Our next teachers from the Holy Book are the unequal brothers Cain and Abel. The Bible doesn't offer very much information about what exactly happened there between those brothers, but we get the gist that Cain was the rather tough guy, who easily got hot under the collar, was apparently easily aggravated by his younger kid brother, and he was the kind of fellow who had to prove that he could do it himself, extremely proud of his own accomplishments. He was a man fit for this world, where the "survival of the fittest" someday was going to become the credo explaining the very origins of the human race, giving an excuse to the "stronger" to slaughter untold millions who were weaker, less desirable and unfit to live, according to their own judgment.

Abel was the affectionate type, apparently, and when it came the time to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, he did something which was to be a great symbol of the pivotal point of all of man's history: He offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, which was symbolic of "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev.13:8), God's great sacrifice of love for the world (John 3:16).

Evidently, in those days, communication between the Lord and men still happened very freely, since we find the Lord communicating with Cain about his long face when it becomes evident that Abel's sacrifice has found favor in His eyes, while Cain's did not. The Lord warns him that "sin lies at the door" (Gen.4:7), as if He could already see what would happen, which He probably did.

Again, the loss of Abel seems something terrible, the kind of thing that makes us wonder, why does God allow it? Why does He always take the good people away from us? Again, it seems that God's idea of good and evil varies from our own, including His view of death. If life is but a school, then we should rejoice for those for whom the bell rings earlier, and they can go home before us. They got the point. They don't need to sit through this school of life anymore. Sure, we feel hurt, forsaken, and we think it's mean, but if we can fully trust in the wisdom and goodness of God, then eventually, we will even be able to see death with different eyes.

(Heavenly Input on Cain & Abel)

Even though Cain apparently knew God, he didn't seem to be on very good terms with him. Probably Cain was the type of person who was rather governed by fear of the superior than by love, showing that he must have spent some time listening to that old serpent, the Devil, who doubtlessly was still around, since that's the source from which our doubts about God come, "He doesn't love me, He only prefers everyone else," and that sort of thing.