Cain and Abel

"And Adam knew his wife and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 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, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 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 lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not; am I my brother's keeper? And he said What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth: and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." (Genesis 4:1-16)

Most people have heard of Cain and Abel whether or not they ever read it for themselves in the Bible. It is the classic model of sibling rivalry and jealousy.

Cain was the firstborn; his name is derived from a word meaning "possessed" or "acquired" as Eve goes on to explain in the first verse of the passage. Abel was his younger brother whose name means "vapour" or "breath"; possibly so named because his life was to be a short one.

This passage raises more questions than it answers within itself. For example, both men gave offerings unto the Lord God. Both men gave of the fruit of their labors; Cain was a farmer, Abel was a sheepherder. But Cain's was not accepted by the Lord…why not? Did Cain pre-meditate his brother's murder? Why didn't he suffer death for the death of his own brother? Why did God protect him with a mark, rather than let him suffer death for such a crime?

It is only by going ahead of our studies and gathering information from other biblical references that we can begin to answer some of these questions, but I doubt that we will answer all.

Here are some verses to think about:

1 John 3:12 "Not as Cain [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteousness."

Jude 1:11 "Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core."

Matthew 23:34-35 "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye hall kill an crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."

Hebrews 11:4 "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."

Hebrews 12:24 "And to Jesus mediator of the new covenant and to that blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."

From these verses we are told a few important things: such as Abel's offering was offered up "by faith" and his offering was considered a "more excellent sacrifice than Cain." We also see Abel grouped in with prophets and such and called "righteous" by Jesus who is the one speaking in Matthew. Cain's works, however, "were evil". This might mean that it was not only the murder that was obviously evil, but even his own offering was evil. We are not told that Cain offered it up "by faith," perhaps that was the root of the evilness of it. There is a scripture that supports this:

"But without faith it is impossible to please [Him]; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6

We see in the Genesis verses that even though Cain's offering was not accepted by God, God questioned his being downcast. He told Cain that in order to be accepted by God all Cain had to do was "do well", in other words, do according to God's will; and that if he did so, his brother Abel would serve him, Cain would be ruler over his brother, retaining all the privileges of being the first-born. Yet Cain proved that his love was not for God but for himself alone, being controlled by the same one that controlled the serpent in the garden; Cain proved that he "was of that wicked one and slew his brother." How then could his offering have pleased God with a heart set against God to begin with? Even after God's encouraging words to Cain, Cain spoke with his brother, and then later met him in a field where he murdered him; a pre-meditated murder that issued forth from an evil heart.

We will continue our study of these passages and more in the next posting.