What Jesus' Brother Jude Wanted Us to Know | Verse 11, Part 3 | The Way of Cain
The first illustration of false religion at an individual level is seen in Jude’s example of Cain. This example is the first of three illustrations that begin to explain why Jude pronounced a woe against the false teachers he has been denouncing. In short, the false teachers of any modern era have the same characteristics as the first ones in history.
“Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain . . .” | Jude 11
What is the way of Cain?
Genesis 4 introduces Cain, along with his brother Abel, who were both the sons of Adam and Eve. As the story goes, at some point both Cain and Able bring to the Lord a sacrifice. Able, as a keeper of the sheep, brought a firstborn from his flock along with its fat portions. Cain, as a worker of the ground, “brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground” (v. 3). Each one gave a portion of that which he was directly responsible for.
How did God view the sacrifices of these men? “The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (v. 5) (emphasis mine). This made Cain angry. Angry at God for not accepting his sacrifice. Angry at God for not being pleased with it. The implication is that Cain expected God to take whatever he offered to God. That God did not accept it was made even more acute in light of the fact that his younger brother Able did get accepted by God.
Again, Cain is incensed.
The Lord, however, is not done communicating with Cain. Seeing Cain’s anger and despondency, He asks him a rhetorical question that is the key to understanding this whole thing: “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” (vv. 6–7) (emphasis mine).
The Hebrew word for ‘do well’ is yatab, which is usually translated as ‘do good’—same concept. It means, in essence, to do the right thing.
Some have surmised that Cain’s sin was seen in his complete disregard for God’s command to offer a blood sacrifice. This seems plausible, but assumes too much in my opinion. The context of this event is well before the Mosaic Law where certain sacrifices were required for certain circumstances. That said, in Leviticus, where the regulations for sacrifices and offerings are given, there is, in fact, a place for grain offerings, or “the fruit of the ground,” seen in Leviticus 2.
The grain offering could be oven-baked bread, griddle-baked bread, pan-cooked bread, or even just in flour form—there were all kinds of ways that God allowed grain to be offered. We can deduce, then, that there was not a problem with the sacrifice that Cain offered in and of itself—something else was wrong.
The problem was in Cain’s disposition—his heart. He was a sinful man who feigned worship to God, but on the basis of his wicked heart he was not acceptable. This point is made further when God continues: “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (v. 7).
Cain was a victim of his own sin. Here, even before the Mosaic Law is written down to expose how sinful we really are, there is already an understanding of righteousness and wickedness.
We can’t forget how Satan, the instigator of the original sin, was crouched and waiting for Eve. Following Adam and Eve’s failure to obey God came the fall of mankind that now manifests itself in every man and woman that is born seen so quickly in Adam and Eve’s firstborn son, Cain, who is already showing just how ready humans are to sin. It is as if a wild animal, or killer, were waiting for the opportune time to attack through an opening and overpower their victim as they pass by.
That said, let us not dismiss our culpability of temptation, here. Sin—and the temptation to sin—is from within our own hearts. It is not literally around the next door jam. Our sin is always ready to manifest itself, but we “must rule over it.”
We have no business giving to God if we are not living for God.
To attempt this would be to mock God with pretentious indifference, which will never be acceptable to Him.
Rather than being repentant when confronted by God about his sinful life, Cain just keeps acting on his wicked inclinations. Cain’s evil heart is further manifested by his eventual murdering of his own brother in verse 8.
One of the takeaways, then, that Jude intends for us to realize is that the unbeliever and the rebellious false teachers of today are just as impervious to God’s commandments, yet they continue to go through the motions of worship, attempting to dupe their listeners into thinking that everything they offer to God is acceptable.
Sadly, how often do we fall into the same trap of thinking that the acceptability of our worship is determined based on the fact that we offered it, while never considering how our choices and lifestyles from day to day may be viewed by this same, holy God?
From cover to cover in the Word of God we see that acceptable worship and sacrifice is seen in this formula: Right Heart + Right Sacrifice = Acceptable Worship.
Proverbs says on more than one occasion that “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” (15:8; 21:27).
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” asks Isaiah (Is 1:11).
“I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hos 6:6).
“As for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins” (Hos 8:13).
“My God will reject them because they have not listened to him” (Hos 9:17).
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:22).
Now listen to this indictment by Amos against Israel’s praise and worship services, even including the music that is sung to God:
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen” (5:21–23).
The New Testament continues to bear this out as Jesus explains that true worship will be a matter of worshiping in spirit and in truth (Jn 4). In other words, it will come from the redeemed hearts of God’s people who are set free by the truth of God’s Word.
The sacrificial aspect of the Temple worship was made obsolete by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the ultimate and perfect atonement for sins. Our worship, however, does still mimic true worship in the Old Testament in that the sacrifice is a spiritual one, not a physical one. How do we offer spiritual worship like Jesus talked about in John 4? The Apostle Paul answers this in Romans 12:1:
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This is further explained by his command to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by God.
The Apostle John, like Jude, spoke specifically about Cain as well: “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous” (1 Jn 3:12) (emphasis mine).
The writer of Hebrews, likewise, explains that God commended Abel’s righteousness by accepting his sacrifice, contrasting this, obviously, with Cain, who was not righteous, thus not acceptable to God.
Jude’s illustration of Cain is to bring all of this truth to bear on our souls in order to remind us of how external activity can often be a cover up for evil. Christians should be mindful of the reality of false worship that many charlatans and heretics will use as a guise to be accepted by the church, thus gaining a platform for their destructive heresies.
Not all activity is holy and acceptable. Not all music is holy and acceptable. Not all “Christian” books are holy and acceptable. We must discern the truth and test the spirits.
Dear Christian, be wary of those who walk in the way of Cain.
In Christ Alone,
Ben
