Abel was doing the right thing, but Cain was not. He allowed his obsessional hatred to drive him on. He failed to master it. Cain, in fact, was obsessed with his brother's right behavior, and his own inadequacy became a source of Cain's animosity. The Bible Knowledge Commentary puts it this way: "It is as if he could not wait to destroy his brother--a natural man's solution to his own failure."

In Genesis the account continues: "Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?' And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground'" (verses 9-10).

What is the source of this kind of behavior? The apostle John makes the answer clear in one of his letters to the early Christian Church. He says in reference to Cain and Abel: "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:10-12).

So the antidote for hot evil lies in the mastery of sin and in the individual overthrow of the power of the ultimate malevolent force. And what about cold evil? The account of Cain and Abel also hints at the concern we must express for each other in the concept of being our brother's keeper.

Are we our brother's keeper? Yes, indeed we are. Are we subject to wrong influences and impulses? Yes, we are. Is there a way out? Yes, there is. The answer lies in changing human nature. But is changing society and culture a simple task? It sounds impossible. But is it?

Page 2 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next