Focal Passages: Genesis 4:1-12
We begin a new six-week study on family relationships and how they are to pattern our connection with the community at large. We start with the tragedy of Cain and Abel. This story provides deep insights into the human condition and the importance of taking the responsibility to look after our family members and our neighbors in the community and the world.
God has created each individual with unique gifts and traits. When Cain was born, Eve declared that she had obtained a male child with the Lord’s help. This statement harkens back to Genesis 3:15 when God provided the first ray hope for mankind after the Fall to sin and death. God promised that one of Eve’s descendants would crush the head of the serpent. Eve hoped this deliverance would come immediately through her first-born son.
Cain, however, literally means, “acquired,” and the sinful seeds of possession and self-reliance shone forth in this name. Even when we obtain something from the Lord’s blessing, we are easily tempted to claim ownership. I John 2:16 identifies the “pride in one’s possessions” to be one of the sinful desires of the flesh. Cain’s life was marked by the fleshly desire to obtain significance apart from God and humble faith.
Cain along with his brother Abel grew to pursue different occupations in life. Cain worked the ground, whereas Abel became a shepherd. While Scripture has connected the shepherd with salvation imagery and a picture of the Messiah Himself, both the brothers’ pursuits were equally meaningful and purpose-filled in the eyes of the Lord. Every man and woman has been created with unique gifts and talents to be used to serve and glorify God.
God accepts the spirit of the offering, not its contents. The first hint of danger in Cain and Abel’s story appeared when they both came to make an offering to the Lord. Cain presented produce and Abel brought a lamb from his flock.
The actual contents of the offering were not the difference, but rather the spirit behind the offerings. We do not know much about Cain’s offering, except that it was a portion of his crop. However, Abel gave of the firstborn among his flock. Abel made his offering a top priority. It appears that Cain presented a token gift. God is not looking for the quantity of the sacrifice. Instead, He looks at the heart behind the offering. See Micah 6:7-8. God follows the intentions of the heart, not the motions of pomp and ceremony.
We are all our brothers’ keeper. Cain tragically murdered Abel, because the Lord accepted his brother’s sacrifice over his own. Cain attempted to hide Abel’s death from the Lord by remarking, “Am I my brother’s guardian?” (Genesis 4:9)
While we are focusing on family relationships, we must understand this question strikes at the heart of God’s calling for us all to be mindful of the needs of family and neighbor alike. We are indeed a keeper of our family and those around us We are to “consider others as more important than ourselves” and “carry one another’s burdens.” (Philippians 2:3, Galatians 6:2). In other words, being a brothers’ keeper, or loving your neighbor, fulfills the law of Christ by displaying true justice and mercy in a dark and corrupt world filled with injustice. B&R