The first sin did not break, though it saddened, human love; the second kindled the flames of infernal hatred, and caused the first drops to flow of the torrents of blood which have soaked the earth. When men break away from God, they will soon murder one another. Cain was his brother's keeper. His question answered itself. If Abel was his brother, then he was bound to look after him.
His self-condemning excuse is but a specimen of the shallow pleas by which the forgetfulness of duties we owe to all mankind, and all sins, are defended. John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. Genesis 4 gives us the account of the first two siblings, Cain and Abel. They are the initial two people born with a sinful nature. Of the two brothers, Cain was the firstborn. Such a statement may give pause to the reader and cause them to ask if Scripture is advocating men as being more valuable than women.
This is not the case. From the beginning, God clearly teaches both men and women are made in His image Genesis God promised to redeem humanity from the curse of sin through the male offspring of Eve Genesis From there, the biblical text jumps ahead in time when both Cain and Abel were of age to work independently.
Abel kept flocks while Cain tilled the ground Genesis b. In time, both brothers offered a sacrifice to the Lord. Abel selected from the firstborn of his flock, whereas Cain brought an offering from the fruit on the ground. This article will not delve into this discussion. Instead, it will focus on what Scripture clearly reveals. God again displayed His faithfulness and goodness to sinners as He gave counsel to Cain and provided an opportunity to repent.
When Cain failed to confess his sin, God openly confronted him, pointing to the spilled blood of his brother Genesis Cain was cast out of the land of Eden, away from the presence of the Lord. He was cut off from his family and sentenced to a nomadic life.
His labor as a tiller of the ground was cursed since the ground would no longer yield its strength Genesis The account of Cain and Abel has much to teach us. This article will only be able to briefly address some of the profound lessons in this account. We must approach God on His terms. God does not accept any mere religious activity we throw His way.
God is our holy Creator. We belong to Him. It is only right and necessary that we worship Him according to the conditions set by Him. Both men approached God through the religious activity of sacrifice, but with two different motives and hence two different results.
There is no such thing as a neutral act of worship. The author of Hebrews expounds on this account, stating by faith Abel offered up a better sacrifice to God than Cain Hebrews It is most important to understand the author is not referring to the unbiblical teaching of positive faith profession, where Abel made his offering acceptable by merely believing it to be so.
Instead, the faith the author refers to is grounded in God and His righteousness. With this kind of faith, a person trusts and acknowledges God as supreme, good, and worthy of complete devotion. With the same kind of faith, Abel offered his sacrifice. Sin and righteousness do not mix.
Instead of humbling himself and repenting to seek God on His terms, Cain became enraged. In an act of mercy, God presented His righteous standard to Cain and gave him an opportunity to seek Him in earnest Genesis Cain chose to reject the counsel of the Lord and murdered Abel out of hatred and envy.
No doubt Cain felt convicted in the presence of his righteous brother, Abel. By contrast, righteousness exposes wickedness when the two are compared. Such conviction makes sinners uneasy because they do not want to face the reality of their sin.
As a result, the wicked will often seek to remove any righteous influence which invades their life. Cain serves as a foreboding teacher. We cannot hide our sin from God. Even though Cain tried to cover up his sin by lying, God already knew what he had done Genesis Scripture reveals nothing can be hidden from the Lord who knows and judges all things Hebrews This means no sinner will ever get away with their sin. All people throughout history will stand before our Lord and receive His holy, righteous judgment.
Those who have not put their complete faith trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ are doomed to pay the price of their sin by spending eternity in hell 1 Thessalonians It is the natural inclination for all people, including Christians, to cover up their sins. Sinners will go to extremes to avoid facing the reality of their wickedness.
Even well-meaning recovery groups run by Christians can easily turn into refugee camps for sinners which enable them to cope with their sin instead of repent. The account of Cain and Abel teaches us many things. These two brothers amply exhibit the intense battle and contrast between sin and righteousness.
These are three pillars of Christian living that should undergird the life of the Church Body. That is not to say it will be easy. Sadly, at times it is more difficult to get along with brothers and sisters in Christ than with nonbelievers. However, this should not discourage us from doing good.
Just as God sees all sin, our heavenly Father also takes note of all the good things we do in His name Matthew Shoebox Collection Week is Here! Plus Toggle navigation. Password Assistance. Email address. Cain and Abel - Bible Story. Contributing Writer. Stephen Baker. Bible Articles Videos Audio. Try it FREE. Font Size Font Size. Previous Next. Genesis 4. New International Version. D Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. Genesis Or who instructed all who work in Genesis Seth probably means granted.
Genesis Or to proclaim. So who, then, are these other people Cain is worried about? And where did his wife come from? In other words, the Cain and Abel story probably originated in a separate source from the story of Adam and Eve, but was grafted on later, with the inconsistencies in the two stories left unresolved.
So, these two accounts must belong to different traditions. But what does the story mean? The Dictionary of the Bible even points to sources which tell us that certain castes were forbidden to keep cattle; we can see how this would lead to their resentment of other castes who could do so, and profited as a result.
If we put these two names together, we find that Cain represents the farmer and skilled artisan, while Abel represents the herdsman or nomad. Cain is not just a farmer but a representative of a skilled class of metal-workers, remember: as such, he symbolises the development of more advanced technologies during the Bronze Age as it gave way to the Iron Age.
As with the Great Flood and other origin-stories from the Book of Genesis, the tale of Cain and Abel may have emerged from earlier Sumerian myths about the clashes between the older, nomadic way of life and the new city-focused farming culture that was displacing and replacing it. The fact that Cain, the representative of this new culture, kills his brother, who represents the weaker nomadic culture, is a sort of allegory for this mass shift towards more advanced agriculture in the ancient Middle East.
But if this is the case, why is Cain condemned to go to the land of Nod and become a nomad? It may be that this represents the fact that the displacement of nomadic peoples was by no means settled at this point, and that the balance of power and influence may have swung between the farming and nomadic cultures, back and forth, as one tribe or group defeated or rivalled another. But it seems more likely that these early stories from Genesis, both of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, are less about the beginnings of mankind than about the development of civilisation during the age of agriculture.
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