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"Little children, let no man deceive you, the one who does righteousness is righteous,
the one who does sin is of the devil; no one not doing righteousness is of God, and no one
who loves not his brother."
Then follows the example of Cain who manifested that he was "of the devil", and was
not righteous, by his hatred of his brother. "And wherefore slew he him? Because his
works were wicked and his brother's righteous". Cain's works were poneros (wicked),
because he was of the poneros (the wicked one). We do not understand the mystery of
the divine begetting, we know it to be a reality, and we see its manifestation. We do not
understand the mystery of satanic begetting, but Scripture emphasizes the "sonship" of
the devil's children as clearly and in the same terms as it does those of God, and we see
their manifestation. Cain slays his brother, children of God lay down their lives for their
brethren.
We must not attempt to pursue this theme further, for the whole epistle is an
exposition of this manifestation (see 1: 6-10; 2: 4-6, 29; 3: 3, 7, etc.). Gen. 4: 7
places emphasis upon "doing well", and by so doing Cain would have been accepted. If
he did not well "a sin offering was lying at the entrance (of the garden of Eden, where the
Presence of the Lord tabernacled between the cherubim). Cain repudiated the word of
God, he would not go the way of true acceptance, and instead of slaying the sacrifice, he
slew his brother. Cain's punishment was:--
"Now thou art cursed more than the ground. . . . a fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth."
Cain realized that the greatness of his punishment consisted more in the being driven
out from God's presence than from the extra curse upon the ground. In answer to his fear
that he would be slain, the Lord set a sign or token for Cain, and protected him
(O! wondrous mercy) by a threat of sevenfold vengeance. The vagabond takes his name
with him, for the land he traveled to is named Nod (wandering or vagabond); it does not
say "and he took unto himself a wife" in the land of Nod, as so many misquote.
Cain was the first one that Scripture says built a city, the second recorded builder was
Nimrod. The Israelites were compelled to build cities for Pharaoh, but the only building
that is recorded of God's children in the first two books of the Bible is that of altars. The
rebels in the land of Shinar said, "Go to, let us build us a city". Lot, not Abraham, was
attracted by "the cities of the plain", and when Sodom was about to be destroyed Lot
pleaded that he might be allowed to go to another city, Zoar. Abraham, on the other
hand, built no city, for he looked for a city that had foundations, whose Maker and
builder is God. Cities are symbols of civilization, the arts and crafts and music were all
introduced by the descendants of Cain. The "world" with all its attractiveness is of Cain,
who was of that wicked one, and the true child of God is found outside with Abel, with
Enoch, with Noah, with Abraham, and with Christ.
We must not go further, much more should have been considered, but space is limited.
May the practical lessons not be lost upon us, and may we grasp this great fundamental of
dispensational truth the two seeds.