Read with Me
Genesis 4:1-5 (HCSB)
Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the LORD’s help.” Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.
Listen with Me
Adam and Eve were now living outside the Garden of Eden, and were having to work hard to provide food, clothing, and shelter for themselves. But in the midst of their work, they found pleasure in each other. And out of that pleasure came a son, the first human baby to be born into the world.
Eve was filled with wonder at the fact that she had produced another living being, a male child, and exclaimed in the original Hebrew text something like, “Wow! I’ve made a man, just like God did!” That exclamation became the basis of the boy’s name “Cain” (Hebrew “qayin”), which is related to the Hebrew word for “I have created” (“qaniti”).
The time between the birth of Cain and his brother Abel is not spelled out. Adam and Eve had many children both sons and daughters (Genesis 5:4), in keeping with God’s command to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). Only three of those many children are named in the text, Cain, Abel, and Seth, because they played noteworthy roles in the history that is presented here. But as Adam and Eve were created perfectly strong, perfectly healthy, and with a key purpose to multiply greatly and fill the earth with humanity, dozens of children, including multiple births were completely reasonable for them to produce.
But the age spread between Cain and Abel and the number of siblings they had is not necessary to know as this history unfolds. What is important is that Cain and Abel chose different paths, with Cain working the cursed ground alongside his father to produce food for himself and his extended family, while Abel took up the profession of tending flocks and herds.
Some wonder why flocks and herds were tended since humans were only to eat plants at that time (Genesis 1:29-30). But those animals were valuable for more than meat. Not only where they needed for sacrifices to God when people sinned, as he had shown Adam and Eve to do, but their skins, their wool, and even the bones and sinews of sacrificed animals, were amazingly useful for producing clothing and other useful items.
The tragedy began on a day set aside for making sacrifices to God. On that day, Abel brought some of the choicest of his sheep to offer to God. Cain, on the other hand, brought some of the produce he had grown. The difference might seem insignificant, as both had brought representative portions of the fruit of their labors to present to God. But the issue was not primarily one of substance, but of faith (Hebrews 11:4). Abel’s offering was presented to God with wholehearted devotion, but Cain’s was presented as a matter of form, given grudgingly because it was a requirement.
It became immediately apparent to both of them, and to the others there for the appointed day of sacrifice, that God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but the Cain’s had been rejected. The wrong attitude underlying God’s rejection was shown when Cain’s immediate response was not repentance but anger at being humiliated before his family. He burned with anger against God, but that anger found an outlet toward his brother whose offering had been accepted, and by being accepted had brought his own rejection into such sharp contrast.
Pray with Me
Father, many of us have been taught to focus on Cain’s subsequent actions and the tragedy caused by them, merely skimming over the root cause of the rift, first between Cain and You, then spreading out from there to become a horrible rift between the brothers. But the initiating event is incredibly important for us to understand today. Lord, how often have I come to church and offered halfhearted praises to You as my lips mouth words while my heart is focused on other things? How often have I committed myself to You in the warmth of the closing words of a sermon or a song, only to forget that commitment less than twenty-four hours later, betraying the shallowness of my devotion to You. Even if I bring the right sacrifices, if I bring them distractedly, halfheartedly, or grudgingly, You are perfectly justified in rejecting both them and me. Help me, Lord, to always come before You focused on You, loving You, serving You wholeheartedly, so that I am accepted by You, not rejected as a stranger (Matthew 7:21-23). Amen.