In a discussion with the disciples Jesus says, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses permitted divorce, but from the beginning, it was not so.” So, In the Law, divorce is allowed, but it breaks God’s heart when the only end to conflict is an end to relationship.

“From the beginning, it was not so.” How then did God deal with conflict in the beginning?

Well, the first conflict between two people mentioned in the Bible isn’t a divorce, it’s a murder! In Genesis 4 it is a rivalry between two brothers. Abel was a shepherd and brought God an offering from his flock. Cain was a farmer and brought God an offering from his crops. God approved of Abel’s offering, but not of Cain’s. The Bible doesn’t say what was wrong with Cain’s offering. People have their theories. Some people think a sacrifice has to be an animal. Some people think Cain must have brought the worst of his crop, the stuff he didn’t want.

My personal theory is that Cain’s offering was extravagant. The best produce and plenty of it. So why was it not accepted? Desire. James 1:14-15 says, “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

If Cain’s desire had been to please God, then he would have been following Rule 1, and God would not have said to him, “If you do well, you will be accepted too. But if you don’t do well, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

God saw a competing desire crouching in the corner of Cain’s mind that was not content to be accepted “too.” If he desired to keep the best for himself, and given God the lesser goods, then he would have known why Abel’s was more pleasing. If he had just wanted to please God, he would have brought his offering and then accepted correction when something was wrong with it (which there wouldn’t have been, because all God asks of us is our genuine friendship, but hypothetically). His good desire to please God, would have tempted him to try again, but with more understanding. But because he desired to please God AND be approved of more than his brother Abel, he was angry. 

God knew Cain was angry, so God went to him to try to talk it out. God hates to end a relationship! Had Cain humbled himself and admitted his jealous thoughts were unfair, he could have been the victor here and won God’s approval. Had he ranted and railed at God as Job did when he felt wrongly accused, the conversation could have continued until greater understanding and wisdom were gained. Cain responded by inviting Abel into the fields and then killing him. 

Again, God came to Cain, and asked him, “Where is your brother?” God hates to end a relationship! To this, Cain replied, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The gall of some people.

God confronts him with the murder and says, “When you work the ground it will no longer yield it’s crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

How does that sound to you? Like a death sentence? Like a curse? Is it a just punishment for murder? 

I don’t think retribution or punishment were God’s chief concerns. I think saving Cain was. He already had Abel’s soul, safely tucked away. But wandering the earth could have been an opportunity for Cain. 

When Adam and Eve sinned, God made them clothes from the hide of an animal. The animal died as a direct result of their mistake, and they wore the skin of the one sacrificed. In a sense this is God doing the same thing metaphorically for Cain. Asking him to wear the skin, walk in the shoes of the one he killed, to wander, and live in the fields, to depend on the Lord and herds, and not his own strength. 

Cain went out and built a city. He used muscle to fix himself in one place. He dug in his heels and refused to budge, regardless of what God or his brother thought.

Interestingly, the word Christian means “like Christ” Jesus says that He came to be the sacrifice, to give up His life. The time in history that He came set both Jewish and Roman authorities in place, giving both Jews and Gentiles a role in His death. We all put Him on that cross, and we all have the opportunity to “wear His skin,” and see life through His eyes.

Being a Christian is taking up what Cain threw away. It is taking up the opportunity to lay aside my own life, and put on the skin of Christ, to walk out the life that my actions cut short. It is a chance to see life through His eyes, and learn what He knew. “We have the mind of Christ.” 

Eve lacked wisdom, she made a grave mistake when she looked for a shortcut to wisdom, rather than just asking God. Cain lacked the wisdom of how to please God, God gave him the opportunity to look through the eyes of one who did know.

Christ pleased God, then gave us His own life to bring before God. We are “clothed with Christ” and God sees us as pleasing, as the One approved. We can do this on our deathbeds and escape hell, but the sooner we put Him on and live in His footsteps, the more opportunity we have to know what Christ knows about God.