Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
- 80 -
Cain, standing over the dead body
of his brother, Abel
Just as David, future king of Israel and forefather of Jesus, utterly defeated the
champion of those who worked to destroy God’s earthly nation, Jesus would
utterly defeat Satan, the champion of those who worked to overthrow and destroy
God’s kingdom. In both instances the manner of defeat was very unlikely and
totally unexpected. In both instances, even though the evil champion was
defeated, the battle was far from over!
Welcome to the modern world, where Jews and Philistines (now
Palestinians) are still at war and where Christians are still called to do battle
with evil every single day.
God’s earliest promise of a Savior was passed down from generation to
generation by word-of-mouth, because formal writing was not yet perfected. The
promise was also woven into the social fabric of mankind through the practice of
religious sacrifices. In these sacrifices, the flesh and blood of animals (lambs
were often used, because they were docile and easy to slaughter) would be
offered to God as atonement for sin.
This foreshadowed the promised Savior, (Hebrew term: Messiah) the “Lamb of
God”, who would truly, by His sacrificial death, take away the sins of the world.
The story of Cain and Abel recounts the details of one of these early sacrifices, as
well as the unfortunate outcome. Note three things: 1) the good guy (Abel) is a
shepherd. 2) Cain failed to make an animal sacrifice (maybe he belonged to
PETA?) 3) the last line is the original source verse of a very well known saying:
Genesis 4:2 - 9 And again she brought forth his
brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a
husbandman. And it came to pass after many days,
that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to
the Lord. Abel also offered of the firstlings of his
flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to
Abel, and to his offerings. But to Cain and his
offerings he had no respect: and Cain was
exceeding angry, and his countenance fell. And the
Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is
thy countenance fallen? If thou do well, shalt thou
not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be
present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be
under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth
abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose
up against his brother Abel, and slew him. And the
Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And
he answered: I know not: am I my brother's
keeper?
From time to time, God would send others to
remind the people of His promises, to reveal new information, or to correct bad
behavior. These were the Prophets, men chosen by God to speak His words of
truth.
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