The Progress., 1894-01-06
The SUNDAY SCHOOL.
ON ILL., JANUARY 21-
CAIN AND ABEL.
Golden Text: BY Faith AbsI orsroa r..
"ou More Excellent Sacrifice
n"n Caln.-Genesis "; 3I-3.

Introductory. According to Trsber's
chronology the events of this lesson
occurred from 125 to l3O years after
the expulsion from Paradise. Adam
was l5O years old when Seth was horn
winch event is supposed to have taken
place soon after the death of Abel
AT this time, 1875 years after mans
creation the descendants of Adam
and Eve might easily have numbered
nalf million. 1t was probably much
iess han this. The place was proba-
Oily near the garden of Eden. Cain
and Abel were probably the first two
boys ever born. They were probably
about l25 years old at the time of the
murder. Cain was a farmer, Abel
was a shepherd. Food and clothing.
implements for tflling the soil, and
some kind of home must have been
needed from the very first.
l. The Two Gfferings-vers. 81 3
And in the process of time" Literal
ly, "at the end of days" Cain brought
of the fruit of the ground" Fruits,
vegetables, grains. IAN Offering un.
to the Lord" 1t was an act Of wor-
ship
4. "And Abel he also brought OF the
trstlings of his flock" Either the
hrstborn or the choicest and best.
And Of the fat thereof" The fattest
OF the yearlings. And the Lord had
respect unto Abel and to his offering. >"
we do not know how God showed his
favor, but 1T was visible sign of sat
isfaction. Heb. II:4 tells us that by
faith Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain" Faith
implies here heart of obedience and
love. This character was wanting in
Cain. What was in Cain was shown
by what came out of him.
5. And Cain was very wroth. :"
Anger is like an ungoverned fire IN
the soul. "His countenance fell 4"
When angry men are apt to go about
with hanging heads and face and
eyes turned toward the ground. His
anger was against his brother and
grew out of envy. Doubtless Abel
was the more lovable and attractive
and popular
Z. "If thou doest we'll" The Lord
does not give up Cain as hopeless.
And if thou doest not we'll, sin lieth
at the door" That is, the sin was at
his own door, and he should be angry
with himself and repent "And unto
thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him" Better unto
I = Il ,1et
rule over it." Representing sin as a
wild beast.
II. The First Murder-vers s. And
Cain talked with Abel" He went on
in familiar intercourse with Abel and
it was in one of these conversations
that his anger was again infiamed.
Cain did not know what 4 human
death was. "Cain rose up against
Abel his brother, and slew him. "
Cain was subject to fierce fits OF anger
and probably before he knew what he
was doing had shed his brothers
/ blood and stood before the first human
corpse
Ill The Crime Discovered--vers. O.
TO- O. "And the Lord said unto Cain. +"
| How close on the heels of sin God S
question treads. "Where is Abel thy
brother?' The word brother is used
seven times as if to emphasize the un-
naturalness of the crime. And he
said, / know not" A direct false
hood. "Am my brothers keeper2'
As if it was no concern to him what
became of his brother. We all are
our brothers keepers. God gives us
wealth, position. intellect not for our
selves alone, but that we may be bet
/ ter keepers of our brothers.
10 1.-THE voice of thy brothers
blood crieth unto me-" No power on
earth can silence the voice that de-
mands the punishment of sin "AbePs
body was dead; but his avengers were
/ not dead"
". The Fruits of Crime-vers. IL
ia IL. And now art thou cursed
from the earth" Meaning either that
the earth loathes and execrates him,
4 or that he is to be driven from the
cultivated soil TO the wild, uninhab-
/ tied waste.
12 THE ground, it shall not hence
forth yield unto thee her strength.
His remorse would drive him into the
more lonely and wilder portions of the
earth. not easily cultivated. The fer
tile valleys would be too populous.
"A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou
be. His guilty conscience would al
low him no rest; he would fly from
/ the face of man.
13. my punishment is greater than
/ can bear" Punishment here means
either sin" or punishment of sin. "