4:6-7 - 6Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
[ T - OL ]
As He had dealt with his father in grace, putting to him three questions to which He already knew the answer, so now Yahweh deals with Cain in grace with three questions. Only this time God was less concerned about what answers Cain would give Him as He was concerned that he should resolve the questions for himself. Each of the questions was intended to help Cain discover the path back to peace from his dislocation into anger.
The first two questions simply rephrases the narrator's description of Cain in the previous verse into questions: "Cain was very angry" // "Why are you angry?" "And his face was downcast" // "Why is your face downcast?" The third question comes to the heart of the matter: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" Cain was looking at where he fell. God wanted Cain to see where he tripped. People who look at where they fall never learn their lessons; people who look at where they trip know what they should avoid the next time round. And there will always be a next time round to be accepted, God was in fact saying to Cain.
But, as a father who sees far more than a child can conceive, Yahweh warns Cain about the true nature of sin: it is always looking out for easy preys. And a man with a wounded pride is a wounded prey, an easy kill. And so the Father warns, "You must master it."
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2016