Cain the older Brother of Abel
UNDATED PAST — Cain’s story is told in Genesis 4:1-24.
He was the older brother of Abel. Cain worked the land and Abel looked after the animals.
Abel did what God asked him to do. But Cain did what he thought he should do. When God was not pleased with Cain’s offering, Cain became very angry.
He ignored God’s advice as to how he could fix it and murdered his brother instead.
The murder of Abel was evil in God’s eyes, and so Cain was banished from the presence of the Lord in that part of the earth.
Cain was the first human murderer recorded in the Bible. Satan was the first murderer recorded in the Bible.
Cain did evil in God’s sight.
In Hebrew Cain means: possession.
What is evil in God’s sight? Read 1 John 3:4
4 Every person who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness: for [that is what] sin is, the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect [being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will]. (Amplified Bible)
Despite punishing Cain by sending him away, God still protected him by placing a mark on his head so that the people in the rest of the earth would not kill him.
Cain married and built a city in the land of Nod and named it after his son whom he called Enoch.
Cain and Abel
4:1 Later, Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have given birth to a male child—the LORD.” 2 And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer.
3 Later, after a while, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit that he had harvested, 4 while Abel brought the best parts of some of the firstborn from his flock. The LORD looked favorably upon Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not look favorably upon Cain and his offering.
When Cain became very upset and depressed, 6 the LORD asked Cain, “Why are you so upset? Why are you depressed? 7 If you do what is appropriate, you’ll be accepted, won’t you? But if you don’t do what is appropriate, sin is crouching near your doorway, turning toward you. Now as for you, will you take dominion over it?”
8 Instead, Cain told his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the wilderness.” When they were outside in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Later, the LORD asked Cain, “Where’s your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10 “What did you do?” God asked. “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you’re more cursed than the ground, which has opened to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 Whenever you work the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you, and you’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive.”
13 “My punishment is too great to bear,” Cain told the LORD. 14 “You’re driving me from the soil today. I’ll be hidden from you, and I’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive. In the future, whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 The LORD told him, “This won’t happen, because whoever kills you will suffer seven times the vengeance.” Then the LORD placed a sign on Cain so that no one finding him would kill him. 16 After this, Cain left the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
17 Later, Cain had sexual relations with his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain founded a city and named it after his son Enoch.
(Cain’s son Enoch is not the same man as Enoch that is seen 3 images away).
Other modules in this unit:
- In the beginning, God created the earth
- The 7 or Seven Days of Creation
- Adam was the first created man specifically named in Scripture
- Eve the first woman specifically named in Scripture
- Tree of Life
- Cain the first human murderer and older brother of Abel
- Abel a righteous man
- Seth, Genesis
- Enoch did not die
- About a 1100 Year gap between the birth of Adam and the birth of Noah
- Noah built an ark with God’s instructions
- The Ark, God’s way of saving people from the Flood
- The Tower of Babel
- 400 years between Noah and Abraham
- Abraham the father of nations
- Sarah was the wife of Abraham
- Lot is rescued by Abraham
- Melchizedek was the King of Salem
- Ishmael the son of Hagar and Abraham
- The birth of Isaac Abraham’s son
- Hagar, an Egyptian slave given to Abraham by the Pharaoh of Egypt
- Rebekah married Isaac
- Esau the son that Isaac loved
- The birth of Jacob the son of Isaac
- King Abimelech a local king and Isaac
- Questions and Answers 1-11
- Questions and Answers 12-26
- Genesis Part Two » »
- Time Line for Genesis part one »
- Resources – The book of Genesis