Setting the Bible story of Cain and Abel straight

The Bible story about Cain and Abel, with some adjustments, could easily explain how much of the world has gotten off track by the belief that killing animals for meat is acceptable in the eyes of God.

In the story, one of the brothers was a shepherd, and one was a farmer. Each were supposed to marry a sister, but one of the brothers desired to marry the “more beautiful” sister who was supposed to marry the other brother.

In the story, Adam told the brothers to each make a sacrifice to God, and whichever sacrifice God approved of, that brother would get to marry the coveted sister.

As the story goes, Cain was the farmer and Abel was the shepherd. Cain apparently brought some seeds and produce from his garden as his sacrifice, and Abel apparently brought his best meat.

Here’s where the story needs adjustment. God apparently was happy with Abel’s offering, but not with Cain’s. There is no mention in the story of why this was so, but with just a little logic, one can easily determine where the story got mixed up, and the lesson behind it got lost.

God always accepts offerings of produce given with love (from the Bhagavad Gita: “Krishna accepts only vegetarian food”) by returning that love to the one who offers it, but He never returns love for a meat offering. Fruit, vegetables and flowers are Prasadam, which means always acceptable food that works in a positive manner on the brain. I believe the brothers, their occupations, and their sacrificial offerings got mixed up.

Cain, allegedly the farmer who offered the produce that was declined, then killed Abel.

The fable says that God put a curse on Cain for killing his brother, because his dead brother could no longer produce offspring for contributing to the whole of creation. The curse was that Cain could not be murdered, and so would have to live a long time with his remorse.

Here’s how I think the story really went: Cain was the shepherd who killed his best sheep for the sacrifice, and Abel was the farmer who offered his produce. Both were offered with love by the brothers, but God did not accept Cain’s offering of meat, because then the best sheep, or seed of the flock, could no longer produce offspring, or wool, or anything else to give to the Heavens. All the dead sheep, like the slain brother, could do was offer its wasted blood to the soil.

Cain, seeing that killing the sheep rendered it helpless to contribute to creation, killed his brother, too, so he could not marry the sister and also could not contribute to creation.

The lesson God was trying to teach was, “thou shalt not kill”. What is killed can no longer contribute to creation. And since the brothers’ offerings got mixed up in the story, killing for meat has been deemed acceptable with God, and the point of the lesson missed.

Copyright@Darcie French 2018