#justice for abel frfr

[craecm]

y’know someone i love exploring?

abel.

in christianity and indeed, anyone intrigued with the ‘lore’ of the bible, there’s a high focus in the cain and abel story, on cain. and that’s totally understandable! a man full of guilt and jealousy, a murderer, and our ancestor. he deserves a lot of attention, he’s very fascinating.

i mean there’s so many mediums of art that have focused on this idea - of us originating from cain, a man who cursed and twisted his family line.

he’s a great point of discussion and interest, but so is abel.

the idea that i believe the bible is trying to build is that abel was an innocent man. just a younger brother who worked hard for god, and glorified him by offering all that he could. that he did not deserve, in any capacity, to die, and that was the horror of cain’s actions (bc we all know the bible does actually promote murder if the right circumstances are met).

but i’d like to introduce a different idea instead. the idea that abel knew cain was jealous, angry, less capable. that he fed off of doing better than him, being the golden child, and so on. that when god told cain to do better, abel felt cocky. it certainly changes how both cain and abel can be viewed.

viewing the murder as a true maddening moment from cain’s point of view, where he has no way to deal with this jealousy except through physical means, because he cannot deal with being toyed with anymore. and then, after it all, god calls once more for that brother, and cain is enraged. why is everything still about him?

then, abel being the worse of the two, but still cain is said to have doomed his lineage. how screwed could we have been if abel survived? would he have been blamed too? to what degree can god find fault in human nature?

though, i do certainly like the idea that perhaps abel simply did not understand how he was making his older brother feel. that he was only doing his job, that he trusted and even looked up to cain. perhaps he only truly wanted to impress cain, and god was in the middle of it all. and then to be murdered by him, after only being invited to take a walk? how terrified he must have been.

its also the fact that abel was a shepherd. he brought murder into the world, as a victim of such, and so the first murder foreshadowed the most important. jesus, as a shepherd also. the first sacrifice for the later sacrifice. but he was only a man, who had nothing but his mother and father, brother and sheep. that was all the world was then, and still he was not safe.

lastly, the fact that abel was replaced by seth.

not to say that the passing of a child disables someone from having another, but the wording gets me here. “in place of abel”. this idea that abel’s space is something that can be filled.

in essence, abel was born to work. he had a duty of it, seeing as his father had just recently been condemned to toil the soil to earn food, rather than have it readily available. in his oppressive job, he worked and gave everything he Could give to god. did he enjoy the glory? we do not know, but one of his own, one who was going through hardship just like him, murdered him for it. did it matter? no, not truly. another would take his place.