The Grief of Adam and Eve

Can you imagine how Adam and Eve must have felt when their son Cain killed their son, Abel? This is the first recorded death in the Bible. How heart breaking for Adam and Eve. They would never again speak to Abel--thank him for his work—praise him for a job well done—tell him that they loved him. He was gone from them. His blood has been spilled in the field where Cain had left him to die. How sad for them all. Grief. Heartfelt grief. 

Love. To love and to be love. That is what we all seek in life. Love. Acceptance. Cain didn't feel God's love...or felt that Abel was pleasing God more...so in his anger and jealously he killed his brother. No love there. Cain created grief. No one could express their love to Abel—he was dead to them...forever. At that point they probably didn't know about salvation—but God already had a plan. The LORD, Jesus, spoke to Cain and he left the presence of the LORD—banished as his punishment.

God had a plan for those who love and seek him. You are part of that plan—His plan to offer mankind spiritual salvation from sin. That is Love—offering salvation to a sinful and rebellious mankind—individually. God gives us an opportunity for restoring a relationship with Him. That is love. If we respond to His love by accepting His offer of salvation, then we are showing love in return. Seek God. Seek Love, for God is Love.

 

One day Cain suggested to his brother, "Let's go out into the fields." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him. Afterward the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "I don't know," Cain responded. "Am I my brother's guardian?" But the LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother's blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth." Cain replied to the LORD, "My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!" The LORD replied, "No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. So Cain left the LORD's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Genesis 4:8-16

 

Prayer – Dear Lord, You told us that You are love in 1 John 4:7-8. Continue to show us Your love—as well as Your grace and mercy. Especially touch the hearts and lives—the very souls of those who have lost loves ones recently—particularly my niece Michelle and her siblings, Nikki, Ken and Chris. Give them Your strength and peace. May they feel Your presence and love. 

 

Meditate. Consider God’s plan for salvation.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 2 Corinthians 7:10

 

© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

Books by Mickey M. Hunacek

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