Since they didn’t have the Word of God written yet, God chose to speak to people in these times with an audible voice. He speaks to Cain the same way He spoke to Adam and Eve. However, Cain was out inthe open. He wasn’t hiding from God, because he was apparently not ashamed of his sin, in the way Adam and Eve were. He had grown accustomed to sin.
This shows part of the horrible growth of sin, in such a short amount of time. Cain’s actions, to me, are unimaginable. Perhaps it is my being saved. Perhaps it is God’s grace in giving me a nature that was so kind and loving, even before I realized I was a sinner in need of the Savior. But, I could never imagine even thinking of such a horrible thing. Oh, I have a sin nature, like we all do. That nature shows in different ways in different people. It’s just like an athletic person may show that by being skilled in a team sport (like baseball) or an individual one (like swimming). Two people may even have very different skill sets within the same sport.
However, sin had grown so fast since the Fall, that not only did the worst parts of Cain’s nature come out, he didn’t seem to care!
We see that in this verse. God asks where Abel is. He adds the words “thy brother” onto it. This speaks to Cain’s heart even more than just asking, “Where is Abel?” The words should remind Cain that this was his brother. God emphasized that this was someone Cain was supposed to have a great family love for, the kind of love where you care for them no matter what.
Cain answers God’s loving attempt to get him to confess in a different way from Adam and Eve. His parents had each started blaming someone else. They felt shame enough to try to hide. Cain, on the other hand, had nobody to blame but himself. So, he said “I know not.” This, alone, was a bold-faced lie, but what he adds makes it worse. Cain asks, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Innocent, literal questions do come, of course, when someone has little or no understanding. We must lovingly answer them with calmness and compassion, and never react harshly. That is how God teaches us. We are to go to Him for wisdom, and he will give liberally and never complain. (James 1:5) He never expects us to know things we can’t possibly know. Of course, sometimes, the answer is to step out in faith. Mary, for instance, didn’t know how she - a virgin - was going to give birth. But, she knew to have faith, and asked one of those innocent questions. God gave her the information she needed, and she responded with faith, just as we should. (Luke 1:26-38) There are numerous other examples throughout Scripture.
However, Cain was not like that. He knew what a brother was, and how to treat him. Cain knew he was supposed to love his brother as an equal. A “keeper” was someone who tended lesser animals, just as Abel kept sheep. On the one hand, this could be a sarcastic comment. It may have been meant to degrade his brother. Or, it could have been outright evasion by trying to throw God off the path. Either way, it shows just how extreme a problem sin had become.
