The Bible in 90 Days: Day 1
So, Cain's an interesting guy. The story of his birth comes on the heels of the devastating news that mankind has been kicked out of the Garden of Eden to work the land. Not a good scene, right?
Well, Eve has a baby. And it's a boy. She has a little party and makes a speech that Moses records for us: "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man" (Gen. 4:1b - NIV). She excited - she made it through the first childbirth ever, and look at what she's holding at the end, a little man. She is truly the mother of all the living. Moses, with his typical understatement, then says, "Later she gave birth to his brother Abel." No party, no speech, no explanation for his name, just an announcement in the paper. That's it.
It makes me wonder if Cain was a spoiled brat, the favored son, the one that maybe they hoped to deliver them from the Curse (if 3:15 is actually about a Messiah, which I seriously doubt). Obviously the text doesn't say explicitly, but I think he was. I think his arrival was the greatest thing to his mother since...well...clothes, and I'm not sure that the experience was as thrilling for Eve the second time around. We find out that he is a farmer, like his father, but Abel takes care of sheep. Was Abel, the lesser-wanted child, shunted away from the "family business" and given a lesser responsibility? Maybe that reads a BIT into the story, so strike that.
So one day, Cain comes to give God an offering - and Abel comes too. Notice how Moses describes Cain's offering - "some of the fruits of the soil." Not really an exciting endorsement. Now Abel - "fat portions from some of the firstborn of the flock." Clearly the BEST that Abel has to offer. I wonder if that is what set their offerings apart. Cain brings some random collection of fruit - but Abel is purposeful and brings God the best of what he has. God rejects Cain's offering but accepts Abel's. And here's where the entitlement thing sticks out to me: CAIN GETS MAD.
Who does God think He is NOT to receive my offering? After all, it came from ME! You owe me your acceptance. I wonder if Mommy and Daddy had set him up for a lifetime of entitlement, and when God forces him to live up to a higher standard than himself, Cain gets ticked off and plots his revenge against his brother, and against God.
What is Cain's problem? Is he a bad rule keeper? No. He obeyed, went through the motions, brought an offering. It wasn't rejected, and God even coaches him through what he needs to do if he wants to be accepted. But that's not enough. Cain doesn't want to be responsible to God and His expectations. He's entitled to make his own decisions, live on his own, do his own thing, bring whatever offering he wants, and God should be happy with whatever he gets.
Entitlement. And I think that is the essence of what sin is. It's elevating yourself above not just the people around you, but above the concept of being responsible and accountable to another person. It's rebellion, yes, but rebellion because I know that I'm infinitely better than the standard. It's not just the person who says, "The 'man' isn't gonna tell me to drive 55 in this zone - I'll go 80 just to spite him!" It's the person who says, "The 'Man' doesn't have a clue - I know for a fact that 80mph is BETTER than 55." Sin isn't just breaking rules, it's the embarrasing tendency we each have to shake our fists at God and tell him to go screw Himself cause we can do a better job than He can.
And what do entitled people do when they are opposed, or given a standard to measure up to? They break the rules and standards out of defiance, to assert their power and authority. Cain kills his brother, doesn't even bother to cover it up, sarcastically challenges God with the whole "brother's keeper" comment, and just generally acts like an entitled, spoiled brat.
And that's me. Way too often.
The saddest part of this story is that even though God worked with Cain, showed grace and mercy to Cain, Cain ran right out and started a civilization organized around this concept of entitlement. Seven generations later, Cain's descendant Lamech kills another man, following in his great-great-great-grandfather's footsteps, but justifies himself by saying, "If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times..." In other words, don't come at me and accuse me of wrong, or lock me up - if you come after me, I will be avenged! I am right - my actions are beyond question. In other words, I am entitled, and God, what are you gonna do about it? Where'd he learn that one? Well, from watching his father, who had watched his father, who had watched his father, who had watched a spoiled brat named Cain shake his fist at God.
Men, what are we teaching our sons?
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