LESSON III.--JANUARY 16.

CAIN AND ABEL.--GENESIS 4:3-16.

      GOLDEN TEXT.--Am I my brother's keeper?--GENESIS 4:9.
      TIME--Unknown.
      PLACE.--East of the Garden of Eden.
      HELPFUL READINGS.--Gen. 3:20 to 4:3; Gen. 4:17-26; Psalm 15; 1 John 3:10-19; Heb. 11:1-4.
      LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. False and True Worship; 2. The First Murder; 3. The Murderer's Doom.

INTRODUCTION.

      Our last lesson gave the history of the lapse of the ancestors of our race from their primitive innocence; this lesson shows the malign and terrible fruits of sin as it continues its workings in the first family. After the fall Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden and went east from Eden, wherever that was located; all access to their former home was denied; the first employment of man was to "dress the garden and to keep it," and he was sent forth from thence "to till the ground." Children were born in the exile to the pair, perhaps many of them whose fortunes are not vital to human history, but the tragic interest that gathers around two has made them famous forever. Cain was the elder, perhaps the first-born child of our race, a tiller of the soil, a man of sullen, morose, selfish and jealous disposition; the younger, Abel, of sweet and trusting nature. Cain was named by his mother, who was filled with great hope at his birth and called him "possession;" it is not stated that she named Abel, and his name, "breath," "vanity," might have been given him after his untimely fate.

      I. FALSE AND TRUE WORSHIP.--3. And in process of time. Literally, "After the end of days," or, after a time. Some have held that the meaning is after a stated time, at the regular appointed time of worship, at the [26] end of a year and an annual feast, or at the end of the week. At any rate it is an occasion that both celebrate, each in his own way, by worship. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. He brought an offering of the products of his own labor, a bloodless offering. Such offerings, oblations, were made under the law, and were held as thank offerings, while upon the other hand the bloody offerings were for sin.

      4. Abel . . brought of the firstlings of his flock. Abel likewise brings the products of his own labor, but brings a sin offering, and "the fat thereof" to be burned upon the altar, as afterwards directed in Numbers 18:17. In these two offerings we have the first recorded in history. There is no statement that God had commanded them, but there is not the slightest reason for supposing that worship would have been offered in this way if it had not been directed. Good men would never have thought of obtaining the divine favor by offering an innocent victim; it could never have occurred to them that a great atonement was finally to be offered, of which every sacrifice was a prophecy and a type. Inasmuch as we find, from the very beginning, such men as Abel, Noah and Abraham offering sacrifices with the Divine approval, we must conclude that they did it in obedience to the command of God. There is a more positive evidence. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain" (Heb. 11:3). Now the simplest element of faith, the one test and proof of faith, is bowing to God's authority with implicit confidence in his word. Noah, Abraham, and the other ancient heroes of faith named in the chapter, all demonstrated their faith by obedience to the word. It is certain, therefore, that Abel did just what God commanded, and therefore that God had directed just such worship as he offered. Nor can there be any doubt that Cain, like many modern religionists, modified the worship to suit himself. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. In some way the divine approbation was manifested; how we are not told, possibly as in the trial between Elijah and the priests of Baal. Paul says, Heb. 11:3, that "God testified of his (Abel's) gifts." His offering was made in faith, that is, in childlike obedience to the declared will of God. A great deal has been said about Abel's faith in Christ, a matter of which nothing is known and which is improbable, as the Christ-hope was yet undeveloped. His faith was in God and his word. He had learned that he was a sinner and God had told him how a sinner ought to come to God for forgiveness. He obeyed, thus showed his faith, and was justified.

      5. But unto Cain . . . he had not respect. It was not an offering made in [27] the obedience of faith. Cain came with a thank-offering, such as the most righteous person might offer, but he brought no sin offering as a sinner. He set up his own plan of worship against God's, or rather, left off the part of God's plan that did not suit him. Hence, the approval manifested to Abel's sacrifice was withheld from Cain's offering. Cain was very wroth. Instead of correcting his error when he found that he had not worshiped according to the divine pleasure he was filled with anger against God and against his more favored brother. Filled with self-righteous pride, he did not confess that the fault was in himself, but blamed God with favoritism. His countenance fell. His displeasure showed itself in his cast down and morose countenance, his very face displaying the ill humor that rankled in his bosom.

      II. THE FIRST MURDERER.--6. And the Lord said unto Cain. God talks with him as with a sullen child; unriddles to him what slumbers in his heart, and, like a beast of prey, is lurking at the door. The near approach of sin could not be more truly or fearfully pictured. Against this insidious enemy Cain is warned and commanded to rule over it.--Herder.

      7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? His rejection is placed upon the ground of his own acts. He can secure favor by a change of his course. Sin lieth at the door. Sin is personified and thought of as some animal, a beast of prey, ready to spring upon him and drag him to deeper depths. It is only enabled to lurk there by him "not doing well." Unto thee shall be his (its) desire, and thou shalt rule over him (it). Many have held that this is a statement that he was the superior by birth of Abel and should be his ruler. Cowles more correctly says: "And its (sin's, not his) desire is toward thee; its Satanic purpose is to ensnare and ruin thee, but thou shouldst rule over it, master its temptations, and rule them out of thy heart."

      8. And Cain talked with Abel his brother. The conversation is not related, but we can judge that it was a complaint and a quarrel, the first religious controversy on record, and caused, as all others have been, by departing from the command of the Lord. When they were in the field. His hard words only made his, anger deeper, until at last he lost all command of himself and slew his brother as they were in the field. Thus it often is. Many a man talks [28] himself into a rage until he is ready for the most violent deeds. Slew him. The first death recorded in the history of our race was not from old age or sickness, but was a murder, the murder of a brother. Sin did its worst in the first dread fruit of death it bore. As Cain had never seen a human death before he may have not been aware of the consequences of his own act. It is supposed by many, from Gen. 4:24, that this murder occurred just before the birth of Seth, about 130 years after the creation of man.

      9. Where is Abel, thy brother? The context seems to imply that he had concealed his brother's body in the hope that his crime would be undiscovered. He had not yet learned that there are no concealments from the All-seeing Eye. As God called to the sinful Adam, "Where art thou?" not because he did not know, but to reveal to him the divine knowledge, so he asks Cain of his brother, not for information, but to bring him to a sense of his awful wickedness. Cain thought to be rid of his hated brother, but had forgotten that he could not escape from the eye and hands of God. I know not. A crime is usually followed by lies in order to conceal, and thus one sin continually broods more. Cain, like his father, Adam, tries to deceive God. Am I my brother's keeper? His next step is the acme of effrontery. He questions the right of God to hold him in any sense responsible for his brother. It is also the very quintessence of selfishness. His answer means, "I am not responsible in any way for my brother; what right have you to ask me about him?" In his imperfect knowledge of God he yet hoped his crime was concealed.

      10. Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. The murderer has his concealments stripped off and stands revealed. No man had accused him, but an appeal had been made to God. The blood of Abel, shed upon the earth, had been a crimson witness. So, too, of every victim of murder. Though the dark deed has been concealed from all human eyes, a voice has gone up to God crying unto him for vengeance, and in his own good time the murderer will be brought to judgment. The great Judge hears every cry of pain, or distress, notes every wrong, and will visit a just penalty on every wrong-doer. He saith, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay."

      III. THE MURDERER'S DOOM.--11. Now art thou cursed from the earth. Life [29] was held so sacred that, at first, even the murderer did not forfeit his life, but in the covenant with Noah it was enacted that, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed." Cain is placed under a curse that has several features. He is cursed from the ground. It will no longer furnish him a secure resting-place, but he shall be a fugitive upon its surface. There is a poetic touch in the thought that the earth which opened its mouth to receive the blood of the slain Abel now curses his murderer and refuses to give him a safe dwelling place on her bosom.

      12. It shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. He had been a tiller of the soil, but henceforth his labors would be barren because the earth would refuse to make fruitful returns. I am of the opinion that this means, literally, that he would be banished into a barren region where his labors would meet with scanty reward. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be. He would also be a homeless wanderer. Driven from the fertile region where Adam and his descendants were settled, he would find in the inhospitable region to which he would be exiled no suitable spot for a permanent abiding place.

      13. My punishment is greater than I can bear. The meaning is plain if this is a correct translation. Many have held that the word translated punishment should be rendered "iniquity," as in the margin of the common version. If so it would seem to indicate a deep remorse, not penitence perhaps, but a kind of despair like that of Judas. A little while before he had refused to offer a bloody sacrifice as one too righteous to need it; now he feels that he is so dark a sinner that no sacrifice can take his sin away. The 14th verse, however, rather harmonizes with the common translation.

      14. From thy face shall I be hid. 1. He shall be driven "from the face of the earth," or out of the laud known to him and his family. There altars of God and worship were maintained and the divine presence was manifested. 2. Driven from thence he "shall be hid" from the divine face, an exile abandoned by God. 3. He shall be a fugitive, like most murderers, and a vagabond on the earth. 4. Men shall seek and slay him, for his crime against the race. This last item indicates that the race had already become [30] somewhat numerous. His language is the utterance of conscious guilt and fear.

      15. Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain. God gave him the promise of protection in the threat of seven-fold vengeance upon his slayer. He had taken the punishment of Cain out of the hands of men and was dealing directly with the offender himself. It was needful to restrain private retaliation by a severe penalty. It is not probable that any civil government yet existed, and hence human punishment could not be visited according to the forms of law. The Lord set a mark on Cain. The best authorities render it, "Set a sign for Cain;" gave him a sign or token that he should not be slain, as the rainbow was made a sign to Noah, and circumcision to Abraham. It was a guaranty that would quiet his fears.

      16. Went out from the presence of the Lord. From the place of his public worship. Various allusions serve to show that after the exile of our parents from Eden there was a place of worship where God was wont to manifest his presence, as in later times he did in Bethel, the cloud and the tabernacle. Cain was now excommunicated, an apostate, separated from godly associations and the true worship. Dwelt in the land of Nod. Where this land was is only conjecture. It was east from Eden, probably on the barren plateaus of Central Asia.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

      Without faith it is impossible to please God, because one without faith will not be obedient to God.

      He who has faith will obey the word of God, nor will he seek to change God's ordinances to suit his own will. The corruptions of institutions appointed by Christ are due to a defect of faith.

      The downward course of Cain is marked out clearly. 1. Belief in himself rather than in Jehovah; 2. Perversion of God's appointment; 3. Anger against God; 4. Hatred of his brother; 6. The murder of his brother; 6. Lying to God. Everyone should beware of the beginning of evil.

      He who is so selfish as to regard the welfare of others a matter that does not concern him has the germ from whence murder springs in his heart.

      It is impossible to keep an evil deed concealed. "Murder will out." Even [31] if men are kept in ignorance God sees and knows all and will bring the murderer to judgment. He will be the avenger of every wrong.

      This lesson gives the history of the first life outside of Eden, of the first sons ever born, of the first worship on record, of the first quarrel recorded, of the first death, of the first murder, and the first punishment of a murderer. The first death on the earth was one of violence.

      Evolutionists teach that men first lived wild, savage lives, on roots, or wild fruits, then by the chase, then nomadic lives as shepherds, and last of all tilled the soil. The Bible says that the first man was a gardener, and his first-born son an agriculturist.

      RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.--The first murder committed in the world was in consequence of a religious dispute. Millions have since been sacrificed to prejudice, bigotry and intolerance. Here certainly originates the many-headed monster, religious persecution. The spirit of the wicked one in his followers impels them to hate, afflict and destroy all who are partakers of the spirit of Christ. Every persecutor is a legitimate son of the old murderer.

      ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP.--Cain and Abel were both worshipers, one was accepted and the other rejected. The millions of worshipers on the earth should take warning and consider narrowly whether their worship is approved. We learn here that acceptable worship must be, 1. Offered in faith; 2. Offered just as God has directed; 3. Must be in spirit and truth. It must not be formal only, but of the heart.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

      1. Note the changed home of our first parents, and their changed conditions. Try to form some conception of the simple life of the early men. 2. Observe the first children in the world; their names, their different characters, their occupations. 3. Note the simple worship, the first recorded; no priest, but everyone his own priest, the rude altars of stones, the sacrifice of Abel and the offering of Cain. 4. Point out the different results and the reasons. 5. Note the first quarrel and the first murder, as well as its cause. Teach the lesson that hate must not be cherished; it may grow until it gets the mastery and brings forth murder. 6. Note that God will be the avenger of all who suffer wrong. Their groans, cries of pain or terror, and their blood appeals to him. He will espouse their cause and every wrong doer will be brought to punishment. 7. Note that he who sins will be "driven from the presence of the Lord." To learn who shall abide in the presence of the Lord, read the 15th Psalm. 8. Note that sinners are fugitive and vagabond. They will be homeless forever. [32]

Source: Barton Warren Johnson. The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887. Des Moines, IA: