Intermediate Level, Block 1—Creation, Fall, and Flood
Week 5
Cain and Abel—Honoring God
Point to Emphasize: We should honor God by following God’s way.
Reference Reading: Genesis 4:1-25
Memory Verse: …But now Jehovah declares, Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who spurn Me will be lightly esteemed. (1 Samuel 2:30b)
Story Sample
After Adam and Eve left the garden they began a family. Their first son was named Cain and their second son was named Abel. Both boys were raised together in a household that believed in God and followed God’s way. As these boys grew, they took different jobs. Cain became a tiller of the ground. This means that he planted vegetables and crops for his family to eat. Abel became a tender of sheep, like a shepherd.
When Adam and Eve left the garden, God made coats of animal skin to clothe them. These were made by God and they made Adam and Eve acceptable in the eyes of God. So for Abel to decide that he wanted to raise sheep, it meant the sheep were only for this purpose: to clothe them and keep them acceptable to God. His actions were an honoring of God. He was taking care of God’s need.
One day both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. Do you know what an offering is? [Give the children a chance to answer.] An offering is to give a portion of what you have made or produced to God. Cain brought an offering from the things he had grown. He thought this was the best to offer to God. Abel brought an offering from the lambs he was caring for. Based on all that he had learned from his parents, Abel gave this to God. To God, Abel’s offering was very special. His offering showed that he had followed all that he had learned from his parents in honoring God and following God’s way. This really made God happy.
When Cain saw that God was pleased with Abel’s offering he became very angry. Cain didn’t honor God with his offering but instead did what he thought was better. Then when God was more pleased with Abel’s offering, Cain got angry and jealous. God warned him not to be angry, but Cain didn’t listen to this warning. Instead he came up with a plan to seek revenge upon his brother. Do you think Cain’s further action was an honoring to God? No way! This should be a warning to us when we get angry or upset. How do we handle our feelings? Have you even had an experience like this? You get upset over something someone else did because his or her way turned out to be better than yours. How do you feel when at the dinner table your older sibling gets praise or tells everyone about a reward he or she received at school? How do you respond? Can you be happy for your brother or sister? [Share a personal experience or allow others to share an experience.] What do you think is a good way to handle those feelings?
Anyway, Cain brought his brother to a field and killed him. Can you believe it? How terrible Cain’s actions were. Surely he made many poor choices. He chose to come up with his own way in presenting an offering to God. He then became jealous and angry toward his brother when he realized his brother’s actions were more honorable to God. And instead of following God’s warning to not give in to his anger, he killed Abel.
Abel was a son who chose to honor God. He listened carefully to his parents’ instructions on living a life to honor God and he followed this way. His offering to God was an honoring of God. He didn’t put his own ideas first, before what God’s need was. He is a good reminder to us that we need to follow God’s way and honor Him. After Cain and Abel, Eve had another son she named Seth. Adam and Eve, again, raised Seth in the way of honoring God. Seth must have learned the lesson from what happened with his older brothers, that it was better to follow God’s way. Seth, too, chose to follow God’s way and honor Him first. This lesson is not just for Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Seth. It is for all of us. Let’s do our best to honor God this week by following our parents’ instructions. Then we, too, can be pleasing to the Lord.