Violence is often used by someone to express feelings of frustration, anger, and despair. Aggression is an instinctive response to anger. It originates with a threat, and it’s intended to assist us in fighting to defend ourselves when we are attacked. Inappropriate attempts to handle emotions are the most common motivations for violence. The single best predictor of violence is prior violence. Each time a violent act is committed makes it more likely that violence will happen again.
The literal translation of the first part of this verse means, If you do well, is there not lifting up? Evidently, Abel’s flocks were multiplying, and he was exceeding Cain in wealth. Perhaps Abel’s spiritual growth revealed more virtue and godliness, making him more attractive than Cain, with his bitter disposition. Cain was angry and jealous of his younger brother, but Divine blessing would rest with him again, if he only would do well.
Had Cain considered his place as a lowly sinner before God, and that his life had been forfeited, he would have given expression to it in his offering. For him to do well would mean retracing his steps, considering his ways, discovering where he went wrong, and amending his offering accordingly. Our merciful God did not immediately reject Cain. Rather, he patiently directs his attention to the fact that his mistakes can be corrected.
If Cain had come before God expressing repentance, he could have recovered the authority and high privileges of his birthright bestowed upon the firstborn in patriarchal times. An uplifted and pleasant countenance would have been restored to him. Instead, he appeared sad and dejected. Cain’s countenance fell, portraying what lived in his heart. He showed a settled hatred and sought revenge.
The second part of the verse means, If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door as a beast of prey. It desires to devour you and make you its victim, but if you stand on your guard, you shall rule over it. The key to the interpretation of the verse is that it describes what happens after, and because of, the wrong-doer’s transgression. Their sin lies at their door ready to spring, and if it does, it is fatal.
Every sin we commit has lasting consequences which stay with the doer forever. Wrong deeds committed long ago have an awful way of continuing to rise up in the perpetrator’s conscience. Every time we do a wrong thing, the evil exerts its power over us. It may, for a moment, create a sense of revulsion, but then it exercises an irresistible fascination over us which attracts us to hunger for doing it again. Evil possesses a fierce longing to increase itself and get us into its clutches.
In the primitive world, Cain understood the need to war against and have dominion over the wild creatures. Here, the Divine voice tells him to also subdue and rule over this wild beast of anger and jealousy that threatens him. Persistently maintaining a sinful temper develops into a growing habit of aggravated crime, ending in the destruction of the soul. This is the greatest warning coming from the Almighty. If we do not want to be torn to pieces and devoured by the wild beast within us, we must master it.
Our sin is mightier than we are. What God did with Cain he does with everyone who will listen to his voice and observe their own heart. Christ will strengthen us to conquer the crouching beast at our door. He will remove our guilt, cleanse our memory, and clear our conscience. Trusting his power abiding within us gives us the ability to conquer our evil. God’s grace assisting our efforts enables us to subdue evil passions and works to prevent the consequences that sin unfailingly brings upon us. Christ Jesus came down from Heaven and descended into the arena of our lives to fight off and overcome all the wild beasts crouching at our door. He is our only hope for success in this battle.
Becoming Biblical 