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Passage covered: Genesis 3:20 – 4:8 (picking up at Genesis 4:9 next time)

Summary

Back from a short break and picking up in Genesis 3:20 through 4:8. God makes coats of skin for Adam and Eve, the first sacrifice for sin and an early picture of the cross. Plus: the “us” of Genesis 3:22 and the Trinity, why God closed off the Tree of Life, and how He gives chance after chance. Then Cain and Abel’s offerings: giving God our best, why the heart matters more than the checkbook, and God’s warning that “sin is crouching at the door — you must master it.”

Briefly recapping the Fall and the curse in Genesis 3: even in judgment, God shows Himself as a good Father. He promises a Redeemer who will crush the serpent’s head, and the thorns from the curse show up again in the crown Jesus wore on the cross. Adam names his wife Eve, “the mother of all living,” which leads into the miracle of life from conception, along with some family news about new babies and grandbabies on the way.

In Genesis 3:21, God clothes Adam and Eve in garments of skin. An animal had to die to cover their sin. That “crimson thread” runs from Eden through the Old Testament sacrifices to the Lamb of God, and it’s a big part of why communion matters: it reminds us what that covering cost.

God’s words in Genesis 3:22, “the man has become as one of us,” open up the Trinity: one God in three Persons, seen clearly at Jesus’ baptism. That turns into a candid side conversation about ordination councils, the limits of explaining God, and why believers should spend less time arguing Calvinism and Arminianism on social media and more time loving people. God is sovereign, and we are responsible for our choices.

Cherubim and a flaming sword bar the way to the Tree of Life, and that was mercy. God would not leave humanity locked into a sinful, decaying existence forever, and sanctification and glorification are His plan to bring us out of it. A little speculation follows: did the Garden last until the Flood, does the Tree of Life explain the long lifespans before the Flood, and what about its return in Revelation 22? In the end, Jesus is our true Tree of Life. There’s also a fun side trip into ancient Hebrew, the names of God, and how complicated the English language is.

In Genesis 4, Abel brings the firstlings and the fat portions of his flock, and Cain brings an offering “of the fruit of the ground.” God accepts Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. That opens an honest talk about tithing and giving, including a personal story about giving a “Cain offering” early in marriage and how faithfully God has provided since. A word of caution, too: don’t feel pressured into giving. Pray about it, and remember that God wants obedience and a cheerful heart, not just money. That includes our time, which many of us guard more tightly than our wallets. And the tithe goes back before the Law, to Abraham and Melchizedek.

Cain gets angry because he “did his duty” and expected God to owe him for it. God lovingly confronts him: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? … sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Even before the Law, God was teaching His children and giving them a way to choose rightly. Cain ignores the warning and kills his brother. Closing with Psalm 145:8–9: the Lord is gracious, merciful, and slow to anger, and He calls us to show those same traits.

Next episode: Genesis 4:9, as God comes to Cain with a question He already knows the answer to.

Scripture References

Main Passage

• Genesis 3:20 — Adam names his wife Eve, “the mother of all living”
• Genesis 3:21 — The Lord God makes garments of skin for Adam and Eve
• Genesis 3:22 — “The man has become as one of us, to know good and evil”
• Genesis 3:23 — Sent forth from Eden to till the ground
• Genesis 3:24 — Cherubim and a flaming sword guard the way to the Tree of Life
• Genesis 4:1–2 — Birth of Cain and Abel; a tiller of the ground and a keeper of sheep
• Genesis 4:3–5 — The offerings of Cain and Abel
• Genesis 4:6–7 — “Sin lies at the door… you must rule over it”
• Genesis 4:8 — Cain kills Abel

Recap & Background

• Genesis 1–2 — Creation and the Garden
• Genesis 1:26 — “Let us make man in our image”
• Genesis 2:16–17 — The one command about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
• Genesis 3:1–13 — The serpent’s temptation and the Fall
• Genesis 3:15 — The promise that the Seed will crush the serpent’s head
• Genesis 3:17–19 — Thorns and thistles; “dust you are, and to dust you shall return”

Cross References

• Matthew 27:29 / John 19:2 — The crown of thorns
• Leviticus 17:11 — “The life of the flesh is in the blood”
• Hebrews 9:22 — Without the shedding of blood there is no remission
• John 1:29 — The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
• 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 — The Lord’s Supper / communion
• Matthew 3:16–17 — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism
• Deuteronomy 6:4 — “The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (echad)
• John 14:9 — “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”
• Colossians 2:9 / Hebrews 1:3 — The fullness of the Godhead in Christ; the exact representation of God
• Romans 9:17–18 / Exodus 9:12 — God hardening Pharaoh’s heart
• Acts 17:26 — God set “the bounds of their habitation”
• Romans 8:29–30 — Predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son; justified and glorified
• Revelation 22:1–2 — The river of life and the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations
• John 4:10–14 — Jesus, the living water
• 1 Samuel 16:11 — David the shepherd
• John 10:11 / Hebrews 13:20 — Jesus the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd
• Exodus 3:13–15 — God reveals His name at the burning bush
• Genesis 11:1–9 — Babel and the confusion of languages
• Matthew 22:21 — “Render unto Caesar”
• 2 Corinthians 9:7 — God loves a cheerful giver, not one who gives grudgingly
• Malachi 3:10 — “Prove Me now herewith”
• Mark 12:41–44 / Luke 21:1–4 — The widow’s offering
• Genesis 14:18–20 / Hebrews 7:1–10 — Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek, before the Law
• Revelation 3:1–6 — The church at Sardis: works without heart
• John 14:15 / Matthew 22:37–39 — Loving God by obeying Him and loving our neighbor
• Psalm 145:8–9 — “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger”
• 1 Timothy 3:1–13 — Qualifications for pastors and deacons (slow to anger, not a brawler, patient)