QUESTION: WHAT WAS UP WITH CAIN? (“Why are you angry?”)

Have you ever gotten into a situation where you were so angry internally that you wanted to strike out at somebody? Maybe something happened and without thinking you reacted in some violent or drastic way. (If you had taken the time to think deeply, you would have agreed that your anger was not justified. But you did not feel like thinking deeply. You just wanted to lash out.) What is the best thing to do in such situations? Does the Bible hold the key, have an answer?

Early in the Bible, we read that both Cain and Abel worshipped God. The result made Cain extremely angry, Genesis 4:3-5:

“In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.”

We know that God had given them instructions about how to worship because Abel offered by faith and faith comes from knowing God’s laws, Hebrews 11:4:

“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.”

When Cain became very angry, the Lord immediately intervened and explained the problem and the solution, Genesis 4:6-7”

“The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain had not done well. He had somehow willfully worshipped in his own way and not followed God’s instructions.  Cain was not ignorant of how to worship God. Rather, he chose not to worship in the way he had been instructed by God. Cain’s first mistake was to substitute his own idea about worship for what God had commanded. His second mistake was to be angry. God asked him, “Why are you angry?” He must have been angry with God but had no way to lash out at God.

Note that God said that “sin is crouching at the door.” This means that the anger Cain held in his heart could lead him to further sin. God warned that Cain should rule over such feelings.

But Cain did not, Genesis 4: 8:

“Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

At first, this murder might seem totally incomprehensible. Abel had done nothing to deserve harm, much less murder. He had only followed God’s will and worshipped by faith.

As the firstborn of Adam and Eve, Cain had every advantage. He was a free moral agent, and so was free to choose to be a farmer as well as whether to obey God’s instructions on how to worship.

He had not done well to substitute vegetables for God-authorized worship and the temptation to sin further was close at hand. Note that Cain’s attitude was not to apologize or repent.

We know why Cain lashed out and murdered his brother, 1 John 3:12:

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”

The phrase “from the beginning” teaches us that Cain and Abel had been taught to love one another. But Cain was overcome, probably by jealousy, and did not accept God’s rule about worship or loving his brother. Instead, he killed Abel. So, why did Cain murder Abel? Simply put, because Abel’s deeds were righteous and Cain’s were not.

The Apostle John adds a warning in the next verse that covers people like Cain: 1 John 3:13:

“Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”

This truism is evident today. There are people like Cain who will hate you simply because you are righteous and following God’s commandments.

What is to be learned from ‘Cain’s Problem’?

  1. Substituting what I want in worship instead of following God’s will is “not doing well” and sinful. Worship is not about us and what we want or like. It is about pleasing God.
  2. We can expect some evil people to hate us for being obedient to God’s will.
  3. We should love and care for our fellow man, especially fellow Christians. Jesus set the example by dying on the cross because He loved mankind. He commanded it to His followers, John 15:12:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

This is not a superficial love but a deep love because it is based on Christ’s deep love for us.

Note the terrible consequences of Cain not obeying God’s word.

  1. Sin— pride, jealousy—makes us more responsive to further temptation…like Cain.
  2. Sin can make us lash out against a brother… like Cain.
  3. Sin can lead us to a hatred that the Apostle John calls murder, 1 John 3:15:

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

In summary, we should follow God’s commandments on how to worship. We should control our anger and love one another lest we fall into the condemnation of Cain.

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