Lesson 005

Cain And Abel

Genesis 4:1-17
MEMORY VERSE
GEN ES IS 4:7
"If you do w ell, w ill you not be ac c epted? And if you do not
do w ell, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but
you should rule ov er it

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Two puzzles, one with two pieces missing.

ATTENTION GRABBER!

Simon Says?
Lead the children in a game of “Simon Says.” Give the children
commands to perform—like touch your nose, jump up and down,
turn around—preceded by the command “Simon Says.” They must
perform the task in order to stay in the game. Also include
commands without the preceding “Simon Says.” If you do not say
“Simon Says,” they must not perform the task or they can no
longer stay in the game.

Explain to your class that following commands is very important to

God. When He tells us what to do, we must do just as He says. All
of His commands are good, and they are all given to us for very
good reasons, whether or not we know what those reasons are.
God desires obedience.
LESSON TIME!
We are supposed to obey our mom and our dad. We should obey
our teachers and others who have authority over us (coaches,
policemen, etc.). We especially need to obey the Lord. Why is it
important to obey? God has a perfect plan for us. He wants to bless
our lives; and when we obey, we will be blessed. When we disobey,
we will bring upon ourselves all kinds of problems. This truth will
be seen as we continue to study the Old Testament Bible stories.

Maybe you have wondered why bad things happen in the world.
The answer is sin. Sin has now entered the world, and its effect has
not been good. We will see what the sins of jealousy and anger
cause in our story of Cain and Able. We will also learn that G o d
desires obedience.

G EN ES I S 4:1-2
N o w Ad a m k n e w E v e h i s w i f e , a n d s h e c o n c e i v e d a n d
bo r e C ai n , an d s ai d , "I h av e go t t en a m an f r o m t h e
LOR D ."

T h e n s h e b o r e a g a i n , t h i s t i m e h i s b r o t h e r Ab e l . N o w
Ab e l w a s a k e e p e r o f s h e e p , b u t C a i n w a s a t i l l e r o f
t h e gr o u n d .

Here in chapter four, we see the first husband and wife becoming
the first parents. Cain is the first son mentioned; his name means
"acquisition or possession.” Eve, rejoicing at his birth said, "I have
begotten a man from the LORD”.

Later we see the birth of Abel, which means "exhalation or that

which ascends, vanity." Cain and Abel are very significant in that
we see a type of the carnal or sinful man on the earth and a type of
the spiritual man. We see that both men had a calling on their
lives. Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain was a tiller of the
ground.

Both Cain and Abel had a job to do. One was not better than the
other. Sometimes brothers or sisters can get jealous of one
another; but in God’s eyes, we are all the same.

G EN ES I S 4:3-5
An d i n t h e p r o c e s s o f t i m e i t c a m e t o p a s s t h a t C a i n
br o u gh t an o f f er i n g o f t h e f r u i t o f t h e gr o u n d t o t h e
LOR D .

Ab e l a l s o b r o u g h t o f t h e f i r s t l i n g s o f h i s f l o c k a n d o f
t h e i r f a t . An d t h e L O R D r e s p e c t e d Ab e l a n d h i s
o f f er i n g,

b u t H e d i d n o t r e s p e c t C a i n a n d h i s o f f e r i n g . An d
C ai n w as v er y an gr y , an d h i s c o u n t en an c e f el l .

We see that over a period of time, both Cain and Abel bring an
offering to the Lord. Cain brings an offering of fruit. It represents
all of his hard work and effort. He was no doubt very proud of the
fruit that he was able to raise, and he now brought it to the Lord.
Abel also brought an offering, but his was different. Abel brought
some lambs from his flock. We see that God respected Abel and his
offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. Why do you
suppose that happened? Let’s look a little bit closer.

Do you remember when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden?

Remember how that the Lord provided clothes for them from
animal skins? That was the first indication that there would have
to be the death of an innocent one for the sins of man. God began
the sacrificial system with a picture that would last throughout the
Old Testament--only the innocent could die for the sins of another.
It would be a picture of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross.
The most important thing to the Lord is not “what” is brought as an
offering, but rather the heart of the person bringing it. We must
remember that whatever we do for the Lord must be done with
faith and obedience. In fact according to the Lord, obedience is
better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). God desires obedience.

So, why was Abel's offering accepted and not Cain's? Let us
compare the two offerings. First, let’s look at Cain's.
Commentators have suggested that although he was prepared to
worship the Lord and bring him sacrifice, he chose to do so in his
own way, rather than God’s way. He brought of the fruit of the
ground an offering unto the Lord. His offering was not the sacrifice
of an animal. Remember, “Without the shedding of blood there is
no remission for sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

Also, his offering consisted of the fruit of his own toil; it was the
product of his own labors, the work of his own hands. This is very
important because a lot of people feel like they can come to God on
the basis of doing good things. It is all based on the good things
they produce, like Cain’s fruit. We can never be good enough to
please God with the good things we do. Even at our best, we are
still sinners and can only be accepted by God through one way.
That one-way is through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ who
bore our sins. The only offering acceptable to God was the one that
God had established. God desires obedience.

Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof; and to
do this, a sacrifice had to be made, a life had to be taken, blood had
to be shed. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that by faith, Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He did not say that Abel
was more excellent, but that the offering that he gave was pleasing
and acceptable to the Lord. God desires obedience.
Cain represents the natural man and those who reject the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who think they can gain their
salvation by the works of righteousness they have done.

Abel represents a type of the spiritual man, showing that his

offering was an attitude of obedience. He confessed that he was a
fallen man, guilty of sin and worthy of death. By offering a lamb,
he was saying that his only hope before God was in a substitute
taking his place and taking his penalty. His offering "by faith"
showed he believed that God would accept his slain lamb and that
it’s blood would satisfy God's demand for justice. Abel represents
the spiritual man who cries out, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
He represents those who realize their only hope is the atoning
sacrifice of Calvary, which brings God's gift of salvation by faith.

Cain became very angry at God, because God looked with favor
upon Abel's sacrifice and not upon Cain’s. Cain was angry at the
thought that all his labors should stand for nothing. He was angry
at the thought that he could not approach and worship God
according to the way he wanted to worship. The natural man in his
pride and self-righteousness hates the truth that Jesus took man’s
punishment on the cross and now offers sinful man unmerited
grace.

Very Puzzling
Divide your class into two teams. Give each team a puzzle to put
together; but leave two pieces out of one of the puzzles. Tell each
team that you are going to time them to see who can put the puzzle
together the fastest. When the team with the pieces missing
discovers that they are not finished, but have no more pieces, they
will let you know.
After everyone is done, explain that a puzzle with missing pieces is
frustrating and imperfect. No matter how much time you spend
on it, it will never be right. Cain’s sacrifice was like that. He spent a
great deal of thought and effort in presenting it, but it was missing
pieces; it was not done the way God said it should be. God desires
obedience.

G EN ES I S 4:6-7
S o t h e L O R D s a i d t o C a i n , " W h y a r e y o u a n g r y ? An d
w hy has you r c ou nt enanc e f allen?

I f y o u d o w e l l , w i l l y o u n o t b e a c c e p t e d ? An d i f y o u
d o n o t d o w e l l , s i n l i e s a t t h e d o o r . An d i t s d e s i r e i s
f or you , bu t you s h ou l d r u l e ov er i t ."

Now, God warned Cain to turn away from his anger. God told him
that sin, crouching like an animal at the door, is ever ready to
spring upon a man and possess his soul entirely unless he is able to
control it. God asks him why he is angry and tells him there is no
just cause for his displeasure; if he would bring the required
offering, it would be accepted. God was making a last appeal to
Cain to bring the required offering. God also warned him of the
consequences that would happen if he refused to bring the
specified sacrifice. If sin was not removed by an offering, it will
spring upon him and devour him. God desires obedience.

G EN ES I S 4:8-15
N o w C a i n t a l k e d w i t h Ab e l h i s b r o t h e r ; a n d i t c a m e
t o p ass, w hen t hey w ere in t he f ield , t hat Cain rose
a g a i n s t Ab e l h i s b r o t h e r a n d k i l l e d h i m .

T h e n t h e L O R D s a i d t o C a i n , " W h e r e i s Ab e l y o u r
b r o t h e r ? " An d h e s a i d , " I d o n o t k n o w . Am I m y
br ot h er 's k eep er ?"
An d H e s a i d , " W h a t h a v e y o u d o n e ? T h e v o i c e o f y o u r
br o t h er 's bl o o d c r i es o u t t o M e f r o m t h e gr o u n d .

S o now you are c u rsed f rom t he eart h, w hic h has

op en ed i t s m ou t h t o r ec ei v e you r br ot h er 's bl ood
f rom you r hand .

Wh en y o u t i l l t h e gr o u n d , i t s h al l n o l o n ger y i el d i t s
s t r en gt h t o y o u . A f u gi t i v e an d a v agabo n d y o u s h al l
be on t h e ear t h ."

An d C a i n s a i d t o t h e LOR D , "My punishm ent is

gr eat er t h an I c an bear !

S u rely You hav e d riv en m e ou t t his d ay f rom t he

f ac e o f t h e gr o u n d ; I s h al l be h i d d en f r o m Yo u r f ac e;
I s h al l be a f u gi t i v e an d a v agabo n d o n t h e ear t h , an d
it w ill hap p en t hat anyone w ho f ind s m e w ill k ill
m e."

An d t h e L O R D s a i d t o h i m , " T h e r e f o r e , w h o e v e r k i l l s
C ai n , v en gean c e s h al l be t ak en o n h i m s ev en f o l d ."
An d t h e L O R D s e t a m a r k o n C a i n , l e s t a n y o n e f i n d i n g
him should kill him .

Here we see the result of Cain's refusal to obey God. He rejected the
divine counsel and let jealousy and hatred completely over power
him. He killed his brother. This clearly reveals the condition of
Cain's heart. James 1:5 tells us, "When lust (desire, passion) has
conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin when it is finished
(consummated), brings forth death." This was what happened with
Cain: 1) lust, anger, 2) sin; lying at the door,
3) death, Abel's murder.
God confronted Cain about the cry of his brother's blood from the
ground. Sin can never be hidden. Yet Cain did not confess his sin,
but tried to argue with God and cover it up, just as Adam and Eve
did in the Garden.

God gave Cain a chance to admit his guilt and receive forgiveness.
By the answers that Cain gave, it appears that sin had a firmer grip
on him than it had on his father, Adam. Instead of evading the
answer by making excuses, Cain lied to God, "I do not know" and
then he added defiantly, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

I Remember When...
Tell the children in your class about a time you tried to hide
something from someone. When and how did they find out? Were
you defensive or repentant? Allow some of your class to share
about when they have had similar situation. How did God fix the
situation? (Be sure that the experiences you share are appropriate
for the age you are teaching; it’s most effective if you share about
something that happened when you were their age.)

God cursed Cain, banning him from the ground he, as a farmer,
had cultivated. The ground would no longer yield its fruit for Cain,
and he was forever driven from before it to wander like a Bedouin
in the desert wastelands. Cain acknowledged that his punishment
was too heavy for him to bear. We see the mercy of God in sparing
his life, but Cain was afraid that as a wandering nomad, he would
lose his life at a stranger's hand.

Away from home, and therefore, presumably away from God, he

felt unprotected in the desert. Once again God showed his love for
a man in sin by placing a sign on Cain, indicating that he belonged
to God and that he was under His protection. God became the
"kinsman redeemer" for the murderer as well as for the murdered.
Interestingly, Cain was more concerned with his punishment than
with his sin.
G EN ES I S 4:16-17
Then Cain w ent ou t f rom t he p resenc e of t he LOR D
an d d w e l t i n t h e l an d o f N o d o n t h e e as t o f Ed e n .

An d C a i n k n e w h i s w i f e , a n d s h e c o n c e i v e d a n d b o r e
E n o c h . An d h e b u i l t a c i t y , a n d c a l l e d t h e n a m e o f
t h e c i t y af t e r t h e n am e o f h i s s o n --En o c h .

Now Cain went out from the presence of the Lord into the land of
Nod. Nod means "wandering," and there is no peace or rest for the
wicked. After Cain went out from the presence of God, he never
rested. God desires obedience.

More Than Sacrifice

If you know this chorus, sing it:

“More Than Sacrifice”:

More than sacrifice, more than praise,

More than bended knee and outstretched arms upraised,
Bring a humble heart ready to obey,
More than sacrifice, more than praise.

PRAYER
Lead the children in a prayer of commitment to do things God’s
way. If there are any children who have not yet responded to the
Gospel, give them an opportunity.