Brothers

DEVOTION

GENESIS

BROTHERS

Gen 4:1-5

4:1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

NIV

Clearly God designed the man and the woman in such a fashion they would be able to produce offspring. This is the purpose for which he made each being different. He had already told them to be fruitful and increase in number filling the earth and subdue it. Certainly some people have perverted this design of a union between a man and a woman. We have seen such perversion in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and we have seen the response of God toward that type of behavior. It is clear how God intended mankind to live and reproduce. However this does not permit us to pass any type of judgement on mankind, for that is God’s right alone. Although we live in the manner, as well as do millions of others, there are people who, for whatever reason live in a different manner as which God has designed. Our command is to love our neighbor as ourselves. There is no restrictions, limitations or qualifiers on that love. We cannot say, “I will love, only if you are like me”. Nevertheless, God desired for them to have offspring, and this is the plan of God for the procreation of all living things. We do not know if Cain and Abel are the only two children at this point as the narrative moves rather quickly from their birth to they being grown men. It would seem that Adam and Eve would have continued being fruitful, however the other children are not germane to this narrative, at least at this point in time. We see that Abel became a shepherd and Cain a farmer. Both of them brought offerings to the Lord. How did they know they were supposed to do that? We have not seen any commands from God to do so. We are not told that Adam instructed his sons in that behavior. Perhaps it is simply a natural response to being in a relationship with God. We have to know that although Adam and Eve were disobedient in the garden and they were cast out, the Lord God did not leave them alone, without any relationship with him. What we do not know is what that relationship looked like. Did he continue to walk in the cool of day with them, or had he retreated to his throne in heaven and they only knew he was there, but no longer saw and heard him? We do not know, but what we are told is the two men brought offerings to him. Cain brought some grain and Abel some fat portions from his flock. We do not know why God favored the fat portions over the grain. We have been told that God shows no favoritism.

Acts 10:34-36

34 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism  35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

NIV

Yet it appears he favored the fat portions from Abel more than the grain offering from Cain. Of course this favoritism deals with salvation, God accepts all men as equal beings and will give eternal life to whosoever believes. But here it seems he did like the fat portions better. This angered Cain. Would we respond in the same way if we witnessed God blessing someone far more than he does us? How do we react when God shows favor to another person and it seems as though we are not either hearing from him or experiencing the same kind of favor? Do we become downcast? Do we think God loves them more than us? How could Cain have brought a fat portion when we was a farmer? He brought God from what his labor produced. This is all we can bring, a portion of that which our labor produces. Does God look with favor on those who can bring more than we can? Perhaps Cain should have bought or bartered with Abel for one of his flock so he could bring a fat portion, but he did not and brought the fruit of his labor. That is all we can do as well. So why did God respect the offering of Abel but not of Cain? This we may never know for sure. What we can learn is that God is God and he is sovereign and he has the right to bless each of us in whatever way he desires. We do not have the right to demand from God. We do not have the right to expect to be treated better than others. We do not have the right to complain as to how he moves in our lives, or compare his moving in our lives with how he moves in others. Cain should have known that and perhaps he should have responded with joy over the respect God showed to his brother. Then again perhaps Abel might have expressed concern over his brother Cain and offered him some fat portions to give to God. We have been told that when one member of the body hurts we all hurt and when one member rejoices we all rejoice. This is how our relationships within or between us should be, not as we see in this relationship between Cain and Abel.