The question which forms the title of my sermon might be considered a threadbare one because it has been asked so often. It has been propounded on the street and college campus alike. It has been upon the lips of believer and unbeliever. Sometimes it is asked by those who are puzzled and perplexed and out of honest hearts they desire an answer. Others seek occasion against the scriptures, and with a flippant air they propose the question as though it justified the rejection of the Word of God.

Having faced it many times, I am confident that a careful reading of the Word itself will provide an answer, and that difficulties, which at first blush look insurmountable, will vanish. Many who are troubled over the question will read into the Word what is not there, or without taking time to read it for themselves, will say what they imagine is there. And this is a very poor way to take the Bible. Imagination is a wretched substitute for revelation. Just as we sing, "Take Time To Be Holy," so ought we to "take time to be informed." The Bible is a reliable and trustworthy book, and if we spend time with it, seeking guidance from the Author Himself, we will come into a right understanding of it. God never gave His Word to puzzle man, but to enlighten him. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105).

Now it is an easy thing to ask questions, but it is not always easy to provide the answers. I am reminded of a crossword puzzle set forth in a sort of poetic form which I want to pass on to you. It reads:

Where can a man buy a cap for his knee,
     Or a key to a lock of his hair?
Can his eyes be called an academy
     Because there are pupils there?
What gems are found in the crown of his head?
     Who travels the bridge of his nose?
Can he use, when shingling the roof of his house,
     The nails on the end of his toes?
Can the crook of his elbow be sent to jail?
     If so, what did he do?
How can he sharpen his shoulder blades?
     I'll be puzzled if I know, do you?
Can he sit in the shade of the palm of his hand?
     Or beat on the drums of his ears?
Does the calf of his leg eat the corns off his toes?
     If so, why not grow corn on the ears?

Well, this is a bit of pleasantry, but there is a real answer to the question which confronts us. Some one has well said that "while the Bible is not a complete compendium of universal knowledge, yet apart from its pages as the key, all knowledge remains unlocked to man's entrance. Apart from the Bible as the light, no path of true knowledge is distinguishable to man." The very history of the Book is vital. Fourfifths of it is history, yet its history is the touchstone and the interpreter of all history.

Inasmuch as many are concerned about the wife of this man Cain, 1 am to assume that Cain is to be looked upon as an historical character. Surely if he were a creature of fiction no one would be interested in his family affairs. We are fully justified in accepting his historicity since the New Testament confirms it, and this is enough. The story we are to consider is not based upon human assumption.

Cain and his descendants are the founders of our present civilization. The fourth chapter of Genesis makes this plain. Singular, is it not that the world's civilization should have been founded in the heart of its first murderer? Cain's sin marred the peace of the first home of mankind and broke the family circle. From this point on we find sin moving in the world with terrific and terrifying rapidity.

Before we look at the wife of Cain, let us take time to consider the life of this character. We will think of

CAIN IN GENERAL

Many interesting things are revealed about the first child born into the world. His mother, Eve, was overjoyed with his advent because she supposed him to be the fulfilment of the promised deliverer. She expressed her feeling by calling the infant "Cain" which means "acquisition. " Thus the name signifies that she believed she had acquired the deliverer, the one who would surely crush the head of the serpent. But alas, he was crushed by the serpent. The scripture is interesting at this point. "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord" (Gen. 4:1). Or to put it more literally, "I have gotten a man, even Jehovah." In due course of time the second son was born and she called him "Abel" to express her disappointment because his name means "vanity."

These lads grew, and then the day came in their experience when they were to make an offering to the Lord. Each brought his gift to the east gate of the Garden of Eden from whence they had been driven. The presence of God was to be found at this particular place. "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering" (Gen. 4:3-4). Abel's offering was in keeping with the will of God and in harmony with the way of approach to God, namely, through sacrifice, "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain w r as very wroth, and his countenance fell" (Gen. 4:5).

In all probability Cain felt he brought a beautiful offering. Such stands as a type of all that is offered in the flesh and in unbelief. His was worship in self-will and this is not acceptable to God. On the part of the offerer there was no adequate sense of sin and no need of the realization of atonement. It has been well said that all men are incurably religious, but they want to worship God the v/ay they desire and not after God's plan. The flesh desires a little religion and feeds on forms and ceremonies, but it spurns the idea of shed blood for salvation. If a soul is to be saved, he must be saved on- Christ's terms. So many say that they are trying to do the best they can. Such never find approval in the eyes of God. We are not called upon to serve Him after the ideas we have conceived, but after that which has been revealed in His Word.

Why did the Lord have respect unto Abel and his offering? The New Testament supplies the answer, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh" (Heb. 11:4). This young man believed what he had been taught as the right way to approach God. And as he brought his bloody sacrifice, fire leaped from the presence of God and devoured his offering, thus supplying evidence of its acceptance before God.

In His patience, God gave to Cain another opportunity. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin (sin-offering) lieth at the door: and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him" (Gen. 4:67). As it was then, so it is now — a sin offering lieth at the door of every heart. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock" (Rev. 3:20). The hand that knocks is nail-pierced. It belongs to the Lamb of God who beareth "away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). There is hope and help in what our Saviour has accomplished in our behalf.

As we advance in our story of Cain it is to come to a very sad picture. He and his brother Abel went out into the fields and as they conversed, Cain lifted his hand in murder and slew his younger brother. Here was a deliberate act induced by the bent of his own corrupt nature. He was not influenced by evil companions nor was he forced into wrong doing. The judgment of God fell upon him, "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand" (Gen. 4:11). Then God declared that he would be "a fugitive and a vagabond . . . . in the earth" (Gen. 4:12). He would be moving and wandering from place to place. Then he was driven from the presence of the Lord and we are told that he "dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."

This brings us to the introduction of Cain's wife. For we read, "Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch" (Gen. 4:17). No one has ever seemed interested in Abel's wife, or who Seth, another brother, might have married. Mrs. Cain has held the spotlight of interest ever since the days of Tom Paine who is credited with first having raised this question. It is not so much the fact of her being his wife, but where he happened to find her. After Cain was driven out, he made his home in another land. Did he take a wife with him or did he go to the land of Nod and there find a wife from among another race of people? Were there human beings before Adam and Eve? Are we to understand that Adam was the first man and Eve the first woman and that there were none before them or beside them? Evidently, Adam was fully persuaded that his wife was the first woman and that all others would spring from her because he called her "Eve." This he did in faith. God had taught him that she was to be the mother of all living. There was no doubt in his mind.

This leads to the second point I wish to emphasize. It is

THE ANSWER OF EVOLUTION

Without hesitation a science, falsely so-called, declares there were other humans besides Adam and Eve. We are assured that the Bible . is mistaken and does not square with science when it calls Adam the first man. We are told to see the absolute evidence in museums of the world. With pride we are shown the various representations of beings supposed to have lived on the earth thousands of years prior to Adam.

The so-called evidence in these museums of natural history is a grand hoax calculated to discredit the Word of God and to give the true explanation of the antiquity of man. But the arrangements are all artificial and arbitrary, and set up to suit the preconceived notions of those who steadfastly refuse to bow to the revelation of God concerning origins. God declares that Adam was the first man and that all the race sprang from him through Eve, his wife. Evolution declares it is not so, and that there were millions of other humans in the world prior to Adam and Eve. And a host of unsuspecting youth swallow this nonsense and feel justified in rejecting the truth.

The next thing I present is

THE TEACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD

An ounce of scripture is worth a ton of human guesses, and one word from God's Book is of more value than all the text books of a science, falsely so-called. The Bible and true science are in perfect agreement, but the Bible and evolution are as far apart as the poles and in utter conflict. Please do not accuse me as being opposed to education for if you do you expose your ignorance.

The first verse in Genesis introduces us to the original creation of the universe. This is in no sense the condensed account of what follows. The time of the creation is not given except to state that "in the beginning God created." It may have been two billion years ago. And it does not state how long it took Him to do it. But the next verse introduces an entirely new situation. For the earth, was (became) waste and void. This is judgment because sin entered and God had to bring this about.

Beginning with the latter part of the second verse and sweeping on through the first chapter and the second, we have the account of how God recreated the earth in six days of twenty-four hours each. When God declared that each should produce "after his kind," evolution became a dead issue and an impossibility. This is why plants still produce plants and why monkeys still produce monkeys and will continue to do so. So long as this fiat of God holds good, there never will be a spark of evidence that evolution is the method ordained for the development of life.

Man was the crowning work of God's creation. To Adam was given the task of replenishing the earth and of supplying a new population. God treated Adam as a rational and responsible being and gave him certain tasks and permitted him to exercise his will. From what the Bible reveals, Adam was the most marvelous man this world has ever seen apart from Jesus Christ. He was not the crude, uneducated, cave-like creature that many have imagined. He came in perfection from the hand of his Creator. And let us remember that nothing was half-done that God performed. Adam was not left to a course of self-improvement. There was no room for improvement as He came from God.

We are prepared now to face

THE FACTS CONCERNING CAIN'S WIFE

If Adam and Eve were the first human beings, as we know the Bible teaches them to be, where did Cain get his wife? First of all, he either married his sister or his niece. This is not unreasonable, nor was it unlawful in his day. If the human family was to be propagated and the terms of the Adamic covenant carried out. this had to be the case. In Genesis 5:4 we read, "And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters." So far as the Bible record is concerned only three of the children were named and all of these were sons. But from this passage it is clear that there were other sons and also daughters. Only the prominent ones are mentioned by name.

A little figuring would be interesting at this point. Adam lived nine hundred years and on the commonly accepted basis of four children to a family, in the period before the flood there would have been an average of one hundred and twenty children to a family, considering that the length of life at that period was thirty times as great as now. Supposing that there were forty- eight children to a family and that one-fourth of the population died and another fourth never married, and that children were born only during the second and third hundred years of the parents' lives, then the population at the time of Adam's death would figure twenty million. The Bible does not say how old Cain was when he murdered Abel; in fact, he may have been married a few hundred years before the murder. We do not know Cain's age at the time he was married — he might have been three or four hundred years old, and he might easily have had his pick of a million girls.

We must note carefully what the Bible says about Cain and his wife. We are not told that he went to the land of Nod and there found a wife, but that when they got to the land of Nod he knew his wife in the same sense as that given in the first verse of the fourth chapter, "Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain." So we read, "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch" (Gen. 4:17). The intermarriage of close relatives was in keeping with those early days of the race. Within historic time, the marriage of brother and sister was in practice in the royal family of Egypt and this was followed to secure unquestioned royalty of blood in the descent, and this happened when civilization was at its highest in Egypt. It was not a sin in those days for no law was given forbidding its practice. A remnant of the intermarriage still obtains among royalty in the Old World.

In Abraham's day, God's word went forth putting a stop to the practice of relatives marrying each other. God had cut down longevity, the earth had been populated, all of which had been swept away in the flood of Noah's day save for eight souls. The earth must again be repopulated and Noah was given this command, but as the centuries slipped by and with the population numbering into the millions, there was no longer any reason why marriage should take place within families.

Let us learn to read God's Word with care and accept it for what it says. It solves its own problems and it answers its own questions. This Book is not only "a lamp unto our path," but it is able to 'make us wise unto salvation." It declares the awfulness of sin, the need of salvation and the glorious fact that "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."