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After the creation was completed, Adam and Eve had an envious position with all
things furnished them in the garden, but sin was not long in coming. For any who
possibly are unfamiliar with this account, you may find it in detail in the
relatively short chapters of Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Reading all 3 chapters should
not take over 15 minutes. But in chapter 4 we have the first recorded murder
after the creation. Almost everyone has heard the story of Cain Slaying his
brother Abel and certainly, it will take the student only 3 or 4 minutes to read
the 4th
chapter and the full account of this horrible crime.
This lesson is
not intended to relate the story itself since it is well known, however, we
expect to examine some of the underlying causations of God's respect and
non-respect as well as the reasoning of the two brothers which led up to murder.
First, let's take a quick analysis of the two brothers...Cain was the first
person ever to be born a natural birth and his mother chose the name Cain
(which means 'gotten' or 'acquired') and of course, Abel was the second child.
Let us examine the circumstances existing during their life time.
Remember there were only two humans on the entire earth before Cain was
born. Then when Abel came along, there was a total of 4, at least until Adam and
Eve had more children and the record does not reveal whether or not they had
anymore right away, however, there is some reason to believe that they did
continue to have children, perhaps regularly. We do know for certain that they
had more after Abel's death. But visualize this situation with one couple and
some children having to face the world on their own and survive by "the sweat of
their brow". The famed fictional stories of "Robinson Crusoe" or the "Little
House on the Prairie" were modern when compared to the living circumstances of
the first humans.
It is very obvious that God gave those first people
instructions as to how they should live and obey Him. We have recorded in the
first 3 chapters of Genesis, some of the instructions God gave his subjects, but
not all. The Bible tells us that Cain was a tiller of the ground which means, of
course that he farmed and raised grains and edible vegetables for food. Do not
visualize this in any way like the farming of today. All was done by hand and
perhaps he may have trained an oxen to pull a makeshift plow. But regardless of
how you view it, it was very hard work. It is entirely possible that God had
given his instructions to Adam who was head of the family that existed at that
time. And for reasons we will examine more closely a little later, He had,
without doubt, required of them to offer animal sacrifices. One of the reasons
that we can arrive at this conclusion is because of a statement in Hebrews,
"And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and
without shedding of blood there is no remission."(Hebrews
9: 22)
"Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel
was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."(Genesis
4: 2). There is no way of knowing just what type of circumstances caused one
son to raise vegetables and such while the other raised sheep. It may have been
a choice of their father in an effort to have someone doing both, or it may have
been a personal choice. To modern man, it would seem that this would be a good
arrangement so long as there was cooperation within the family. Each could share
with the other. Also, it would be sheer conjecture to try and determine why Cain
made the choice to bring of his crops to sacrifice to God. We can be assured
that God would not require of him something which he would be unable to acquire.
Understanding this, then it is evident that Cain would have been able to trade
his foodstuffs to Abel, some other family member...his father perhaps, in
exchange for some animals.
It may reflect some ideas of the nature of
this man, Cain. What little is written about him in the Bible is not good. He
appears to have been perhaps an aggressive and overbearing fellow, possibly of a
rebellious nature and/or stubborn. If these conjectures are accurate it may well
explain, in part, why he brought fruit of the ground for his offerings. Again,
we can be sure that he had been informed of God's instructions, whether directly
from God or from his father, Adam. And it may have been a little of his
rebellious nature to presume that his produce was sufficient for an offering
even though his instructions were to the contrary. Knowing that he could
exchange some of his products for a sacrificial animal may have been a little
more than he wanted to do.
But he did this thing, regardless of what
motivated him. And we read that Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and
of the fat thereof for his offering. and we read thus: "Abel also brought of
the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his
offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry,
and his countenance fell."(Genesis
4: 4, 5)
There are some rich lessons to be derived from this story
of the two brothers. First of all, it becomes perfectly clear what is required
to please God, and why it is required. We find the explanation in Hebrews
11: 4 "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his
gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks."
Now, how do we
explain that? Is there any doubt that Cain believed in God? Absolutely not. Is
there any doubt that he believed his sacrifice would be acceptable to
God? Of course not...if so, why then did his countenance fall upon learning of
the rejection by God? Why then can it be said that Abel's faith is what earned
the respect from God? Simply because God had instructed them to offer an animal
sacrifice and Abel accepted and obeyed His word. While Cain only believed
his sacrifice would be acceptable, belief...not faith. "So then faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans
10: 17) This also proves that the doctrine of "faith only" is unbiblical.
"You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and
tremble!" (James
2: 19)
Another lesson we can learn here is that God is intolerant!
Intolerant? Absolutely. He is intolerant of disobedience. He is not intolerant
of our weaknesses, but we may never use our weaknesses to expect tolerance of
willful sin. "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? Certainly not!" (Romans
6: 15) Further, from this episode we learn that God does not hesitate to
punish His disobedient children. He banished Cain to a life of hardship,
separated from God, and marked him so none would kill him but left the option
for them to shun and disdain him . (Genesis
4: 11-16)
Footnote: All scripture references are from the
New King James Version
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born September 20, 1930 near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace in 1997, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He formerly produced a bi-weekly ezine. Archives are accessible at: http://piedmontcoc.com/hofarchives.htmlHe is also the author of Final Stronghold, published in 2003, available from Amazon.
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