Driven from the Garden of E'den under the curse of God, Ad'am and Eve went into the world to set up another home and to work for a livelihood. In the course of time their home was blessed by a first-born son, Eve called him Cain.
The next birth recorded is that of A'bel, whose name had been taken to mean either "vanity" or "short lived." The name could therefore indicate either the pride with which was accepted, or the untimely death soon to overtake him at the hands of his brother.
As the two boys grew into manhood they were taught to work. They were not allowed to grow up in idleness and sloth, but were instructed and trained for the active duties of life. A'bel became a keeper of sheep, while Cain chose to work in the fields, raising grains and fruits. Each followed his chosen vocation industriously, achieving prosperity .
When Ad'am and Eve lived in the Garden of E'den they enjoyed a close personal fellowship with God, carrying on intimate conversions with Him. When the barrier of sin separated them from God they were required to build an altar of heaped up stones on which they offered blood sacrifices in atonement for their sins. Before the altar they made their confessions and prayers to God, and asked God to bless them.
Cain and A'bel were taught to make such offerings to God. They grew into manhood with a sense of their obligations for worship, and were faithful in practicing formal sacrifices on the altar. Each of them brought to the Lord offerings from the fruits of labor, presenting them in formal worship.
Just as there were differences in the offerings presented to God upon the altar of sacrifice, so there were fundamental differences in the meaning of the offerings, and in the spirit in which they were given. Cain brought of the fruits and grains which he had grown, but did not take the time or trouble to select the best. A'bel brought of the firstlings and best of his flock, which he killed and burned on the altar as a blood offering to the Lord. His offering conformed to the religious instructions received from his father, both in regard to the form and substance of the offering, and in the motive and spirit with which it was made. Cain's offering was unacceptable to God, not only because of his failure to provide the right sort of sacrifice and to conform to the manner prescribed by God, but because his heart was not right before the Lord.
God was well pleased with A'bel's offering and gave tokens of its acceptance because it was made in obedience to Divine law, was an offering of faith, and clearly indicated reliance upon Divine grace for the forgiveness of sin. He rejected the offering of Cain, who exhibited the spirit of sin in his heart by becoming angry with God instead of confessing his wrong and asking forgiveness. He therefore stealthily fell upon his brother while he was in the fields caring for his flocks. So Cain slew A'bel, and so the first child born into this world became the first murderer.
