Cain

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. Genesis 4:1-10 NAS95

Why did Cain kill Abel? Was it because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous? Was it sibling rivalry? Was it retaliation because God accepted his brother’s sacrifice and not his? Please take a moment and read the Adam Clarke commentary below, and the First John 3 passage. I will meet you below when you are done.

It is here supposed that the first murder committed in the world was the consequence of a religious dispute; however this may have been, millions since have been sacrificed to prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance. Here, certainly, originated the many-headed monster, religious persecution; the spirit of the wicked one in his followers impels them to afflict and destroy all those who are partakers of the Spirit of God. Every persecutor is a legitimate son of the old murderer. This is the first triumph of Satan; it is not merely a death that he has introduced, but a violent one, as the first-fruits of sin. (Adam Clarke Commentary on Genesis 4)

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:11-15 NAS95

I have read 34 commentaries on this passage about Cain and Abel. Everyone says basically the same thing, Cain was evil. John said it in I John 3. It is a well established fact from Scripture that Cain was evil. End of discussion…or might there be something here that we have overlooked? Is it possible we have been overlooking the motive behind the evil act? On further reading, once again all the commentaries said basically it was because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and Cains was not acceptable, so that is the motive. All my life I have heard that it was because Cain gave a non-blood sacrifice that he was rejected. My studies have brought that idea into question. Why, because there are grain offerings, first fruit offerings, etc. in the laws regarding the offerings found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The non-blood sacrifice theology begins to fall apart at this point.

So WHY did Cain kill Abel?

My friend Jesse asked me this question recently and I gave him all the pat answers I knew from my education and reading on the Cain and Abel narrative. Then Jesse hit me with this: “what if Cain killed Abel to get back at God?” Let me tell you he had my full attention.

Have you ever noticed when a sibling gets punished/corrected and they are not happy about the correction they take it out on their sibling? Why? Have you ever noticed a wife get angry with her husband and the husband takes it out on the dog? Why? Ever noticed the “ex” spouses battling it out over parts of their former life by destroying something the other cherished?

What if Cain killed Abel because he could not hurt God, so he hurt the person God loved? What if the child hurts their sibling because the parent can’t be hurt, they are too big? What if the husband hurts the dog that the wife loves because he feels unloved by the wife and wants to get back at her through the things she loves? What if the “ex” destroys the things the other cherished because they could no longer inflict pain on the other?

What if Cain got his feelings hurt and instead of trying to discover what he did wrong and why it was wrong, allowed the evil (that would take over his life) to hurt God by killing the person God loved?

Jesse’s questions had me disturbed! Suddenly the whole narrative concerning Cain and Abel took on a new perspective. It does not diminish the Scripture, because Cain allowed the evil to become “his.” However, it puts context into why Cain killed his brother. It puts context into why a child when punished is mean to a sibling, why a husband is mean to the dog, and why an ex treats the former spouse in horrible ways.

It explains why people retaliate in such horrible ways. If we cannot hurt the person who hurt us, we will hurt something they love. And thus, the oldest recorded sin, following the expulsion from the garden, becomes the attack that is used to hurt people everywhere and to hurt the very heart of God.

BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:26-27 NAS95

Check your anger today.