More on Cain...

Our initial reaction to the Cain and Abel story in Genesis 4 is to feel uncomfortable about God’s rejection of Cain’s worship. After all, he did bring a sacrifice, didn’t he? The story deserves a closer look though, and some closer application. It is true that both Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord, and that God was pleased with Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s offering.

I’m no Old Testament scholar, but I know that later instructions to the Israelites included offerings of produce, so the content of Cain’s offering could not have been the problem. It would be interesting to know what Cain’s attitude was as he brought his offering to God—God was privy to his attitude, but we’re not. We can deduce a lot, though, from Cain’s response to God’s reaction to his offering. He was “very angry, and his face was downcast.” (Gen. 4:5b) It seems to me that if Cain had gone to God initially with a desire to express his honor and love for God’s “worth-ship”, he might have responded differently to God’s rebuke. Might he have felt remorse or regret rather than anger? With what attitudes might Cain have initially approached God—attitudes that I should check for in my own life? Could he have approached God with self-satisfaction rather than thankfulness? Perhaps he was competing with Abel and concerned that his offering be better than Abel’s offering of a lamb? Who’s to say? In any case, we know that there was something about his heart attitude that was an offence to God’s holiness, majesty and power. Hebrews 11:4 gives us an oblique glimpse into Cain’s character, when it cites Abel as a man of faith and righteousness. The conclusion we must draw from the little we are told is that Abel was a godly man and Cain was not.

It’s easy to observe God’s condemnation of Cain’s offering for whatever reasons, and miss the fact that God was eager to give Cain a second chance. God dialogues with Cain about his anger and even cajoles him with the possibility of doing right. He also warns about the devastating consequences of allow his disappointment to devolve into deeper sin—“sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you, but you must master it”. (Gen. 4:7)

God’s warning is worth noticing as it applies to us as well. How many times are we in danger of sin’s devastating pounce on our lives? Significantly, we don’t have to be victims of sin; God gives us the option—and the Holy Spirit power—to master it. So with what grief and seriousness we read of Cain’s response to God’s prodding to change his ways—far from mastering sin, he lets his anger spiral out of control into the murder of his own brother.

The story continues with more amazing dialogue between Cain and God. Rather than turning his back completely on Cain, God continues to dialogue with him. Cain is under a curse, but even there, God shows His mercy and offers him protection and the opportunity to build his own clan. The mercy of God is incomprehensible, but Cain didn’t accept it: “Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” (Gen. 4:16)

God takes worship more seriously than I like to think. The story of Cain makes me realize that I need to approach worship with a far different attitude than I generally do. It would be easy to digress into self-loathing at this point, wouldn’t it? The comforting thing is that God doesn’t expect me to be perfect. God reminded Cain that he did have another chance; he could make things right.

It's through the cross of Christ I can worship. NT Wright says “It is the faith that on the cross Jesus in principle won the victory over sin, violence, pride, arrogance, and even death itself, and that that victory can now be implemented. This faith refuses to accept that violence, greed and pride are unassailable and unchallengeable. This faith will go to work to challenge and subvert those destructive forces, in ourselves…” (For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church, NT Wright, p. 55)

Genesis doesn’t give us a lot of information about Abel, but we can be encouraged that his offering pleased God. Hebrews rounds his story out commending him for his faith. God grant that my worship be like Abel’s, full of a sense of who God is and the faith that He will help me live the life of worship for which I was created—a life of worship.