The Goodness of God
In Genesis 4, God gives us a portrait of a righteous man and unrighteous man through Abel and Cain, but more importantly, He is providing us glimpses of His character as well. Here are 5 characteristics of God that I see in this passage.
1. He seeks to draw man to Himself and to teach man His ways.
As I grew up reading this passage, one question that would always come to mind was “How did Abel know to give a sacrifice to God?” Since God’s ways are higher than ours, and we are inclined toward sin, we have to come to the conclusion that God taught them what to do, whether he instructed them personally, or taught Adam and Eve who then taught their sons. Later in this passage God is conversing with Cain telling him the way to be right, so we see God seeking Cain out teaching Him the path to righteousness. The psalmist says in Psalm 16 that God “reveals the path of life.” God shows us the way to righteousness. He has given us His word and when the time was right, He sent Jesus Himself to be the path to God. He did not leave man on his own to figure out how to find his way back to God, because we never could. Instead, God teaches us for our benefit and leads us in the way we should go (Isaiah 48:17).
2. He is kind.
God “disciplines the one he loves” (Proverbs 3:12) so when Cain gave an offering that was not pleasing, God disciplined Cain and gave him a chance to repent and do better. Paul tells us in the New Testament that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). We see that God wants Cain to be in right relationship with Him and He desires for Cain to place his trust in Him. Even at the very end of the account, God is gracious in Cain’s punishment.
3. He is slow to anger.
Even after God gave Cain another chance, Cain doesn’t heed the warning and murders Abel. God could have and would have had every right to say “I told you so.” We might even agree that Cain should have incurred the wrath of God. But God, a second time, goes to Cain to converse with him. In asking Cain “where is your brother?” God is giving Cain an opportunity to confess and repent. The Bible says over and over that God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in faithful love (Exodus 34:6-7, Psalm 86:15 to name a few). If you look at this story, and jump right to Cain’s punishment and see a wrathful God, you are missing the patience, compassion, and kindness of God toward Cain.
4. He is not willing that anyone should perish.
2 Peter 3:9 provides us the insight that God is patient to bring judgment because He is not willing that anyone should perish, but wants all to come to repentance. God gave Cain opportunities to repent, but Cain rejected these opportunities. I think when God asks “What have you done?” I don’t think it’s in reference to the murder. I think God is lamenting that Cain has rejected Him. And let’s be clear, it is for Cain’s sake He is lamenting; God’s feelings were not hurt by the rejection. But rather, God knew Cain would experience judgment and banishment and this grieved Him.
5. His ways are higher.
Genesis 4 leaves me with so many questions. Why does God give Cain a chance to repent when He knew Cain would murder Abel? Why was God gracious and merciful in Cain’s punishment, considering Cain murdered Abel? These are questions that I won’t get the answers to, but I find comfort in knowing that the Holy God is right and just in all His ways and that I, as a mere human, cannot understand Him. The Lord declared through the prophet Isaiah,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
And your ways are not my ways….
For as heaven is higher than earth,
So my ways are higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts.”
God gave us Scripture to reveal Himself. Yes, it provides wisdom and instruction. It shows us the history of His people. And it is from start to finish the beautiful story of redemption. But Scripture is how we get to know God, how we learn who He is. God reveals Himself on each and every page. And if we look for Him when we read all of Scripture, we will find Him.
