Written by Dr. Frank Leeds III

Sometimes, the Scriptures must be read in their entirety to fully appreciate some of the stories that are told in the beginning.  One such story is that of the sons of Adam and Eve.  The first-born they named Cain and the younger they name Abel.

As they grew into manhood, Cain cultivated the ground and when it was time for the harvest, he presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord.  Abel became a shepherd and brought the best—the best of the first-born lambs from the flock.  The Lord accepted Abel and his gift but did not accept Cain and his gift.

So, the question throughout history has been: Why was Cain’s offering rejected but Abel’s was accepted.  Translators of the above from the “New Living Translation” tried to put the accent on “the best of the first-born lambs’ thinking that it must be Abel offered the best and Cain did not. You will find other interpreters that put the accent on the tension between ‘shepherds and farmers’.  One may even find the tension suggesting the name of Cain meaning ‘metalsmith’ and Abel meaning ‘herdsman’.  

The Hebrew word for Cain is “Kait” meaning “to acquire”.

This word brings back a memory of mine when I lived in New York City and purchased a small piece of property in Vermont.  The deed was written like this: “From the piles of rocks by the side of the road, take 125 paces along the road till you reach the large Oak tree…”  As I was making this journey to walk my property, I stopped at the tree and laughed.  “I now own a tree” I said to myself.  This tree was probably there 100 years ago and will be here long after I am deceased.  Claiming ownership seemed a little ridiculous.  I suppose I had the right to claim it.  Cain would have done so and would not have seen my humor in such a claim.

We really don’t see the contrast between these brothers until we look at Abel’s name. 

The Hebrew name for Abel is “Hevel”.  Hevel means ‘breath’. 

There is breathing that we would refer to as ‘heavy breathing’.  Hevel is the opposite.  It is very shallow breathing.  It represents that very thin line between death and life.  It can be understood this way: “Death / Life”.  Abel is the “/”.  Abel is more than aware that he has been given ‘the breath of life’ and therefore, everything, including my tree, belongs to God.

The King James Bible translated ‘Hevel’ as Vanity.  It fact, it does so several times in the book of Ecclesiastes.  “Vanity, Vanity, all is Vanity.”  The point is, we are all only a tiny breath away – in the gap between life / death.

There was a day in ancient times when everyone believed in God.  A pagan was not an atheist who did not believe in God but rather a pagan was someone who did not believe in your God. Like the Jews, they practiced sacrifices.  But the difference between Jewish sacrifices and pagan sacrifices is distinctive.

A pagan, when they would travel to other towns, would be sure to sacrifice, not to their own god but, to the gods of the town they were in.  Why?  Because they wanted their gods to be happy while they were negotiating in that town.  They want to give to the gods so the gods would give back to them.  That is the way of Cain.  The Kaiti way.

The Abel way was to give back to God what God had entrusted to him. 

The Prophet Isaiah made it very clear with his questions, and the Apostle Paul quoted him in his letter to the Romans with this question:  Who has given to God, that God should repay?  Cain was expecting to be paid back.  Abel realized it was all a gift.

Cain killed Abel.  And the Lord said, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”  We have a right to possess and to manage, but to claim ownership of that which belongs to God only continues to cause the cries calling out to the Lord from the ground.

Raze your Cain way of thinking so you may enjoy what God has given you.  It is shallow, but it is God’s breath that you carry.