Genesis 4: 3-7

Here is the quote from my The New American Bible: "In the course of time Cain brought forth an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offer, but on Cain and his offering he did not. Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen. So the Lord said to Cain: 'Why are you so crestfallen? If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: yet you can be his master.' Jordan Peterson finds it remarkable and no accident that this chapter on Cain and Abel occurs right after the Fall when humans awaken, know good and evil, exercise free will, and will die. Both Abel, the keeper of flocks, and Cain, the tiller of the soil, offered sacrifices to God. Yahweh accepted and was pleased with the offering from Abel but rejected the offering from Cain. Now, I assume both offerings were prized offerings, so God does not reject Cain's offering because it was an inferior offering, so cheap and shoddy, that is an automatic insult to the might Jehovah. No, God wants humans to sacrifice to De, and to offer a sacrifice respectful and worthy of a benevolent deity of Yahweh's rank and standing. What Yahweh or any other good deity will reject is a sacrifice from a sinner that does not love, fear or obey God. When that occurs, the sacrifice is a hypocritical insult, a bald attempt to pay lip service to Yahweh, or manipulate Yahweh into heaping blessings upon the insincere petitioner that does not deserve God's blessing. God loves love, the pure heart, a person of moral and spiritual good will, that is with God and works for God. A sinner like Cain, unrepentant, and in defiance of God, while secretly (He mistakenly believes that he can fool God.), while serving Satan, should not be surprised that his empty sacrifice is rejected by God. Cain is crestfallen when God disfavored his sacrifice, but rather than admit that he was sinning and rebelling against God, that he needed to admit his sin, confess his sin, and do penance, while genuinely striving to be better and more holy, he is filled with resentment and disappointment. Peterson points out that arrogance, deceit and resentment are an unholy trinity of traits that turn one into a demon. Cain was arrogant: he cut corners and thought God would not catch him. He is so proud in that flinty way, that he cannot admit that he is flawed and has sinned, so there is no need to repent. He lies to himself about his dangerous shortcomings. He resents Abel all the more and begins to blame this innocent paragon for his own failures and rejection by Yahweh. Yahweh gives Cain a chance to shape up, and urges him to reject Satan, to practice self-control, to come and love, honor and serve Yahweh, and then his sacrifices will be favored as were those from Abel. But, Cain insists on doing things his own way, and he convinces himself that he has done nothing wrong to warrant God favoring Abel while disfavoring him. Abel is better treated because he is a slick con man, not because he is loyal to God. Cain not only does not repent his evil, but he is about to go all in, and commit murder--this is where his rebellion, jealousy and resentment have led him to. Note that God talks to these first humans one-to-one, but still that did not impress Cain. Notice that the master of sin is a demon, a male Satan, so Yahweh allows that both good spirits and evil spirits exist, and they are existing personalities and presences with names and followers. Now I will quote the same lines from the Holy Bible (KJV): "And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Since Yahweh respected Abel because he was good and did well, Yahweh favored his offering. Because Yahweh did not respect Cain due to his collaboration with, association with, and sinning with the demon, Yahweh could not and did not respect him, and could not favor his offering. Cain's willful rejection of God and God's law forced Yahweh's hand, to punish Cain. Cain was furious, blaming God and Abel, but not himself. It is the individualist that tells the truth, takes responsibility for his sins and misdeeds, and makes amends to go and sin no more. Cain is selfish, self-indulgent and in denial, but he is not individualist. As a deceiving and self-deceiving groupist running with Satan and his pack, Cain is leading a degenerate lifestyle. He allows Satan to rule him, instead of vice versa. He will not allow God to command him, so he ends up serving the Dark Lord.