Lesson 5: Raising Cain

I'm going to try posting before the lesson this week, see how that goes...

Lesson 5 contrasts the lives of Cain and Enoch. I'll look at Cain this time around and see if I have time to cover Enoch later in the week.

Adam and Eve had high hopes for their son Cain. If we read the Genesis account, it sounds like Cain is their first son, but in Moses it's clear that they had several sons and daughters already (see Moses 5:12). By the time Cain comes along, it sounds like there are many who have chosen not to follow the Lord, and Eve's desire for Cain was that "he may not reject [the Lord's] words..." but sadly his attitude was, "Who is the Lord that I should know him?" (Moses 5:16)

Adam and his posterity had been commanded of the Lord to "offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord..." as "... a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten..." (Moses 5:5, 7). We need to know that part before the next part makes sense.

Satan told Cain to "Make an offering unto the Lord" (Moses 5:18). Either the record left out a few parts, or Cain could be trusted to mess it up on his own. Instead of offering the firstling of the flock, he brought some of his crops.

This doesn't make sense, why would Satan tell Cain to do something righteous? Because he either knew Cain wouldn't do it right, or he told him to offer crops instead of the required firstling. It wasn't exactly a suggestion from the Lord that if you happen to have a firstling kicking around, that'll work. Otherwise, whatever you have will be fine. God specifically set forth the terms of an acceptable sacrifice, it had to be specific if it was going to be symbolic of the Savior's great sacrifice.

When God approved of Abel's offering but not Cain's, Satan was happy and Cain was "very wroth" (Moses 5:21). This confused me a little too. Why would Cain be so upset that God didn't approve of his offering, which Satan told him to do in the first place? Cain "loved Satan more than God" (Moses 5:18), so you wouldn't imagine approval from God would be high on his priorities.

A scripture from the Book of Mormon helped a little. Mormon saw the sorrow of his people and was hopeful they would repent and turn from their wickedness.

"But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin" (Mormon 2:13, emphasis added).

There is no happiness or divine approval to be found outside of the Lord's commandments. Satan knows this and Cain just learned the hard way.

Satan makes a deal with Cain saying, "If you swear your allegiance to me, I'll hand over your brother Abel and you can do whatever you want to him" (paraphrasing Moses 5:29).

Medium story short, Cain does, Satan does, and Abel winds up murdered. Cain exclaims, "I am free" (Moses 5:33). Just as Cain learned there is no happiness in sin, he now learns there is no freedom in wickedness. He is cursed to roam the earth as a fugitive and vagabond.

One of the other questions which came to me was, "Why didn't the Lord warn Abel?" Abel was clearly a righteous man, that has to count for something, right? 'Hey Abel, your brother wants to kill you for a few sheep.' Abel gets to live, Cain gets upset but doesn't kill anyone, seems like a happy ending.

We sometimes get caught up in the idea that faithfulness somehow equals an easier ride through life. Ask Job how that worked for him. He was allowed to be tried and tested because he was so righteous and faithful.

Amulek asked a similar question of Alma as they watched the many faithful women and children being thrown into the flames by the wicked judges.

"But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that ... the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day" (Alma 14:11).

In the end, Cain is forced to wander the land and doesn't get his brother's flocks like he thought he would. Apparently he didn't read the fine print on his contract, "Terms and conditions apply. Subject to change without notice. Dealer may sell for less, or just walk away altogether and leave you to take the blame for everything."

Marriage Advice from Adam & Eve

I had the best of intentions to get this up last week, but between work and a much-needed weekend away I never got around to posting it. So I'll post this one from last week's lesson and then get this week's post done in the next day or so...

If we only had the Genesis account, we'd be pretty upset with Eve. After all, it seems at first glance that she blew it for everyone by eating the forbidden fruit (which was probably zucchini, in my opinion). They got kicked out of paradise and we're stuck in a world of thorns and thistles. Moral of the story, be a little more cautious when your wife wants to try out a new recipe...

Fortunately, we have more information available to us. The prophet Lehi taught his son Jacob about the effects of the fall of Adam:

"And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden..." (2 Nephi 2:22)

That doesn't sound too bad so far.

"And they would have had no children..." (2 Nephi 2:23)

So now it seems Eve knew what she was doing when she ate the fruit. They were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth, something they could not do in their current condition. So, what does that have to do with marriage? Well, if we don't understand why Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit and leave the garden, the rest doesn't really make sense.

Tip #1 - Support your spouse.
When asked why he had eaten the fruit, Adam responded that the "woman thou ... commandest that she should remain with me" gave him the fruit and he ate it. He's not trying to pass the buck or blame his wife, he's saying he transgressed one commandment in order to obey the higher one. As is often the case in marriage, we sometimes give up something good for something even better.

Tip #2 - "thy desire shall be to thy [spouse]" (Moses 4:22)
How many of today's marital problems could be avoided or eliminated if each spouse held the other in the #1 position? President Gordon B. Hinckley taught:

"When you are married, be fiercely loyal one to another. Selfishness is the great destroyer of happy family life. If you will make your first concern the comfort, the well-being, and the happiness of your companion, sublimating any personal concern to that loftier goal, you will be happy, and your marriage will go on throughout eternity" ("Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley," Ensign, Dec. 1995, 67)

Not just devoted, but "fiercely loyal". He's not just talking about letting another person take the place of your spouse, but activities and interests can become more important to you than your spouse if not done in moderation. Online games, time at the office, sports, etc., although not inherently "evil", can be placed in the position which should be occupied by your spouse.

Tip #3 - Work with your spouse
After they left the garden, "Adam began to till the earth... to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow... And Eve, also, his wife, did labor with him." (Moses 5:1).

One thing that frosts my hide (and I hope I'm not guilty of this) is fathers/husbands who feel that when they get home from work their duty is done. One of the best, and arguably more important, places to work with your spouse is at home.

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World, emphasis added)

Don't start "keeping score" of the things you do vs. what your spouse does, because we are by nature very poor score keepers. We tend to see the things we do and miss the other stuff that goes on around us. We only keep score when we want to win, which tends to promote a competitive atmosphere. Marriage is not a competition, it's a cooperation.

Anyhow, those were my thoughts from the lesson...