BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: CAIN AND ABEL
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Biblical Critique: Cain and Abel
Frank D’Errico
School of Education, Liberty University
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: CAIN AND ABEL 2
Biblical Critique: Cain and Abel
The book of Genesis gives us some of the earliest insight into the true heart condition of
humanity; the prophet Jeremiah sags, "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately
sick; who can trust it?" (New American Standard Version, 1960/2000, Jeremiah 17:9) It is here
in Genesis 4: 1-12 where the first set of siblings Cain and Abel that conflict arises, and through
the inability to address his emotions leads to Cain committing the first murder. This paper will
further explore these verses to identify the conflict, highlight the character of God and man, and
how the conflict in Genesis 4:1-12 relates to my personal life.
Fact
Verses
1.Adam had relations with Eve and
conceived Cain.
Verse Genesis 4:1
2. Eve conceived Cain a boy with help of the
Lord.
Verse Genesis 4:2
3. Eve gave birth to Abel, Cain’s younger
brother.
Verse Genesis 4:2
4.Abel was a keeper of the flocks while Cain
was a farmer of the ground.
Verse Genesis 4:3
5.Abel gave an offering of his firstborn from
the flock.
Verse Genesis 4:4
6.Abels offering was found acceptable to
God.
Verse Genesis 4:4
7.Cain provides God with an offering and
received no regard from God.
Verse Genesis 4:5
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: CAIN AND ABEL 3
8. Cain became angry with the Lord’s
response and drew God’s attention; God
spoke to him.
Verse Genesis 4:6
9. The Lord reminds Cain that sin is around
the corner if he does not get ahold of his
feelings.
Verse Genesis 4:7
10.Cain goes into the field with his brother
and kills him.
Verse Genesis 4:8
11. Cain avoids telling the truth to God when
asked “where is your brother?”
Verse Genesis 4:9
12. The Lord issues a consequence to Cain;
God curses the ground, and it will no longer
produce for Cain.
Verse Genesis 4:11
13. The Lord curses Cain to wander the earth.
Verses Genesis 4:12
Reflect
What do you see in the passage that relates
to God’s character, man’s character, or
Jesus?
Verses
God’s character
*God is omniscient, He ask Cain where his
brother is knowing that outcome of his
actions already.
Genesis 4: 9-10
Great job!
Great job!
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: CAIN AND ABEL 4
*God is just: He issues judgement
according to His righteous standard.
*God is merciful and gracious: Spares
Cain’s life.
*Creator of Life: Cain and Abel are born.
*Worthy of worship: Offerings
Genesis 4: 11-12
Genesis 4: 11-12
Genesis 4:1-2
Genesis 4: 3-5
Man’s character
*Jealousy
*Anger
*Failure to repent
*Lies
*Avoidance
*Violence
*Self-Centered/Selfishness
*Lost
Genesis: 4: 4
Genesis 4: 5
Genesis 4:6
Genesis 4: 9
Genesis 4: 9-10
Genesis 4: 8
Genesis 4: 5
Genesis 4:12
Jesus
*Abel's sacrifice: animal sacrifice, which
was the first fruit. It was an offering to God
and a worthy offering from Abel.
Genesis 4:4
Respond
In one swift decision, a quarter of the world's population was no longer in existence; of
course, only four people were on the earth at the time, but nonetheless, the reality of that statistic
stands to be the result of that conflict. The action of Cain was ultimately a result of the
Very good!
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: CAIN AND ABEL 5
origination of sin brought into the world through Adam and Eve, but as the passage shows, sin
does not take very long to manifest in what it bears. The existence of God's creation is to bring
glory to Him, therefore making anything opposite of that dishonoring; this passage highlights
how quickly one forgets one's true purpose.
In a much more perfect world than exists today, there were four individuals, two parents,
and two brothers within the first family on earth. Within the family dynamics, the two parents
were home, outside influence did not exist, technology had no impact, friends were not an issue,
and indeed, the school curriculum was no different, yet the issue of jealousy, anger, and murder
was still the result of conflict. These results further support the idea that mans’ heart condition
naturally hosts these emotions, which, if not dealt with properly, can lead to unfortunate
outcomes.
The anger that Cain had was destructive; the scripture shows his acknowledgment of the
emotion of anger; however, when God speaks with him, rather than opening up to God about
how he feels, anger continues to build, which eventually leads to the loss of control of it and the
death of Abel (Barsky, 2017). Cain's sin grows deeper with God because once the act occurs, as
he moves into avoidance, God comes again to Cain, asking, "where is your brother?" Avoiding
the conflict may help give the allusion that the conflict does not exist (Barsky, 2017) as Cain
presents the thought process that if no one else saw, no one else knows what happened, failing to
realize that God is omniscient, there is nothing that one can hide from the Lord. God knows
exactly where Abel is and indicates it to Cain in His response, God gives Cain and chance to
come forth with the truth only to find that he fails to. Even in God's grace and mercy, there can
be a consequence when God's children do repent, and Cain, unable to come to the point of
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repentance, will face a curse of the land and be sent to wander for how he went about handling
the conflict that he had with his brother, God's child.
In my own life as a vice principal, husband, father, and sibling, there are times when
conflict arises, and there are times when I have felt that anger surface during conflict. Through
more self-awareness and regulation, it has come to be that anger manifests if I do not
acknowledge the primary emotion first. I can relate to Cain in many ways, although not in terms
of murder, I have allowed my anger to create hatred in my heart when I was younger and even
more so when I was young that my anger has led me into some physical altercations. The
inability to acknowledge that my feelings were hurt, that I was embarrassed, or that I felt
verbally attacked often led to the birth of a secondary emotion, anger (Barsky, 2017). This,
unfortunately, led to some unfortunate outcomes, injuries, and the feelings of people getting hurt,
and more importantly, early in the walk of Christianity, the dishonoring of God. As the renewing
of the mind takes place, it has become much easier when the Holy Spirit convicts the sin that is
lurking at the door to have the ability to repent and not be gloomy in the face as Cain was; it is
much more honoring to God to repent to Him, and the gospel of Matthew says “ if you are
presenting your offering at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something
against you, leave your offering, there before the altar and go, first be reconciled to your brother
and then come present your offering (New American Standard Version, 1960/2000, Matthew
5:23-24).
Conclusion
The word of God provides one of the first conflicts to study, a conflict that exists among
siblings and results in murder. The conflict stems from a common issue that many individuals
face daily: whether to follow God and be willing to repent from the sinful nature within
Good personal application!
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everyone's heart. Conflict is nothing new and has existed since the beginning of creation;
Genesis 4:1-12 further shows that jealousy and anger are two emotions that, if left in that state,
can lead to devastating consequences. Conflict resolution has mostly stayed the same since the
earliest days, as there is a reliance on self-awareness, self-regulation, and the ability to
communicate among existing parties. The sinful nature of the flesh is always lurking around,
looking to get a foothold, and what better way than to use conflict; however, God's mercy and
grace are an extension of His character, and because of that, even in the failure of conflict
resolution there is still forgiveness found in the Father.
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References
Barsky, A. E. (2017). Conflict resolution for the helping professions: Negotiation, mediation,
advocacy, facilitation, and restorative justice (Third ed.). Oxford University Press.
New American Standard Bible. (2020). New American Standard Bible Online.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204&version=NASB
(Original work published 1960).
