It may seem unusual when you see it in the bulletin. Why would he go there? Well, I hope in the sermon itself that will be explained. But if you turn to Genesis chapter 4, I'm going to be reading the first seven verses. Hear the word of the Lord. Now, Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now, Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry. His face fell. 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 for you, but you must rule over it. This is the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word read and heard, every jot and tittle comes to us because it's God breathed from above. You have breathed out your word. It is infallible. It is inerrant. It is authoritative. It's every word that we need. And you bless your people in the hearing of it by the work of your Holy Spirit to illuminate to our hearts and minds, but also in the preaching of your word. Father, grant strength to your servant who stands before you in weakness, in need of the strength and the unction of the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ from this portion of Scripture. Grant that unction for your glory's sake in the preaching of the word and for the edification of your people. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The question, of course, that the visiting minister has always is what to preach. I think that I will be coming at least a couple of more times. We'll have to see how it goes down the road in this interim period. And I was wrestling with, well, where do I go next? I thought about taking up Paul's letter to the Philippians, and I may do that yet. But this passage was on my heart, and I thought about something. And so this morning's text and sermon and this evening's, in a real sense, go together. What is most important? I think you're at that juncture in this church, even at this time, a time to reflect upon what is most important? What is God's purpose in the church? And what we see is, is that His purpose in the church is His glory and the manifestation of His glory. And where you see that most pronounced upon the earth is what we're doing right now. It's in the assembly. When God's people who are reconciled to Him come together in gratitude to Him, to meet with Him, to sing their praises, to hear His Word, to come to His table, there is glory in this room. And we need to remember that. Evangelism is unto worship. Worship or the gathering is not unto evangelism. And whenever the church gets that wrong, it goes in a path that it shouldn't go. No, we do evangelism. Why? Because we want these seats filled with people who are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ to glorify His name in the public assembly in His worship. And so this morning, this evening, we're going to be focusing on worship, but in particular, how is it that we're able to come and be here? And that's why I've chosen this text and the text that we use for the call to worship this morning, Psalm 24, for this evening's text. Now, you're going to have to wear two caps this morning. You're going to have to put on your thinking cap. You're going to have to stick with me. This is going to be a meaty sermon. If you're charitable, if you're not so charitable, it may be a little bit long. It's going to be meaty. We're going to get down to the nitty gritty. And so you're going to have to think. You're going to have to pay attention. The second cap that I want you to put on is your skeptic's cap. And I say that because I'm going to tell you something that's going to sound strange to your ears. If somebody ever comes up to you and says, your English Bible, doesn't matter what translation it is, King James, New King James, ESV, NIV, NASB, whatever English translation you have in front of you, they got wrong one of the verses. The person that tells you that is probably wrong. There are scholars in the scriptures that have labored over translating them into the English language. And so the reason I want you to put on your skeptics hat this morning is because I'm going to say precisely that about verse 7. And so we're going to have a Hebrew lesson to try and demonstrate what I mean. This is to get your attention. That's verse 7. We're coming down to verse 7. And if I'm right, then I'm not by myself, okay? It's not me alone in a closet with my Hebrew Bible coming up with this. I am not nearly as gifted. I'm a journeyman in Greek and Hebrew. I know my way around enough to know my way around. I'm not one that's on committees translating the Hebrew and the Greek languages, the real scholars into English or whatever language. But I rely upon people who do have those skills and abilities. But yeah, I want you to have your skeptics hat on because I want to help you take it all. and conventional. If you see this, you'll see how pivotal this text is in redemptive history. So what happens when we move from chapter 3 to chapter 4? Well, much. We're no longer in the garden. Chapter 3 ends with Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden to the east. with a flaming sword of fire and cherubim that guard the door, the gate to Eden, lest they return and eat of the tree of life and live forever." Now, what that means is, not that it has a secret anecdote to the poisonous tree of the knowledge of good and evil. No, the trees have sacramental significance. What it means is, lest they be confirmed in their unrighteousness and their wickedness and therefore enter into directly the second death or hell, they are expelled from the garden. Because if there is going to be a return to God, It can't be by works. The covenant of works has already been broken. It must be by grace, and that grace has to be worked out in a history that will take place outside of the garden. There's a sense in which them being expelled from the garden, while indeed a punishment, because they're no longer in the garden that God planted with them, is also in God's purposes, it creates the opportunity for redemption in Christ Jesus. This text becomes pivotal. We also move from first generation to second generation. from Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel. We're told that Adam knew Eve, so we're told about Cain's conception, and she gave birth with the help of the Lord, and Cain was born, and then we're told that she gave birth to Abel. Some have suggested that since it doesn't say anything about the conception of Abel, that maybe they were twins. We don't know. That's conjecture. The important thing to know, and I want you to file this away under your thinking cap, and don't forget it because it will become important that Cain is firstborn. Abel is secondborn. That will become significant, I think, to understand the text rightly. But then immediately they're grown men. It goes that fast. Next verse. And Cain takes care of the ground. He tills the ground. He plants the gardens. And Abel takes care of the flocks. It's a division of labor within that first family. All of it makes sense in doing it that way. And they're going about their labors. Now they're grown men. They're grown men, they have their vocations, their callings within the family. And then next, it moves quickly to worship, to their public worship. Even though there's just two of them, there's two of them and then there's God who's present in terms of the public worship. It's the first account of public worship that we have in Scripture post-fall. Now, it's not, I'm sure, the first account of public worship. How else would Cain and Abel know what to do? I'm sure that Adam and Eve worshipped God on many occasions and taught this to their sons. But this is the first recorded occasion, and it's an important one. And we read that Cain brings a grain offering. He brings from the fruit of the ground. In its first read, we see that, well, of course, that's what he had. Remember, he was the one who tilled the ground. But Abel brings an offering of the firstfruits and fat from the flock. That is the best of the flock. He brings a blood offering to the Lord. And then the next thing that we read is, Abel in his offering are favored by God. But Cain and his offering are not favored by God. And note that. It's important to see. It's not just the offering that is either accepted or rejected. It's the man who brings the offering that's either accepted or rejected. Abel's offering, and Abel is accepted by God. Cain and his offering is rejected. And we need to stop and ask the question, why? Why is one accepted and why is the other not? Well, the book of the Hebrews tells us that Abel offered a better offering. He made his offering in faith. And the implication is that Cain didn't make his offering in faith. In fact, I'm convinced that Cain made his offering in presumption. Abel made his offering in faith, therefore Abel and his offering is accepted. Cain made his offering in presumption and his is not. We have to ask another question. Is there anything wrong with bringing a grain offering to the Lord? because some say, well, he brought a grain offering. Grain offerings aren't acceptable. You read Genesis in light of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses wrote all five books for the covenant people of God in the wilderness. When you understand Leviticus, it helps you understand Genesis chapter 4 and what's going on here. What Cain and Abel knew, though it's not spelled out in Scripture, becomes codified at Sinai. in terms of how God is to be worshiped. And when you bring that here, it all begins to make sense. Grain offerings are not only acceptable to God, they're prescribed by God in His law. They're good. But if you read carefully in the book of Leviticus, grain offerings are never offered alone. They're accompanied first by blood offerings. And why is this? You have to understand a little bit of the theology of the sacrifices in the Old Covenant and of the offerings in the Old Covenant. The sacrifices, there's an order to them. There's a theology that you find in them. The sin offering, the sinner comes and offers an animal that's sacrificed in his stead in order that his sins would be covered by substitution of the animal's blood. But then the second offering is the whole bird offering. And the whole bird offering, the whole animal is consumed upon the altar. It's transformed into smoke, a fragrance that grows up to God, that represents the consecration of the worshiper in his entirety to God. And then you have the peace offerings, which are shared with the worshipers. And there's a feast. The one whose sins are covered, the one who consecrates himself to God now communes in fellowships with God in peace offerings. And oftentimes the grain offerings are in association with the peace offerings. When you look at the theology of the old covenant worship, things begin to make sense. And so if we read this, this is why I say I believe Cain made his offering in presumption. He presumed upon God's favor. He did not come through the mediation of blood, is able dead when he came before the Lord, and therefore he and his offering are rejected. You cannot presume upon God's favor when you're a sinner. You can only come through the mediation of blood. And Abel, whose heart is full of faith, knows himself to be a sinner and comes through the mediation of blood and the blood sacrifices that he offers. And I think all of that is important if we're to understand verse 7 rightly. I'm about to tell you to get on your skeptics cap again. We're not quite there yet. What we see in terms of the response of Cain to being rejected is he's angry and his face falls. He's angry and he's sullen before God. And we see God comes to him and says, why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? Why has your countenance fallen? And Cain doesn't answer him. And it's God who says to him, if you do what's right, you'll be accepted. If you do what's right, it will be well with you. If you do what's right, your countenance will be lifted. because he hadn't done what was right, because his heart was removed from God. He did not come in faith. Now put on your skeptics hat. Ready? Let me read it. I'm reading the ESV. If you prefer King James or New King James, I kind of do too. But a lot of our churches are using the ESV and so this is what I've been using for some time now. But the translation is essentially the same in all the English translations. This is what we read. Look at verse 7. And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It's desirous for you, but you must rule over it. Now, that sounds familiar to your ears, doesn't it? We all know the text. Let me tell you something. There are problems with that translation. One, there's a theological problem, that we overcome it. But when do you ever see sin as depicted as something that's crouching outside the door of your heart in the Bible? Now, the problem with sin is it's already on the inside. That temptation often comes from the outside. And due to sin on the inside, temptation often gets a foothold. Satan tempts us from the outside. The world tempts us from the outside. But we already have sin. And so when you hear that, in your mind, you think of sin as temptation. And maybe even as the serpent himself, Satan. Satan crouching outside the door of your heart. Now, because we make that adjustment in that, then the theological issue falls away, because certainly we are subject to temptation from without, and it can come in and it can consume you. And we know that, and that's a serious warning that we find elsewhere in Scripture. But is that the meaning of it in this text? The other problem, get ready for the Hebrew lesson. This verse is problematic for everybody who tries to translate it into English or any other translation because of the peculiarities of the Hebrew. There's a problem with agreement in the text. It's just there on the face of the Hebrew text. And what do I mean by agreement? You got to put on your thinking cap again. Some of you older ones have to remember even your English grammar that you got in the fifth grade to try to remember these things. There are differences between Hebrew and Greek and English in some ways. There are some ways in which the languages are comparable. We're talking about agreement in gender. Agreement in gender. In English, if the noun is boy, then the pronoun is he, or his, or him, right? Well, it used to be that way. Actually, it still is that way, and every culture in the history of mankind knows this, except for the crazy one we're living in today. If it's girl, the pronouns are her, she, or whatever the other one is. You know what I'm talking about here. I'm forgetting my fifth grade grammar as well. Agreement in gender. Of course, in our day, people want to pick their own pronouns. But I'm not going there. We're not talking about that. That is utter foolishness and absurdity that we live among in our day. Everybody knows, every language knows that there's two genders. And there's agreement in the grammar in the genders. Well, here's where Hebrew and Greek differ from English. In English, we get gender from nouns and pronouns. Not from verbs. There's nothing in the verb that tells us whether the subject is masculine or feminine. But in Hebrew, in Greek, it's in the verb to. Another level of agreement. So that if the subject of a sentence is masculine, its verb form is masculine as well. And then any pronouns that it's antecedent to are masculine. in Hebrew and Greek, and we don't have agreement in this verse. Chatat. Can you say that? Chatat. You got to get this little guttural sound in there to do the Hebrew. That's the Hebrew word translated sin here. It's a feminine noun. Now, don't ask me why sin is a feminine noun. When you get your next pastor, you ask him that question. He probably won't know either. I have no earthly idea. It just is. It's a feminine noun. But the verb translated crouching is in a masculine form. And yet, atah is the only noun that can possibly be the subject. So something unusual is going on here. You have a feminine noun. You have a masculine verb. Then when you get to the end of it, you have two pronouns. Its desire will be for you. You must rule over it. Now those are neuter pronouns in English, right? In Hebrew, they're masculine. If you're going to be literal in the last clause, it's, his desire will be for you, you must rule over him. Now, why is it translated it? Because our English word sin is not masculine or feminine, it's neuter. And therefore, neuter pronouns are substituted in the last clause. Regardless, since Hattat is feminine, if it's the antecedent of these pronouns in the Hebrew, you don't have agreement. Our translators have made them agree in English, and you can understand why. It's a problematic verse. But are they missing something? Have they stepped back from the Hebrew in the text? Are there elements in the context that are missing? And I'm convinced the answer is yes. And this did not come from my own study of the Hebrew. I've already told you that. You can blame Michael Morales if you don't agree with me. Do you all know Michael Morales, the biblical theological professor at Greenville Seminary? I think he's splendid. I just think he's extraordinary. And he wrote a paper about this passage, and that's what convinced me. And he walked through all of the grammar very, very carefully. So is there a solution? And the answer is, there is. And it's by stepping back and looking at the Pentateuch as a whole. Oftentimes, in scripture, is rightly translated sin, many, many times in the Pentateuch. But hattat in the Pentateuch is not always translated sin. It's oftentimes translated sin offering, sometimes with a qualifier that helps you know for sure, sometimes just the Hebrew word hattat. So is it sin or sin offering? They're not the same thing. They're nowhere near the same thing, but they're represented by the same Hebrew word. Well, how do you know whether it's sinners or not? The context tells you. That's how you know. And if you consider this text within its whole context, when you realize that Cain has come in presumption with a grain offering, without a blood offering, without a sin offering, without coming to the mediation of blood, it's suddenly starting to come clear. What if what Moses meant here when he wrote these words that he gets from God himself when God's speaking to Cain, what if hot, hot means sin offering rather than sin? The word can be translated either way. There are passages in the Pentateuch where in the same paragraph the word is used. In one place it's translated sin, in another place it's translated sin offering, and everybody understands because of the context. If we read this within the context, what if sin offering is intended? And the text really begins to unfold, if that's correct, and I'm convinced that it does. For one thing, the chatat is a feminine noun. Predominantly, sin offerings are masculine. A bull calf, a ram, a young ram, kid goat. typically masculine. And there are times when that impacts the verb, even with hot, hot, I can't show you where, Dr. Morales can show you where, in the Pentateuch itself. And so it begins to resolve the issue of agreement. I told you, put your thinking caps on, don't take them off because it gets muddy. Leave them on, okay? It seems to fall apart with the verb. A sin offering, that is, a lamb. Crouching? Do lambs crouch? The picture there of crouching is a predator about ready to pounce. And so there we have a problem with sin offering. That doesn't seem to correspond with the verb that's translated crouching. But then the question comes, is that the only way that verb is translated in the Bible? And the answer is no. Let me give you an example all of you know. You don't know that it's there, but it is. What's the most famous passage in the Bible? 23rd Psalm? Probably? Let's say the beginning of it together. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. There the reference is David as the sheep of God, God being his shepherd. And he says, God makes me lie down in green pastures. It's an infinitive, same root. is what we find in Genesis 4-7. It's the same verb. It's an infinitive in Psalm 23. It's a verb in 4-7, but it's the same root. And it's associated with sheep. So you plug that in here. Cane. If you do what's right, will it not be There's a sin offering lying down at the door. Take it. Kill it. You see? I'm providing it for you. Just take it and kill it. Well, then we have the question of door. The door to what? The text doesn't tell us. Our assumption, when it's sin crouching, is it's the door to Cain's heart, right? Is there a door in the context? Actually, there is. How does Genesis 3 end? either been eve or expelled from the garden to the east, cherubim in a flaming sword of fire guards the door to Eden. Lest they return, they cannot approach God again. But maybe they can approach to the door. I'm going to come back to that and trace it out to end the sermon, but we have to deal with the last clause. What about this it's in it, in his, in he, in terms of the last clause? Its desire will be for you, but you must rule or master it. as it's in your English translation, or if you translate it literally in the Hebrew, His desire is for you, you must rule Him. How do we resolve this? Well, you've got the problem. Feminine noun, masculine pronouns. So maybe Hattat is not the antecedent of those two pronouns. This is what Dr. Brown has said. Who are we forgetting here? There's somebody else here. He's just there a couple of verses before, and we see him immediately in the text that follows. Well, it's Abel. It's Abel. Abel, who offered an offering to God in faith and is accepted before God, and yet Cain offers his in presumption, he is rejected by God. Now, I want you to think with an ancient mind. I want you to think about authority structures that existed in the Bible. And yes, this is creation authority structures, husbands and wives, but also firstborn and then others that are born. of the man who owns his possession and his place and everything. It's the firstborn in ancient days that is the heir. And it has great significance. It doesn't mean that others don't get an inheritance, but he's the heir. And the Bible in its narrative often mixes that up. You think of Ishmael. And you think of Isaac, Ishmael's firstborn. But who receives? Who is Abraham's? Take your son, your only son, to Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. Who is his heir? It's Isaac. But Ishmael had to be rejected. And that's a hard text. When Sarah gets her full of it, It says to Abraham, I'm going to paraphrase here, I want that boy and that woman out of this tent. And Abraham is reluctant, but God said, do as she says. I'll care for the boy. And he abandons him in the wilderness with his mother. You remember it? And he becomes the father of many nations, Ishmael does. But he's not the heir. many nations that are not in covenant with God. Jacob and Esau. Esau's firstborn. Jacob's grabbing at his foot before he was born. He is the usurper. He tries to take by trickery with his mother's encouragement what God had already said he's going to give to him. He is going to get the right of the firstborn. Esau sells it for a bowl of bean soup in his weakness. Jacob becomes the heir. Manasseh and Ephraim is an interesting one, isn't it? When Joseph brings his sons and positions them so that Manasseh is before his father's right hand and Ephraim is before his father's left hand. Remember what Jacob did? He crossed his hands and his right hand fell upon Ephraim and Joseph protested. No, Manasseh is the firstborn and Jacob will not remove his blessing and Ephraim becomes the chief tribe of the northern tribes. with that blessing of firstborn. God's always shuffling the deck, but what's conventional is still a fact. Firstborn is heir. Cain realizes, if I am out of favor with God, then I'm going to be out of favor with Father as well. I'm going to lose everything. And so what does he do? What does the next text tell us? He kills his brother, his rival. Now that makes sense, you see. And in his folly in killing his brother, he loses his firstborn rights anyway because he's banished further to the east. Seth is born. Seth becomes the firstborn. But you can see the deep motivation of his anger towards Abel if you understand the firstborn, secondborn issue as you have it under the Old Covenant. And so it makes sense that what God is saying, His desire will be for you, but you must rule over Him. Because Abel, though a man of faith, is a sinner too. And let me just solidify this. Turn back one page, just one page. I'm spending more time on this than I wanted to, but I'm going to do it anyway. Because I'm not going to have to be here next week. I told you meaty sermon. You can call it long if you want to. But look at verse 16. If you want to see a parallel passage, this is the curse that comes upon the woman following the fall of Genesis 3. Look at what God says to her. I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. This is the curse that comes upon the woman. Of course, it's also through her seed, the seed that would come, would bruise the serpent's head, that her salvation would come. But it's still through travail because of her sin. But then listen to what he says. Your desire will be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. In the Hebrew, it's essentially the same construction as what we find in 4, verse 7. Don't let anybody tell you that superior or inferior structures are post-fall. That's what you hear a lot today. Oh, this is because of sin that you have these things. No, this is God's creation order. Because of sin, it's all ruined. Your husband is your head, but because of your sin, you're going to covet what is his by right, and he is going to master you by his strength. And the whole thing comes unwound. I know you read other interpretations in our egalitarian day than that, but I'm convinced that's what the text is teaching. You have the same principle in 3.16 regarding husbands and wives. Now you have that same principle and same language regarding first and second born as you come to the end of verse 7. But too much time there. We need to come back to the gate. Let's come back to the gospel. Under the Old Covenant, is there opportunity? Is there an opportunity for mercy? Can sinners ever find their way back into the favor of God? Yes, but by grace. Under the Old Covenant, though, they could only come so far. What is this door? I think it's the door to Eden. Adam and Eve have been driven from Eden. Cherubim are there. A flaming sword of fire is there. They can't return, but where do they go to worship? They don't enter Eden, but they go to the door. Now, fast forward. Fast forward to Sinai. Fast forward to Tabernacle. Think about the Tabernacle. Think about how it's structured. Think about the holy of holies of the Tabernacle. Who could go behind the veil into the very presence of God under the old covenant in the Tabernacle, later temple? Only the high priest once a year with blood. and they tied a cord around him in case he did something wrong, was struck dead in the presence of God, they had to get him out of there. Only the high priest once a year. You could come so far. So where did the people under the old covenant in the tabernacle, where did they offer their sacrifices? They offered them at the door. They offered them at the gate. You can only come so far, not all the way, under the old covenant. Now, there's grace and mercy because you can come so far, but not all the way. Fast forward. Jesus is on the cross. It's dark for three hours. Dark as night for three hours. In the middle of the day, Can you imagine what people must be thinking? And then the darkness is lifted, and Jesus looks up, and he cries out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then a little later, he cries out, I thirst. And remember, he refused a concoctment early that would dull the pain. as he went through the cross. But now he says, I thirst. They take a hyssop branch. They take vinegar mixed with water. They lift it to his lips. Why? I think it's because he had something to say that needed to be heard. And he's weakened near death. And what did he say that needed to be heard? He said, it is finished. Redemption is accomplished. I've done it. I've paid the debt. I've redeemed the people for myself. And then he says, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And his head fell, and he died, and the earth began to shake. Can you imagine what it was like at the foot of the cross, where the cross is rocking back and forth? Is the ground going to open up and swallow us all up alive? What's happening here? And what happened at the temple? veil was torn from top to bottom. Do you know what was embroidered on the veil in the tabernacle and later the temple? Cherubim. What guards Eden? Flaming sword of fire and cherubim. The Holy of Holies is Eden. It is the sanctuary of God. And Jesus' death, that veil is torn top to bottom and you can run into the immediate presence of God. Through his mediation, Jesus went with his own blood, not the blood of bulls and goats, but he's bid you come boldly. You do this every time you bow your heads to pray, but you do it especially when you come together in the assembly at the call of God. We are in the presence of God, right now, and greater glory than they could ever imagine under the old covenant. Because Jesus has come and he's finished his work. And we are worshiping now in the heavenly places. Don't ask me to explain it. I just know it's what the Bible teaches. And it's glorious. And the world can't know this. They can't understand it. But when we do, and when we come and worship, it's transformative to us. And when we bring people to come and sit under the hearing of the gospel, and when they recognize it, we explain to them, do you know what's happening when we come together in the assembly? We are worshiping in the presence of the triune God. It's glorious. No, we can't see it with these eyes. These eyes are veiled to see things which are invisible, but we know that it's true. And you can, too. The repentance in faith. Worship Him with us. We must guard this moment in this church. Most of the church does not understand these things at all. They've never even asked the questions. That's sad. But by God's grace and His providence, we know. Let's see what God is going to do. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. The Gospel is on every page. The Lord Jesus is on every page. It is about Him. Lord Jesus, thank you that you have ascended And to the sanctuary, it's not a replica here on earth, but in the invisible heavens and with your own blood. And by grace, we have access again that's greater than Eden. And especially of the age to come. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's take our psalters and turn to Psalm 42a. Stand to sing. ♪ As in its thirst a planting heart ♪ ♪ To other books but thee ♪ ♪ So pledge my longing soul, O God ♪ ♪ That I may come to thee ♪ ♪ I so for God believe thee ♪