Cain and Abel

God’s Introduction

As we approach the characters of Cain and Abel, God wastes no time in introducing these two. Both are children of Adam and Eve. Cain is the older, and Abel is the younger (Genesis 4:1-2). Both are born in a post “fall of man” world and, therefore, dealt with the same struggles that God had promised to Adam (Genesis 3:17-19). Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was a tiller of the ground (Genesis 4:2). What should have been a somewhat joyous time despite the constant reminder of what Adam and Eve had done to the world ended in tragedy instead. We cannot help but remind ourselves that what happened between Abel and Cain would have been avoided by Adam and Eve faithfully following the one rule they had been given (Genesis 2:15-17).

Their Identification

What does Genesis reveal about Cain and Abel’s characteristics? Were they both dedicated servants? Were they the antithesis of their parent's disobedience in their pursuit of righteousness? That is partly true. They were willing to bring sacrifices before the Lord (Genesis 4:3-4). Undoubtedly, they would have discovered the need to sacrifice from some sense of authority (Romans 10:17) and must have been given guidelines on the ins and outs of sacrificial worship. It is revealed that Cain’s offering was rejected and Abel’s accepted (Genesis 4:4-5). Cain becomes very angry at this fact and, after a discussion with the Lord, goes out and murders his own brother (Genesis 4:6-8). Similarly to his parents, when God asks where Abel is, Cain attempts to shift responsibility from himself to someone else (Genesis 3:10-13; 4:9). Following in his parent's disregard for God’s Law, Cain too is punished greater than he could bear (Genesis 4:10-15). Cain spends the rest of his days in exile as a fugitive for his sinful actions (Genesis 4:16-24).

Our Impression

There are three impressions that we must take with us anytime we consider the lives of Cain and Abel. They are:

#1. Faithfulness is determined by following God completely. There is no proof that the specific reason Cain’s offering was rejected had anything to do with the type of sacrifice he brought. However, we know that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain (Hebrews 11:4) and could only have done so by faithfully following the full expectations of God. Abel had the right Attitude, emphasis, and motive. Today, we can only be determined faithful by our full obedience to God.

#2. If we do what is right, we will never be rejected (Genesis 4:6-7). It is not difficult to understand that if we do what is right (as Abel had), we will never face the terror of rejection. Why should we worry about what we are doing if we live righteously?

#3. Are we like Cain or Abel? We all know that murder is a sin (Exodus 20:13; Genesis 4:8-15), but John instructs us not to be like Cain today in our treatment of fellow Christians (1 John 3:10-15) in that our hatred for fellow man is like committing the act of murder. It is from this verse that we can locate a context clue that Cain did not just snap and kill Abel. He had already had some form of disdain for him. How sad that anyone could commit such a horrific act and pretend nothing had happened! So, are we like Abel, who lived righteously? Or are we like Cain and looking for an opportunity to destroy the people around us that we are expected to uphold as brethren?

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