After Adam and Eve, the story of Cain and Abel is the second major plot in the Bible. As Eve already demonstrated, humans have an internal desire for greed and are easily tempted. Her sons soon prove that this message is even more true than we thought. The two brothers, who were assigned to seperate tasks on the land, offered two offerings to God. While Cain's offering was appreciated, God preferred the sacrifice of Abel, and thought it was better. After this, Cain convinces Abel to go out into the field with him, where Cain murders Abel, the first time humanity spilled it's own blood. God realizes this, even though Cain denies this and plays dumb, and banishes Cain into a life of a vagabond and a outcast of society.
Going off the story of Adam and Eve, this story expands the concept of humans being lured to sin. While at first we saw the effects of greed and temptation in Adam/Eve, here we see what happens when jealousy goes too far. The result of Cain's competition with Abel was drastic, and makes us think about how we approach competition in our individual lives. While most people, myself included, are never lured so far as to kill someone, the consequences of unrestrained competition are still evident. I don't have a brother myself, I have a half-brother, but he really isn't old enough for me to engage in competition with. But, this can be applied very well to social settings. What would we do to be reckognized, to be a well-known figure of Henry Clay? Some people just want to see others crash and burn on their way to the top. This story is here to remind us that we must not take things to far, or else you won't achieve your goal, and be worse off for the long run.
No comments:
Post a Comment