Genesis 4: Cain murders Abel

First, I would like to apologize for the long period of inactivity. I’ve had some things I wanted to take care of in the real world, and I’ve gained some perspective on that as well…more about that later. Now to the real reason of this post, Genesis 4, where Cain murders Abel.

This tells about how Adam and Eve got two sons, Cain and Abel. The story then goes into how Cain and Abel gave offerings to the LORD, and how the LORD wasnt happy with Cain’s offering. Abel gave his first born lamb, whereas Cain jsut simply gave part of his crop. The LORD then calls Cain out on the fact that Cain doesnt look happy and told him that had he done the right thing, Cain would have been smiling, just like Abel. Cain then takes Abel for a walk and kills him. What follows is the LORD’s punishment on Cain due to his actions.

This is an intense story to me. I mean, these two kids are the first kids basically, and it’s also the first murder of the bible, and the fist account of Jealousy. I mean, let’s think about this one. The whole reason Able gets murdered is because the LORD wasn’t happy with Cain’s offering. Why? It isn’t clear, but it seems that the reasoning here is that Abel gave a more meaningful offering than Cain. He gave his first-born lamb. That is a pretty good deal. Cain, on the other hand gave a few of his crops. Not really that much of a big deal, crops grow quickly. But to give a first born lamb? That seems like a major and very meaningful thing. I mean, how many times are we like Cain, and just give part of something but not all of it? Suppose, just for a minute, that the offering that we are talking about here is faith. How many of us give part of our faith? To give an example, how many times have you said you’d go to church but you really never went because there was something “more important” to take care of? How many times have you said “i’ll pray tonight,” but never actually got around to it? To make it more real: How many times have you told your wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend or whomever that you would take care of something but you never did? I know I have, and after reading this story, I feel guilty just like some of you might. 

I encourage every single one of you readers to follow through on one thing this week that normally gets out to the side because there are “some more important things” to do.  And then, if you’d like, share your story by way of commenting on this post.

Advertisement