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Cain and Abel and Their Offerings
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with the Lord and with his brother. God condescends to send an
angel to Cain to converse with him.
The angel inquires of him the reason of his anger, and informs
him that if he does well and follows the directions God has given,
He will accept him and respect his offering. But if he will not
humbly submit to God’s arrangements, and believe and obey Him,
He cannot accept his offering. The angel tells Cain that it was no
injustice on the part of God, or partiality shown to Abel, but that it
was on account of his own sin and disobedience of God’s express
command that He could not respect his offering—and if he would
do well he would be accepted of God, and his brother should listen
to him, and he should take the lead, because he was the eldest.
But even after being thus faithfully instructed, Cain did not
repent. Instead of censuring and abhorring himself for his unbelief,
he still complains of the injustice and partiality of God. And in his
jealousy and hatred he contends with Abel and reproaches him. Abel
meekly points out his brother’s error and shows him that the wrong
is in himself. But Cain hates his brother from the moment that God
manifests to him the tokens of His acceptance. His brother Abel
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seeks to appease his wrath by contending for the compassion of God
in saving the lives of their parents when He might have brought upon
them immediate death. He tells Cain that God loves them, or He
would not have given His Son, innocent and holy, to suffer the wrath
which man, by his disobedience, deserves to suffer.
The Beginnings of Death
While Abel justifies the plan of God, Cain becomes enraged, and
his anger increases and burns against Abel until in his rage he slays
him. God inquires of Cain for his brother, and Cain utters a guilty
falsehood: “I know not: am I my brother’s keeper?” God informs
Cain that He knew in regard to his sin—that He was acquainted with
his every act, and even the thoughts of his heart, and says to him,
“Thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art
thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive
thy brother’s blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it
shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a
vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.”