CAIN AND ABEL
TEXT: GENESIS 4:1-15
The animal kingdom is fascinating to observe. There is fierce competition that exists within various species. For example, the wild Dogs of Africa are competitive for their mates. In a documentary one pack of dogs revealed this struggle for dominance. The male dog had two females in the pack. One was dominant over the other. When the females both had pups the dominant female killed all the pups of the other female except one. This one, however, eventually died from malnutrition. I’m not trying to put human emotions in animal behaviors. But in this documentary it appeared that these animals showed the human emotion of envy. It seems that the more dominant female was envious of the weaker female. The lives of the first family of earth provide and excellent illustration of the growth of envy.
Let’s read Genesis 4:1-15
The Bible says that Adam knew his wife that is sexually. Eve conceived and Cain was born. What a sheer delight it must have been to Eve when out of the agony of childbirth a new human being was born. The statement made by Eve must have been an exclamation, "I have gotten a man from the Lord!"
Why would Eve have been so excited? At the birth of Cain, Eve must have remembered the promise of God that He would send a Messiah. A Savior would come from his seed. (Genesis 3:15). Cain’s name means acquisition (Acquirer of a promise from God). This must be the Savior she thought. Cain would free them from their sin. But she was wrong. God promised and it was to be fulfilled, but it God’s own timing, not hers. Shortly after Cain’s birth, Abel was born. Abel was possibly the twin brother of Cain. The joy Eve experienced at the birth of Cain changed to indifference at the birth of Abel. Abel’s name means “Transitory”. Abel in the eyes of his mother was fleeting, temporary, empty, and vain. Here we see in the first family union the formation of an ideal seedbed for the growth of ENVY. Cain was the apple of his parent’s eye. This was apparent by the profession he taken as at á man. Adam his father is a tiller of the soil so Cain is just like his dad. Cain is the dominant son of the family. All the hopes and aspirations of Adam and Eve are in their son. Abel was different. His less favored position in the family resulted in his leading the solitaire life of a shepherd. We all remember the shepherd in the Bible, David. What a man of God he became! It is possible that because of his lesser position in the family that Abel found his comfort and solace in God. He loved God and sought to be obedient to Him.
The Bible doesn’t say why Cain and Abel made an offering but it does tell us whose was accepted. Apparently the difference was in the attitude of the heart. Cain expected that God would accept his offering simply because of his place in the family. God, however, knew his heart and would not accept the offering. Abel, on the other hand, offered a sacrifice more pleasing to God because in his shepherding he knew the kind of offering God desired. His heart was right with God. But Cain was not only shocked, he was angry. Why was he NOT God’s favorite? Haven’t my parents reminded me of my unique relationship with God? Am I not the promise one? My mother told me so.
Such is the beginning of ENVY. The seed was planted and it had taken root in the heart of Cain "So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast.” ENVY consumed Cain and all he could think about was revenge. Let’s recognize that God’s attitude toward Cain was no different from his attitude toward his brother Abel. God approached Cain and asked why he was so angry. God shared with Cain that his attitude was important and that a changed attitude would allow him to be accepted. Notice the warning God gives to Cain. “Cain be careful with your attitude! If it continues like it is now, sin will be the result.” When a person makes ENVY the desire of his heart, then ENVY will ultimately rule over one’s life. Cain didn’t heed God’s warning and he killed his brother Abel. Was there remorse or guilt in Cain? And the Lord said, “Where is your brother, Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out from the ground.’
There was no remorse in Cain, only sorrow that he got caught. Even judgment didn’t bring true repentance. Such is the disease called ENVY. This family became the seedbed for ENVY. What about your family? Is love demonstrated equally to all members of the family? Is favoritism practiced? When the family nurtures the sin of ENVY by favoring one against the other, it eventually erupts in broken relationships and shattered lives.
What is ENVY? ENVY is a feeling of displeasure because of the gain of others but a desire to have the same thing. Cain envied Abel because of his relationship to God. The result was the murder of Abel. ENVY is á disease that only brings misfortune. Prov. 14:3 says, A heart of peace gives life to the body but envy rots the bones. ENVY like maliciousness jealousy and hatred is the root of a bitter spirit. Cain has a bitter spirit and ENVY finds comfort there. Á bitter spirit is not only bad in itself but it can poison the lives of others. "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of Good lest any root of bitterness spring as to trouble you and thereby many are defiled. (Heb. 12:15). This bitter spirit that possessed Cain through his ENVY was transferred to other members of his family. "And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. (Gen. 4:23)
Do you have a bitter spirit? Had ENVY entered your heart? Are you like Cain in your heart wishing to do harm to someone else? Á bitter spirit proves that one’s true motive is getting rather than giving. It reveals we have a temporal value system rather than a view of the eternal. We may attempt to dilute the idea of a bitter spirit brought on by ENVY by saying that it is simply hurt feelings. But the destruction is within us and the reaction we get from others will still be the same.
What do you ENVY from your brother? Do you envy his fellowship with the Lord or his position in the church? Are you jealous of his family or his bank account? Do you have a bitter spirit because things have not gone your way? Do you feel you were mistreated?
What do you do when you have a bitter spirit?
1. First, have you discerned God’s hand in the situation? How is God working in the life of the person you are envying? Think how God would have actually benefited your life, if you had responded in the right way. God responded to Cain, “ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Cain, however, did not respond in the right way and that led him further down the road to a bitter spirit.
Have you removed all your guilt? We should observe Matthew 18:15-17. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
When we are in conflict with others. You have to take the matter with the other person first not take the matter to everyone else. One needs to recognize one’s responsibility to restore broken relationships. Cain killed his brother. When God questioned him he said, “Am I my brother’s keeper”? Am I responsible? The answer is YES. Your seed of ENVY and bitterness makes you responsible.
3. You need to ask forgiveness. Cain failed by not going to Abel and asking him to forgive him for his ENVY. Forgiveness, therefore, is essential. When you are offering your gift at the altar worshipping and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift and go and be reconciled to your brother. Then you can worship. (Matt. 5:23-24paraphrase)
That is the only way you can short circuit envy in your life. One of the qualities of love is characterized in I Cor. 13. “Love envies not.” Where love is found there can be no envy.
Do you love genuinely or are you hiding behind a mask? Are you harboring a bitter spirit, holding a grudge?
We need to make Jesus our example. When Jesus was nailed to the Cross. People were spitting on him, mocking him. He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” ENVY reveals one’s immaturity. We simply haven’t grown up. "Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speaking. (I Peter 2:1) "When I was á child, I spoke at á child I understood as a child. I thought as a child but when I became a Man, I put away childish things."
Life as a child seems odd to me,
Since youth has passed me by,
Malice, anger, hatred all three,
Continue as death draws nigh.
Wisdom in life has little to give
When envy and jealous rule,
For by God’s will one refuses to live,
Because coveting has made us a fool.
Evil speaking with murders intended,
Brings many a barrier and wall
Gossip, backbiting, all slanders invented
Causes one to stumble and fall.
What causes a baby to grow to a man?
What causes a man a baby to remain?
The answer lies in where he will stand,
In Jesus the one who will sustain. Gerald Cornelius
Do you have a bitter spirit brought on by envy? Don’t let envy control you like Cain. You might not physically murder someone but you could kill him with your tongue. Find the liberating power of Jesus to help you overcome the root of bitterness.
