Cain and Abel
Verse 24 specifically says, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him.” The word translated as “keeps” means, “to hedge around something.” When you hedge something, it is for protection purposes. If we keep His commandments, then we will be dwelling with Him. So, what exactly are these commands that we are to keep? Sabbath is a good place to start. It is one of the Ten Commandments, but one of the most ignored of them all. Many Christians will claim that they do keep the Sabbath; only they keep it on Sunday in honor of the day that Messiah rose from the dead. The only problem with this argument is that the Apostles and Disciples did not keep a Sunday Sabbath; they kept Sabbath just as the Jews did. Remember, this group of people saw themselves as Jews, not another, distinctly different group, as we do today. Also, there are no verses in the Bible, neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament, which indicate that Sabbath has been changed. Anyone who is seriously looking to see when and how that happened would soon find themselves researching in the Catholic Church achieves. It was Emperor Constantine who made the change when he blended Christianity with Mithraism and announced this new “Christianity” was the state religion. Those who worshipped the sun god, Mithra, worshipped on Sunday, unlike the true new covenant believers who continued to worship on Saturday. This is the foundation of Sunday worship and has nothing to do with the day that our Messiah rose from the dead.
The enemy has delighted in leading us astray, just as he led Cain astray. He will come and whisper in our ears and try to get us to turn from worshipping the One True God. He plants seeds of doubt, not only in our friends and family, but also in God Himself. And just as he did with Cain and Abel, he will often come to us during the night with his seeds of doubt because he knows that we are most vulnerable during the night, when the light is far from us. This is why we must be born again, as children of the light, so that we will always have the light within us.
But God said unto Cain, “Wherefore is thy countenance sad? Be righteous, that I may accept thy offering. Not against Me hast thou murmured, but against thyself.” And God said this to Cain in rebuke, and because He abhorred him and his offering. 1 Adam and Eve 78:26-27
Look at the grace that El Shaddai is extending to Cain. He is giving him another chance to make it right, but Cain does not. Cain is angry with God because he has been listening to the lies of the enemy. His heart was filled with pride, which made his offering detestable in the eyes of a most Holy God. When someone’s heart is like this, they tend to feel sorry for themselves and seek sympathy from others. This is exactly what happens in this case as well.
And Cain came down from the altar, his color changed and of a woeful countenance, and came to his father and mother and told them all that had befallen him. And Adam grieved much because God had not accepted Cain’s offering. But Abel came down rejoicing, and with a gladsome heart, and told his father and mother how God had accepted his offering. And they rejoiced at it and kissed his face. And Abel said to his father, “Because Cain thrust me from the altar, and would not allow me to offer my gift upon it, I made an altar for myself and offered my gift upon it.” But when Adam heard this he was very sorry, because it was the altar he had built at first, and upon which he had offered his own gifts. 1 Adam and Eve 78:28-31
Cain came down first and told his parents that God had not accepted his offering, which made them grieve; just the reaction he was looking for. But when Abel came down and told the rest of the story, Cain didn’t seem so innocent after all. He had lost his parent’s sympathy and that angered him greatly.
As to Cain, he was so sullen and so angry that he went into the field, where Satan came to him and said to him, “Since thy brother Abel has taken refuge with thy father Adam, because thou didst thrust him from the altar, they have kissed his face, and they rejoice over him, far more than over thee.” When Cain heard these words of Satan, he was filled with rage; and he let no one know.
But he was laying wait to kill his brother, until he brought him into the cave, and then said to him: “O brother, the country is so beautiful, and there are such beautiful and pleasurable trees in it, and charming to look at! But brother, thou hast never been one day in the field to take thy pleasure therein. Today, O, my brother, I very much wish thou wouldest come with me into the field, to enjoy thyself and to bless our fields and our flocks, for thou art righteous, and I love thee much, O my brother! But though hast estranged thyself from me.” 1 Adam and Eve 78:32-35
In Satan, Cain finds the sympathy he is looking for. Satan says exactly what Cain wants to hear and his words become part of Cain. His heart filled with rage and from that point on he deliberately deceived his family, pretending that nothing was wrong when obviously things were very wrong. Satan was the liar from the beginning, but Cain’s heart was tender towards the lies and deceit found in Satan. They were two of a kind, so to speak. Satan knew that he found a friend in Cain, and that his plan of destruction could come to fruition in this son of Adam. Aiming on destruction of the human race, Satan must have felt that his plan was working beautifully as Cain finds as way to lead his brother away from their parents so that he could end Abel’s life.
Then Abel consented to go with his brother Cain into the field. But before going out, Cain said to Abel, “Wait for me, until I fetch a staff, because of wild beasts.” Then Abel stood waiting in his innocence. But Cain, the forward, fetched a staff and went out. And they began, Cain and his brother Abel, to walk in the way; Cain talking to him, and comforting him, to make him forget everything. 1 Adam and Eve 78:36-39
The stage is set. The players are in position. We now approach the climax of the story. Let us now see what exactly happened that fateful day, according to the first book of Adam and Eve.
And so they went on, until they came to a lonely place, where there were no sheep; then Abel said to Cain, “Behold, my brother, we are weary of walking; for we see none of the trees, nor of the fruits, nor of the verdure, nor of the sheep, nor any one of the things of which thou didst tell me. Where are those sheep of thine thou didst tell me to bless?” Then Cain said to him, “Come on, and presently thou shalt see many beautiful things, but go before me, until I come up to thee.” Then went Abel forward, but Cain remained behind him. And Abel was walking in his innocence, without guile; not believing his brother would kill him.
Then Cain, when he came up to him, comforted him with his talk, walking a little behind him; then he hastened, and smote him with the staff, blow upon blow, until he was stunned. But when Abel fell down upon the ground, seeing that his brother meant to kill him, he said to Cain, “O, my brother, have pity on me. By the breasts we have sucked, smite me not! By the womb that bare us and that brought us into the world, smite me not unto death with that staff! If thou wilt kill me, take on the these large stones, and kill me outright.”
Then Cain, the hard-hearted, and cruel murderer, took a large stone, and smote his brother with it upon the head, until his brains oozed out, and he weltered in his blood, before him. And Cain repented not of what he had done. 1 Adam and Eve 79:1-8
Even in death, Abel is without guile. He thinks of his mother and reminds his brother of their love for her, yet this does not change Cain’s mind or his plans. At this point, there is nothing outside of the need to get rid of his brother. At least he showed a little mercy by picking up the stone and being done with the deed, rather than beat his brother to death. Can you image the rage Cain must have had within him to do such a thing? The big question is this: was the rage inside before or after Satan entered Cain’s heart? Was this seed already within, simply watered by the enemy’s words? Or did Satan plant this seed within Cain with his whisperings? If that were the case, why is it that Abel was able to withstand Satan’s lies?