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An Exposition on the By J O H N.B U N Y A N. First published in 1691, by Charles Doe. An unfinished commentary on the Bible, found among John Bunyan's papers after his death, in his own handwriting. |
CHAPTER IV.
er. 1. "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and
bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord."
Now we are come to the generation of mankind. "Adam knew his wife": A modest
expression; and it should teach us, in all such matters where things are discoursed
of, that are either the fruits of sin, or the proper effects of man's natural infirmities,
there to endeavour the use of such expressions, as neither to provide to lust, nor
infect us with evil and uncivil communication. "Adam knew his wife"; Jacob,
Samson, David, and others, are said to go in unto them. So as to our natural infirmities
of the stool, the scripture expression is, "When thou goest abroad to ease thyself,
thou shalt turn again and cover that which cometh from thee": Modest and bashful
expressions, and such as become the godly, being those that are furthest off of occasioning
evil, and nearest to an intimation, that such infirmities bespeak us infirm and imperfect
creatures.
"And she conceived and bare Cain." The first sprout of a disobedient couple,
a man in shape, but a devil in conditions. This is he that is called elsewhere, The
child "of that wicked one" (1 John 3:12).
"And she said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." If Eve by these words
did only ascribe the blessing of children to be the gift of God, then she spake like
a godly woman; but if she supposed that this man Cain was indeed the seed promised,
then it shows, that she in this was also deceived, and was therein a figure of all
such as make false and strange delusions, signs of the mercy of God towards them:
The man she thought she had got from the Lord as a mercy, and to be a Saviour, he
proved a man of the devil, a curse, and to be a destroyer.
Ver. 2. "And she again bare his brother Abel, And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground."
Observe here, That the good child is not the first-born, but Abel, [a breath] (1
Cor 1:27,28). God often doth as Jacob did, even cross hands, in bestowing blessings,
giving that which is best to him that is least esteemed: For Cain was the man in
Eve's esteem; she thought, when she had him, she had got an inheritance; but as for
Abel, he was little worth; by his name they showed how little they set by him. It
is so with the sincere to this day; they bear not the name of glory with the world:
Cain with them is the profitable son; Abel is of no credit with them, neither see
they form or comeliness in him; he is the melancholy, or lowering child, whose countenance
spoileth the mirth of the world: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mournings;
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Eccl 7:4).
"And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."
By this it seems yet further, that Cain was the man in favour, even him that should,
by his Father's intentions, have been heir, and have enjoyed the inheritance: He
was nurtured up in his father's employment, but Abel was set in the lower rank.
It was also thus with Isaac and Jacob, Ishmael and Esau, being the eldest, and those
that by intention were to be heirs.
Now in the inheritance lay, of old, a great blessing: so that Esau in losing his
father's inheritance, lost also the blessing of grace, and moreover the kingdom of
heaven (Heb 12:16,17). Wherefore Cain had by this the better of Abel, even as the
Jews by their privileges had the better of the Gentiles (Rom 3:1,2). But mark it,
the blessing of grace is not led by outward order, but by electing love: Where the
person then is under the blessing of election, be he the first or the second son,
the highest or lowest in the family, or whether he be more or less loved of his friends,
'tis he that with Abel hath the everlasting blessing.
Ver. 3. "And, in process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit
of the ground an offering unto the Lord."
Mark here, That the devil can suffer his children, in outward forms of worship, to
be godly and righteous men: Cain, a limb of the devil, and yet the first in order
that presents himself and his service to God.
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, as of wheat, oil, honey, or the like; which
things were also clean and good. Hence it is intimated, that his offering was excellent;
and I conceive, not at all, as to the matter itself, inferior to that of Abel's;
for in that it is said that Abel's was more excellent, it is not with respect to
the excellency of the matter or things with which they sacrificed, but with respect
to Abel's faith, which gave glory and acceptableness to his offering with God, "By
faith he offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain" (Heb 11:4).
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof"
&c.
Abel, last in appearance, but in truth the first in grace; as it also is at this
day: Who do so flutter it out as our ruffling formal worshippers? Alas! the good,
the sincere and humble, they seem to be least and last; but the conclusion of the
tragedy will make manifest that the first is last, and the last first; for the many
are but called, the few are chosen.
"And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering." Herein are the
true footsteps of grace discovered; to wit, the person must be the first in favour
with God, the person first, the performance afterwards.
"And the Lord had respect to Abel." But how can God respect a man, before
he respect his offering? A man's gift (saith Solomon)
makes way for him: It should seem therefore that there lies no such stress in the
order of words, but that it might as well be read, "The Lord had respect to
Abel, because he respected his offering."
Answ. Not so: For though it be true among men, that the gift makes way for the acceptance
of the person, yet in the order of grace it is after another manner; for if the person
be not first accepted, the offering must be abominable; for it is not a good work
that makes a good man, but a good man makes a good work. The fruit doth not make
a good tree, but "a good tree bringeth forth good fruit." Make (saith Christ)
the tree good, and his fruit good; or the tree evil, and his fruit evil: Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Had Abel been a thorn, he had not brought
forth grapes; had he been a thistle, he had not brought forth figs. So then, Abel's
person must be first accepted, and after that his works.
Object. But God accepteth no man while he remains a sinner, but all men are sinners
before they do good works, how then could the person of Abel be accepted first?
Answ. Abel was JUST before he did offer sacrifice. Just, I say, in the sight of God.
This God witnessed by testifying of his gift: "By faith Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous":
That is, God by accepting of the gift of Abel, did testify that Abel was a righteous
man; for we know God "heareth not sinners": "The prayers of the wicked
are an abomination unto God." But Abel was accepted, therefore he was righteous
first.
Hence observe, That a man must be righteous before he can do any good work.
Quest. Righteous! "With what righteousness?"
Answ. With the righteousness of faith. And therefore it is said, that Abel had faith
before he offered sacrifice. "By faith he offered" (Heb 11:4). Where faith
is made to precede or go before the work which by faith he offered unto God.
Quest. But are not good works the righteousness of faith?
Answ. They are the fruits of faith: As here in the case of Abel; his faith produced
an offering; but before he gave his offering, his faith had made him righteous; for
faith respects a promise of grace, not a work of mine: Now the promise of grace,
being this, that the seed of the woman, which is Christ, should destroy the power
of the devil; by this Abel saw that it was Christ that should abolish sin and death
by himself, and bring in "everlasting righteousness" for sinners. Thus
believing, he had accepted of Christ for righteousness, which because he had done,
God in truth proclaims him righteous, by accepting of his person and performances
when offered.
Abel then presented his person and offering, as shrouding both, by faith, under the
righteousness of Christ, which lay wrapped up in the promise; but Cain stands upon
his own legs, and so presents his offering. Abel therefore is accepted, both his
person and his offering, while Cain remains accursed.
Ver. 5. "But unto Cain, and to his offering, he [the Lord] had not respect.
And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."
Mark: As first Abel's person is accepted, and then his offering; so first Cain's
person is rejected, and afterwards his offering: For God seeth not sin in his own
institutions, unless they be defiled by them that worship him; and that they needs
must, when persons by[18] themselves offer sacrifice to God, because
then they want the righteousness of faith.
This then made the difference betwixt Abel and his brother; Abel had faith, but Cain
had none. Abel's faith covered him with Jesus Christ, therefore he stood righteous
in his person before God: This being so, his offering was accepted, because it was
the offering of one that was righteous.
"But unto Cain, and to his offering, the Lord had not respect." Hence note,
That a Christless man is a wicked man, let him be never so full of actions that be
righteous; for righteous actions make not a righteous man, the man himself must first
be righteous.[19]
Wherefore, though Cain was the eldest, and first in the worship; yet Abel was the
wisest, and the most acceptable therein.
"And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." From these words it
may be gathered, that Cain had some evident token from the observation of God's carriage
towards both himself and brother; that his brother was smiled upon, but he rejected:
He was wroth: wroth with God, and wroth with his brother. And indeed, before the
world hate us, they must needs hate Jesus Christ: "It hated me [saith he] before
it hated you" (John 15:18). He was wroth: and why? Wroth because his sacrifice
was not accepted of God: And yet the fault was not in the Lord, but Cain: He came
not before the Lord, as already made righteous with the righteousness of Christ,
which indeed had been doing well, but as a cursed wicked wretch, he thought that
by his own good works he must be just before the Lord.
The difference therefore that was between these worshippers, it lay not in that they
worshipped divers gods, but in that they worshipped the same God after a diverse
manner: The one in faith, the other without; the one as righteous, the other as wicked.
And even thus it is between us and our adversaries: We worship not divers gods, but
the same God in a diverse manner: We according to faith; and they according to their
OWN INVENTIONS.[20]
"And Cain was wroth." This further shows us the force of the law, and the
end of those that would be just by the same; namely, That in conclusion they will
quarrel with God; for when the soul in its best performances, and acts of righteousness,
shall yet be rejected and cast off by God, it will fret and wrangle, and in its spirit
let fly against God. For thus it judgeth, That God is austere and exacting; it hath
done what it could to please him, and he is not pleased therewith. This again offendeth
God, and makes his justice curse and condemn the soul. Condemn it, I say, for imagining
that the righteousness of a poor, sinful, wretched creature, should be sufficient
to appease eternal justice for sin. Thus the law worketh wrath, because it always
bindeth our transgression to us, and still reckoneth us sinners, and accursed, when
we have done our utmost to answer and fulfil it (Rom 4:15).
"And his countenance fell." However, an hypocrite, while God forbeareth
to smite him, may triumph and joy in his goodness; yet when God shall pronounce his
judgment according as he approve of his act, he needs must lower and fall in his
countenance; for his person and gift are rejected, and he still counted a sinner.
Ver. 6. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen?"
These words are applied to Cain, for a further conviction of his state to be miserable.
"Why art thou wroth?" Is it because I have not accepted thy offering? This
is without ground, thy person is yet an abomination to me: Must I be made by thy
gift, which is polluted, for and by thy person, to justify thee as righteous? Thou
hast not yet done well. Wherefore, Cain had no cause to be wroth; For God rejected
only that which was sinful, as was both his person, and gift for the sake thereof:
Neither had he grounds to lift up his looks on high, when he came to offer his sacrifice;
because he came not as a man in a justify'd state. But "there is a generation
that are pure in their ow eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There
is a generation, - O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up"
(Pro 30:12,13). Such an one, or the father of these, was Cain; he counted himself
clean, and yet was not washed; he lifted up his looks on high, before he was changed
from his iniquity.
Ver. 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." "If thou do well." Why, is not worshipping of God, well-doing?
It may, and may not, even as the person that worships is found. If he be found righteous
at his coming to worship, and if he worship according to rule, then he does well,
then he is accepted of God; but if he be not found righteous before, be you sure
he cannot do well, let the matter with which he worshippeth be wrong or right. "Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" (John 14:4). Let Cain be clean,
and his offering will be clean, because brought to God in a vessel that is clean;
but if Cain be unclean, all the holy things he toucheth, or layeth up in his skirt,
it is made unclean by the uncleanness of his person: "And so is this nation
before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands, and that which they
offer there is unclean" (Haggai 2:11-14).[21]
Men therefore ought to distinguish between doing and well-doing, even in the worship
of God. All that worship do not do well, though the matter of worship be good in
itself. Cain's offering you find not blamed, as if it had been of a superstitious
complexion; but he came not aright to worship. Why? he came not as one made righteous
before. Wherefore, as I have already touched, the difference that lay between the
gifts of Abel and Cain, was not in the gifts themselves, but the qualifications of
the persons. Abel's faith, and Cain's works, made God approve and reject the offering:
"by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain": For,
as I said, Faith in Christ, as promised to come, made him righteous, because thereby
he obtained "the righteousness of God"; for so was Christ in himself, and
so to be to him that by faith received and accepted of him: This, I say, Abel did;
wherefore now he is righteous or just before God. This being so, his offering is
found to be an offering of Abel the just, and is here said to obtain witness even
of God, that he was righteous, because he accepted his gift.
Wherefore, he that does well must first be good: "He that doeth righteousness
is [must first be] righteous" (1 John 3:7). He is righteous first; he is righteous
even as Christ is righteous, because Christ himself is the righteousness of such
a person. And so on the contrary; the reason why some men's good deeds are accursed
of God, it is because in truth, and according to the law, the Lord finds sin in them;
which sins he cannot pardon, because he finds them not in Christ. Thus they being
evil for want of the righteousness of the Son of God, they worship God as sinners,
according to that of the apostle, Because they are not good, therefore they do not
good, no, not one of them (Rom 3:10-12).
The way therefore to do well, it is first to receive the mercy of God in Christ;
which act of thine will be more pleasing to the Divine Majesty, than all whole burnt-offerings
and sacrifices: "I will have mercy [saith God] I will have mercy, and not sacrifice"
(Matt 9:13; 12:7). This Cain did not understand, therefore he goes to God in his
sins, and without faith in the mercy of God through Christ, he offereth his sacrifice.
Wherefore because his sacrifice could not take away his sin, therefore it still abode
upon him.
But "if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." This reasoning therefore
was much to Cain's condition; he would be wroth, because God did not accept his offering,
and yet he did not well: Now, if he had done well, God, by receiving of his brother's
sacrifice, shows, he would have accepted him; for this is evident, they were both
alike by nature; their offerings also were in themselves one as holy as the other:
How then comes it to pass that both were not accepted, they both offered to God?
Why, Abel only sacrificed well, because he first by faith in Christ was righteous:
This because Cain wanted, "sin abideth at his door."
"And to thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." That is
if sin abideth at thy door still, to thee shall be his desire; he shall love, pity,
pray for thee, and endeavour thy conversions; but thou shalt be lord over him, and
shalt put thy yoke upon his neck. This was Jacob's portion also; for after Esau had
got head, he broke Jacob's yoke from off his neck, and reigned by nineteen or twenty
dukes and princes, before there was any king in Israel (Gen 27:40).
It is the lot of Cain's brood, to be lords and rulers first, while Abel and his generation
have their necks under persecution; yet while they lord it, and thus tyrannically
afflict and persecute, our very desire is towards them, wishing their salvation:
While they curse, we bless; and while they persecute, we pray.
Ver. 8. "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they
were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."
When Cain saw that by God's judgment Abel was the better worshipper, and that himself
must by no means be admitted for well-doing, his heart began to be more obdurate
and hard, and to grow into that height of desperateness, as to endeavour the extirpating
of all true religion out of the world; which it seems he did, by killing his brother,
mightily accomplish, until the days of Enos; for "then began men [again] to
call upon the name of the Lord" (v 26).
Hence see the spite of the children of hell against God: They have slain thy prophets,
and digged down thine altars (1 Kings 19:10). If they may have their wills, God must
be content with their religion, or none; other they will not endure should have show
within their reach, but with Cain, will rather kill their brother; or with the Pharisees,
kill their Lord; and with the evil kings of old, will rather kill their sons and
subjects. That the truth, I say, may fall to the ground, and their own inventions
stand for acceptable sacrifices, they will not only envy, but endeavour to invalidate
all the true worship and worshippers of God in the world; the which if they cannot
without blood accomplish, they will slay and kill till their cruelty hath destroyed
many ten thousands, even as Cain, who slew his brother Abel.[22]
And Cain talked with his brother. He had not a law whereby to arraign him, but malice
enough, and a tongue to set all on fire, of which no doubt, by the goodly replies
of his brother, was easily blown up into choler and madness, the end of which was
the blood of his brother.
"And Cain talked with Abel," &c. To wit, about the goodness and truth
of his religion. For that the New Testament seems to import, he slew him "because
his works were righteous" (1 John 3:12); which Abel, no doubt, had justified
before his brother, even then when he most set himself to oppose him. Besides this,
the connection of the relation importeth, he talked with him, he slew him; he talked
with him and slew him, purely upon a religious account, because his works were righteous.
Hence note, That when wicked men have the head in the world, professors had need
be resolved to hazard the worst, before they do enter debate with ungodly men about
the things that pertain to the kingdom of God. For behold here, words did not end
in words, but from words came blows, and from blows blood. The counsel therefore
is, "That you sit down first, and count up the cost," before ye talk with
Cain of religion (Luke 14:27-33). "They make a man an offender for a word, and
lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing
of nought" (Isa 29:21).
"And Cain talked with Abel his brother." With Abel his only brother, who
also was a third part of the world. But tyrants matter nothing, neither nearness
of kin, nor how much they destroy: "The brother shall betray the brother to
death," &c.
"And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against
Abel his brother, and slew him." When they were in the field, from home, out
of the sight, and far from the help of his father: Subtle persecutors love not to
bite, till they can make their teeth to meet; for which they observe their time and
place. Joseph was also hated of his brethren, but they durst not meddle till they
found him in the field (Gen 37:15). Here it is also that the holy virgin falleth:
He found her in the field,—and there was none to save her (Deut 22:27).
Hence observe again, That be the danger never so imminent, and the advantage of the
adversary never so great, the sincere professor of the truth stands his ground against
wind and weather. Bloody Cain daunted not holy Abel; no, though now he have his advantage
of him (Dan 3:16-18). He rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. "And
wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil," &c. (1 John 3:12).
It is therefore hence to be observed, That it is a sign of an evil way, be it covered
with the name of the worship of God, when it cannot stand without the shedding of
innocent blood. "Wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil."
Had his works been good, they had been accepted of God: He had also had the joy thereof
in his conscience, as doubtless Abel had; which joy and peace would have produced
love and pity to his brother, as it was with his brother towards him; but his works
being evil, they minister to him no heavenly joy, neither do they beget in him love
to his brother; but contrariwise, his heart fill his eye with evil also; which again
provoketh (while it beholdeth the godly carriage of Abel) the heart to more desperate
resolutions, even to set upon him with all his might, and to cut him off from the
earth. Thus the goodness of God's people provoketh to envy the wicked heart of the
hypocrite. As it was betwixt Saul and David; for after Saul had seen that God had
rejected him for his wickedness, the more he hated the goodness of David: "And
Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David" (1 Sam 18:8- 15). "And
Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually"
(v 29).
Ver. 9. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said,
I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"
Cain thought it had been no more but to kill his brother, and his intentions and
desires must needs be accomplished, and that himself should then be the only man.
"Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours" (Mark 12:7).
But stay, Abel was beloved of his God, who had also justified his offering, and accepted
it as a service more excellent than his brother's. So then, because the quarrel arose
between them upon this very account, therefore Abel's God doth reckon himself as
engaged (seeing he is not) to take up his servant's cause himself.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?" A question not
grounded on uncertainty, but proposed as a beginning of further reasoning; and also
to make way to this wicked wretch, to discover the desperate wickedness of his bloody
heart the more. For questions that stand at first afar off, do draw out more of the
heart of another: and also do minister more occasion for matter, than if they had
been placed more near to the matter.
"Where is Abel?" God missed the acceptable sacrifices of Abel; Abel was
dead, and his sacrifices ceased, which had wont to be savoury in the nostrils of
God; Cain could not supply them; his sacrifices were deficient, they were not of
faith. Hence note, that if tyrants should have their will, even to the destroying
of all the remnant of God, their sacrifices and worship would be yet before God as
abominable as they were before.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel?" O dreadful question! The
beginning of Cain's hell, for now God entereth into judgment with him. Wherefore,
however this wretch endeavoured at first to stifle and choke his conscience, yet
this was to him the arrow of death: Abel crieth, but his brother would not hear him
while alive, and now being dead God hears the cry of his blood. "When he maketh
inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble"
(Psa 9:12). Blood that is shed for the sake of God's word, shall not be forgotten
or disregarded of God: "Precious in his sight is the death of his saints"
(Psa 116:15). "And precious shall their blood be in his sight" (Psa 72:14).
"Where is Abel thy brother?" This word, thy brother, must not be left out,
because it doth greatly aggravate his wickedness. He slew "his brother";
which horrid act the very law and bond of nature forbiddeth. But when a man is given
up of God, it is neither this nor another relation that will bind his hands, or make
him keep within the bound of any law. Judas will seek his master's, and Absalom his
father's blood. "Where is Abel thy brother?"
"And he said, I know not." He knew full well what he had done, and that
by his hands his brother's blood was fallen to the ground, but now being called into
question for the same, he endeavoureth to plead ignorance before God. "I know
not." When men have once begun to sin, they know not where they shall end; he
slew his brother, and endeavours to cover his fact with a lie. David also little
thought his act of adultery would have led him to have spilt the blood of Uriah,
and afterwards to have covered all with dissembling lips and a lying tongue (2 Sam
11).
"I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"
This is the way of all ungodly men, they will not abide that guilt should be fastened.
Sin they love, and the lusts and delights thereof, but to count for it they cannot
abide; they will put it off with excuses, or denials: Even like Saul, who though
he had spared the cattle and Agag contrary to the command of God, yet would needs
bear Samuel down, that he had kept, yea "performed the commandment of the Lord"
(1 Sam 15:13,20). But they are denials to no boot, and excuses that will not profit,
that are made to hide the sin of the soul from the sight and judgment of God. Lies
and falsehood will here do nothing.
Ver. 10. "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground."
Poor Cain, thy feeble shifts help thee nothing, thy excuses are drowned by the cries
of the blood which thou hast shed.
"What hast thou done?" the blood of thy brother cries. Beware persecutors,
you think that when you have slain the godly, you are then rid of them; but you are
far wide, their blood which you have shed, cries in the ears of God against you.
O the cries of blood are strong cries, they are cries that reach to heaven; yea they
are cries that have a continual voice, and that never cease to make a noise, until
they have procured vengeance form the hands of the Lord of sabbath (Job 16:18): And
therefore this is the word of the Lord against all those that are for the practice
of Cain: "As I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood and
blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, [that is, hated to shed
it,] even blood shall pursue thee" (Eze 35:6).
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me." The apostle makes this
voice of the blood of Abel, a type of the voice of the justice of the law, and so
extends it further than merely to the act of murder; intimating that he sheds blood,
that breaks any of the commands of God, (and indeed so he doth, "he layeth wait
of his own blood, and privily lurketh for his own life" (Prov 1:18). Wherefore
the apostle compareth the blood of Abel and the blood of Christ together; but so
as by the rule of contraries, making betwixt them a contrary voice, even as there
is between a broken command and a promise of grace, the one calling for vengeance
and damnation; the other calling for forgiveness and salvation; "the blood of
sprinkling it speaketh better things than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:24); that
is, it calls to God to forgive the sinner; but Abel's blood, of the breach of the
law, that cries damn them, damn them. Christ also sets his own blood in opposition
to the blood of all that was shed before him; concluding that the proper voice of
all the blood of the godly, is to call for vengeance on the persecutors, even from
the blood of Abel to the blood of Zecharias, that was slain between the altar and
the temple (Matt 23:35). And let me here take leave to propound my private thoughts:
namely, that the Zecharias that here is mentioned, might not be he that we find in
the book of Chronicles (2 Chron 24:21); but one of that name that lived in the days
of Christ, possibly John Baptist's father, or some other holy man. My reasons for
this conjecture, are, 1. Because the murderers are convict by Christ himself: Zecharias,
whom ye slew between the altar and the temple. 2. Because Christ makes a stop at
the blood of Zecharias, not at the blood of John the Baptist: wherefore, if the person
here mentioned were not murdered after, but before John the Baptist, then Christ
seems to excuse them for killing his servant John; for the judgment stops at the
including of the guilt of the blood of Zecharias. 3. I think such a thing, because
the voice of all holy blood that hath been shed before the law by the adversary,
excepting only the blood of Jesus, must needs be included here; the proper voice
of his, only being to plead for mercy to the murderers. However, the voice of blood
is a very killing voice, and will one day speak with such thunder and terror in the
consciences of all the brood of Cain, that their pain and burthen will be for ever
insupportable.
Ver. 11. "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth
to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand."
Here begins the sentence of God against this bloody man; a sentence fearful and terrible,
for it containeth a removing of him from all the privileges of grace and mercy, and
a binding of him over to the punishment and pains of the damned.
"And now art thou cursed from the earth." Peace on earth, is one branch
of those blessed tidings that were brought into the world, at the coming of the Messias
(Luke 2:14). Again, before Christ was come in the flesh, it is said, He rejoiced
"in the habitable part of his earth" (Pro 8:30). Wherefore, by the earth
in this place, I understand the state that the men are in, to whom, by the mind of
God, the gospel and grace of God is to be tendered. Now, whether it respect that
state of man by nature, or the state of those that are saints, from both these privileges
Cain is separate, as are all whom the Lord hath utterly rejected. Not but that yet
they may live long in the world, but God hath cut them off from the earth, and all
the gospel privileges therein, and set them in the condition of devils; so that as
to grace and mercy they are separate therefrom, and stand as men, though alive, bound
over to eternal judgment. And as to their lives, it matters not how long they live,
there is "no sacrifice for their sins, but a certain fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Heb 10:26,27).
So that I say, as the devils be bound in hell, so such lie bound in earth; bound
I say in the chains of darkness, and their own obstinate heart, over to the day of
wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Cain therefore by these words
is denied the blessing of future means of grace, and stands bound over to answer
for his brother's blood, which the ground had received form his cruel hand.
Ver. 12. "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee
her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth."
This is a branch, or the fruits of this wilful murder. Indeed, sins carry in them
not only a curse with respect to eternity, but are also the cause of all the miseries
of this life. "God turneth - a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness
of them that dwell therein" (Psa 107:34).
"When thou tillest the ground." Sin committed doth not always exclude the
sinner from an enjoyment of God's mercies, but yet if unrepented of, bringeth a curse
upon them. "I will curse, [saith God,] your blessings: yea, I have cursed them
already, because ye do not lay it to heart" (Mal 2:2). This also is the reason
that the table of some is made their snare, their trap, a stumbling-block and a recompence
unto them (Rom 11:9); men ought not therefore to judge of the goodness of their state,
by their enjoyment of God's creatures, but rather should tremble while they enjoy
them, lest for sin they should become accursed to them, as were the enjoyments of
this wicked man.
"A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." The meaning is,
thou shalt not have rest in the world, but shalt be continually possessed with a
guilty conscience, which shall make thy condition restless, and void of comfort.
For the man that indeed is linked in the chains of guilt and damnation, as Cain here
was; he cannot rest, but (as we say) fudge up and down from place to place, because
his burthen is insupportable. As David said, "Let their eyes be darkened that
they see not, and make their loins continually to shake" (Psa 69:23). A continual
shaking and restlessness doth therefore possess such persons as are given up of God,
and swallowed up of guilt.
"A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." Some men certainly
know, even while they are in this world, their state to be most miserable, and damnable,
as Cain, Saul and Judas did; which knowledge, as I have hinted, puts them besides
the very course of other carnal men; who while they behold them at quiet under their
enjoyments, these cannot but wonder, fear, and be amazed with the deep cogitations
which will abide upon them, of their certain misery and everlasting perdition.
Ver. 13. "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear."
Or as the margin hath it, "Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven."
And both readings are true: for however some men please themselves in lessening sin,
and the punishment thereof, yet a burdened conscience judgeth otherwise. And if Cain
failed in either, it was in that he counted his sin (if he did so) beyond the reach
of God's mercy. But again, when men persecute the worship and people of God, as Cain
did his blessed and religious brother, even of spite, and because he envied the goodness
of his brother's work; I question whether it be lawful for a minister to urge to
such the promise of grace and forgiveness; and also whether it be the mind of God
such persons should hope therein. He that sins the sin unto death, is not to be prayed
for (1 John 5:16), but contrariwise he is to be taken from God's altar that he may
die (Exo 21:14). This was Cain's case, and now he knew it; therefore as one excluded
of God from his mercy and all the means thereof, he breaks out with roaring under
the intolerable burden of the judgment of God upon him, concluding his punishment
at present "greater than he could bear," and that yet his sin should remain
unpardonable for ever: As saith our Lord Jesus Christ, He hath neither forgiveness
here nor in the world to come (Matt 12:32).
Ver. 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."
By these words is confirmed what was said before, to wit, to be cursed from the earth,
was to be separate from the privileges of the gospel. For Cain was not now to die,
neither was he driven into any den or cave; yet driven out from the face of the earth,
that is, as I have said, he was excluded from a share in those special mercies that
by the gospel were still offered by grace to the others that inhabited the world:
The mercies, I say, that are offered by the gospel, as namely, The mercy of eternal
life: For as to the blessings of this world, he had yet a notable share thereof.
Besides, he groaneth under this judgment, as an insupportable curse: "Thou hast
driven me out this day from the face of the earth." And indeed, if we take it
according as I have laid it down, it is a curse that would break the whole world
to pieces; for he that is denied a share in the grace that is now offered, must needs
be denied a portion in God's kingdom. And this Cain saw; wherefore he adds in the
process of his complaint, "And from thy face shall I be hid": "I shall
never come into thy kingdom, I shall never see thy face in heaven." This is
therefore the highest of all complaints; namely, for a man from a certain conviction
that his condition must without fail be damnable, to condole and bemoan his forlorn
condition.
"Thou hast driven me out." O! when God shall bind one over for his sin,
to eternal judgment, who then can release him? This was Cain's state, God had bound
him over. The blood of his brother was to rest upon him and not to be purged with
sacrifice for ever.
"Thou hast driven me out THIS DAY." He knew by the sentence that fell from
heaven upon him, even from that very day that he was made a companion of, and an
associate with devils. This day, or for this day's work, I am made an inhabitant
of the pit with the devil and his angels. Hence note, That God doth sometimes smite
the reprobate so apparently, that himself from that day may make a certain judgment
of the certainty of his damnation. Thus did Balaam: "I shall see him, but not
now: I shall behold him, but not nigh" (Num 24:17). Where by now, he respects
the time of grace; and by nigh, the time or day of judgment: As who should say, "I,
for my sorceries, and wicked divinations, am excluded a portion in the day of grace,
and therefore shall not see the Saviour NOW: I am also rejected, as to a portion
in the blessed world to come: and therefore when he judgeth, I shall not see him
NIGH: Nigh, as a friend, as a saviour to my soul." I doubt this is the condition
of many now alive, who for their perfidiousness and treachery to Christ, and his
church, have already received, even "in themselves, that recompence of their
error which was meet" (Rom 1:27).
Ishmael also, in the day he laughed at Isaac (Gen 21:9), and Esau in the day he sold
his birthright (Gen 27; 28), might have gathered, the one from God's concurring with
the judgment of Sarah, the other, from his father's adhering to his brother; his
adhering, I say, in a prophetic spirit (Gal 4:29); that from thenceforth they both
were excluded grace and glory, as the apostle by the Holy Ghost afterwards doth (Heb
12:16,17).
"And from thy face shall I be hid." By face here, we are to understand
God's favour, and blessed presence, which is enjoyed by the saints both here, and
in the world to come (Psa 4:6,7; 16:11). Both which this wicked man, for the murdering
of his brother, and his envy to the truth, now knew himself excluded from.
"From thy face shall I be HID." The pit of hell, to which the damned go,
besides the torment that they meet with there, is such a region of darkness, and
at such a distance from the heavens, and the glorious comfortable presence of God,
that those that shall be found the proper subjects of it, shall for ever be estranged
from one glimpse of him: besides, sin shall bind all their faces in secret, and so
confound them with horror, shame, and guilt that they shall not be able from thenceforth
for ever, so much as once to think of God with comfort.
"From thy FACE." As it were all the glory of heaven, it lieth in beholding
the face of God: A thing the ungodly little think of; yet the men that have received
in themselves already the sentence of eternal damnation, they know it after a wonderful
rate; and the thoughts of the loss of his face and presence, doth, do what they can,
as much torment them, as the thoughts of all the misery they are like to meet withal
besides.
"And a fugitive and a vagabond shall I be on the earth." Even from the
present frame of his spirit, Now, having received the sentence, he knew, the judgment
past being unrevokable, how it would be with him all his life long; that he should
spend his days in trouble and guilt, rolling under the justice of God, being always
a terror and burthen to himself, to the day he was to be cut off from the earth,
that he might go to the place appointed for him.
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me."
Guilt is a strange thing, it makes a man think that every one that sees him, hath
knowledge of his iniquity. It also bringeth such a faintness into the heart (Lev
26:36), that the sound of a shaken leaf doth chase such persons: and above all things,
the cries of blood are most fearful in the conscience; the cries of the blood of
the poor innocents, which the seed of Cain hath shed on the face of the earth (Jer
2:34; 19:4). Thus far of Cain's complaint.
Ver. 15. "And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance
shall be taken on him seven-fold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding
him should kill him."
By these words, the judgment is confirmed, which Cain, in the verse before, so mournfully
pronounced against his own soul. As if the Lord had said, "Cain, thy judgment
is as thou hast said, I have driven thee out this day from a share in my special
favour; and when thy life is ended, thou shalt be hid from my face, and a blessed
presence for ever; and seeing it is thus, therefore I will not suffer that thou die
before thy time: Alas, thy glass will be quickly run! Besides, thy days, while thou
art here, will sufficiently be filled with vexation and distress; for thou shalt
always carry in thy conscience the cries of innocent blood, and the fear of the wrath
of God: I have said it, and will perform it: I am not a man, that I should repent:
So that thus shall thy judgment be: Therefore he that killeth Cain, I will take vengeance
on him."
Hence note, That none need to add to the sorrows of the persecutors. They above all
men are prepared unto wrath. Let them alone (saith Christ) they will quickly fall
into the ditch. Besides, God hath taken the revengement of the blood of his servants
into his own hand, and will execute his wrath himself. Therefore he saith to his
saints (as in this case), "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord" (Rom 12:19). And the reason is, because the quarrel is in special
between the prosecutor and God himself. For we are not hated because we are men,
nor because we are men of evil and debauched lives; but because we are religious;
because we stand to maintain the truth of God. Therefore no man must here intercept,
but must leave the enemy in the hand of that God he hath slighted and condemned.
This made Moses that he meddled not with Corah and his company, but left them to
that new thing which the Lord himself would do unto them, because they had condemned
the ordinance of God (Num 16:25-35). This made David also that he meddled not with
Saul, but left him to the vengeance of God, though he had opportunity to have destroyed
him (1 Sam 24 and 26:10-12). Let us learn therefore to be quiet and patient under
the hand of wicked and blood-thirsty men. Let us fall before them like holy Abel;
it is and will be grief enough to them, that when we are dead, our blood will cry
from the ground against them.[23]
"Therefore he that killeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken," &c. He
now that shall, after this admonition, plead for religious blood with the sword,
vengeance shall be taken on him, because he giveth not place to the wrath of God,
but intercepts with his own, which "worketh not the righteousness of God"
(James 1:19,20). Say therefore with David, when you are vexed with the persecutor,
Mine hand shall not be upon him; but "as the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite
him; or, his day shall come to die; or, he shall descend in battle, and perish."
"Vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold." It would not be hard to shew
how little they have prevailed, who have taken upon them to take vengeance for the
blood of saints, on them that have been the spillers of it. But my business here
is brevity, therefore I shall not launch into that deep, only shall say to such as
shall attempt it hereafter, "Put up thy sword into his place; for all they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword"! (Matt 26:52). And "here is
the patience and faith of the saints" (Rev 13:10). Let Cain and God alone, and
do you mind faith and patience; suffer with Abel, until your righteous blood be spilt:
even the work of persecutors, is, for the present, punishment enough; the fruits
thereof being the provoking God to jealousy, a denying of them the knowledge of the
way of life, and a binding of them over to the pains and punishment of hell.
"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain." What the opinion of others is about
this mark, I know not; to me it seems like those in Timothy, who had "their
conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Tim 4:2). Which words are an allusion
to the way of the magistrates in their dealing with rogues and felons; who that they
may be known to all, are either in the hand, shoulder, or cheek branded with a hot
iron. So Cain was marked of God for a reprobate, for one that had murdered a righteous
man, even of envy to the goodness of his work: But the mark (as it was on those in
Timothy) was not on any outward or visible part of his body, but (as there the apostle
expresseth it) even upon his very conscience; his conscience then had received the
fire-mark of the wrath and displeasure of God, which, as a burning iron doth to the
flesh, had left such deep impression therein, that it abode as a scar or brand upon
him, in token that good would for ever after hold him for a fugitive rogue or vagabond.
"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."
For though the mark was branded with burning upon his conscience, and so inward and
invisible; yet the effects of this hot iron might be visible, and seen of all: the
effects, I say, which were, or might be, his restlessness in every place, his dejectedness,
the sudden and fearful pangs and agonies of his mind, which might break out into
dolorous and amazing complaints; besides, his timorous carriage before all he met,
lest they should kill him; gave all to understand, that God had with a vengeance
branded him. And indeed this was such a mark as was amazing to all that beheld him,
and did ten times more make them afraid of spilling blood, than if any visible mark
had been set upon him; of for by his trouble and distress of mind, they saw, what
was the guilt of blood: and by his continual fear and trembling under the judgment
of God, what it was to be in fear of, nay, to have the first fruits of everlasting
damnation. Thus therefore God reserved Cain to the judgment which he had appointed
for him.
Ver. 16. "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the
land of Nod, on the east of Eden."
The right carriage of a reprobate, and the infallible fruits of final desperation.
For a man that hath received in his mind the stroke of the judgment of God, and that
is denied all means of saving and sanctifying grace, (as the great transgressors
are,) the presence of God is to such most dreadful; whether we understand the knowledge
of him as he is in himself, or as he discovereth himself in his church; for the thought
of his being, and eternal majesty, keeps the wound open, and makes terror and guilt
revive. To such it would be the best of news, to hear that the Godhead doth cease
to be, or that themselves were high above him. But that they are in the hand of the
living God, this is the dreadful and fearful thought.
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." These words may be taken
many ways.
1. That he separated himself from the church (the place of God's presence) (2 Cor
6:16) which then consisted of his father and mother, and of those other children
they had. And this appears by the text, "He went out from the presence of the
Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod."
2. A man goes out from the presence of God, when he withdraws his thoughts from holy
meditations, and employeth the strength of his mind about the things of this life
(Job 21:14-18). And thus he also did; he went into the land of Nod, and there fell
to building a city, and to recreate himself with the pleasures of the flesh what
he might.
3. A man goes out from the presence of God, when he throweth up the worship and way
of God; and this he did in departing from the church (2 Chron 19:1-3).
4. Besides, his going out from the presence of the Lord, implieth, that he hardened
his heart against him, that he set his spirit against him; that he said to God, Depart
from me (Heb 3:12); that he grew an implacable enemy to him, and to every appearance
of good in the world (Job 15:12,13).
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." These words may also
respect his being thrust out from God, as one anathematized, accursed, or cut off,
in effect the same with excommunication. But be it so, the act was extraordinary,
being administered by God himself; even as he served Corah and his company, though
in kind there was a difference, the one, even Cain, being yet permitted to live for
a while in the world; the other being sent down quick into hell; but both, for their
villany against the worship and people of God, stand bound over to answer it at the
eternal judgment.
Ver. 17. "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he
builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."
Cain's wife was his sister, or near kinswoman; for she sprang of the same loins with
himself; because his mother was "the mother of all living" (Gen 3:20).
This wife bare him a son; for whose sake, as it seems, he built the city. Hence note,
That men who are shut out of heaven, will yet use some means to be honourable on
earth. Cain being accursed of God, yet builds him a city; the renown of which act,
that it might not be forgotten, he calleth it after the name of his son. Much like
this was that carnal act of blasted Absalom; because he had no child, he would erect
a pillar, which must forsooth be called Absalom's place, after the name of Absalom,
to keep his name in remembrance upon earth (2 Sam 18:18).
"And he builded a city," &c. Note, That it is the design of Satan,
and the deceitful heart of man, to labour to quiet a guilty conscience, not by faith
in the blood of Christ, but by over much business in the things of this world.
"And called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch." Although
Cain had a mind to keep up his name with fame in the world, yet he would not venture
to dedicate the city to his own name; that would have been too gross; and perhaps
others would have called it, The CITY OF THE MURDERER; but he calleth it after the
name of his son, his son Enoch; whom he pretended was a man both taught, and dedicate,
as it seems his name imports. Hence note again, That men who themselves are accursed
of God, will yet put as fair glosses on their actions, as their hypocritical hearts
can invent. Who must this city be dedicated to, but to him whom Cain had dedicated
and taught. I will not say that in truth he gave him to God, for that his reprobate
heart would not suffer; but being given up of God, yet retaining, with Saul, considerations
of honour: therefore, as is the custom of ungodly hypocrites, he would put the best
show on his ungodly actions.
Thus Saul, when he had received the sentence of the Lord against him; yet, Turn again
with me (saith he to Samuel) "yet honour me now before - the people, and before
Israel" (1 Sam 15:30). So the money wherewith the high priests and scribes had
bought the life, and obtained the death of Christ; with that they make some shew
of godliness, in buying with it a piece of ground to bury strangers in (Matt 27:3-7).
Ver. 18. "And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael
begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech."
These are the offspring of Cain; the English of whose names, if the nature and disposition
of the persons were according, they might well be called, with abhorrence, the brood
of wicked Cain, even the generation whom the Lord had cursed, notwithstanding Enoch
was their father. Enoch begat Irad, a wild ass; Irad begat Mehujael, one presumptuous
above measure, his name signifies, one teaching God. But "who hath directed
the Spirit of the Lord?" (Isa 40:13). Or "Shall any teach God knowledge?"
(Job 21:22). The son of this man was Methusael, asking death, the true fruit of all
such presumptuous ones, "his confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle,
and it shall bring him to the king of terrors" (Job 18:14). His son was Lamech,
one poor or smitten: The first, that, as we read, did break the order of God in the
matter of marriage.
Ver. 19. "And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah,
and the name of the other Zillah."
This man was the first that brake the first institution of God concerning marriage.
"He took unto him two wives." The New Testament says, Let every man have
his own wife. And so said the law in its first institution: therefore plurality of
wives first came into practice by the seed of cursed Cain, and for a time was suffered
in the world through the hardness of man's heart.
Ver. 20, 21. "And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents,
and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of
all such as handle the harp and organ."
Jabal signifies bringing, or budding; Jubal, bringing or fading. So then in these
two sons might be shewed unto us the world, as it is in its utmost glory: that is,
it brings buds, it brings fading: today in the field, tomorrow in the oven: "All
flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof, is as the flower of the field. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:
surely the people is grass" (Isa 40:6-8).
And observe in these, the last was the musical one. Indeed, the spirit of the world,
after things have budded, is so far off from remembering that they again must fade;
that then it begins its Requiem; then it saith to itself, Eat, drink, and be merry;
then it is for handling the harp and organ (Luke 12:16-20).
Ver. 22. "And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer
in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah."
Tubal-Cain, a worldly possession; and Naamah, one that by her name should be beautiful.
Lamech his fruit then was, a budding, fading, worldly possession, with a little deceitful,
vain beauty, for "favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that
feareth the Lord, she shall be praised" (Pro 31:30). Ver. 23. "And Lamech
said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken
unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt."
He that sticks not to exceed in one point, will not fear to transgress in another.
He had hardened his heart, by breaking the modest and orderly bounds of marriage,
and so fitted himself to shed blood, or do any other wickedness.
"Hearken to me, ye wives." Lustful men break their minds to their fleshly
companions, sometimes, sooner than to wiser counsellors. Even as Ahab, in the business
of the vineyard of Naboth, breaks his mind to that ungodly Jezebel his wife.
"I have slain a man to my wounding." Who, or what man this murdered person
was, therein the word is silent: yet this Lamech being the son of a bloody murderer,
it is possible he was some godly man, one of Adam's other children, or of his grandchildren,
the son of Seth: for these sons of Cain, and namely this in special, as it seems,
took not heed to the mark wherewith God branded Cain; but like Belshazzar, he hardened
his heart, though he knew it, and would turn murderer also (Dan 5:18-22).
"I have slain a man to my wounding." The guilt of blood who can bear? or
who can help himself thereby? It is a wounding thing, it is a hurtful thing, he that
sheds man's blood wrongfully, cannot establish himself thereby (Matt 22:6,7). The
Jews thought to have preserved themselves and country by killing Jesus Christ; but
this so provoked the justice of God, that for this thing's sake he sent the Gentiles
upon them to burn up their city; who when they were come, if stories be true, slew
of them eleven hundred thousand; and those of them that were taken alive, were sold
to who would buy them, Thirty a penny. "Ye shed blood [says God] and shall ye
possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every
one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?" (Eze 33:25,26).
Ver. 24. "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."
Though wicked men may be willingly ignorant of that part of the judgments of God,
that are to premonish them, that they do not that wicked thing for which the judgment
was executed; yet if there be anything like favour mixed with the judgment, of that
they will take notice, to encourage themselves to evil: even as this ungodly person,
he would not be stopped from blood by the judgment of God upon Cain; but rather,
as it seems, because the judgment was not speedily executed, his heart was fully
set in him to do evil (Eccl 8:11). Much like that of the Jews, who because Jehoiakim
had slain Uriah the prophet, and yet God spared the land; therefore make that an
argument to prevail with Zedekiah to kill Jeremiah also (Jer 26:20-23).
"If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."
Give wicked men leave to judge of themselves, and they will pass a sentence favourable
enough. Though Lamech had not pity when he spilt blood; yea, though the judgment
of God upon Cain could not hold his murderous hands: yet now he is guilty, let him
but make a law in the case, and woe be to him that killeth Lamech: Vengeance shall
be taken of him seventyfold and seven. Joab could with pitiless hands spill the blood
of men more righteous than himself, not regarding what became of their souls: but
when his blood was by vengeance required for the same, then he would take sanctuary
at the horns of the altar (1 Kings 2:28). But judgment is not wholly left to me,
the Lord is judge himself; before whom both Cain and Lamech, and all their successors,
shall be arraigned, and receive just doom, and that never to be reversed.
Ver. 25. "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name
Seth: for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain
slew."
Now we have done, for a while, with Cain, and are come again to the church of God.
Cain had slain Abel, and by that means, for a while, had greatly suppressed the flourishing
of religion; in which time his own brood began to be mighty upon earth; so increasing,
as if religion was put to an end for ever. But behold their disappointment! "Adam
knew his wife again," (for Adam's family was then the true church of God;) or
take Adam for a type of Christ, and his wife for a type of the church, and then this
observation followeth; namely, That so long as Christ and the church hath to do with
one another, it is in vain for Cain to think of suppressing religion.
"Adam knew his wife again." If Eve had now been barren, or Adam had died
without farther issue, then Cain might have carried the day; but behold another seed!
a seed to stand in Abel's place: therefore she called his name Seth; that is, Set
or Put, as namely, in the room of Abel, to stand up for, and to defend the truth
against all the army and power of Cain. As Paul also saith of himself, "I am
set, [or put,] for the defence of the gospel" (Phil 1:17). This man therefore,
so far as can be gathered, was the first that put check to the outrage of Cain and
his company. But mark some observations about him.
1. He was set in the stead or place of Abel; not an inch behind him, but even at
the place where his blood was spilt. So that he that will revive lost religion, must
avow it as God's Abels have done before him: every talker cannot do this. The blood
that was shed before his face, must not put check to his godly stomach; yea, he must
say to religion, as Ruth said once to her mother, "Where thou diest, I will
die, and there will I be buried" (Ruth 1:17). This is the way to revive and
to maintain the ways of God, in despite of bloody Cain.[24]
2. This Seth that was set to put check to Cain, did not do it of his own brain, but
the hand of God was principal in the work. "God," said she, "hath
appointed me another seed to be set in the place of Abel." And indeed it is
otherwise in vain, when religion is once suppressed, to think it should ever revive
again. Alas! where is the man, if he want God's Spirit, that will care for the flourishing
state of religion? and that in truth will make the Lord his delight: "This is
Zion, whom no man seeketh [for, or seeketh] after" (Jer 30:17). All men here
say, "See to thine own house, David" (1 Kings 12:16). But when Seth comes,
then the ground is made good again; then a living saint is found to stand and maintain
that truth which but now his brother bled for. When James was killed, Peter stands
up, &c. (Acts 12:1-3). And therefore Seth is said to be another seed, a man of
another spirit: One who was principled with a spirit beyond and above the spirit
of the world. "Another seed," one that was spirited for God's word, and
God's worship, and that would maintain his brother's cause.
3. Observe, That when Seth maintains his brother's lot, you hear no more of the brood
of Cain. And indeed, the way to weary out God's enemies, it is to maintain and make
good the front against them: "Resist the devil, and he will fly" (James
4:7). Now if the Captain, their king Apollion, be made to yield, how can his followers
stand their ground? "The dragon, - the devil, Satan, - he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev 12:9). But how? It was
by fighting: "Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; - and overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and by not loving
of their lives unto the death" (Rev 12:7,8,12).
4. Let this, in the last place, serve for persecutors, That when you have cast down
many ten thousands, and also the truth to the ground; there is yet a Seth, another
seed behind, that God hath appointed to stand in the stead of his brethren, by whom
you will certainly be put to flight, and made to cease from oppressing the truth.
Ver. 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 the Lord."
The Holy Ghost, in recording the birth of Enos, goeth out of his ordinary style,
in that he doubleth the mentioning of his father, with respect to the birth of this
son. And indeed it is worth the observing; for it staggereth the faith of some, to
think that the man that makes good the ground of a murdered brother, should not leave
issue behind him: But "to Seth, to him was born a son." Our faithfulness
to the truth, shall be no hindrance to the flourishing state of our offspring, take
them either for the fleshly or spiritual seed of God's servants, but sons, (especially
in the latter sense, if we truly stand by the word of God) shall surely be born unto
us.
"And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos."
Enos, a man; not a devil, like Cain, but a man; or, a man that was miserable in this
world, for the sake and cause of God;[25] for it seems, as was his father, so was he,
even both given up to maintain God's truth; which cannot be done but with great hazard,
so long as Cain or his offspring remain. His father therefore, by his very name,
did offer him up to bear all hardships for the name and cause of God: "Behold
I send you forth [saith Christ] as lambs in the midst of wolves." In effect,
he called their name Enos, men to be acquainted with grief and miseries: But mark,
"Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."
"Then," when Seth maintained Abel's ground, and when Enos endured all miseries
for the same: For indeed this makes spectators believe that religion is more than
a fictitious notion: The hardships, miseries, and blood of the saints, will make
men, otherwise heedless, consider and ponder their cause aright.
"Then began." For, as I also before have hinted, the outrage of bloody
Cain did put, for a time, a stop to the flourishing state of God's worship; which
in all probability was not so little as half a hundred years, even till Seth, and
the son of Seth, stood up to maintain the same; but "then, THEN men began [more
men than Seth and Enos] to call upon the name of the Lord."
Note again, That all true religion beginneth with fervent prayer: Or thus, That when
men begin to be servants to God, they begin it with calling upon him. Thus did Saul,
"Behold he prayeth" (Acts 9): And, "Lord have mercy upon me,"
is the first of the groans of a sanctified heart.
The margin hath it, "They began to call themselves by the name of the Lord."
As God saith in another place, "My name is called on them." The disciples
were called Christians, (nay, the saints are called the anointed ones, and the church
is called Christ) (1 Cor 12:12). But note, That fervent prayer ends in faith and
confidence in God. They called themselves by the name; they counted themselves not
from a vain and groundless opinion, but through the faith they had in the mercy of
God, The saints and holy people of God.
They began to publish themselves, in contradistinction to the offspring of Cain,
the holy people of God. Wherefore, a separation from the wicked began betimes; the
one going by the name of "the sons of God"; the other, "by the sons
and daughters of men" (6:1,2): "Then began men to call upon the name of
the Lord."
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