Cain and Abel

Application:

Jealousy can lead to the sins of hate and bitterness.

Text:

Genesis 4.

Adam's Two Sons:

After Adam and Eve had to leave the garden of Eden, they had two sons. Their first son was called Cain and the second was called Abel. Cain was a farmer and grew grains and vegetables, while Abel was a shepherd who looked after the family's herds. Adam and Eve must have told Cain and Abel about the message God had given them that they should sacrifice to God, to show how sorry they were for their sins.

Abel's Sacrifice:

Abel wanted to make a special sacrifice to God. So he chose his best lamb and offered it to the Lord. It must have been hard for Abel to give up his most prized possession, but it was important to him to give his best to God. The offering burnt up and the smoke ascended to Heaven. When Abel saw this, he was very glad because he knew that God was pleased with his offering and had accepted it.

Cain's Offering:

Cain must have thought his younger brother was foolish to sacrifice his best lamb. He probably said, "I'm sure God will be happy with some of the crop that I have grown!" He laid his offering on the altar, but to his dismay it just smoldered and never burnt up. The smoke just swirled around the altar making his eyes water. That could mean only one thing! God had rejected his offering and preferred Abel's.

Cain was filled with jealousy and anger! He asked Abel to go for a walk with him into the fields, and then struck Abel to the ground and killed him. When Cain realised what he'd done, he looked around and sighed with relief. No one had seen him - he was safe!

God Seeks Abel:

But just the Lord spoke to him and asked, "Cain, where is your brother." Cain shrugged and carelessly answered, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God replied, "Cain, what have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me. Now you will no longer be your family's farmer and will be driven away and live as a wanderer.

Cain finally realised the horror of what he'd done, but he had to live with fear and the knowledge that he'd murdered his brother for the rest of his life.

Acceptable Offerings:

Did God really care whether it was a lamb and not plants that were sacrificed? Yes, He did, as only the shedding of blood could bring forgivenss for sins. Of equal importance were the thoughts, feelings and effort that Abel put into his sacrifice. Abel gave his best and that's what was important to God. He also offered his sacrifice trusting that it would please God. This showed that unlike Cain, Abel had faith in God. Our memory verse from Hebrews 11:4 shows us what God thought about Abel's offering:

"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."

But, Cain didn't really sacrifice anything valuable at all and gave God something he didn't really need or care about. And God knew it, and showed Cain that his offering was not an acceptable sacrifice. Instead of taking God's words as a loving correction, Cain became angry and lashed out at his only brother.

God Sees and Hears Us:

God said to Cain, "Why are you cross? If you did what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you don't do what is right, then sin desires to have you. And that was what happened to Cain? He got extremely angry and plotted how he could kill his brother.

He did not listen to what God had also said, "You must master (overcome) sin!" Cain did not overcome his sins and they grew from jealousy to anger, and then to hate and bitterness, he then plotted revenge and from this came murder!

We must be aware that jealousy leads to bad feelings of anger and bitterness. These are sins that if we don't ask God's forgiveness, they will grow in our lives to until they control our words, feelings and actions.

Stop now, and if you are jealous of someone, ask Jesus to forgive you and to take away all anger and bitterness!

God bless.