As we study Gen 4:1-10, we will first read the verses to see what God said about Cain and Abel. Then we will check some cross references to see the comments God made about each man. We will understand from these what God saw in the men.
Their births and occupations, v.1-2
Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived. The wording helps us to understand verses like Matt 1:25, Lk 1:34. After the fall, God told Eve that he would multiply her conception, and he did. Thus, she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord”. But he also said that he would multiply her sorrow. And with Cain, her sorrow also was multiplied.
Abel was a keeper of sheep; Cain was a tiller of the ground. These are the principal occupations of agrarian societies.
Their offerings, v.3-4
Cain was the first to bring an offering. He brought of the fruit of the ground. The problem with this offering is evident in Gen 3:17, “cursed is the ground”. Yet it makes sense that he would offer something he had produced in his labor. You would think that God would have accepted this offering, Prov 3:9-10. Obviously, there was a problem that we don’t at first discern.
Abel offered of the firstlings of his flock. This makes sense since he was a keeper of the sheep. However, there is more to his offering than just that it was the fruit of his labor. He offered, “of the fat thereof”. We’ll have to check some cross references to understand this fully.
The Lord’s response, v.4-5
The Lord had respect unto Abel’s offering; but he had not respect unto Cain’s offering. What’s more, “unto Cain… he had not respect”. There’s something that God knew about Cain when he made this offering that he found unacceptable.
Cain’s reaction, v.5
When God refused to accept Cain’s offering, Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. Cain’s reaction gives us some insight into his heart. According to Prov 21:24 he was dealing with proud wrath. He was mad at God.
The Lord’s confrontation, v.6-7
The Lord questioned Cain’s wrath and fallen countenance. Yet, Cain gave God no reply. The questions went unanswered.
Then God asked Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” Again Cain refused to answer the Lord. In this, he was just like the Pharisees who refused to answer when they knew that the answer would condemn them, Matt 21:25-27. Rather than do well and be accepted, Cain refused to offer an acceptable offering like Abel.
Then the Lord instructed Cain in the matter of sin. “If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door”. It’s like sin is just waiting for the sinner to choose to not do well, and he will accommodate him with evil, Prov 13:21.
The wording of “unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” matches the wording of what God said to Eve in Gen 3:16. What he’s saying is this. You’re the one who’s responsible for what you do about sin. Sin is subject unto you, you are not subject unto sin. You have a choice in the matter of sin.
Cain’s envy, v.8
Cain talked with Abel. The Bible doesn’t tell us what they talked about, but we can deduce from what Cain did next that Abel must have tried to convince Cain to “get right with God”. The result was that Cain killed Abel. Prov 27:4 says, “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy”?
The Lord’s interrogation, v.9-10
The Lord asked Cain, “Where is Abel they brother”? This time Cain answered the question. His first answer was an outright lie. He said, “”I know not”. There are two things then that we know about Cain. He was a murderer and he was a liar, just like the devil, Jn 8:44.
Then Cain asked God a question, “Am I my brother’s keeper”? With this question he tried to absolve himself of any responsibility for his brother. But as we know from the two principal commands God gave us, we are to love God and love others. Cain failed in both of these.
Then God asked Cain another question. “What hast thou done”? You know before reading further in the text that Cain didn’t offer an answer to this question either. So the Lord answered for him. “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground”. Blood defiles the land, Num 35:33, and the land can only be cleansed by the blood of the one who shed the blood. It’s like the land cries for vengeance against the murderer.
Some additional information by studying cross references
Second born brothers
There is a pattern about brothers that we first find in Cain and Abel. The first son is rejected and the second born son is accepted. This is true of Japheth and Shem (Jesus comes from Shem); and Ishmael and Isaac; and Esau and Jacob, and Zerah and Pharez.
Shepherds
Abel was a keeper of sheep, a shepherd. So were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Moses, David, and Jesus.
Unacceptable Offering
Ultimately the trouble with Cain’s offering was Cain. 1 Jn 3:12 says that Cain’s works were evil. He was also a proud man, a murderer, and a liar. Prov 15:8 says, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord”. Prov 15:9 says, “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord”, and Jude 11 mentions “the way of Cain”, which was wicked.
Acceptable Offering
Abel’s offering was acceptable because his works were righteous and he offered his sacrifice by faith, Heb 11:4. He knew from his parents that vegetation wasn’t an acceptable covering for sin, but coats of skins were , Gen 3:21. Thus his offering of a lamb was consistent with what he knew God would accept. His offering foreshadows Abraham’s offering, Moses’s offering of the passover lamb, and the Lord Jesus Christ’s offering of himself.
We can surmise that his was an offering that was burned, as in Lev 4:31, because he offered it with the fat. It appears that God showed that he respected this offering by consuming it with fire. See Lev 9:24, Jud 6:21, 1 Ki 18:38, 1 Chr 21:26, and 2 Chr 7:1 where Aaron’s, Gideon’s, Elijah’s, David’s, and Solomon’s offerings were all consumed by the fire of the Lord.
Types
Cain is a type of the Pharisees and religious leaders in Jesus’s day, whose sacrifices were unacceptable, and Abel is a type of Christ, Matt 9:13; 23:34-35.