The story of Cain and Abel seems simple at first, a tale of brotherly jealousy and murder, it is a story commonly used in Sunday-School lessons, but there are subtle themes that can go unnoticed. For example, you may be surprised to know that Cain was actually the more spiritual of the brothers and actually possessed a stronger anointing than Abel. Unfortunately for Cain, he did not focus as much on his heart and allowed it to be taken over by satan.
Now please take a brief moment to read Genesis Chapter 4 which I have linked to; this is the story of Cain and Abel.
Parallels with Cain and Lucifer
Cain definitely has several parallels to Lucifer in his story. God calls Lucifer one of the wisest rulers, but one who allowed his heart to be corrupted. As the high-ranking angel responsible for trading and finance, Lucifer’s betrayal of God parallels that of the financier Judas who betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver (it is no wonder the Bible has so many warnings about the danger of being corrupted by money).
Ezekiel 28:3-5 [Lucifer]
“Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you! With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself, and gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches,”
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Genesis says the serpent (Lucifer) was “more clever than all the other beasts of the field” (ie the other angels) (Genesis 3:1).
Likewise Cain had the scientific/engineering mind and was an intellectual who taught his children such. Cains lineage was responsible for many inventions and were adept in science and engineering. Cain was the first person in the Bible to construct a city. His grandchildren were known for their talents in music and metalworking. (Genesis 4:19-22)
Cain’s grandson Jubal was “the father of all those who play the harp and flute.” (Gen 4:21).
This parallel’s Lucifer’s musical gifting in which God says: “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.” (Ezekiel 28:13)
It’s commonly believed that these advanced skills were taught to Cain’s children by the fallen angels of Genesis 6 and Enoch 6. Azazel in particular is singled out for his destructive teachings in metalworking to make armour and weapons. He may have helped Tubal-Cain develop his blacksmithing skill. Of course this only increased the human capacity for bloodshed. Cain’s sons with these new weapons could boldly threaten any of Seth’s descendants and take whatever territory they wanted. We see Noah’s flood come shortly after this to purge the earth of the fallen angels’ influences.
Lucifer was the name satan had before his rebellion, when he was still a holy angel. Before his fall, Lucifer had one of the closest relationships with God of the angels. Ezekiel called him the “anointed cherub who covers.” Covering cherub refers to the two cherubim whose wings were stretched out to cover the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant, the very Throne of God.
If you compare Exodus 28 and Ezekiel 28 you will see the precious stones Lucifer was created with are actually the same as found in the breastplate of the high priest. That is Lucifer had the angelic role of high priest, the only one with the special access to the holy of holies, the heart of God.
Ezekiel 28:13 [Lucifer]
“You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.”
Exodus 28:17-20, [Breastplate of the High Priest]
“And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings.”
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So although Lucifer was originally “perfect in his ways” and had one of the closest relationships with God of the angels, he unfortunately did not protect his heart attitude. Like Cain he began to believe he was superior to his brethren. The Bible teaches Lucifer was a prolific “trader” and his massive gains led to his heart becoming prideful and corrupted. Eventually he believed he could do better than God and immediately cast out of heaven [although to be specific, thus far he has only been cast out of the third heaven, but still has access to the 2nd heaven, the level of stars/planets, and below].
No matter how anointed or powerful one is, if we let our heart be corrupted into selfishness rather than love, all our efforts will be in vain just as Cain. Let’s read a section of the apostle Paul’s famous love chapter:
1 Corinthians 13:1-2, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
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Learning human languages takes enough effort, but even mastering angelic languages does not impress God if the heart is off. Uncovering all secrets and gaining the faith to move mountains will impress humans, but not God if there is no love. Here was Cain’s mistake. Cain was a prophet in fact, who possessed a strong relationship with God. How do we know Cain was a prophet? Reading the chapter again shows that Cain is able to easily have two-way conversations with God. How many people have you met who can do this? This is an uncommon ability that shows a powerful prophet.
Being the firstborn was a big deal in this ancient culture. In addition to the double portion of financial inheritance the firstborn also inherited the priestly responsibilities from his father and was expected to be the one to interact with and sacrifice to the gods on behalf of his family. We see Cain already developing this ability to interact with God in two-way conversation just as his father Adam. And thus another parallel with Lucifer, the angel operated in the priestly responsibility just as Cain was inheriting.
The Rejected Offering
Despite his giftings and communication with God, Cain clearly did not allow God access to his heart. Cain was full of pride and envy, wanting it to be known to the world that he was the superior one over his brother, including spiritually. He was hoping that God would make a magnificent display of fire in accepting Cain’s offering. A display he expected to be greater than Abel’s offering would receive.
The enmity and competitive attitude Cain had towards his brother made Cain’s offering unacceptable. Christ taught if you have aught against your brother, leave your gift at the alter and reconcile first. Holding hatred or envy, especially against a brother in Christ, makes the offering impure. When the Bible says God smells the sweet savour that is offered, it is not taking about the physical smell of the sacrificed animals but the heart attitude of the one offering that becomes the fragrance God smells.
Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
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The New Testament confirms that God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering and not Cain’s was based on what he saw in their hearts, the internal faith:
Hebrew 11:4, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous.”
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Cain also would have had pride in believing he was on the cutting edge of technology, the agricultural revolution, ahead of his “stone age” shepherd brother.
Besides pride we also see that Abel sorted out the “best of his flock” to give to God, while Cain just gave God some normal undistinguished produce. Perhaps Cain did not like the idea of having to give up some of the freshest most unblemished produce and “waste” it in an offering. Cain may have even done the reverse and actually given God the leftovers that he would have thrown away anyways so he would not lose any profit. And this is likely the core of what made God reject Cain’s offering. If Cain had sorted through and taken the very best A-grade produce without bruises or rotten spots, and offered it with a pure heart to God, not thinking of outdoing his brother, God surely would have accepted the offering. God saying, “if you do right, will you not be accepted?” implies that Cain already knew what was wrong with his offering, but was being too cheap to offer God his best.
When we make an offering to God, but without clearing these thorns out of our heart, the anger, jealousy, coveting, pride, then what should be the sweet savour of our offering is too polluted for God to take delight in. Were he to accept such an offering it would do more harm that good and even bring him to anger. God refusing Cain’s offering was actually an act of mercy. This would give Cain another chance to make things right rather than just putting him into immediate judgement. Other biblical figures receive horrible punishments after making impure offerings. Others, such as Nadab and Abihu, were not so fortunate:
Leviticus 10:1-3, Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. 3 And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:
‘By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorified.’ ”
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Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were toasted with divine fire themselves, being turned to ashes after they entered the temple in a somewhat intoxicated state and gave an impure offering of profane fire before God.
Uzziah is another:
2 Chronicles 26:19 “Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.”
While he was ANGRY with the priests, his anger cursed his offering.
Next we will read about Saul’s cursed offering:
1 Samuel 13:10-14, “Now it happened, as soon as [Saul] had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart,”
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Saul had anger in his heart when making the offering (toward Samuel because Samuel arrived late). Saul also was full of fear, due to most of his army deserting, and fear is not an emotion we should show especially when believing God for victory. Having a heart full of anger towards Samuel, when Saul made his offering, this offering was counted as disobedience and a curse rather than blessing. Saul would have been more lucky if God simply ignored the offering as he did to Cain’s, but when Saul’s offering was shoved in God’s face as it were, it only provoked God’s anger.
What Cain did not realize was that God’s refusal of his offering was out of mercy, to give him another chance to make it right. If God had taken in the tainted offering it would have aroused his wrath and then God would have punished Cain more severely as happened to the other biblical characters whose offerings were rejected, Nadab and Abihu, Uzziah, or Saul. Suppose you are at a restaurant and say you are allergic to onions and the waiter brings your meal with all of the onions still there. You will be less angry if you notice the mistake first and reject the dish, rather than if you bite into it and begin choking from the allergy. Likewise, God was being very merciful to Cain by rejecting his offering, giving him another chance to do it the right way. By saying “if you do right, will you not be accepted?” God was inviting Cain back to fellowship with him. All Cain had to do is humble himself and make another offering, but this time doing it God’s way. God had not rejected Cain, he only rejected his offering. If God had truly rejected Cain he would not speak to him anymore, similar to how God stopped speaking to Saul.
Aftermath
Even after the murder, God wanted to restore Cain, if he would only repent and receive forgiveness. Cain unfortunately was only concerned about his natural physical life, seeming totally unbothered about how to get rid of the darkness in his soul. When Cain tells God “my punishment is greater than I can bear” he lists the reasons being the earthly suffering he will now experience. Cain should have asked God for what to do about the sin in his heart and been concerned with the punishment of his soul more than the suffering of his flesh.
God had one final gift to Cain. A mark that would be visible to anyone who met him, acting as a powerful sign of God’s protection that no one could deny. Ancient rabbis speculated this was one of the Hebrew letters, perhaps the cross (Tau) on Cain’s forehead. Later in the Bible, God marks a remnant with the the Tau cross on the forehead to preserve them from destruction (Ezekiel 9:4).
Genesis 4:15 “And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.”
Having this mysterious cross appear on his forehead, Cain would be able to tell those in his path of travel of how he was still under God’s protection, despite the sin he had done. God was foreshadowing Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that would take place to redeem humanity from our sins. God was hoping that by wearing this symbol of redemption Cain would recognize on a deep level his soul’s own need for saving. By protecting Cain’s life, God gave him a continuous chance to repent, hoping he would return to God in repentance and seek restoration of fellowship. God never gave up on Cain.
Unfortunately Cain valued the mark only as a way to preserve his natural life. Likewise in the end times the book of Revelation teaches us the mark of the beast is taken by people in hopes that they could preserve their natural life at the cost of spiritual death. When Cain said “my punishment is greater than I can bear” he was only considering his natural life and did not seem worried at all about the separation from God that had happened. God gave Cain what he wanted. Cain really should have been more concerned about receiving forgiveness.
Perhaps Cain believed he was already too far gone. That God would never accept him back. Satan loves to send these thoughts to our mind to prevent us from coming back to God after we mess up. The truth is as long as your heart can feel remorse and desire to return to God, it is not too hardened to be saved. Even Judas was not too far gone after betraying Christ. He felt remorse and threw the 30 pieces of silver back at the priests. Judas feeling remorse means the Holy Spirit was still working on his heart to bring him back to God. Unfortunately Judas was so filled with the shame of his sin that he killed himself rather than running back to God in repentance.
One thing we can learn from Cain’s story is that no matter how badly we mess up, God is always ready to accept us back if we will humble ourselves and repent. Let’s not be like Cain and respond in anger to God’s correction when he is only trying to bring us back to fellowship with him.
Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”