but
see the source of these in their own fall and they would have pined
to death had not God comforted them with another son. For when it
became evident that the hope they had placed in Cain was a delusion,
and that they were deprived of the son who, beyond a doubt, possessed
the grace of God, they, without another son, would not have known
where to look for the solace of the promised seed.

CAIN THE WORLD, ABEL THE CHURCH.

12. Note, in this man Cain is pictured the world in its true,
characteristic colors; in him its true spirit stands reflected.
Certainly his equal has never been. In him are unquestionably
prefigured the very flower, the very quintessence, of holiness on
earth--the most pious servants of God. On the other hand, that poor,
wretched, abject male counterpart of Cinderella, Abel, well
represents the obscure little brotherhood, the Church of Christ. She
must yield to Cain the lord the distinction of being everything
before God, of being the recipient of every gift of God, of being
entitled to all honor and every privilege. He feels important in his
imagined dignity, permits this spirit to pervade his sacrifices and
his worships, and thinks that God cannot but favor and accept his
offering rather than that of his brother.

Meanwhile, the pious Abel goes his way, meekly suffering his
brother's contempt. He willingly yields Cain the honor, esteems
himself vastly inferior and beholds no consolation for himself aside
from the pure mercy and goodness of God. He believes in God and hopes
for the promised future seed. In such faith he performs his sacrifice
as a confession, a sign, of his gratitude.

13. This illustration is intended by God as solace for his little
throng; for the incident is not written for Abel's sake but for the
sake of the humble children of God, whose condition is like that of
Abel. God has not forgotten them, though they are haughtily ignored
by proud Cain, who regards them as nothing in his presence. God
graciously looks upon them and rejects proud Cain with his birthright
and offering.

14. Innocent Abel becomes the object of anger and hatred when the
Word of God lays hold of Cain revealing God's displeasure where he
had fancied himself worthy, and God's unwillingness to regard his
offering and devotion as superior to this of his brother and more
meritorious. Cain begins bitterly to hate and persecute his brother.
He finds no rest until Abel is laid low and cut off from the eart