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In the previous chapters we considered various details of the first fall of man and God’s corresponding way of salvation. In this chapter we will consider the second fall of man. The fall of man involved more than one step. When a person falls, it usually involves more than one step. The first step of a fall must be avoided because it is rare for a fall to involve only one step. Adam’s fall was like falling down a set of stairs. According to the record in Genesis, there are four steps to man’s fall. By the fourth fall, man had fallen to the uttermost.
Man’s second fall involved Cain. The first involved Adam, but the second involved Cain. Adam and Eve were Cain’s parents. When Adam and Eve fell, they waited in fear and trembling for God’s judgment and their death, but God came and promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent on the head (Gen. 3:15). God promised that a seed of the woman would deal with her enemy. When Eve gave birth to a son, she thought that she had acquired the God-promised seed and named him Cain, which in Hebrew means “acquired.” Adam’s hope and Eve’s hope were in Cain; they thought that he was the promised seed of the woman. However, Adam and Eve eventually realized that Cain was not the object of their hope. He must have caused them much trouble, because they showed their discouragement and disappointment when they begot a second son and named him Abel, which means “vanity.” Vanity may be likened to vanishing vapor.
Adam and Eve were once full of hope, but their attitude changed, and they felt a sense of vanity. They hoped that the seed of the woman would save them, but Cain was not this seed. They were disappointed with Cain. Hence, when they begot Abel, they also had no hope in Abel. Nevertheless, God was pleased with Abel. This is wonderful. God does not value what man values; He values what man does not value. In other words, God does not want what man wants; He wants what man does not want.
There is a principle in the Bible: God does not want the first but the second. Cain was born first, and Abel was born second. Abel was the second. God does not want the first; He wants the second. This principle also applies to Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was the first, but Isaac was the second (21:9-13). It also applies to Isaac’s sons: Esau and Jacob. Esau was the first, but Jacob was the second. God did not want Esau; instead, He wanted Jacob (25:22-26; Rom. 9:12-13). In Exodus God also did not want the firstborn of the Egyptians (11:5). In the New Testament, in Luke 15, the older son was well behaved, but he did not have the enjoyment of his father’s riches. Instead, the younger son, who left his father, enjoyed all his father’s riches (vv. 11-32). When I was young, I was indignant after reading this portion of the Bible. I asked myself whether all firstborns were bad and whether all who were born second were good. Slowly, I came to understand the meaning of this principle. In the Bible the firstborn always signifies Adam, but the second signifies Christ. Adam is the first man, but Christ is the second man (1 Cor. 15:45-47). This means that all those who are “first,” who are in Adam, are rejected by God. God accepts only the “second,” those who are in Christ.
Before Cain fell, Adam was full of hope for Cain. Adam’s disappointment was expressed in the name Abel. What man hoped in was the opposite of what God wanted. This reveals that everything depends on God, not on man. Everything is with God, not with man. When things depend on man, man fails and falls, but when things depend on God, man is accepted by God and does not fall.
The background of man’s second fall is that man had already fallen, man had God’s promise to save, and man had God’s way of salvation. Therefore, man should have been saved by God. Regrettably, man still fell.
There were two causes of man’s second fall.
The cause of man’s first fall was that man was tempted by the serpent. The cause of man’s second fall was that he was gained by Satan. Being gained by Satan is very close to being tempted by the serpent, but there is a distinction. In Genesis 3 Satan hid in a serpent and tempted man to fall; Satan was outside of man. In chapter 4 Satan was no longer outside of man; he was within man. Therefore, even though Satan was not mentioned, he was fully involved in man’s second fall, for he was hidden inside Cain. The New Testament says, “Cain was of the evil one” (1 John 3:12). This indicates that Cain was of the devil. In man’s first fall Satan tempted man from without, but by the time of man’s second fall Satan was hidden in man. Man had only to be slightly careless and act on his own in order to be gained by Satan.
Christians are often afraid of being tempted by the devil to sin. However, Satan is mixed with our fallen nature; he does not need to tempt us. Whenever we act on our own instead of rejecting ourselves, we are being gained by Satan. Because Satan was not in our forefathers before the first fall, there was a need to tempt them from without. After Adam fell, however, Satan was mixed with man’s fallen nature and no longer needed to tempt man. If man does not deny himself and instead relies on himself, he will follow Satan and be gained by Satan.
The second cause of man’s second fall was that he followed his own will. After Adam and Eve fell, God revealed His way of salvation to man; hence, man should have communed with God according to His way of salvation. However, Cain rejected God’s way of salvation, set aside God’s will, and served God according to his own will. Thus, man fell once more.
The second cause of man’s first fall was that he assumed the headship. The second cause of man’s second fall was that he followed his own will. Assuming the headship is very close to following one’s own will. For man to assume the headship is for him to set God aside; for man to follow his own will is for him to set God’s will aside. When man sets God aside, man comes forth, and when man sets God’s will aside, man’s will comes forth.
Man fell when he followed his own will, because Satan was in man, mixed with man’s fallen will. The element of Satan was one with man’s fallen will. Therefore, for man to follow his own will was for him to follow Satan and to be gained by Satan. For this reason the Lord Jesus spoke of our need to deny ourselves (Matt. 16:23-24). As soon as we follow our own will, we are following Satan. As fallen men, we do not need to be tempted by Satan in order to fall. As soon as we follow our own fallen will, we will fall further.
We will now consider the process of man’s second fall.
First, Cain’s offering to God was according to his own will. He was serving God according to a religion based on the human will. “In the course of time Cain brought an offering to Jehovah from the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought an offering, from the firstlings of his flock, that is, from their fat portions. And Jehovah had regard for Abel and for his offering. But for Cain and for his offering He had no regard” (Gen. 4:3-5). Both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God, but Cain’s offering was according to his own will, and Abel’s offering was according to God’s will. Abel offered a sacrifice according to God’s way of salvation, but Cain’s service and offering were altogether according to his own view, not according to God’s way of salvation.
The fruit of the ground is fruits and vegetables, not meat. According to typology, vegetables refer to human works, and meat refers to Christ’s redemption. After man sinned, he could be accepted by God only through Christ’s redemption, not through his own works. It was not until man was redeemed by Christ that man could walk in the good works that God had prepared beforehand (Eph. 2:10) as sacrifices that are well pleasing to God (Heb. 13:16). Therefore, in the Old Testament the children of Israel first had to be redeemed by the blood of the passover lamb (Exo. 12:1-30) before they could offer up the fruit of the land (23:19; Lev. 2). Today anyone who has not been redeemed by Christ but wants to serve and please God with his deeds, like Cain, will not be regarded by God.
Cain’s way of offering reveals that he had no consciousness of sin. He did not feel sinful, even though he was sinful before God; rather, he felt that he had something to offer to God. Thus, he offered up the fruit of his labor in order to please God. Such an offering blasphemes God. When a sinner comes before God, he should, like the tax collector in Luke 18 who went up to the temple to pray (v. 13), sense his sins and shortcomings and seek God’s mercy so that God can look upon him. He is blaspheming God if, without any consciousness of sin, he proudly presents his works and deeds to God for acceptance. No wonder Cain was rejected by God. Such behavior not only overlooks but also tramples upon God’s righteousness. God is righteous. His righteousness cannot allow Him to look upon a sinner who does not sense his sinfulness. Many people, however, are like Cain. They overlook their sins while wanting to please God with their works. As a result, they trample on God’s righteousness and are rejected by Him. The Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray in Luke 18 is an example of such a one. He trusted in his righteousness, despised the others, and boasted to God (vv. 9-12). Everyone in Christianity who does not follow God’s revelation but instead follows his own will, the human view, and who serves God in the current of the world is imitating Cain; this is to go in the way of Cain (Jude 11).
Cain’s service was his religion. This religion was bloodless; it desired to serve God without the shedding of the blood of the sin offering. If man had not fallen or become sinful, he would have had no need for the blood of a sin offering. But because man sinned and is sinful, he needs the blood of the sin offering. Without the shedding of the blood of the sin offering to redeem him, man’s sins cannot be forgiven (Heb. 9:22). If man’s sins are not forgiven, how can he serve a righteous, holy, and sin-abhorring God? How can he be accepted by such a God? Many people today are like Cain. They serve God according to a bloodless religion. They are sinful, but they do not have the redeeming blood. They want to serve God, but they do not and cannot deal with the sins that God abhors. As a result, they serve God, but they are not accepted by Him.
The religion of Cain is a bloodless religion, and it is also a religion of “works” (Rom. 3:27). Cain offered up the fruit of the ground, which he obtained by his sweat and toil. He wanted to please God with his deeds. But how can a person who is damaged and defiled by sin have any works that are clean and acceptable to God? How can any of his deeds earn merit before God or redeem him from his sins? Nevertheless, many people are like Cain, depending on their deeds and works to serve God and to be accepted by Him. God will not regard this kind of bloodless service based on works.
Although God instituted a way of salvation for man to draw near to Him, to serve Him, and to be accepted by Him, Satan caused man to serve God according to his own view, not according to God’s way of salvation. God created man, but Satan caused man to sin and fall. Then God instituted a way of salvation to rescue man, but Satan caused man to reject God’s way of salvation. Because man did not need to sin again in order to fall, Satan did not need to cause Cain to sin; he needed only to prevent Cain from accepting God’s way of salvation. This was sufficient to keep Cain in the fall. Satan is so insidious that he does not need to tempt man to sin; he can keep man by causing man to serve God according to his human will. As long as he prevents man from following God’s revelation and from accepting God’s way of salvation, he can keep man in his fallen condition.
We should not think that only sinning can cause a man to fall but that serving God cannot. Serving God, just like sinning, can cause man to fall if it is done according to man’s will. Cain fell because he served God according to his human will. Therefore, it is not a matter of serving God but of following God’s will; it is a matter of giving ground to the human will rather than to God’s will.
In man’s first fall man assumed the headship, had the ground, and set God aside. In man’s second fall man’s will had the ground, not God’s will. According to God’s revelation, man cannot serve God according to his own will. If he tries to serve God according to his own will, he will encounter problems. Formerly, we did not serve God but loved the world and lusted after sin. Although it is commendable that we no longer love the world or lust after sin and instead desire to serve God, it is not easy for us to serve God, because we are required to serve God according to His will, not according to our own will. This is a great problem.
If we are to serve God, our own will must be dealt with. Whether Satan can gain us does not depend on whether we sin but on whether we live according to our will or according to God’s will. As long as we are according to our will, we are living in Satan’s hand. Many Christians serve God, but I am afraid that many of them are in Satan’s hand because they serve according to their own will. This is a terrible thing.
Second, man became angry. When God had no regard for Cain’s offering, “Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell” (Gen. 4:5). Those who serve God according to their own will eventually become angry. When anger is kindled in a person, this is an indication that he is serving God according to his own will. Like Cain, it is easy for such a person to become angry.
Third, Cain slew his brother. Verse 8 says, “Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” Cain initially served God, then became angry, and eventually committed murder.
We should not think that those who serve God would not murder others. The Lord Jesus told the disciples, “An hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). Serving God or sinning is not the problem. The problem is whether we serve according to God’s will or according to our human will, that is, whether God’s will has the ground or our human will has the ground. Our human will should have no ground in anything. Just as man is capable of sinning according to his own will, he is also capable of serving God according to his own will. On the surface it seems as though man is serving God, but the result is that he becomes angry and kills others.
Fourth, man lied and was arrogant toward God. “Jehovah said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). Cain slew his brother, but he lied to God when God asked concerning Abel. Cain was arrogant when he spoke to God. That a creature dared to speak in such a way to his Creator shows how fallen man had become. After man fell in Genesis 3, he was afraid of God, but in chapter 4 he was not afraid of God. Instead, he was arrogant toward God.
Most people ask, “What was so bad about eating the fruit in the garden of Eden?” They do not know that every unethical seed was concealed in the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Its fruit refers to Satan’s life. Thus, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil refers to Satan’s life. After it entered into man, Satan’s corrupting factor would grow out of it and eventually be lived out of man. At the beginning of chapter 4 Cain’s service to God seemed to be in a good condition. However, his service slowly turned into anger, and he eventually slew his brother. By this time man was thoroughly corrupted. The above points are the process of man’s second fall.
We will now consider the result of man’s second fall.
Man’s second fall brought a greater and severer curse upon man. In 4:11-12 God told Cain, “Now you are cursed from the ground...When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you.” After the first fall the ground was cursed to bring forth thorns and thistles (3:18), but after the second fall the ground stopped yielding its strength to man. The further man fell, the more he was cursed. All the problems that man encounters are due to the curse man incurred in the fall.
Verse 12 of chapter 4 goes on to say, “You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Although man was driven out of the garden of Eden by God after the first fall (3:22-24), man had a fixed dwelling place. After the second fall, however, man no longer had a fixed dwelling place. Cain became a wanderer without a dwelling place.
The third result of man’s second fall is that he was driven out from the face of God (4:14). In the first fall man was driven out from God’s dwelling place, but he could still see God’s face. In the second fall man was driven out from God’s face; thus, he could no longer see God’s face. This was a very serious result.
The final result of man’s second fall was the producing of a godless culture. Verses 16 through 24 of chapter 4 say, “Cain went forth from the presence of Jehovah and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. And Lamech took two wives for himself: The name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise cattle. And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. And Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice; / O wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech; / For I have slain a man for wounding me, / Even a young man for striking me. / If Cain is avenged sevenfold, / Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” At the beginning of chapter 4 Cain served God according to his own will. By the end of chapter 4 Cain and his descendants had invented a godless culture. When man went further away from God and lost God’s face, he was left with only one path, a godless culture. Originally, man had God. God took care of man, and man relied on God. God was responsible for and took care of everything. Furthermore, God was man’s joy. However, when man fell and was driven out from the face of God, he lost God. As a result, God was not responsible for man and could not take care of man as He once did. Hence, man lost his supply, joy, and security and was afraid of all the calamities that would befall him because of losing God. Therefore, man invented culture so that he could sustain, defend, safeguard, and entertain himself. This is the background of the godless human culture. Such a godless culture is the result of man’s fall.
The first step of Cain’s creation of a godless human culture was the building of a city for his existence. Cain built the city of Enoch, which was the first city on earth (v. 17). It was also the beginning of building, construction, in the world. This construction was the result and the proof of man’s departure from God. The more man sins and falls and the further he goes from God, the more he plans and builds something on the earth. Building for one’s existence on the earth always speaks of man being far away from God. Cain built a city for self-defense because he was afraid that people would kill him. Initially, man dwelt in the garden that God had prepared, but after the fall he could only dwell in the city that he had built.
The second step of the creation of a godless human culture was man’s inventing cattle-raising for his living. “Jabal...was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise cattle” (v. 20). Nomadic living began with Cain’s descendant, Jabal. Such a nomadic living was the means of living in man’s culture.
The third step of the creation of a godless human culture was the invention of music for entertainment. “Jubal...was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe” (v. 21). This proves that music played a very important role in man’s godless culture. Music began with Jubal; it was his invention. He was born of a lust-indulging father who married multiple wives: “Lamech took two wives for himself” (v. 19, cf. v. 23). His mother was an ornament- and amusement-loving mother. Adah means “ornament,” or “amusement,” in Hebrew (vv. 20-21). The father’s indulgence of lust, the mother’s ornaments and amusement, and the son’s music were the creation of the fallen human race.
Originally, God was man’s joy and satisfaction. But these men did not have God as their joy or satisfaction, being far away from God and engrossed with material culture and construction. The male married multiple wives, the female adorned herself, and music was their amusement to divert their low feelings and their way to seek temporary pleasure. Modern amusements prove that man does not have God as his joy. Those who have God do not need such worldly amusements. We have drunk of the river of God’s pleasures and no longer need to drink of the water of this world (Psa. 36:8-9; John 4:13-14).
The fourth step in the creation of a godless human culture was man’s invention of cutting instruments for self-defense. “Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron” (Gen. 4:22). Without God’s protection, man had to think of ways to protect himself. Some of these cutting instruments were for living and work; others were for war. Man developed industries and prospered with these cutting instruments; he also conquered others and expanded his borders by these cutting instruments.
Existence, amusement, and self-defense are the content of the godless human culture. Can you think of anything in human culture or living that is not included in these three categories? When man lost God, he developed these three things in order to survive. After man’s second fall human culture began with Cain and his descendants.
The consequences of developing a godless human culture are terrible. The corrupting factor is manifested at the very beginning of man’s fall. In verse 19 there is a beginning with polygamy. This means that there was the indulgence of lust and adultery. This is the first consequence of a godless human culture. When man is away from God and engrossed in material culture and construction, he will indulge his lusts. The more human culture develops and the more advanced human construction is, the more man’s lusts increase. The indulgence of man’s lusts always increases with the advancement of material culture and construction. The countries with the best material culture and the cities with the best material construction often have the worst indulgence of lusts. For example, the dance ballrooms that are so prevalent in so-called civilized countries promote adulterous acts, but many highly cultured people do not sense this corruption.
Another consequence of developing a godless human culture is killing. Lamech said, “I have slain a man for wounding me, / Even a young man for striking me” (v. 23). Thus, there were many incidents of killing others. Initially, Cain killed his brother, but later, killing was pervasive among the descendants of Cain. The murderous forefather begot murderous descendants.
The Bible shows that the more human culture develops, the more incidents of ferocious killings there are. In the present atomic age the world has already had two world wars less than fifty years into the twentieth century. The consequence of a developed godless human culture is much killing. This is the greatest tragedy of mankind.
In conclusion, man’s second fall brought a greater curse upon man, making him a fugitive and a wanderer driven out from God’s face and completely severed from God. However, man still needed to survive; he had to build a city and sustain, entertain, and defend himself. This is the cause for man’s invention of culture. The further away a man is from God, the more he seeks a godless culture. A godless culture demonstrates a fallen human life. Human history proves that the more advanced human culture is, the more fallen man is.
Man is utterly fallen when his culture does not want God. If man lived before God, human culture would want God. God would be the center and the content of such a culture. A culture with God demonstrates that man is not fallen but saved by God. All godless cultures are going downhill, following Cain’s path.
Man’s second fall is the result of his acting according to his own will and going further away from God. Man’s will was also exercised to invent a godless culture. Therefore, man’s second fall was a matter of his will versus God’s will. Man’s living by his own will caused him to fall a second time, and the result of man’s going away from God’s face was the producing of a godless culture.
