The scriptures and the accounts recorded in the scriptures are spiritual songs and hymns.  They rehearse the Spirit of Truth for us.  They fill our hearts with the words of the faith.  They help us to see God, and our lives with God, and what it looks like to walk with God in the Spirit.  

Cain and Abel is a great example.  The letter of Jude makes reference to the way of Cain.  1st John refers to Cain as “that wicked one”.  What is the account of Cain and Abel rehearsing for us?  What is it trying to teach us about God and our lives with God. 

Gen 4:1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Gen 4:2  And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Gen 4:3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Abel was a keeper of the sheep, not by order from the Lord, but because his desire was unto the sheep.  He saw the sheep and his mind was filled with the sheep.  He was captivated by the sheep.  He associated with the sheep.  He saw the sheep as his friend.  

Whereas Cain was a tiller of the ground.  Again, the verses arent suggesting Cain was forced to be a tiller of the ground.  The verses are simply telling us what Cain’s mind was captivated by.  Cain’s mind was filled with his own working.  He worshiped the ground and the fruit he could bring forth by the sweat of his brow.  

Process of Time

The process of time is talking about the day of reckoning so to speak.  Its the day where you would come before God to receive your inheritance and partake in your birthright.

So the day came when Cain and Abel went before the Lord, to partake of their inheritance.  And Cain brought the fruit he produced from the ground, by the sweat of his brow.  And Abel brought the firstborn of his flock, and the fat thereof.  When it says that Abel brought the firstling of his flock and the fat thereof, it means Abel came before God with the blood of the firstborn of his flock. 

And the scripture says God had respect to Abel and his offering, but Cain’s not so much.  

Now Cain was burning hot in the face.  He was very upset that God didnt accept his offering.  I mean the fruit he brought to God was the best his labour had to offer.  He sweat from his own brow to bring forth this fruit, and God respects Abel’s offering but has no respect for his offering.

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

We can easily forget the subject here is Cain’s offering.  We read God saying sin is lying at the door, and unto you is his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.  And we forget the subject of the verses is the offerings, and read it to mean that God is telling Cain he must master his sin.  

Master Sin 

You can’t master your sin.  All you can do is rest in Gods ability to overcome sin in your life.  You’d have to be able to overcome the death in your body and cloth upon your mortal body with immortality if you wanted to master sin.  

If we look at Adam, in order for Adam to master his sin he would need to be able to cloth upon his dying body with a body that was free from death, never to be able to die again.  

If we read the verses in their proper context, the problem God had with what Cain was doing is Cain was trying to master sin.  Cain’s way is he was trying to be sanctified from sin by working the strength in his own hand.  Cain was trying to be sanctified from death and set apart unto life by working his body to try and produce the fruit of God’s life.  

Sin lieth at the door 

The word sin used here is properly translated sin offering.  The word lieth speaks of a four legged animal like a lamb crouching down in a state of submission.  In the Septuagint translation the verse reads a sin offering is crouching down outside the door. 

GOD sees Cain is upset because his offering wasnt acceptable and God comes to Cain to reason with him about the offering.  He says to Cain listen I’m not rejecting you.  I’m not respecting Abel’s person over you.  If you’d have offered as Abel, your offering would have pleased me.  Its not about whether I like you or I like Abel more.  Its about my desire for you not to perish and have life everlasting.

Dont be upset, even though your offering wasn’t acceptable, look I have provided a lamb for you.  There’s a lamb crouching down right outside the door.  Its desire is unto you.  The lamb desires to lay its life down for you.  It’s crouching down right outside the door, submitting itself to you.  Go and take the lamb.  Go and offer the lamb.

The problem God had with Cain’s offering is He knew Cain couldnt overcome the deadness in his flesh and inherit eternal life by looking to the strength contained in his own hand.

The letter to the hebrews says God found fault with the old covenant.  The reason God found fault with the old covenant is because it couldnt cleanse mankind from death, and it couldn’t bring the promise of immortality to light.  

GOD sees the weakness of the flesh.  He sees that within our flesh we don’t possess the ability to produce life.  He knows the weakness of what Cain is looking to and how it will leave him naked, with a heart that condemns him and works fear and death in him.  God knew if Cain looked to the strength contained in his own hand to be decorated with life Cain would fall short of the glory of God’s immortality.  God knew the weakness of the flesh to produce life would leave Cain like the emperor with no clothes.  Thinking his nakedness was clothed upon, only to see his works left his mortality laid bare.  

Well how can God accept that when He knows the destruction that will come upon Cain as a result of that way.  God wasn’t willing to just let Cain perish.  So God came to Cain to reason with him so he could partake of his birthright.  

Listen it’s not like Abel knew something Cain didn’t know.  Its not like Cain got the short end of the stick.  Romans 12:3 says GOD presents to every person the measure of faith.  God presented both Cain and Abel with the measure of faith. 

God gave both Cain and Abel the faith that could create them in the image of Christ Jesus as a gift.  He told them both there was an inheritance stored up for them in Him.  He promised them both He would sanctify them from the body of death they were clothed in, and He promised them both He would decorate them with the fruit of his life, free from their works.  

Both Cain and Abel would have heard of the lamb that was slain to cloth upon Adam’s nakedness, when he sowed death into the earth.  

Hebrews 11:4 says by faith Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice.  So we know God presented the faith to Abel.  We know God came to Cain, and provided Cain with the lamb, telling Cain the only way for his dying body to be clothed in the light of Gods life, is by the blood of the lamb.  

By faith Abel offered a more perfect sacrifice 

By the faith that said God would cleanse him from death by the blood of His lamb.  By the faith that God would cloth upon him ..... Abel was persuaded to offer a lamb.  Abel came before God, seeking his birthright; seeking his inheritance, through the blood of the lamb.

Abel allowed himself to be persuaded by the faith God presented to him.  
Abel said in his heart, man I remember the lamb that was slain to cloth upon Adams nakedness.  Abel said it is by your lamb, Oh God, that this body of death will be removed from me and I will be perfected once for all time, and so he came with the blood of the lamb.  

The blood of the lamb speaks a word.  If we look at Jesus.  The blood running out of Jesus’ body testifies that his faith was in the strength of God and not the arm of the flesh.  I mean the reason the blood was even able to run out of Jesus is because he didn’t look to the strength contained in his flesh to preserve his life.   Had Jesus looked to his own hand to preserve his life then the blood could not have run out of his body, for he would have come down off of the cross.  

Abel’s sacrifice testified that His faith was in the strength of God and not the arm of the flesh.  When Abel brought the blood of the lamb he was saying, the power for me to be clothed in the glory of Gods immortality is found in God, and the strength of His lamb, not the strength contained in my flesh. 

Really what Abel was doing is he was calling upon the name of the Lord.  He was calling God Father.   He heard that God would overcome the deadness in his flesh and cloth upon his mortal body with immortality ...... and he was persuaded that God was with Him to Father his life. 

With Cain, he came before God, seeking his inheritance through the fruit he brought forth by the sweat of his brow.  When Cain brought the fruit he tilled from the ground it also spoke a word.  It gave a testimony that the strength Cain was trusting in to be clothed with life was the strength contained in his flesh.  Just as Cain worked the ground to produce fruit, when he came before God with the fruit he produced by the sweat of his brow, it testified that Cains faith was in working his earthy body to try and decorate himself with the fruit of Gods life.  

Cain is in the likeness of the children of disobedience.  He refused to be persuaded by the faith God gave him as a gift.  He hardened his heart to the faith.  He refused the lamb.

As the letter to the hebrews would say, Cain trampled under foot the blood of the lamb wherewith God promised to cleanse him from the death he was clothed in.  

The way of Cain, Cains way is he did despite to the spirit of Grace.  He knew the promise of God, but he exchanged the life GOD promised to bring forth, for the life he could bring forth himself.  Cain sold his birthright for one morsel of meat.  He sold his birthright for the morsel of life he could have through the strength in his flesh.  Cain made God’s promise to sanctify him from death and decorate him in the glory of His life void.  Cain made Gods promise void because he sought to be clothed with life by his own ability to gather life to himself.