Slander or Concern?

We find the first example of hatred and jealously toward another in the case of Cain versus Abel. Obviously Cain was jealous and angry toward his only brother because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. This hatred Cain carried toward Abel caused him to commit murder against his only brother and then reply to God with “Am I my brother’s keeper?” when asked what happened to Abel. After Cain slew his very own brother, he had the nerve to reply to God and act as if Abel brought it onto himself. That word “keeper” means Protector, Guardian and Watchman. Cain was telling God that it wasn’t his responsibility to look after the wellbeing of his own brother and that Abel deserved to be slaughtered.

God was so grieved and angered by Cain’s spirit, attitude and act of violence, that He cursed him and made him a fugitive (always on the run) and a vagabond (never stable and always wavering). God also cursed his labors and told him that when he tills the ground that the earth would not respond with its full strength and potential. This is the reward given to a man who was not willing to work on his own issues and work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, but instead rose up and slew his brother over a disagreement in the field. Cain was able to kill his brother so quickly because he was already harboring feelings of bitterness, jealousy, envy, strife and hatred toward his brother.

In this story of Cain and Abel we see the process of events that leads to murder. Murder at its root definition is the act of killing someone deliberately whether it was a result of aforethought, deliberation, premeditation or a sudden action. Murder is NOT self-defense. Cain murdered his brother, but only as a result of some deep issues that he was never willing to deal with himself.

It all started with the sacrifice. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. Cain had a hard time understanding why God would not accept his. God then explained to Cain that instead of comparing what Abel was bringing against his own sacrifice, he should concentrate of making his own sacrifice the best that he could bring. I do not believe it was the ACTUAL physical sacrifice that God was talking about, as much as He was trying to point out to Cain that he could do better than just fruits. Cain spent too much time assessing what Abel was bringing to the table that he forgot that it’s not about Cain vs. Abel, this was supposed to be a sacrifice, an act of man interacting with GOD.

Obviously, because of this inequality that Cain thought was going on between him and his brother, he allowed jealousy and envy to fester in his spirit. It festered so long until it became bitterness. Then after the root of bitterness planted itself deep in Cain’s spirit, it produced venom of hate and rage that continued to grow within his heart toward his only brother. Now because Cain did not deal with the initial problem, which was HIS OWN SACRIFICE, he allowed a murderous spirit to get into his heart. Until now every time he saw Abel sacrifice, he became wroth (angry) and he despised his own brothers sacrifice. Now in Cain’s mind God wasn’t even in the picture. It wasn’t about God or a sacrifice or an altar. It wasn’t about a lamb versus fruits. It wasn’t about favor versus rejection. It turned into a refusal to accept the fact that he had personal issues to deal with that God did not require of his brother and he was being rejected for it.

Now Cain not only despised his brother, but he also began to despise God. Bitterness had gotten so deep into his spirit that he couldn’t even see his own problem. Cain’s issue was never with his brother Abel to begin with, it was with God, but because Cain wasn’t able to comprehend how God could accept Abel’s sacrifice and reject his own, he allowed himself to believe that Abel was actually the problem. In his pride, Cain could not deal with the fact that God would accept a sacrifice that was different than his own. Cain was defending his own ego and his own rights by blaming Abel. God was out of the equation. This bitterness blinded Cain to the truth of his own failure and gave him the illusion that the reason he was not being honored is because his brother was stealing the glory. And there was only one solution for this to end, MURDER!

To Be Continued...