04. Cain’s Language!

04. Cain’s Language! “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) Adam and Eve, after being expelled from the Garden of Eden, lived in pain and regret, but it was already too late to undo what had been done. However, God still gave them a thousand years of life, and through their marriage and family, they had two sons. But the sinful nature that was in Adam and Eve was already manifesting in all creation and their descendants, and it began to appear in their sons as well. This culminated in the event where the elder son, Cain, killed his younger brother, Abel. Through this pain, Adam and Eve experienced the peak of the suffering and pain of a life into which sin had entered after leaving Eden. Cain, the elder son, followed his father’s occupation and farmed, while Abel raised sheep. Farming provided the necessary food for their survival, and livestock farming produced offerings for God and provided some food through the milk of the sheep. After the harvest, Cain offered the produce of the land to God, and Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat. However, God accepted Abel’s offering but did not accept Cain’s. People might wonder why God only accepted Abel’s offering. Was it favoritism? But God’s reasoning is simple. God made the produce of the land to be food for humans and the meat of animals to be used only for sacrifices to God. Cain overlooked this plan and reasoning of God. Furthermore, as people took the meat of these animals for food, today’s people, regardless of the lifespan given by God, receive some nutrition from animal food, but when consumed excessively, they suffer significant health problems. If Cain had shared some of his grain with Abel and obtained a flawless lamb for sacrifice to God, God would have accepted all their sweat and devotion, and through the division of labor between the brothers, food and offerings would have been resolved. Their lives and mutual relationships would have been more beautiful and happy, but already a great problem of hatred had arisen between the two brothers, causing a breakdown in communication. Why did it happen between the brothers? Perhaps Cain and Abel, each engrossed in their own work, faced unexpected problems due to personal selfishness resulting from sin. Compared to the crops from Cain’s quiet farming land, Abel’s sheep were relatively more active and invaded Cain’s farmland, eating the young shoots and unripe ears of grain, and trampling the crops, causing Cain great distress and anger, leading to the proliferation of hatred. Cain repeatedly warned Abel to manage the sheep well, but no matter how hard Abel tried, the sheep would quickly enter Cain’s field and ruin it. As Cain’s anger reached its peak, the common heart of sharing was twisted, and he could no longer tolerate the situation where he had to suffer losses. The hatred and resentment towards Abel grew even more. When the harvest season came, Cain gathered all the grain and selected the best to offer to God, and Abel also offered the best and most flawless lamb from his livestock. However, Cain, due to his hatred and resentment towards Abel, made the mistake of offering his own sacrifice regardless of God’s will and desire. Abel, whether he realized it or not, offered a pure lamb according to God’s will and desire, but Cain offered the grain he had chosen himself. Therefore, God accepted or did not accept the offerings according to what He had already established and taught. However, God did not reward the one who offered well and punish the one who did not based on the result of the sacrifice. He simply did not accept what was not right and accepted only what was appropriate, and He greatly rejoiced in what He accepted. But the problem was that Cain was deeply angry about this fairness of God, and as a result, his face changed color, which was his anger. This anger acted as great stress on Cain, causing him to lose control of his mind, leading him to commit a greater sin. Who was the target of this anger? It was his younger brother Abel, whom he had harbored hatred and resentment towards. In fact, maintaining a good relationship with his brother, sharing and cooperating as an elder brother, was a more important task and virtue to prepare before the sacrifice. By sharing and exchanging as needed, their relationship would have become more beautiful, and they would have lived a stress-free, happy life. And if they had cooperated and offered sacrifices to God with such a happy heart, there would have been no problem, which was God’s will and providence. But Cain overlooked this heart of God. Instead, he further nurtured his resentment, which eventually turned into anger towards God. As Cain’s hatred grew, he confronted Abel, accusing him of ruining his farming and ultimately his relationship with God due to Abel’s livestock. Abel’s sarcastic response, “I did not command the sheep to do so; what do you want me to do about it?” made Cain’s blood boil, and unable to control his anger, Cain picked up a large stone, filled with immense hatred towards his brother, and struck Abel’s head, killing him. The thoughts and emotions accumulated in daily life eventually led to a tangible sin, killing his beloved brother with a stone. This shows how important daily life is. This was the sin that entered Adam and Eve, passed down to their descendants along with the punishment they received, causing Adam and Eve great pain and suffering from the wounds of their children killing each other. How sad and unfortunate! But they could not help but reflect on the fact that this was the result of the seed of their sin. “Cain! If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” What does it mean to do what is right? It means living according to God’s will in daily life, and if not, committing sin. God warned that the result of sin could lead to evil actions, so He wanted them to control and change their sinful hearts to be restored. Human disobedience brings harm upon the disobedient themselves. This is the providence of God. One of the most representative examples is the drastic shortening of human life due to changes in the Earth’s environment and modern food. In the world God originally created, fruits and plants were the food for people. However, humans demanded animals with blood as offerings to God. Due to the situation at the time, where all plants died and disappeared because of the flood, God reluctantly allowed humans to eat animals due to the lack of food. Fundamentally, human disobedience led to the death of other creatures and gradually brought about the severance of eternal life for humans, as well as physical death. This does not mean that God’s providence has changed, but rather that God has merely tolerated and observed human actions. From the beginning, God gave humans free will, and the responsibility for their choices lies entirely with the humans who made them. Therefore, when Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit, God did not forcibly stop them but watched their choice. After Noah’s flood, God inevitably allowed animals to be eaten, resulting in humans experiencing the bitter fruit of a drastically shortened lifespan, unable to fully enjoy the lifespan God had originally given them. This loss of humanity also erupted in unexpected ways, culminating in murder, the ultimate expression‎ of hatred. “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s keeper?” When Abel’s blood, shed by Cain, cried out to God, God questioned Cain. We can see that human responses to God’s questioning have become increasingly wicked. If Adam’s response was ‘shifting blame,’ Cain’s response went a step further, revealing ‘lies’ and ‘rebellion.’ Hatred and animosity gave birth to sin and deceit, and deceit gave birth to more lies and sins, which continued to repeat and expand, growing ever larger. So, what state are we in today?