Yesterday, in my commentary, I questioned whose son was Cain. Before I proceed with the symbolism in chapter four of Genesis, compare the two verses about the Cain and Seth, the unrighteous son and “righteous Seth” as he is called.
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. (Gen 4:1)
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. (Gen 4:25)
In the first passage, “Adam knew his wife” but in the
second, “He knew his wife again.” So far, so good! However, with Seth,
it is written, “she bare a son.” In the first birth, it says only, “bare Cain.” In the first case “I have
gotten a man” and in the second, it was clear that Adam had a “son.”
Ironically, as if with foreknowledge of his impending death,
scripture says, “And she again bare his brother Abel” (Gen 4:2). Nothing else
is said about his birth. Eve seemed to know that Abel, “a keeper of the sheep”
would die an untimely death without issue. All the births had a purpose.
Abel was the “antitype” of Jesus, not opposite of Jesus, but
“something that corresponds to or is foreshadowed in a type” (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary). Both Jesus and Abel were
keepers of the sheep; Abel literally, and Jesus figuratively. Both had short “processes.”
Scripture says, “And
in process of time it came to pass” that both sons brought offerings to the
Lord. Cain brought the work of his hands that he had sowed, tended, and harvested;
and Abel brought lambs that God sowed, God watched over, and God harvested.
Already, the righteousness of grace overshadowed the false
doctrine of works. The word, “process” was much different in the English language
in 1611 when the King James Version of the Bible was written. Its origin was in
the thirteenth century (Online Etymology Dictionary) and meant “advanced” or “going
forward.” Later, it would be used for many forward moving events. Ironically, in
this case, it applied to two much different processes of multiplying life: (1)
lambs grown into sheep with little work, and (2) seed into grain with much work.
Cain was like Adam in matters of vocation; both worked the ground by the sweat
of their faces, but Abel watched over the flock while God multiplied the sheep.
Concealed within their occupations were two doctrines: works
and grace. God favored grace, and punished works.
Cain was the son of the Wicked One (1 John 3:12) who advanced
works, as he was the cause of sinful Adam who would work strenuously because of
Lucifer. Cain seemed to be like Adam but was more like Lucifer. With
poetic justice, although God sent Adam outside the Garden, Cain was isolated
even further; he was cast out of the Presence of the Lord (Gen 4:16).
Cain sentenced himself — before he was sent out, he saw his
future, “Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from
thy face shall I be hid” (Gen 4:14). God sent both Adam and Cain away,
but only Cain perceived that he was driven out. Cain felt like Judas
Iscariot, who also had Satan in him. Because of sin, both felt isolated from
God, and both, rather than repent and ask for grace, resolved their guilt by
works. Cain hid out, and Judas Iscariot hanged out. Both left the
Garden to remove themselves from the Presence of the Lord.
Abel was somewhat different. He watched over the lambs until
harvest time, and then when the harvest was finished, he honored God as Adam
had done in remorse. Surely Abel was of Adam and Cain, of Satan! By grace God
made Adam righteous and Comforted him with flesh that God provided from a lamb
that died for that purpose. That was the first time any animal had died, and it
was a lamb to cover sin!
Cain worked by the sweat of his face, then with a poor
attitude, because he must, brought his sacrifice. It was as good a sacrifice
from and intrinsic perspective because God came to honor both animal and grain
sacrifices. What was wrong, then? Attitudes! Abel had generous and loving
attitudes about honoring God, and Cain selfish and uncaring attitudes. Cain, in
all aspects, favored the law of sin, and Abel the Doctrine of Grace.
Just as Judas, by the works of his own hands, isolated himself
from Jesus and resolved his own guilt, Cain fled from the Presence of the Lord
to resolve his. One hung and the other fled. Many sinners to this day, if
things get bad enough, commit suicide, and others flee from God. Both are
escapes from the psychosis of guilt.
When young, nearly everyone recognizes that sin is wrong, and
with that guilt, there are two recourses: (1) Submit to God, or (2) Flee from
Him. Those that flee are also of their “father the devil” (John 8:44). Cain’s
seed was plentiful, and he went forth and planted them in the world where they thought
that they would be out of the sight of the Lord. Cain’s seed grew in darkness
even in the sun that caused them to sweat. Chapter four goes on to reveal that
all his sons were workers with the hands.
Abel never worked. Since “To live is Christ; to die is gain”
(Phil 1:21) by grace Abel went to Paradise by Way of the cherubim and continued
in the Presence of the Lord as the Tree of Life. Abel never worked for his
Sabbath, and Cain, nor his seed, ever had Sabbath. He went asway from the Tree
of Life, out of its Presence, and died. Abel was judged good and faithful, but
Cain was never known (spiritually) by God.
KEY VERSES: And he (Cain) said, “I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?” And He (God) said, “What hast thou done? the voice of 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.” (Gen 4:9-11)
Compare Abel to Jesus, of whom he is an antitype. “But when
they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced
his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:33-34). The ground
opened to receive Abel’s blood and so it did to receive the Blood of Jesus. The
ground essentially opened its mouth in both cases… for Abel’s blood
here, and for the Blood of Jesus later:
Jesus, when he had
cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of
the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened… (Mat 27:50-52)
Cain, with his own hands, caused the death of Abel who foreshadowed
Jesus. Judas, with his own hands, caused Jesus to die. Cain was the foreshadow
of Judas. God knew all about Judas and Jesus long before they were ever born.
If Moses wrote about the life and death of Cain and Abel, he understood about
the life and death of Judas and Jesus; the former who was the son of the Wicked
One, and the latter the Son of God, the Most Righteous One.
God asked about Abel and said, “The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto
me from the ground.” Long after, “in the process of time,” Jesus said to the Pharisees,
“If these (brothers in Christ) should hold their peace, the stones would
immediately cry out.”
Can you not see the
similarities? God did have a process! His Way was to set the stage for a
“play” that would be played-out four-thousand years later. He was preparing ‘adam-kind
to love God and for brotherly love — the same as Jesus said were the “Greatest
Commandments.” (Mat 22:36-40).
The “Law” in the time of Cain and Abel was twofold: (1) Love
God with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strengths; and (2) love their
brothers as themselves.
The story of Cain and Abel was more than an archaic play,
but a rehearsal for God’s Plan. When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30),
he meant The Greatest Story Ever Told, from the beginning to the ending.
In between was a work in progress. Everything in scripture advanced the cause
of Jesus, who probated that God’s Will be done.
(picture credit: Manchester Ink Link; "Cain and Abel: Good and Evil Came to Life")
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