Cain or Abel?

Abel

The first sin was——-pride—-Lucifer—he wanted to be equal to God!

The second sin was—-disobedience—-Adam and Eve—God said “don’t,” and they said, “why not?”

The third sin was—jealousy and hate.

“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.  She said, “With the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man.”  Later, she gave birth to his brother Abel.  Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[d] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”  “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” (Genesis 4 1-ff, NIV)

Abel was the second-born son of Adam and Eve. He loved livestock, and he took care of it. His work honored God.  But his brother, Cain,  became jealous. God warned Cain about his anger, but he did not pay attention…he allowed the hatred to consume him,  and he murdered Abel.

So Cain was the first person ever to kill another person—this is the first murder ever committed and the first death ever recorded.  This is not about Satan tempting Cain—it was about Cain’s jealousy and hate. Satan does not make us do anything! We yield to him when we choose to ignore God, or worse, when we wallow in self-pity, which is the worst of all sins.

Why did Cain do this…and why do brothers still do this today?  And why did Cain get so violent with Abel?  You can’t blame this on movies or TV!   But I’ve seen hatred like this a lot lately, both in my home and all around me.  People are killing people in hatred like never before.  With Cain, it was jealousy, disgust with himself, and annoyance each time he saw his brother. Abel was probably living like a young man who knew where he was going, was happy with himself, and basked in God’s approval!  Abel’s joy was something Cain did not know and  could not abide—Abel was living the life that Cain knew he could have been living versus how he was living.  Abel was killed precisely because he did the right thing, was walking in the light, and was honoring God.  If we live like Abel, we might end up the same way one day—people like Cain are all around us….but where are the Abels?

There are several references to Abel in the New Testament. Jesus speaks of him as "righteous" ( Matthew 23:35 ). Then in Hebrews 11:4  we are told that "Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." This sacrifice was made "by faith;" this faith rested in the assurance that God would accept what he offered, because Abel knew in his heart that he was offering his best to God—His gift was out of love for God.  Abel's offering was accepted by God—because God looked at the heart of Abel and judged it—only God can do that.  Cain's offering had no such regard by God—something was wrong, and it was therefore rejected. Cain’s heart was not right—-and it became obvious when he murdered his brother!

And so a jealous brother killed a righteous brother.  Abel was the first martyr…and he was the first of our race to die.  But other men and women are still dying because they stand for what is right. We don’t talk about it in our national discourse much anymore, but there is  “right and wrong”, and people still get killed for doing righteous acts.

1. He was a shepherd—the first shepherd.  There’s a connection here.  Jesus was called the “good shepherd,” and King David and other heroes of the Bible were shepherds. It’s good to be a shepherd, it would appear, even though some folks looked down on shepherds. So Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground”.  This represents the two fundamental essential pursuits of civilized life, the two earliest subdivisions and competition of the human race.

2. Abel worshipped God.  We’re told that  “in process of time," the two brothers came in a solemn manner to sacrifice unto God, in order to express their gratitude to Him whose tenants they were in the land (Genesis 4:3,4, NIV). How and why God signified His acceptance of the one offering and rejection of the other, we are never told. Some would argue that Abel’s sacrifice was to atone for sin, but both kinds, that is, grain and livestock,  were fully in accord with Hebrew law and custom.  It was not the offering, but the heart that God judged.

3. Abel was a righteous man:  The true reason for the Divine preference is doubtless to be found in the disposition of the brothers. Well-doing consists not in the outward offering (Genesis 4:7) but in the right state of mind and feeling. Acceptability depends on the inner motives and moral character of the offerers. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain" (Hebrews 11:4). The "more abundant sacrifice,"  suggests the deeper gratitude of Abel and shows a fuller sense of the claims of God to the best. Cain's "works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:12).   Cain's heart was no longer pure; it had a criminal propensity, springing from envy and jealousy, which rendered both his offering and person unacceptable. His evil works and hatred of his brother culminated in the act of murder, specifically evoked by the opposite character of Abel's works and the acceptance of his offering. The evil man cannot endure the sight of goodness in another.

Here’s a quick recap of what matters today about  Abel:

a.  Again, Abel is the first martyr (Matthew 23:35).  He did nothing wrong—neither did Jesus—both were murdered.  Abel’s life was righteous, and it annoyed another man.  That’s what righteous men and women do—they really get under the skin of those who are not righteous—they annoy them.

b. The first two brothers in history, Cain and Abel,  stand as the types and representatives of the two main and enduring divisions of mankind and bear witness to the absolute antithesis.  Fortunately,  we all hail from the third son, Seth, not Cain. We don’t have to live in jealousy and hate!

c. God did not execute Cain for murder. In the 8th chapter of Genesis, God requires death for a murderer—but not here. Why?  We worship a heavenly Father of mercy.  There is no sin under heaven that can separate you from God’s love and mercy if you’ll receive it.

d. What about Adam and Eve’s loss?  They had never experienced death or the loss of someone they loved. Now they lost both—one banished and one murdered.  They had another son, but Adam and Eve went to their graves grieving the loss of two sons.  Cain’s sin took its toll on people who were innocent of his sin. And yet, I can’t find any indication that Cain ever showed remorse or sorrow for his sin and how it broke his parents’ hearts.  There are still sons and daughters who do this to their parents—never showing remorse or requesting forgiveness.

But God, our Father, is ready to forgive you if you will simply admit your sin and repent!

A few years ago I  read an article in the WSJ about a candidate for mayor in a northern city in Mexico.  Two weeks earlier, this candidate was handing out fliers on a crowded street corner; it was May 13.   Music played from loudspeakers. He smiled and chatted with passersby.

Suddenly, two men approached and shot him 10 times in the face, neck, and chest. As the 58-year-old lawyer and former state prosecutor lay dying, his killers walked off calmly, and terrified bystanders ran for cover.

Across Mexico, variations on that scene have played out in the run-up to midterm elections for the past decade.   Mexico is shaping up as the most bloody country in our hemisphere as drug lords and smaller criminal gangs viciously compete to control local areas by intimidating or killing off principled politicians.  The last time Mexico had an election, over 100 candidates for office were killed before they could get elected!    More than 60 candidates for mayor withdrew from the campaign across the country amid the spiral of violence and insecurity.

What caught my attention in this article was the mayoral candidate’s name: Mr. Murrieta….. Mr.  Abel Murrieta… His name was Abel, and he died for being righteous, courageous, and godly.  The world does not have enough men of faith, integrity, and courage like Mr Abel—and we are worse off because of it.

1. If you do what is right, will you not be accepted—you might even be killed

2, God says this: If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.

3, Cain allowed the hatred to consume him,  and he murdered Abel.

4. Abel’s life was righteous, and it annoyed another man.  That’s what righteous men and women do.  Charlie Kirk also irked people for promoting right living.

5 Like him or not, President Trump has had shots fired at him three times, and four other times the would-be assassin was arrested before he could shoot.

What Cain Should Have Done:

Abel obeyed; Cain did not. Cain’s trouble could have been avoided if he had followed God’s instructions.  The lesson for us – by faith, we need to follow the instructions that God has given (James 1:22; Matthew 7:21-23)

After God rejected Cain’s offering, he became angry. Cain had to be willing to admit that he was wrong and needed to do something different – instead, he got defensive, pouted and refused to listen.  The lesson for us – we need to be willing to listen and be corrected; we must not get defensive when we receive correction! After God spoke to Cain, Cain went to talk to his brother– this could have helped Cain; Abel was a man of faith (Hebrews 11:4) and a prophet (Luke 11:50-51); if Cain needed help understanding what to do or what he should have done, Abel could help.  But it takes humility to ask for help – he had to be willing to admit his shortcomings (cf. Proverbs 9:8-9); instead, Cain directed his anger toward Abel and killed him