solemnly true words, on which the bitter experience of many a poor
victim of his own past is a commentary. The eternal duty of
resistance is farther taught by the words. Hope of victory,
encouragement to struggle, the assurance that even these savage
beasts may be subdued, and the lion and adder (the hidden and the
glaring evils--those which wound unseen, and which spring with a
roar) may be overcome, led in a silken leash or charmed into
harmlessness, are given in the command, which is also a promise,
'Rule thou over it.'

5. The deadly fruit of hate is taught us in the brief account of the
actual murder. Notice the impressive plainness and fewness of the
words. 'Cain rose up against his brother, and slew him.' A kind of
horror-struck awe of the crime is audible. Observe the emphasis with
which 'his brother' is repeated in the verse and throughout.
Observe, also, the vivid light thrown by the story on the rise and
progress of the sin. It begins with envy and jealousy. Cain was not
wroth because his offering was rejected. What did he care for that?
But what angered him was that his brother had what he had not. So
selfishness was at the bottom, and that led on to envy, and that to
hatred. Then comes a pause, in which God speaks remonstrances,--as
God's voice--conscience--does now to us all,--between the
imagination and the act of evil. A real or a feigned reconciliation
is effected. The brothers go in apparent harmony to the field. No
new provocation appears, but the old feelings, kept down for a time,
come in again with a rush, and Cain is swept away by them. Hatred
left to work means murder. The heart is the source of all evil.
Selfishness is the mother tincture out of which all sorts of sin can
be made. Guard the thoughts, and keep down self, and the deeds will
take care of themselves.