1) Cain and Abel in the History of the Providence

You may think that when Cain and Abel both made offerings God's position of receiving the offering of Abel was different from His position of rejecting the offering of Cain, but this is not true. If there was even a trace of willingness in Cain to go through Abel, who represented God, then God would have surely accepted the offering. Although there may have been a difference in regards to time, God tried to deal with them fairly. (3-205)

If Cain did not really care about the offering that he made to God, then it would not have mattered to him so much whether or not God received the offering of Abel. However, what made him furious and resentful was the thought that his devotion was less than that of Abel. Cain must have thought that the devotion with which he prepared the offering was at least equal to, if not better than that of Abel. Don't you think this is how it was? It is human nature to want one's own to be received first. This is true even if the offerings have the same content and are made from the same position.

Cain cannot complain if Abel's offering deserved to be accepted. If they can be compared, how can he raise a complaint? However, won't he complain if the offering was not accepted if they were offered from equal positions? Therefore, you have to be better when you are exerting yourself. You have to offer it after preparing the devotional heart that is better than the offering.

When you look at it centering on Abel, Abel made the offering with the same degree of devotion as Cain. However, because Abel was on the side of God from the beginning point God accepted it. For this reason, Abel should have been grateful and humble even if God accepted his offering. Then would Cain have tried to kill him? Nevertheless, since God received only his offering, Abel must have expressed great joy to the extent that aroused an intense feeling of jealousy in Cain. It would have been good if he just kept the feeling of happiness to himself and not expressed it; but he boasted to his older brother. Don't you also want to boast about some happy events in your life? Don't you want to brag about it? Similarly, Abel must have boasted to his brother. In the process, he must have gone overboard and said, "God did not receive older brother's offering and just accepted mine. Therefore, I am better than my older brother." Thus, Cain's face must have grown red, and he must have felt intense anger. It is reasonable to have this kind of thought.

Abel should not have bragged that he felt happy because he received the blessing from God. Instead, when he received the blessing, he should have realized his shortcomings and said, "Older brother, I am sorry." If he did that, would Cain have beaten him to death? He probably would not have killed him. This is the mistake of Abel. (34-51)

Do you like Abel or do you like Cain? [Abel] I like neither Cain nor Abel. Why? Abel made the offering together with his older brother Cain, so even when God accepted only his offering and rejected his older brother's, he should have been nice to his older brother. He should have been more considerate toward his brother. What do you think God would have done if at that moment Abel wept and made a havoc protesting, "Father, why did you receive only my offering?" and then go to his older brother and say, "I dislike God who accepted only my offering." God would have had to love him for sure.

Cain and Abel probably made the same amount of preparation for making their offerings to God. For one year Cain prepared grains and Abel prepared a lamb, and with greatly devout attitude they offered them. It is good that they both put in great effort. However, without considering the question of who put in more effort, and just looking at the question of receiving or rejecting the offering, God accepted the offering of Abel because He had to.

However, since God accepted only his offering, Abel thought that this was because he was better and God liked only him. Thus, he must have bragged to his older brother, "Older brother, see, my offering was accepted." This must be what he did. Otherwise, why should Cain, who did not do anything, grow red in his face? Do you think this took place even when Abel did not do anything? For sure, Abel went before Cain to mock him, "What are you. My offering was received." Abel must never be arrogant. He must be humble. For this reason, he deserved to be beaten to death. There was no choice but to be beaten to death.

Unification Church members have to become Abels, right? [Yes] Then have you become Abels yet? Perhaps you are in the process of becoming one, but you are repeating the mistakes of Abel who was beaten to death. If you act arrogantly and say, "What is a Christian minister? How did the Fall take place? What? It was committed by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? You ministers cannot solve these questions without us, right?" If you do that, then Unification Church will face difficulties. Did you do this or not? I told you not to do so, but you have been doing it anyway outside. (34-272)

After the offerings were made, Cain hated and beat Abel to death when he found out that God only received the offering of Abel, but you have to understand that even from when they were making preparations for the offering, Cain held grudges against Abel. It is not the case that he beat Abel because he was suddenly overwhelmed with hatred when God did not receive his offering, but rather, even before that took place, Cain felt the hatred that wanted to kill Abel.

What do you, who have inherited this fallen lineage, have to do to climb over the hill of universal sorrows? You are not to build the altar that will set the condition of unfaithfulness and conflict before God, but build the victorious altar of Abel that can return glory and happiness to Heavenly Father.

For this reason, your life today must not be limited to yourself. It is a life to be led on behalf of the whole. Your life must not be limited to the times that you lie down before God, and the lifestyle that is centered on the Principle. This is where it is determined whether one stands in the position of Abel or Cain. In other words, you stand at the awesome historical crossroads where you might easily become either Cain or Abel.

Knowing this, you should be able to distinguish, centering on the church, who is the Cain figure and who is the Abel figure. If there are two people, one of them is certainly Abel and the other is Cain, and if there are three people, then two people might be Cain or Abel, but what you must understand is that there is always the most central Abel and Cain, and you should be able to distinguish them clearly.

Moreover, Cain and Abel are never separate. One side is the right hand and the other side is the left hand. Accordingly, you must have the faithful heart to understand that God is not only your God but the other's God as well, and God not only loves you but also loves the other; then, you must always seek and serve an Abel-type figure and try your best to avoid the resentment of Cain. You must clearly understand that unless you can become such a person, you will one day surely be judged by God.

When we look at the Unification Church today, there are also Cain and Abel. God reveals His words through Abel and wishes that every one will become one with Abel. However, there is one person that prevents this unity with Abel, and that is Satan. For this reason, in order for you to lead the right life of faith, you have to be able to discuss everything with someone who is more Abel-like than you and become one with him. (3-206)

The fact that we, the Unification Church, are raising the issue of Cain and Abel shows that the era of Jesus has passed. Moreover, when we talk about Cain and Abel who can stand in front of the parents, we are talking about the restored Adam's family, in other words, the position of brothers that is not invaded by Satan. Do you understand what I am saying?

I told you that in order to stand in the position of Abel you must find Abel. Then, what did God do to find Cain? God carried on the providence on the national level by putting Jesus in the Abel position in order to find the Cain figure through Jesus. For this reason, there are a Cain-type nation, Cain-type religious denomination, Cain-type tribe, Cain-type family, and Cain-type individual. (34-54)