The first recorded sin after the fall of Adam and Eve was a capital crime... murder, a violation of the sanctity of human life. One son ended the life of his brother. It could not be more shocking.
This first recorded sin after the fall was also an example of sectarian violence. Two views of worship were represented. Abel’s act of worship had been accepted by the Object of worship while Cain’s was rejected.
How could two brothers be so divided? Why hadn’t they shared in the offering of firstborn sheep from Abel’s flock? Cain must have known this was the preferred form. His obstinacy showed a deep lack of humility. He insisted upon making an offering from his own labor and toil, ignoring the cost of sin represented in a blood sacrifice. He was unwilling to kill an animal in sacrifice to God, but willing to kill his brother.
Cain had only pretended to worship God. We know this because he was able to leave the worship service and go immediately to slay his brother. No one with a sense of God’s greatness and holiness could do this. He had no reverence for God. Rather than being angry with himself and repenting for bringing God such a paltry offering, he was angry with God. Rather than killing the unrighteous impulse within himself, he sought to kill God. Unable to do that, he attacked the righteous image-bearer.
Cain should have known better
Cain should have had an appreciation for his and his brother’s origins. In the story of his conception and birth, Eve knew Cain was “from the Lord” (4:1). God had been intimately involved in the beginning of his life and, presumably, in the life of his younger brother.
Note that the sons' origins were very different from those of the parents. Adam and Eve had not been conceived, gestated, or born as the rest of humankind would be. Eve needed the Lord’s help because she didn’t have the experiences of female relatives to explain what was happening in her body and what to expect when the time came for her to deliver. She no doubt had watched animals give birth, but many things about human gestation and childbirth are different from what animals experience.
Cain also could have known something of his parents’ creation if God had revealed that to them. He could have been told how their bodies were marvelously formed by God Himself (Adam from the dust of the ground, Eve from Adam’s rib) and how their very breath was from His nostrils (Gen. 2:7). His body, and that of his brother, had equally as marvelously been formed by God in Eve’s womb. They both had God’s breath or spirit in their lungs.
Cain also should have been taught that mankind was God’s last creation, and that they had been blessed by Him (Gen 1:26-28). If God revealed to them the order of creation, they would have known they were made in God’s image, according to God’s likeness. He would have known they were granted dominion over other living creatures but not other human beings.
Prior to the deed, God had appealed to Cain and warned him against venting his anger in violence (Gen. 4:6-7). He may not have otherwise known the power of anger, the danger of uncontrolled rage, or how quickly violence escalates. He may not have intended to end Abel’s life, but only punish him by harming him severely. Nevertheless, having no doubt seen animals killed in earlier sacrifices, Cain would have known that bloodshed means death and that death is permanent. There’s no bringing life back once it is ended.
Cain also should have been able to tie death to sin, learning from his parents that it is the consequence of and punishment for sin (Gen. 3). He and his brother, like their parents, were dying. Physical death is irrevocable.
Finally, Cain should have known that God would not just let this incident go but would follow-up with him, as He did when his parents’ out after they’d sinned. “Where is Abel?” in 4:9 is a direct echo of “where are you” in 3:9. “What have you done?” in 4:10 is similar to “Have you eaten of the tree?” in 3:11. There is no hiding your sin or its results from God.
Next up - What Cain did not know: Genesis 4, part 2
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Image credit: Agostino dei Musi, Cain and Abel, https://kataloget.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/en/E1839
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