Cain Murdered Abel, His Brother

A Devotional Series from Genesis

Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)

4/13 Reading Portions: Leviticus 17; Psalm 20-21; Proverbs 31; 1 Timothy 2

Genesis 4:8

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

MURDER

As we have seen and considered from Genesis chapters one through three, because of Adam’s fall by his original sin in the garden, all descendants of Adam are guilty of that sin—as if you and I had committed that sin ourselves. And surely, as we’ve considered in past devotionals, if you or I were there, we would have done the same thing. Cain’s history gives us further insight into sin that crouches at the door (Gen 4:7). Apart from the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I are not merely guilty of Adam’s original sin, we are also no different from Cain, whose hatred resulted in the murder of his brother. In his first epistle, John tells us:

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:12-15

In his hatred, Cain took Abel out to the field—the field often being a prophetic and allegorical type of the world, which is uncultivated and unworked, growing wild without the efficacious grace of God. How does this apply to you and me? By God’s grace, we have been saved from the hateful heart of an evil murderer. Every soul who has not been saved by grace, which includes you and me before our salvation, is a murderer. Even religious “good deed” doers are murderers. Why? Because rejection of, opposition to, or indifference toward the Lord Jesus Messiah, makes every rejector, every opposer, and every indifferent, non-committed life guilty of Christ’s murder upon Calvary’s tree—even though His murder was accomplished by the hands of jealous religious Jews and ignorant Roman pagans. Jesus said,

“so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.” Matthew 23:35

While this indictment was given specifically to the religious scribes and Pharisees of the Lord Jesus’ day, its guilt is levied upon every individual since and including Adam. All mankind is guilty of breaking every one of the Ten Commandments, including murder, in the murder of Jesus Messiah.

Yet in Christ, trusting in His substitutionary atoning death and resurrection from the dead, we are raised in newness of life and unto life everlasting in Christ. Hallelujah! What a Savior!