Adam

Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve raised their first two children, sons, Cain and Abel, outside Eden. It seems Abel had the prominence, for he is mentioned first in Genesis 4:2. Abel was a keeper of sheep. That is to say, he began to gather sheep. Evidently he raised sheep, using their wool to clothe Adam and Eve and their family.

Cain, mentioned second in Genesis 4:2, was a tiller of the ground, a gardener like his father, Adam. The Scripture doesn’t say what Cain raised. He must have grown a number of crops

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Genesis 4:3 (NIV) states, “In the course of time” which means the boys aged and became men. While we don’t know much about them, we are informed about an important occurrence in their lives. They both worshipped God, Cain making an offering of fruit from the ground and Abel making an offering to God from his flock. God, the Lord or the Son of God, respected Abel’s offering, but He did not respect Cain’s.

Surely Abel was pleased, but it’s Cain who is mentioned. Cain was angry, and his countenance fell. His physical expression was soured, embittered toward his brother, Abel, assuredly God, and others (Gen. 4:5). The Living Bible Translation puts it this way: “His face grew dark with fury.”

The Lord, as is His practice, addressed the issue. He spoke to Cain, saying, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?” (Gen. 4:6 NIV). The LBT has, “Why is your face so dark with rage?” Then the Lord, as is His way, gave His word, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Gen. 4:7 NIV). In other words, something Cain did not do, a wrong action, evidently based on a wrong attitude, is why God didn’t approve Cain’s offering. God, as always, is just. The way to approval was simple. Do the right thing with the right attitude, and all will be well. Such is God’s standard for acceptance or righteousness. All could have been well with Cain. It was up to him. Cain had the ability by the prerogative of choice to make everything okay.

God went further in giving Cain insight into his problem. He said to Cain, “And if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it” (Gen. 4:7 NIV). The Living Bible has, “Sin is waiting to attack you, longing to destroy you. But you can conquer it.”

Cain, however, did not conquer sin. “It came to pass when they [Cain and Abel] were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him” (Gen. 4:8). Adding to all the difficulties that entered the relationship of Adam and Eve following their eating of the forbidden fruit, now one son killed the other son; the firstborn killed the second born. Our resource presents us with the truth, the life of the first family as it was.

Though Adam and Eve’s sin separated them from God, the Lord, the Son of God, continued to providentially care for them. God asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” (Gen. 4:9 NIV). It’s interesting that God knows us by name. He refers to our names when He addresses us. He cares!

God, of course, knew where Abel was! He had the same kind of conversation with Adam when Adam sinned. Cain was not a nice person. Replying to God—Almighty God—he snidely uttered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). The truth was that Cain did know. In his caustic remark, his feelings about Abel were apparent. He did not care about his brother Abel. Cain made it clear that what happened to Abel was of no concern to him. The fact that Abel was his brother meant nothing. Have no doubt about it—God’s principles for a family and for mankind have always been the same. The Son of God would later teach that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and that we are to love others as our self (Mark 12:30–31). Cain was to love his brother. However, he did not love Abel. Cain hated his brother, so he killed him.

Obviously God wants us to care about others, our brothers. God created Adam and Eve, and through them He is the Maker of every human being on planet earth. Again and again in our resource God contextually reminds us that He is our Maker. We were put on this planet to care for it and for each other. The power of love is the strongest force in our world. The power of hate, the second-strongest force on planet earth, divides us into factions that seek to kill, destroy, and hurt the other. Again, our resource gives us insight. As it was in the beginning, so it is right now. Again and again, the Bible tells it like it is!