(As the Lord may be pleased to prosper the work, it will be our purpose to look for awhile at some of the Old Testament stories.)
“AND Adam knew Eve his wife: and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother, Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” vv. 1, 2.
Adam and Eve, the forerunners of the entire human race, present types to us of what is displayed in man throughout the ages. Man, though abundantly provided with God’s bounties and blessings, will not be satisfied with what is committed to him, but will rather follow the voice of the enemy—Satan. But then, God’s grace supplied for Adam and Eve a means of escape from their own folly —covering the revealing nakedness of their hearts with a blood-sacrifice, through which coats of skins were provided. God ever since has seen man exposed in all his wickedness and has provided the blood of Christ as an atonement for sins, so that He can now clothe with His own righteousness all who will avail themselves of His goodness in providing a Saviour.
Cain and Abel are the first offspring of Adam and Eve. According to nature there would be nothing much to distinguish between the two. The parents certainly bestowed the same favors upon each, and they enjoyed equal opportunities to undertake whatever occupation appealed to them individually as they reached manhood. The similarity in the two would readily be apparent to any who might have looked in on them and probably both were fine specimens of manhood. But there was an other similarity that might not so readily show itself outwardly, but which was equally true nonetheless. Both brothers were sinners. It could not be otherwise. A tree can only yield fruit after its own kind and all that Adam and Eve could transmit to every one of their offspring was a sinful nature. Adam had become the head of a fallen race and the sinful nature resulting from his disobedience now fell upon all who would succeed him. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12). So we see the two young men were not only both sinners, but each one had the sentence of death on him. Furthermore, each one had a conscience about his sins.
Cain and Abel were not brought into the same kind of world that their parents had found when they were created by God. That first world had been a true paradise—no fruits of sin being there. The earth yielded her bounty without weeds and thorns. All creation was in harmony and in perfect balance for man’s requirements, and more than that, man being free from sin, stood in perfect relationship with his Creator.
But what a change sin had brought in! The paradise they had enjoyed, now closed to them forever. Although still a bountiful and rich provision came to them from the soil, it could only be gained as God had told them: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:1919In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19). Creation was now out of balance as well. On every hand there was evidence to Adam and Eve, as well as to Cain and Abel, of the result of their disobedience to the voice of God.
ML-08/02/1964