CAIN AND ABEL AND “ANGEL” MARRIAGES

The Lifeway series Exploring the Bible skips from Chapter 3 of Genesis to the middle of Chapter 6, thus skipping the two stories in the title. Since I consider them very important, I shall insert this extra set of notes in between the two lessons at no extra charge.

The very best commentary on Cain and Abel is in John Steinbeck's great novel, East of Eden. I recommend it highly and will comment on it again later in this essay.

Those who have raised children will notice immediately how the conflict between these first two brothers echo what those parents have seen in the sibling rivalry in their own homes. Psychologists have missed this important fact while immersing themselves in the effects of parental influence. Sibling rivalry is at least as important in shaping lives, and the Bible knows it. We can immediately think of Jacob and Esaau, Joseph and his brothers, David's sons, even Jesus's disciples! You might consider which life patterns you developed in dealing with your siblings. One clue: children want all – absolutely all – of their parents' love. They are never sure there is enough to go around. If they love my brother, they must love me less. As one woman observed, “Everything was fine until my brother was born.”

Cain and Abel were very different. (So were the others listed above.) Cain was a farmer, Abel a sheepherder. One day they both brought an offering to the Lord. There is no record of why they did this, no account of God's command or even request for a sacrifice. And no instructions how to sacrifice. One offering was accepted, the other rejected. Scripture neither tells us how they knew, nor why one was chosen over the other. Some have said it was because Abel offered a blood sacrifice, but if so, he had no way of knowing an animal was preferred. Indeed, later in the Law, there were also grain sacrifices.

The best clue is the statement the Abel brought an offering of the fat portions of the firstborn, and Cain brought from some of his produce. This could be a hint that Abel brought his best, and Cain brought something. Remember that's a guess. The Bible does not say.

How did they know? Maybe one offering completely burned and the other one did not. Some have suggested various ways ancients examined parts of sheep offered as sacrifice. I don't know, but both Cain and Abel did did.

Cain's countenance fell. He brooded. He blamed his brother that the Lord had rejected him. Then God spoke to him. Just as God was on the scene to deal with Adam's sin, so He was on the scene to warn Cain before he sinned. The Lord tried to comfort him by pointing out there would be other opportunities to do well, and assured Cain that he too could be accepted. Meanwhile, sin was crouching outside the door ready to devour him, but “he must rule over it.” Control your impulses, Cain.

East of Eden concludes an intense study of that warning “you must/shall/can rule over it” by concluding the best translation is “thou mayest.” In other words, it's up to you. You may. You're not foreordained to do one or the other. This is good news for those of us with besetting sins. We CAN control them. No more “I'm only human” or “the devil made me do it.” Take responsibility and build in control.

But Cain didn't. Told in a few brief words, he invites his brother to take a walk and proceeds to murder him. Again God is on the spot to ask in horror, “What have you done. Your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.” And Cain cries out first of all – as his parents did - “Why am I responsible for my brother?” And that denial echoes down the centuries, “Am I my brother's keeper?” Jesus answered that denial in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but few of us get it. Consider our reaction to the poor, to immigrants, to needy of any sort. Why can't they just leave us alone?

As God did with the parents, He both punished and offered mercy. The punishment was to leave that small society for the land of Nowhere to forever wander. But to protect him, God placed a mark on him that none could kill him without themselves being killed. Many have used the “Mark of Cain” as a curse. It was not. It was a blessing, the blessing of God's protection.

Other questions abound to which there are no answers. Where did Cain get his wife? One answer is he must have married his sister. Even if you believe in evolution, early humans must have intermarried, as there was no one else. Another possibility mentioned by some is going back to 1:26 and assuming that God created many more people besides those told about here. That would also explain where the people came from when Cain founded the first city.

ANGEL MARRIAGES?

The early verses of Genesis 6 could well lay claim to the weirdest story in the Bible. The “sons of God” cohabit with the “daughters of men” and produce a race of “Nephilim.” Let's be honest. We have no clue what any of these three are. The easiest way out is the approach some take that the passage is a folk tale that somehow got incorporated into the Bible. The only problem with that is the story is in all the manuscripts. Thus the compilers and translators over the centuries thought it belonged there. Besides, if you believe in the Bible's inspiration, do we have the right to pick and choose which part is inspired, and discard those that are difficult?

So we wrestle with it.

The most frequent interpretation is that angels slept with human women and created a race of giants. In mythology the gods are always sleeping with humans and creating demigods, half human, half divine. Nowhere does the Bible give any hint of such a belief. Besides angels are not gods, they are the creation of God. Jesus said they don't marry, presumably meaning sex is not part of their makeup. Besides, it doesn't say “angels,” it says “sons of God.” So what are they if not angels? One possibility is that men from God-fearing families married into families that worshiped other gods. One version holds that descendents of Seth married descendants of Cain.

So who were the Nephilim they created? Some actual legends outside the Bible refer to “raphaim” that means the dead ones. Zombies? Another popular theory is a race of giants, which is easy to see if you have heavenly beings involved. But again...

By the way, the assumption, whichever theory you espouse, is that this is a taboo marriage and the Nephilim are an unwanted and disturbing by-product. Must I point out this is all an assumption. It's possible to read it as equivalent to the children of Jack married the children of Jill and produced Tom, Dick, and Harry.

You may have perceived by now that I don't mind saying “I have no clue.”