Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”

Genesis 4:1 ESV

Though the world is ravished by sin, God’s promise of woman’s offspring being the Serpent-Crusher gave hope to humanity.

Here Eve displays her hope in God’s promise after giving birth to her first son, Cain. There is a joyful optimism to her words. Surely, she hoped that Cain would be Serpent-Crusher, the one who would reverse the curse of sin.

But her hope in Cain is shattered when Cain coldly murders his younger brother, Abel, out of jealousy and anger.

Sin gives birth to sin. Within one generation, eating forbidden fruit was replaced by murder. Sin is a slippery slope, and humanity has been sliding ever since.

Cain was not the Savior.

In fact, his entire lineage would be destroyed in the Great Flood.

But Eve’s hope in God’s promise was not shattered; she continued hoping that God would bring the offspring through the lineage of her third son, Seth.

The story of Cain’s sin and Eve’s hope in him is the first in a long line of watchful anticipation for the fulfillment of God’s promise. Though generations will come and generations will go without the offspring’s arrival, “we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Rom. 8:25).”

Like Eve, we often assume that we know how God will accomplish His will and plan; however, God’s ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts (Isa. 55:8). Have you ever felt like your hope in God was shattered? Pray for an unshakeable confidence in God’s sovereignty.