What Happened
After the fall Cain, son of Adam and Eve, grew jealous of his brother, Abel, and killed him because of his uncontrolled rage.
Why It Matters
It is the first demonstration of the ramifications of the fall. Man is no longer in the garden and this is the first example of how sin will affect our relationships with each other.
Bible Verse
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:8
Why It Matters To You
We must be aware that sin exists in all of us and we need to ask God to help us to control our rage, and to help us to forgive rather than to try to seek revenge on our own terms.
Description
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Genesis 4:9
It was the first murder ever recorded. The story is found beginning in Genesis 4:1. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve. Abel came later. Cain could be described as a farmer, one who grows crops, while Abel tended to animals. God had demanded a sacrifice. Abel took fattened portions of firstborn from his flock and offered it to God. Cain gathered some crops. God looked at Abel’s offering with favor, but did not give that favor to Cain.
Cain was despondent, but more importantly, he was angry. But God was compassionate and told Cain that if he did what was right, all would be well. God then told Cain that if he chose not to do the right thing, that sin was “crouching at this door” and it would overpower him. However, God also told Cain that he must resist the sin. Cain made a deadly choice.
Cain Kills Abel
Rather than making the correction, Cain killed his brother Abel. For what? Because Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God and Cain’s was not. Abel did what God asked him to do, but Cain decided to do it his own way. God rejected the sacrifice, but gave him an opportunity to make it right. Rather than making the adjustment, a despondent Cain took it out on his brother, allowing his own pride to turn into rage.
God knew what had happened, but asked Cain where Able was. Cain answered in what has become one of the most famous statements in history, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God drove him out of the land and warned that the ground would no longer yield crops for him. He would be a wanderer. Cain knew he had done wrong and feared that others would now kill him. God put a mark on him to make sure that would not happen. Even in pronouncing sentence, God also offered compassion.
We all make wrong decisions because of our free will
Again we see man making the wrong decision, exercising his free will to do evil. Rather than take responsibility, Cain blamed his brother. It is human nature. It is an example, like that of Adam and Eve eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, of man doubting God’s provision. This is important to all of us because our thoughts and our actions are so often completely self-serving. Rather than take responsibility, we pass it on. We all have a responsibility to God and to each other.
What You May Not Know
God tells us: “sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” We must turn toward God and seek to do what is right otherwise sin will dominate our lives.
