Summary

These verses are about Cain and Abel’s life with the Lord—the way in which their lives and work served God.

We read here that the two brothers both brought a sacrifice, an offering of what their labour had produced for them. Cain brought a portion of the produce of the land on his altar. Abel took from his livestock and put it on his altar. It was not as if animals were worth more to the Lord than grains and fruits that were cultivated on the land. Yet God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s.

The reason for this has to do with the attitude of these two toward the Lord. Cain brought a sacrifice without truly living in love and gratitude to the Lord. If you pay close attention to these verses, you will see something of this in the sacrifice Cain offered. We read nothing in Genesis 4:3 other than that Cain put fruits of the ground on the altar. With Abel, we literally read that he brought the firstborn of his sheep, of their fat portions on the altar. This means that he used the best and most beautiful animals of his flock for this purpose. This seems to indicate that Cain simply took something from the land. He did not put the first and best of the harvest on the altar before the Lord, whereas Abel did. For him, the Lord is above all things.

Later in the Bible we read that the Lord prescribed to Israel to offer the first and the best to him (see e.g., Exodus 22:28–29; Exodus 23:19; Exodus 29:13; Exodus 34:19–20, Exodus 34:26; Leviticus 2:3; Leviticus 7:23–25; Numbers 15:17–21; Numbers 18:12–13; Deuteronomy 26:1–11).

The Lord indicated in some way that he accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s. All kinds of solutions have been sought to explain how Cain and Abel would have known this. We have to simply say that we do not know. The Lord has not disclosed this to us.

Cain became angry when he learned that God did not accept his sacrifice. This did not cause him to examine his own life. The Lord came to Cain to show him what his sin was. Therefore, the Lord asked Cain a question, just as he did after the fall, when he also questioned Adam and Eve in order to make them realize their sin.

The Lord showed Cain what was not right in his life (Genesis 4:7). Cain did not want to do that which is right in the eyes of God. He followed his own heart and his own desires. The Lord showed Cain that if he would seek and do what is right, it would have been beneficial to him. Then he would really live. Now he was getting entangled more and more. The power of sin lurks like a predator. It sought to take more and more control of Cain as its prey. There was a serious threat that sin was taking full control of Cain’s life. This stands in contrast to God’s command to rule over sin and put sin to death in your life. The Lord came to Cain to warn him.