1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from Yahweh.

Now, here was a conception in sin, the originator of which was the serpent. When therefore, in the "set time" afterwards, "Eve bare Cain," though procreated by Adam, he was of the serpent, seeing that he suggested the transgression which ended in the conception of Cain. In this way, sin in the flesh being put for the serpent, Cain was of that wicked one, the pre-eminent sinner, and the first-born of the serpent's seed.

Elpis Israel 1.3.

Adam, the exiled, propagated himself, and filled the earth at last with a race in his own unhappy position. The race continues to this day, amid all the evils that result from man having to take care of himself instead of living under the open guidance and friendship of his Creator.

Seasons 2.44

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Yahweh had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

"Sin having entered into the world, and, death having passed upon all men" (Rom. v. 12), 

deliverance from death must be according to the Divine prerogative.

1. Deliverance must come through a descendant of the woman.

2. The deliverer must first suffer death.

3. Just as disbelief and disobedience brought condemnation and death, so also deliverance must be by belief and obedience.

Respecting the first condition we read :

I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. IT shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen. iii. 15.)

Interpreting the figures here used, the meaning of the passage is that all descendants of the woman who, like the serpent, lie, dishonour God, and disobey His word will perish. (Are they not called serpents, generation of vipers ? Matt. iii. 7 ; xxiii. 30-33.) And that He who is to finally destroy the power of sin must be a descendant of the woman.

Respecting the second condition, in the light of Apostolic testimony, the covering "coats of skins'' provided for Adam and Eve and the incident recorded respecting the offerings of Cain and Abel, are significant and instructive. Thus we read that:

In process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Yahweh. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock. And of the fat thereof. And Yahweh had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and unto his offering he had not respect, and Cain was very wrath, and his countenance fell. And Yahweh said unto Cain. Why art thou wroth ? and why is thy countenance fallen ? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. (Gen. iv. 3-7. R.v.)

It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. (Heb. x. 4.)

Without shedding of blood is no remission. {Ibid. ix. 22.)

The inevitable inference from these testimonies is that the reason why Abel's offering pleased God was because " the offering of the firstling of his flock and the fat thereof " exhibited faith in the promise of a deliverer from sin, who through death would accomplish that deliverance.

This feature was entirely absent from the offering of Cain, who merely brought the results of his own labours on the field, probably also filled with pride over his own accomplishments.

We can see the embittered controversy which ensued between Cain and Abel (verse 8) resulting in the typical slaughter of the first martyr and the long history of persecuted sons of God by the seed of the serpent from Abel onward to Stephen. (Matt. xxiii. 29-35. Acts vii. 51-53.)

Now just as the offering of Abel exhibited elements pleasing to the Father, so only will He permit the altar fashioned by man in the temple of the age to come to be used after it has been cleansed and sanctified with blood.

The Temple of Ezekiel's prophecy 5.6.7.

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

There will be failures, but let us not blame anyone for them but ourselves. They are danger signals-flaws that show up in testing. The failures show that we have failed to prepare ourselves-failed to apply our heart aright-failed to draw upon the great reservoir of power and wisdom offered through the Scriptures and the Spirit of God.

Let us humbly recognize our failures, and assume full responsibility for them. Then, and then only, is there any hope of overcoming. In whatever circumstances we are placed, let us remember that God is trying us to prove what is in our hearts.

Temptation can be met as Jesus met it-with a simple, powerful, "It is written." An impregnable armor, if we will make the effort required to put it on. And it is effort-long hours of effort and application as long as life continues.

Paul told Timothy that the Scriptures were able to make him wise unto salvation. They were able to provide him with a ready "It is written" to each of the endless problems, trials and temptation that fill the probationary period. But Paul also made it clear that Timothy must

"Meditate upon these things, and give himself wholly to them" (1 Tim. 4:15).

Bro Growcott - BYT 2. 20

14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal 6:7).

The plight of the rejected at the judgement seat will be 'greater than [they] can bear.

...To be exiled with shame into the land of the enemy, and there to be subject to poverty, pain, vagabondism, hunger, pestilence, and death, without hope of deliverance, will doubtless extort from each one the lamentation imputed to Cain,

Herald Feb 1854.

From thy face[s] shall I be hid

That the faces were connected with the cherubim seems unquestionable from other passages of Scripture where cherubim are described. The Lord spoke of them to Moses in the mount. Having commanded him to make an ark, or open chest, overlaid with gold, with a crown along its upper margin, he said,

"Thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold. And thou shalt make two cherubim of beaten gold in the two ends of the mercy seat." In another place, this is explained thus -- "Out of the mercy-seat made he the cherubim on the two ends thereof." Then it is continued, "And the cherubim shalt stretch forth wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces one to another, toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee" (Exod. 25:10-21).

It is probable that the reason why Moses gave no description of them in Genesis was because he intended to speak more particularly when he came to record their introduction into the most holy place of the tabernacle.

In the text above recited, they are described as having wings and faces; and being made out of the same piece of gold as the mercy-seat, upon which they looked down, beholding, as it were, the blood sprinkled upon it; it is evident, they were symbols connected with the institution of atonement for sin through the shedding of blood.

But they were still more significative. They were God's throne in Israel. Hence, the psalmist saith,

"The Lord reigneth; He sitteth between the cherubim."

This throne was erected upon mercy; and for this reason it was that the covering of the ark containing the testimony, the manna (Exod. 16:33; John 6:33), and the resurrected rod (Numb. 17:8; Isaiah 11:1), was styled the Mercy seat, or throne, where the Lord covered the sins of the people.

It was also the Oracle, or place from which God communed with Israel through Moses. "There," said the Lord, "will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

Elpis Israel 1.5.

16 And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

Notwithstanding his crime Cain was permitted to live. But the seed of evil-doers never gets renown. Sooner or later their deeds of villany consign their names to reprobation. God hid His face from Cain, and exiled him from the settlements in Eden. He wandered still further to the East, "and dwelt in the land of Nod." There he founded a city, and called it Enoch. His offspring multiplied, and found out many inventions.

They became wandering tribes, dwelling in tents and tending cattle; others of them, musicians, and artificers in brass and iron. Their women were beautiful, and, as the descendants of Cain, untrained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, were vain in their imaginations, and demoralising in their associations.

Elpis Israel 1.4.

26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of Yahweh.

Seth's descendants in the direct line ended in Noah and Japheth at the time of the flood. His posterity, in this and the collateral branches, multiplied considerably, but for a time constituted a separate community from the progeny of Cain. During the lifetime of Enos, son of Seth, "they began to call themselves by the name of the Lord," or "sons of God" (Gen. 4:26; 6:2): while the faithless and corrupt worshippers of the land of Nod, were simply styled "men."

Elpis Israel 1.4.