The story of Cain, in the book of Genesis, is a story with which many Christians, and not a few others, are familiar. It is, after all, the Biblical story of the first murder. According to some scholars, the line of Cain is the line from which evil is propagated into the world. Cain, the world's first murderer and the one whose descendants bring all other evil into the world, must be an evil person. Evil people have no relationship with God, so there must be no point in looking at Cain and God for ideas about relationship, right? I disagree. I believe there is great value in looking at the relationship between Cain and God.
That there is a relationship is beyond doubt. When God pronounces sentence on Cain for the murder of Abel, Cain's complaint is that he will be hidden from the presence of God. God and Cain have several conversations. Cain makes an offering to God. All of these are evidence of relationship between God and Cain.
As I read the story in Genesis 4, I notice that Cain and God are the focus of the writer's attention. Abel is present as a bit player, background scenery against which the story of Cain plays out. I notice the similarities between the two offerings; Cain brings some of what he has produced and Abel brings some of what he has produced. In Cain's case, as a farmer, he brought some of his produce. Abel brought fat from some of his lambs, as he was a shepherd. I notice God's care for Cain, warning him about choices and consequences. God also looks after Cain when delivering His judgement, marking him in some fashion so that strangers who see Cain wandering will not kill him.
I also notice some details that are absent from the story. Nowhere does the author indicate the manner in which God indicates favour of one offering over the other. Nowhere do we read of Adam and/or Eve teaching the boys about God and sacrifice. The author makes it quite clear that God does favour Abel's offering over Cain's, but no reason is given for this favouritism. We also are not told why Cain was angry with Abel as a result of God's choice.
What we do have in the story is sufficient to reveal something of the nature of God and His desire for relationship with all people. One of the first things to notice is that our actions affect our relationship with God. God "looked with favor on Abel and his offering..." (Gen 4:4b NIV, emphasis mine) God was pleased with Abel because of his offering. The only way for Abel to bring fat from a lamb was to kill the lamb. He was not killing the animal for food, because the diet God gave Adam and Eve involved no meat. Meat was not included in the human diet until Noah. Abel killed the lamb just so he could bring fat to God. Cain's offering, on the other hand, involved no such death. Somehow, this action on Abel's part was pleasing to God.
Another item of note in this story is that our choices and actions affect other people. In the case of Abel, Cain's choice to harbour anger and commit murder affected him immediately, directly, and permanently. As John Donne said in his famous poem, "No man is an island." What we do affects others, sometimes limiting their choices. Abel did not choose to be murdered (though he may have been foolish in choosing to go to a lonely place with his angry brother), but his death removed the ability to make any other choices. What each of us can choose is our response to the actions of others.
God also made a choice. He chose Abel's offering over Cain's. Later on, God will clearly delineate what constitutes and acceptable sacrifice or offering, and under what circumstances these offerings or sacrifices are to be made. At this point in redemptive revelation, no such prescription has been made. It might be possible to read forward from God's fabrication of clothing for Adam and Eve out of animal skins and deduce that an offering to God requires the death of animals, but this is quite a leap. God's actions were the based on the need to deal with the effects of sin. Cain does not seem to be making a sacrifice to atone for specific or general sins; he is making an offering (possibly of thanks for a good harvest, though this is speculation).
God's choice of Abel's offering and rejection of Cain's required a choice of responses from Cain. Cain chose anger. He chose not to learn from God's response. He also chose to express that anger against his brother. Each of these choices moves Cain further along the path of sin, from emotion to plan to active sin. And this sin, as with the sin of Adam and Eve, requires a response on the part of God. In the case of Adam and Eve, God's response was both punitive and redemptive. It was punitive in that it removed Adam and Eve from the delights of the Garden, required toil for sustenance, added pain and death to their existence. It was redemptive in that it provided an escape from an eternity of this punishment; they were allowed to die so they could live again without sin in a future existence. God's response to Cain is likewise both punitive and redemptive. God drives Cain from his stable existence, making him a wanderer instead of a farmer. God's response to Cain is redemptive in that God provides protection, in the form of a mark, from the actions of others while Cain wanders.
So what can a person learn today from the story of Cain and God? God makes choices with which we must live. He is God, and these choices are His divine prerogative. It is not our place to judge the choices God makes. It is our place to choose our response to those choices. If we believe that God is good, that He loves us, and that He has our best in mind, it is simple to choose a faithful response of gratitude. If we hold other beliefs, or perhaps even doubts that God is good, or that He loves each person specifically, the choice of a faithful response is more difficult. How do you respond when things you do not like happen to you? Your choice likely indicates the level of your faith in God, and perhaps reveals some hidden beliefs that may or may not be accurate.
As I read the story in Genesis 4, I notice that Cain and God are the focus of the writer's attention. Abel is present as a bit player, background scenery against which the story of Cain plays out. I notice the similarities between the two offerings; Cain brings some of what he has produced and Abel brings some of what he has produced. In Cain's case, as a farmer, he brought some of his produce. Abel brought fat from some of his lambs, as he was a shepherd. I notice God's care for Cain, warning him about choices and consequences. God also looks after Cain when delivering His judgement, marking him in some fashion so that strangers who see Cain wandering will not kill him.
I also notice some details that are absent from the story. Nowhere does the author indicate the manner in which God indicates favour of one offering over the other. Nowhere do we read of Adam and/or Eve teaching the boys about God and sacrifice. The author makes it quite clear that God does favour Abel's offering over Cain's, but no reason is given for this favouritism. We also are not told why Cain was angry with Abel as a result of God's choice.
What we do have in the story is sufficient to reveal something of the nature of God and His desire for relationship with all people. One of the first things to notice is that our actions affect our relationship with God. God "looked with favor on Abel and his offering..." (Gen 4:4b NIV, emphasis mine) God was pleased with Abel because of his offering. The only way for Abel to bring fat from a lamb was to kill the lamb. He was not killing the animal for food, because the diet God gave Adam and Eve involved no meat. Meat was not included in the human diet until Noah. Abel killed the lamb just so he could bring fat to God. Cain's offering, on the other hand, involved no such death. Somehow, this action on Abel's part was pleasing to God.
Another item of note in this story is that our choices and actions affect other people. In the case of Abel, Cain's choice to harbour anger and commit murder affected him immediately, directly, and permanently. As John Donne said in his famous poem, "No man is an island." What we do affects others, sometimes limiting their choices. Abel did not choose to be murdered (though he may have been foolish in choosing to go to a lonely place with his angry brother), but his death removed the ability to make any other choices. What each of us can choose is our response to the actions of others.
God also made a choice. He chose Abel's offering over Cain's. Later on, God will clearly delineate what constitutes and acceptable sacrifice or offering, and under what circumstances these offerings or sacrifices are to be made. At this point in redemptive revelation, no such prescription has been made. It might be possible to read forward from God's fabrication of clothing for Adam and Eve out of animal skins and deduce that an offering to God requires the death of animals, but this is quite a leap. God's actions were the based on the need to deal with the effects of sin. Cain does not seem to be making a sacrifice to atone for specific or general sins; he is making an offering (possibly of thanks for a good harvest, though this is speculation).
God's choice of Abel's offering and rejection of Cain's required a choice of responses from Cain. Cain chose anger. He chose not to learn from God's response. He also chose to express that anger against his brother. Each of these choices moves Cain further along the path of sin, from emotion to plan to active sin. And this sin, as with the sin of Adam and Eve, requires a response on the part of God. In the case of Adam and Eve, God's response was both punitive and redemptive. It was punitive in that it removed Adam and Eve from the delights of the Garden, required toil for sustenance, added pain and death to their existence. It was redemptive in that it provided an escape from an eternity of this punishment; they were allowed to die so they could live again without sin in a future existence. God's response to Cain is likewise both punitive and redemptive. God drives Cain from his stable existence, making him a wanderer instead of a farmer. God's response to Cain is redemptive in that God provides protection, in the form of a mark, from the actions of others while Cain wanders.
So what can a person learn today from the story of Cain and God? God makes choices with which we must live. He is God, and these choices are His divine prerogative. It is not our place to judge the choices God makes. It is our place to choose our response to those choices. If we believe that God is good, that He loves us, and that He has our best in mind, it is simple to choose a faithful response of gratitude. If we hold other beliefs, or perhaps even doubts that God is good, or that He loves each person specifically, the choice of a faithful response is more difficult. How do you respond when things you do not like happen to you? Your choice likely indicates the level of your faith in God, and perhaps reveals some hidden beliefs that may or may not be accurate.
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