Cain and Abel - The Book of Genesis (2024)

In this Bible Story, the sin of the world is passed on to Adam and Eves children, Cain and Abel. Cain’s hatred for God and jealousy of his brother led to the brutal murder of Abel as evil continues its reign over the hearts of man. This story is inspired by Genesis 4:1-16. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a year.

Today's Bible verse is Genesis 4:1 from the King James Version.

Episode 4: Outside of the Garden of Eden, the first family begins as Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel. But all is not well outside of Eden. Cain becomes jealous of his younger brother Abel when God accepts his offering and Cain’s is rejected. God warns Cain that this anger will consume him if he lets it. But Cain does not heed God’s warning and instead festers his anger until he kills his brother Abel.

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Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max Bard

Producer: Ben Gammon

Hosted by: Pastor Jack Graham

Music by: Andrew Morgan Smith

Bible Story narration by: Todd Haberkorn

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, and Adam knew Eve his wife, and
she conceived and bare Cain and said, I have gotten
a man from the Lord. Genesis four one. Dear Lord.
Through to day's reading of Genesis four one through sixteen,
I now realize that even though life has its hard moments,

(00:25):
I can still choose to thank You that your presence
will never leave me. Because of this truth, I don't
have to allow jealousy to settle in my heart when
it appears that others are being blessed by you. Instead,
I will focus on the fact that as I keep
my heart right and serve you with gladness, nothing that

(00:47):
has been reserved for me will go to any one else.
Because what you have for me is for me. I
decree and declare that my seat has been reserved at
the table of success. I declare that nothing but joy
and happiness will come forth through me when I see
others succeed and win in life. Thank you God that

(01:10):
you've already covered my past emotions of jealousy and anger.
Thank You that hatred and resentment are not a part
of my story. Through the lives of Cain and Abel,
I will make sure that my sacrifice to you is
one of joy and wholeness of heart in Jesus name.

(01:32):
Listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God.
Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to today's Bible
in a Year, brought to you by Bible in a
Year dot com, Cain and Abel.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Before this story, we learned about the fall of mankind.
Adam and Eve lived with God shameless and without sin,
but because of their pride and desire to be their
own gods, they were deceived and turned away from Him.
Now they live in exile, still with God, but no
longer in an intimate relationship with him. Now we will

(02:18):
learn about how Adam and Eve start their family outside
of Paradise. They have their own children, but the sinful
nature of Adam and Eve has now been given to
their children, and what comes next is a tragedy that
has been repeated for all of human history. Inspired by
the Book of Genesis.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack Graham. With today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. Today we pick up with
Adam and Eve outside the garden. This is life after
the curse. If yesterday's story was about doubt and pride,
today's theme is insincere worship of God, anger, bitterness, and

(03:00):
the passing down of sin nature to all future generations.
After Adam, Adam and Eve start a family, they have
two sons, Cain and Abel, names that have become infamous
for the devastating effects of sibling rivalry. Cain and his
brother Abel grew up knowing God. They were taught the

(03:20):
importance of sacrifices. Abel chose the best to offer to God,
while Cain brought offerings from a sense of obligation rather
than gratitude and praise. So God accepts one and rejects
the other. Cain was angry, bitter, and sin took hold
of his heart. The tragedy that ensued once again created

(03:42):
an irreparable rift in the family. The first human blood
that was shed on God's once perfect earth came from
the hands of one brother upon another. Sin was now
spreading through generations, and the cost was high, murder, banishment another.
And yet in the midst of it all, God's grace

(04:03):
and mercy once again shining through. Let's listen now to
the telling of this story from Genesis four, the story
of Cain and Abel.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Adam and Eve had been banished from Eden, and their
sin had made life hard, but the steadfast love of
God had not left them. Adam and Eve knew each
other intimately and became pregnant. First came Cain, afterward came Abel.
Cain labored in the fields growing food for the family.

(04:35):
Abel tended to the livestock as a shepherd. Cain and
Abel are the first of us to grow up in
a world riddled with imperfection, sin, and distance from God.
Both children grew up in the New world, and it
was time for Cain and Able to bring sacrifices to God.
Cain brought some of the fruits of his labor, grains, vegetables,

(04:58):
and other vegetation. Abel brought the first born of his flock,
a lamb Abel brought the best of what he had.
Not only this, but Abel had to raise this little
sheep and kill it before God. This means that it
was not just a sacrifice of materials, but a sacrifice
of the heart. Because of this, God accepted Abel's offering.

(05:23):
God also rejected Cain's offering, knowing that it did not
come from any real love at all. Jealousy gripped Caine's heart.
Contempt towards God boiled up inside him. This is mankind's
first rumblings of true hatred. Cain's face gave away his
true feelings. God noticed this and asked, why are you

(05:46):
so angry, knowing full well what the issue was. If
you do well, will you not be accepted? God asked,
if you don't do well, you give more room for
hatred and sin to rule in your heart. Do not
let hate rule over you. You can overcome it. But
Cain didn't listen. His anger had already won him over.

(06:10):
There would be no stopping the sin he was about
to commit. Cain lured his brother into the fields.

Speaker 4 (06:17):
Then at that moment, all the hatred, jealousy, and contempt
of Cain unleashed unto his brother. Blow after flow, Kin
unleashed his wrath and spited God by murdering his brother.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
His hands stained red, dripping with the blood of his brother. God,
already knowing what Cain had done, asked him, Cain, where
is your brother? Cain replied, I do not know. Am
I my brother's keeper? God is the creator of life,

(06:54):
and Cain had taken an innocent one. This enraged God.
He cursed Cain, saying, what have you done? The voice
of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
And now you are cursed from the ground, which has
opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield

(07:15):
to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and
a wanderer on the earth. This punishment was fitting because
Cain had taken a life. God wanted his life to
be burdensome. It was more than Cain could bear. Fortunately
for him, God's mercy is still present in punishment. God said,

(07:38):
if anyone kills you, vengeance shall be taken on them sevenfold,
and he put a mark on Cain to keep anyone
from doing to him what he did to his brother.
Cain had shed innocent blood, and this was a pattern
mankind would continue in for a thousand generations after. Yet

(07:58):
God continues to show mercy, waiting to bless them and
safe them from their evil.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
When jealousy and anger take root, they fester and grow.
That's what we see happening in today's story. Abel, who
really only plays a brief role, is lifted up as
the example of God honoring sacrifices and offerings. He gave
God the first and the best, and God accepted that sacrifice. Cain,

(08:28):
whose heart was not in the right place full of
faith to begin with, brought God vegetables and grains, but
not his first fruits, not his best, and not in faith.
His motives were wrong, and he became angry when his
offering was rejected. Sin started to creep in through resentment
and anger, so God warned him of the danger of

(08:49):
letting sin in. He speaks to Cain in Genesis four,
verses seven and eight, saying, if you do well, will
your face not be cheerful? And if you do not
do well, Sin is lurking at the door, and its
desire is for you, but you must master it. I
appreciate this passage providing a warning that's applicable to you

(09:12):
and me today. Sin is now loose in the world.
It lurks at our door. It desires us. In other words,
it wants to get in our heads and in our hearts,
into our lives. When sin is allowed to rule over us,
the outcome is never good and ultimately tragic. That's what
happened to Kane. Sin took hold of him, and he

(09:36):
directed his jealousy and anger at the one whose offering
was accepted to his own brother, whom he killed in
cold blood. Once again, we're reminded that sin always comes
with a price, as he did with Adam and Eve.
God questions Cain and his guilt is revealed. Cain is
cursed to wander in the earth. Sin. Separation is always, always,

(10:00):
always the sin. When we sin, there is always separation
that happens from God, which is the worst of all separations,
and then from others. But again, God, in his mercy,
does not abandon Cain or leave him without protection. God
marks him not as a sign of the curse, but
as a sign of God's hand of protection. God, thank

(10:23):
you for this story that shows us how sin can
take hold and rule our thoughts, leading us to commit
unthinkable acts. Help us, through your spirit to master the
sin that lurks at our doors. And thank you Lord
that even when we sin, even through the consequences of
our sin, your mercy and grace remain in Christ's name. Amen.

(10:46):
Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download thepray dot
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(11:06):
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