Class Notes: 3/18/2009

Eph 4:27 Cain gave the devil a place in his soul and was destroyed

We are discussing the mandate of the PPOG that is found in Eph 4:27; where we find a command for defensive action in the spiritual life, in the words " And do not give the devil an opportunity".

The mandate comes from the Greek words "mede didomi" "mede" is translated "do not" and the word translated "give " is "didomi" the second person plural active imperative of "didote" that means to "cause to happen" to "grant or to allow "

The Greek word translated opportunity is "topos", and it means a place or a room or space that can be occupied. In the context it is referring to a place or room in your soul that can be occupied by the devil's lies and propaganda that are the source of deception. Rev 12:9;

So the verse is warning us not to make any room in our soul for the thoughts that are promoted by the devil, or his kosmos system that comprise the kingdom of darkness.

The space that is to be denied the devil and his kosmos are the arrogant mental attitude sins that become motivational evil that eventually leads to functional evil that is the product of the kosmic system.

When one is proud, jealous, vindictive, afraid, bitter, angry, unforgiving, or immersed in self-pity and guilt, one "gives the devil an opportunity".

We saw that just as Bible Doctrine gives the rooms of the soul pleasure and freedom, a lack of doctrine in those rooms leaves space for the devil and produces slavery and bondage.

The demonstration of just what the rooms of the soul contain is provided when the person is placed under pressure.

Last time we saw how Job passed the testing that God permitted and we are now looking a how Cain failed the test that was the result of his arrogant self absorption that led him to function in self justification and anger.

Gen 4:5; Cain is operating in a status of unbelief. His jealousy and zeal for the wrong thing move him toward anger and self-deception. He becomes angry with the Lord for accepting Abel's sacrifice instead of his.

Cain has deluded himself into believing that his sacrifice is as good as Abel's and that it should be accepted. His anger with the Lord turns to hatred when he learns that the Lord has no intention of accepting his offering.

Gen 4:6; -Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why is your countenance fallen?

v7 "If you do well ( orient and adjust to divine mandates ) will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well (do not orient and adjust), sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."

Cain's status in the Adamic family was based on the Old Testament principle of primogeniture that established that the exclusive right of inheritance as belonging to the eldest son.

This means that as first-born son, Cain would become the head of the household and the patriarchal priest at Adam's death.

When the sacrifices were conducted according to schedule, Cain believed that his vegetable sacrifice was equal with or superior to Abel's animal sacrifice.

When the Lord rejected Cain's sacrifice before the entire family it resulted in an inner resentment that was reflected by the expression on his face because "his countenance fell".

God knew that Cain was operating in mental attitude sin when in verse 6 He asks Cain why he was resentful. The Lord did not need to know the answer to the question as omniscience already knew. The line of questioning was designed to alert Cain to his sins.

In addition, the Lord gives Cain an analysis of his thinking by saying If you do well, that means that he must bring the required sacrifice, and it will be accepted. However, if you do not bring the right sacrifice then you have gone into locked-in negative volition and you have given Satan a place in your soul and are being controlled by satanic influence.

This is the warning of the last half of Gen 4:7b; "If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."

This is the opportunity for Cain to believe in Messiah, bring the appropriate sacrifice and assume his rightful place as priest designate of the family.

The language that is used in the passage can be interpreted in more than one way.

The word for sin that is used is the Hebrew word "chattath that can mean "sin" or "sin offering"



This word can be interpreted either way, the Lord is therefore putting a challenge before Cain's volition.... Cain therefore must make a choice.

If it is translated as "sin," it refers to Cain's decision to violate the divine mandate, by bringing vegetables instead of the prescribed animal sacrifice.

If it is translated as "sin offering" it refers to the opportunity Cain has to repent, or change his mind, and bring the appropriate offering.

In other words, the Lord in Grace is offering Cain the opportunity to make another sacrifice that is proper. This is in keeping with his policy of always providing grace before judgment.

The options are brought out by the Hebrew verb "ravas" that is translated "crouching" in the NASV & NIV or "lieth" in the KJV) " that means to "crouch" or "lurk" in preparation for an attack.

The real issue for Cain is a change of mental attitude towards the Messiah that will result in his redemption from which will emerge the desire to bring the appropriate sacrifice under the principle of Phil 2:13;

However, if Cain does not choose well, then satan has established his place in Cain and satanic influence lies at the door of his stream of conscience and he will move into intensified bitterness and implacability as the passage will demonstrate.

The next key word is "desire," that is translated from the Hebrew verb "teshuqa" that means"desire" or "longing"

On the one hand, "desire" refers to Satan's objective to capture the thinking of Cain and establish a place in him in order to influence him into committing even greater sins and evil as he rejects God.

Having voluntarily rejected truth, Cain will have no alternative but to function in life dependent upon the lie. This leads to a lifestyle of error, degeneration and ultimate destruction.

We have seen that Peter speaks of this in 1Peter 5:8; where he says "Be of sober spirit. Become vigilant. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

Peter's observation refers to the danger faced by the believer who is out of fellowship because of their failure to confess known sin.

The application to Cain is that he has been given an opportunity to believe in Messiah and forewarned that should he fail to do so, Satan will seize the opportunity to co-opt him into his evil scheme and use Cain to attack the line to the Messiah.

Gen 4:7; The word "desire" can also refer to the motivation behind the sacrifice, that is depicted in context as a lamb from the flocks but, as a type, it is representative of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The Lord is offering Cain a gracious second chance to go positive and then demonstrate that decision by bringing the appropriate sacrifice.

The issue before Cain can only be resolved by his own free will that is stated in the words "… but you must master it." The word "master" is the Qal future of the Hebrew verb "mashal " that refers to superior rank.

Cain has free will and has the power and the authority to make the right choice and thereby take the responsibility to rule over the evil desires of his OSN. Consequently, the primary meaning refers to fact that Cain is an unbeliever who is under the satanic influence of Satan.

The secondary inference is that this does not need to continue. If Cain takes control over his own soul he can "master" his sinful desires, believe that Messiah is his Savior, and bring in the approved animal sacrifice

These two options are expressed a paraphrase of the verse:

"If you do well by bringing the required sacrifice, will not your change of mind be demonstrated in your facial expression and I will accept your sacrifice? And if you do not do well, then sin crouches at the door like a roaring lion, as does the required sacrifice of the lamb which is a type of the Messiah, both of whom desire that you respond to them, but you must make the final decision by using your volition to control your OSN by submitting to the divine mandate."

This places Cain at a crossroads will he give a place or opportunity to the Devil or will he give a place to TLJC and Bible Doctrine.

We see that Cain chose for the devil and in verse 8 we find the record of the first murder in human history:

Gen 4:8; And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel and killed him.

The Masoretic text of Gen 4:8 that is a Hebrew manuscript, written between b.c. 600-1000 does not reveal what Cain told Abel, but several translations do.

These include the Samaritan Pentateuch written by the Jewish Diaspora in Assyria, written around 721 b.c., the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, written around 200 b.c., the Syriac Version, the Latin Vulgate, the Targum that is an Aramaic translation, and the Latin translations of biblical scholar, Jerome written around a.d. 345-419.

According to these manuscripts, the text reads, "And Cain said to his brother, 'Let us go in the field.'" The word for "field" is the Hebrew noun" sadeh".

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament defines "sadeh" as an open field, pastureland, unfrequented country that is exposed to violence, to wild beasts or open country.

The anger of Cain was that was at first directed toward the Lord for rejecting his sacrifice has now advanced into intensified bitterness toward Abel because his sacrifice had been accepted by the Lord.

Cain's anger moves into hatred, bitterness, implacability, revenge motivation and revenge tactics. With this line of thinking, violence and abuse are set to follow, ending in murder.

All this is because Cain became self-absorbed in his arrogant insistence that his sacrifice was as good as Abel's even though the mandate of God clearly defined the appropriate sacrifice.

The rejection by the Lord plus the Lord's instruction about "doing well," the insinuation that the "sacrifice of the lamb" was preferable to his vegetable offering and the comment about "getting control of his sin nature" was more than Cain could bear.

So instead of being motivated to repent or change his thinking, because of his locked in arrogance, Cain instead gave a larger place in his soul to the Devil and descended into intensified self- pity and bitterness that resulted in a plan to murder Abel.

He has decided upon a plan that will enable him to vent his anger toward both the Lord and his brother while at the same time doing the bidding of Satan by cutting off the line of Messiah that will result in his going completely over to the dark side and becoming an emissary of the devil,

The circumstances in context suggest that Cain asked his brother to take him out into one of Abel's pastures where animals were available. There they would obtain the proper animal and Abel would teach him how to perform a proper sacrifice.

Abel obviously went along with the idea and took a sacrificial knife with him. Cain's plot was to take Abel out into the pasture away from everyone and perform the ultimate sacrifice.

We get the details regarding this from 1John 3:11; This is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; v. 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous

The words "slew" and "slay" in verse 12 are the third person singular, aorist active indicative of the Greek verb "sphazo" that means "to slay an animal," "to slaughter," "to kill," "to murder."

The complete picture of Cain's lethal act against his brother is brought out by the etymology of this verb. From The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 7. Pages 925-26: sphazo Means "to slay an animal." Usually by stabbing or slitting the throat.

The description of a sacrifice in Homer's Odyssey, shows that " sphazo" refers to simply opening the artery that once done, the blood spurts out. the stem of "sphazo" is "sfag" or" sphag that means ""knife," or "sword."

In antiquity the carotid artery of sacrificial or slaughtered animals was slit. In general the "pater familias" or head of the household makes the offering when it is in the family setting.

From this we can see that Cain plotted to deceive his brother. Since he is now in concert with the "father of lies," he is easily able to carry off his deception.. He lures his brother out into one of his pastures and pretends to want instruction on how to properly execute the sacrificial slaughter of an animal.

Abel obliges and after an explanation and an example, Cain decides he wants to try his hand. After taking the sacrificial knife from his brother, rather than slicing the carotid of the animal, he turns instead on Abel and slits his aorta.

This is the height of arrogance. He has taken Abel to a high place in the middle of one of his pastures and murders his own brother.

Cain is in effect publicly rejecting the Lord's offer of grace. In order to make a mockery of the required blood sacrifice he insults the Lord by offering in a mock ritual the ultimate sacrifice of a human being.

He insults his own father, Adam by assuming the position of "head of the family" when he slays his brother in the mock sacrifice.

This betrayal of his own brother is a warning that no one is immune from the impulses of another person's OSN when they are driven by jealousy, anger, hatred, and bitterness.

It was the first of many of the subsequent fulfillments of the prophecy found in Gen 3:15;"I will put enmity between you (satan) and the woman ( true humanity ), and between your seed ( unregenerate mankind ) and her seed ( the Messiah in the Incarnation of TLJC ); it ( the Seed the Messiah ), shall bruise your head ( the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ at the Second Advent ), and you shall bruise His heel ( spiritual death caused by the imputation of all human sins and their subsequent judgment ).""I will put enmity between … your seed (Cain) and her seed (Messiah)," in this case the line of Messiah which was through Abel

In Cain, the seed of the woman had already become the seed of the serpent; and in his deed the real nature of the wicked one, as "a murderer from the beginning," had become open to light.

This event is the start of the demonstration of the contrast between two distinct seeds within the human race, that runs through the entire history of humanity on the earth.

Gen 4:8; And Cain told Abel his brother, "Let us go in the field." And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel and murdered him with the same knife his brother used in executing the prescribed animal sacrifice.

Gen 4:9-11: The Lord then questions Cain regarding Abel's murder and pronounces a curse on him as punishment.

Gen4:12; - "When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth."

Because Cain is caused to become a vagabond unable to work the soil for a living, he enters into self-pity. This over-emphasis on self leads to a mental attitude of fear. Thus, he moves aimlessly about, separated from family and society, and motivated by a constant fear of retribution.

Assuming himself to be a constant target of a reckoning, he is always on the move as a fugitive.

Gen 4:12 When you cultivate the ground, it shall not gather in (seed) to give you its strength. You shall be caused to become a vagabond ( to be homeless and wander aimlessly from place to place ) and you will be a fugitive ( because of your fear of retribution ) on the earth.

In Gen 4:14; Cain expresses this fear, "Whoever finds me will murder me." In response the Lord establishes a principle of establishment law: the prohibition of vigilante justice.

Gen 4:15; Consequently, the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever murders Cain shall be punished seven-fold." Consequently, the Lord established for Cain a mark that no one finding him should murder him ( without suffering punishment).

The penalty clause of capital punishment was not instituted into establishment law until after the flood in Gen 9:6; Prior to the flood, the Lord executed all judgment.

Although Cain was destined to have no destiny, he did have children, who went on to establish the ante-diluvian civilization as recorded in Genesis 4:16-24.

The paragraph begins with the banishment of Cain away from his home and family.

Gen 4:16; Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden

This verse's English translation could cause one to ask that If Cain was destined to be a vagabond and a fugitive, how is it that he settled in a specific geographic location called "Nod"

The answer is that he did not. The verb "settled" in the NASV and "dwelt" in the KJV is the verb "to be," and is best translated by the NIV as "lived."

Cain "lived in the land of Nod." that literally means the place of wandering for an aimless fugitive."

This was the result of Cain's permitting the devil to have a place or opportunity in his soul. The contrast between Job and Cain could hardly be any greater in time Cain lost everything and Job was given double what he had lost and in eternity Job will be in heaven and Cain the lake of fire.

Job obeyed the mandate Eph 4:27: not to give the devil a place or opportunity and Cain did not.


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