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Bible History of the Old Testament |
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No. 2 Cain and Abel
The language in which scripture tells the second great event in history is very simple. Adam and Eve probably had more children, but only two of them are mentioned in the Bible - Cain and Abel. The Bible does not profess to give a detailed history of the world, nor even a complete biography of the people that are written in it. Its object is to set before us a history of the kingdom of God, and it only describes such persons and events as is necessary for that purpose. Cain was the elder son and was probably the first or eldest son. The name means gotten or acquired. When he was born Eve said that she had gotten a man from Jehovah. Evidently she connected the birth of Cain with the fulfillment of the promise concerning the seed who was to bruise the head of the serpent. This also showed how deeply this hope had sunk into her heart and how she longed for it to be true. Abel's name meant breath or fading away. Not much is given about how they grew up. The Bible mostly sums them up as saying about them that Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. We next see both of them bringing an offering to God. Cain's was of the fruit of the ground and Abel's was of the first and best of his flock and the fat thereof. We know that God received Abel's offering but didn't receive the one Cain gave him. Instead of asking God why he didn't accept his offering and trying to make it right, Cain gave way to feelings of anger and jealousy. In his mercy God brought before him his sin, warned him of its danger, and pointed out the way of escape. But Cain had already chosen the course he would take. That day the earth witnessed the first death, making it all the worse that is was very violent and brother killing brother. Once more God called Cain to account and again Cain hardened himself. Because of Cain's unrepentant heart, he was judged by God for what he had done. Adam had broken the first great commandment and Cain the first and second. When God told him his punishment, he told God that it was greater than he could bear, but this still did not lead him to repentance but only to fear of the consequences of what he had done. Without repentance he "went out from the presence of Jehovah and dwelt in the land of Nod." That name means unrest or wandering. From what we read of him he never really repented of his sin, he just went on with his life and built a city and named it after his son Enoch. The lesson to be learned from these two men is quite great. While Cain just gave God something to appease him, Abel brought a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock", signifying that he knew that it was all God's to start with. It was his desire to give God the very best and he thought of God first instead of just giving him something to try to appease him. What happened to Cain can teach us a lesson of immense value. Angry and bitter feelings towards another or any circumstance that we let continue to stay there in our heart and fester can get worse and worse until we are taken over by them and do something that we never thought we were capable of doing. What Cain did is what the full outcome of self-willedness, anger, envy, and jealousy can make a person do. Another valuable lesson to be learned from Cain's actions is that our sin will always find us out, and yet that no punishment, however terrible, can ever have the effect of changing the heart of a man, or altering his state and the current of his life. To these might be added the bitter truth, which godless men will perceive all too late, that, as Cain was at the last driven forth from the ground of which he had taken possession, so assuredly all who seek their portion in this world will find their hopes disappointed, even in those things for which they had sacrificed the better part of their life for. In the book of Jude verse 11 in the New Testament we find a general warning against going "in the way of Cain". I John 3: 12 says "Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew him him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." In Hebrews 11:4 the Bible says that "by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh." Scripture takes us to the highest spiritual point in the lives of the two brothers - their sacrifice - and tells us of the presence of faith in the one, and of its absence in the other. If Cain was "of that wicked one", it must have existed long in his life before he actually killed his brother. I'm sure he hadn't been a good moral person for a very long time. He had for a long time probably yielded himself to the power of the "tempter" who had ruined his parents in the Garden of Eden. After the fall the position of man towards God was entirely changed. After man disobeyed and fell, his hope for the future could not longer be derived from perfect obedience, which in his fallen state was impossible. God in his infinite grace now set before man another path, which was the hope of faith. He gave to man the promise of a deliverer who would destroy the serpent's works. Man had the choice now to embrace this promise by faith or turn away from it and refuse this hope. Since the very beginning these two very different ways have divided men. It only makes sense that if a person did not choose to embrace this faith and hope that in their outward conduct would choose the world as it then was. The person who embraced the world would be satisfied therewith and try to establish themselves in this world and claim it as their own, enjoying all its pleasures and lusts, and trying to cultivate its arts and entertainments to satisfy the craving that could only be filled by God and Godly things. On the other hand, the one who embraced the hope of faith and all its promises, would consider himself a pilgrim and a stranger in this earth, and both in heart and outward conduct show that he believe in, and waited for, the fulfillment of the promise. The first way a person would look at things through physical eyes only and never try to achieve anything that would be anything other than what they could see with their own eyes. The second way a person would listen to what God said and realize that this world and the things in it would not be their hope, but this would only be a temporary stopping place until they get to their real home. They would always feel like they were staying in a motel every night when they really wanted to be at home in their own bed. Their effort and intensity would be on laying up treasure in a place that they haven't seen, but believe in so intensely that they know they will see one day. Cain did very well according to the world's standards. He claimed it by calling it after his son, and the Bible records his genealogy down through Lamech, the fifth generation of ancestors. By this time his family had grown to tremendous proportions and no doubt he was known as a great man by worldly standards. He had made his choice long ago. We mark from the very beginning of history, the introduction of sacrifices. God always wanted the very best from his people so that he could bless them in return. All he wanted was to be loved and served first and foremost. Even the bloody rites of savages are a cry out to appease their god, and they are willing to give up what is very dear to them to do so. All the sacrifices from the beginning, though, point to the coming of the ONE GREAT SACRIFICE that would be the sacrifice of all sacrifices and would once for all take care of things. The Lamb of God would come in the future and take the sins of the world on His shoulders. For more information from this book, go to the archives page at www.cathydeaton.com There are more articles of interest there also. This text taken from Bible History Old Testament by Alfred Edershsim and is used by permission.
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