Sin-Crouching at Your Door

Genesis 4

Cornelius Plantinga opens his book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be with a scene from the 1991 movie Grand Canyon. In the scene, an attorney’s fancy sports car stalls in a rough part of town. He calls for a tow truck, but before it arrives, five gang members surround him and begin threatening him. The tow truck driver, played by Danny Glover, finally shows up and starts loading the car as the gang members continue their harassment. Finally, Glover pulls the leader of the group aside and gives him a five-sentence introduction to the effects of sin:

Man, the world ain’t s’pposed to work like this. Maybe you don’t know that, but this ain’t the way it’s s’pposed to be. I’m s’pposed to be able to do my job without askin’ you if I can. And that dude is s’pposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin’ him off. Everything’s s’pposed to be different than what it is here.[1]

When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, we were expelled with them. Sin settled in the hearts of every man and woman, setting the tone for the world. We are broken people living in a broken world. 

To this point, we have been introduced to Yahweh Elohim, the powerful personal God. We are made in his image; however, sin has tainted our God-given attributes. In our study of Romans, we found the proof text for our situation: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). 

This is not how it’s supposed to be. Adam and Eve experienced it firsthand in a most painful way. 

While living outside Eden, God blessed Adam and Eve with two sons. When her first son, Cain, was born, Eve said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD” (Gen. 4:1), acknowledging that Yahweh remained her personal God. We are told that Abel was a shepherd and Cain a farmer. The gift of work continued outside the garden. 

On one occasion, both Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. Cain, the cultivator, brought “an offering of the fruit of the ground” (Gen. 4:3). Abel, the sheepherder, “brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions” (Gen. 4:4). The offerings are not described in further detail. God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s. It seems it wasn’t so much the offering as the heart behind it. The writer of Hebrews says, “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did” (Hebrews 11:4 NIV). In response, “Cain was very angry, and his face fell” (Gen. 4:5b).

Cain’s response could have taken many forms. He could have repented of whatever caused God to refute his offering, or he could have rejoiced in God’s good pleasure toward Abel. Instead, he became “very angry,” jealous, bitter, and discouraged.  

God addressed Cain with probing yet clear instructions:

Genesis 4:6-7
The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

God’s grace gave Cain a second chance. He would accept Cain’s offering, just as he had accepted Abel’s, if Cain would “do well.” I take that to mean Cain should repent of whatever caused his first offering to be rejected, surrender his anger to the Lord, and present a new offering with a right heart. If he rejected that path, sin would crouch at his door like a wild animal ready to pounce. That wild animal of sin would attack him, but he must decide to resist the assault. 

Cain was so angry that he could not be talked out of it—even by Yahweh. He attacked his brother and committed premeditated murder. When God asked where Abel was, Cain responded with a flippant lie. “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9) Commenting on this story, the apostle John says, “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:12). 

As a result of his disobedience, God sentenced Cain to be a “fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (Gen. 4:12) yet graciously protected him from retribution for the murder (Gen. 4:14-15). Sadly, “Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16). Adam and Eve lost two sons that day; one they buried, and one who never returned, all because of the sin they introduced to the world through Satan’s deception. 

“Sin is crouching at the door.” That well describes the spiritual battle. Each of us is one step away from a regretful action and one word away from a deliberately harmful reply. We, like Cain, don’t always bring our best to God, are jealous of others’ blessings, and ignore God’s invitation to repent and make things right. The battle is real. 

Next week, we’ll discuss spiritual warfare. What does the spiritual battle look like? What must we know and understand about our enemy? What is Satan’s strategy to bring us down? 

We will learn from Scripture how to be battle-ready. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD 
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Genesis 4.

Talking to God: Where in my life do I see “sin crouching at my door,” tempting me to act against God’s will?

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SAVE THE DATE: Bible Immersion trip to Israel: November 4-14, 2026.