometimes still do sin willfully.
Does that mean we loose salvation ?
I think that sometimes believers sin willfully too but the key is that when that happens u repent and confess your sins and God is faithful and will forgive your sins [1John 1:9].
So it begs a questions what is the difference between true believer that sometimes sins willfully and and unbeliever that sins willfully ?
I believe that when u truly believe in Lord Jesus Christ ie surrendering your life to him, your will to His will and accepting him as the master of your life, then u will no longer are the same person as before[ 2cor 5:17]. Meaning u wont be perfect and bound to sometimes sin willfully , however day-by-day u are moulded into image of Christ [Rom 8:29, Heb 11:40]. So there are times u fall down and Holy Spirit will lift u.
In the case of an unbeliever the Holy Spirit does not dwell inside of him and so it will be not be easy for him to repent of his sins without the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Praise God that I am a sinner [since I still disobey God sometimes] washed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ so I no longer live under the bondage of sin and God is preparing and moulding me into something beautiful.