Cain and Abel were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain is a farmer - a "tiller of the ground", and Abel is a shepherd. They brings gifts, offerings, to the Lord. Abel's gift is accepted, and Cain's is refused. Cain gets angry, and murders Abel.

Why would God accept one gift, and reject another? There's no apparent reason given in the story. Why would this story have been preserved, and included in sacred scripture?

In the Bible, these stories have an inner meaning:

"Cain" symbolizes faith that doesn't have love combined with it.

"Abel" stands for charity - a love of one's neighbor. This charity is the brother of faith; they are supposed to work together, shoulder to shoulder. When faith (Cain) isn't working alongside charity (Abel), it becomes harsh, and destructive.

Here's a very brief excerpt from Swedenborg's work, Arcana Coelestia, Section 366:

"Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him" signifies that separated faith extinguished charity.

You can imagine how this might happen; a faith that is not driven by an underlying love of the neighbor could be harsh, and unforgiving, and could come to the point of trying to stamp out love if it is seen as a threat to "real" faith.

There's more to the story. It's very old, but still very relevant. You can follow the links, and explore the details.

"And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect." -Genesis 4:4-5

Additional readings: Genesis 4:1-16, Mark 12:28-end, Psalm 50

Our text is from one of the familiar little stories. It is the first instance in the Bible of men's bringing gifts to God. Cain brought the fruit of the ground, as his offering, and Abel, a keeper of sheep, brought a lamb from his flock. It is recorded that the Lord accepted Abel's offering, but the offering of Cain He did not accept. Then Cain became angry and slew his brother Abel.

From time immemorial it has been the custom of men to bring offerings to God. Sometimes they have given their most prized possessions. And sometimes in ignorance they have slain and offered their children. The Mosaic code prescribes laws for various kinds of offerings, which the Israelites were commanded to observe. In the Gospels is the story of the poor widow who cast into the treasury he two mites, which constituted all her living.

God’s gifts to man are innumerable. He gives us life, rationality, freedom of choice, and immortality. All our faculties are from Him. And all the riches of the earth are His gifts to us. It is both natural and proper that we should make gifts to God. The question is, what shall our offering be?

The Psalmist declares, "Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for time world is mine, and the fullness thereof." (Psalm 1:7-12).

The story of Cain and Abel is not literal history. It is a Divine allegory or parable. Cain and Abel were not individuals; if they had been, we could find no reason for the refusal of Cain's offering. But considered as a parable the story teaches us what gifts are acceptable to the Lord.

Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. The flowers and fruits of the ground represent the thoughts of our minds. These are indeed from the Lord, for He created them. But they represent only the intellectual part of man; they do not represent the heart. Cain's love was not offered with his gift.

There is a lesson here for us. We sometimes offer beautiful thoughts which we have never carried out into life. If we know what should be done, and do not do it, the knowledge has no lasting effect on our lives. We know that true thoughts and even good works do not always come from a beautiful heart. They may come from the love of fame or reward; if so, they are not acceptable to God. If genuine love is not in the thought or work, the Lord cannot accept it.

Abel's offering was a firstling of his flock, which represents the innocent affections of the heart. So the Lord "had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and his offering He had not respect." The Lord accepts no gift given for selfish reasons. Our motives determine the real quality of everything we do. The world may not see them, but the Lord does. Each of two men may endow a church. One does so that he may receive the praise of man. The other does it to advance the Lord's kingdom. The world may see no difference between the two gifts, but there is a very real difference. One was an offering from Cain. The other an offering from Abel.

In Old Testament days under the Mosaic code any Levite free from physical blemish might offer gifts upon the altar. The character of the giver was not called into account. It is often so in the world today, millions of dollars are given each year to charitable institutions. Most of these gifts are doubtless unselfish, but whether they are so or not, the gifts are accepted by the institutions.

And in this world of today it is even thought by some that material gifts to the Church or to philanthropic enterprises will atone for evil deeds. Yet we should know that no man can win his way to God by gifts of material things. The only gift that the Lord wants is our hearts, our affections. We can give no material things to God, for "the world is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."

The Israelites were commanded to offer material things to God because they were an external people, and their gifts to the temple were representative of their spiritual counterparts. And though to them it was said, "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord," they did not understand it.

Yet the world has never been without the knowledge that love to the Lord and to the neighbor is the supreme duty of life. For the law that we shall love the Lord our God with all the heart, mind, and strength, and the neighbor as one's self expresses the primary purpose of creation. In heaven this law is fulfilled. There was a time on earth, the time of the Most Ancient Church, the Golden Age, when life was worship of God and occupations service to the neighbor. Then there was no war, nor did men strive to excel in material possessions.

The contrast of that age with conditions today is obvious. Poverty, unhappiness, suffering, and war have been the measure of man's violation of the two great commandments. It is this that is the cause of present day misery and social unrest. The command "Love one another" is the eternal word of God to man, and it is the best known and most widely acknowledged principle of religious life. Every branch of the Christian Church would acknowledge it. Mohammedan, Hindu, Buddhist acknowledge and teach it as a principle. But known only as a principle and not carried out into life it is Cain's offering. The laws of God are not mere abstract metaphysical speculations; they deal with concrete situations. They apply to life.

The two great commandments must be known and understood in order that we may apply them to the particular and varied conditions in which we may find ourselves. For this reason the Lord did not say "This thing I command you" but "These things I command you, that you love one another." The things I have been telling you, these things which down through past ages I have taught you through my prophets, these things which are the eternal, unchangeable word of God to man, these things I am commanding you in order that ye may be able to love one another. The whole purpose of truth is to lead to love. For this purpose it is revealed. Until what is implied in love to God and the neighbor is known, until the duties and tasks that belong to that love have been accomplished, love is not achieved. Until the works of repentance, reformation, and regeneration are the central concern of our life, even the good we do remains exactly what the Writings call it, spurious and unclean.

We need indeed to bring to the Lord Cain's offering, the fruits of our minds, for we remember that the Lord said to Cain, "Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" But we need to bring Abel's offering also.

The opening paragraph in the Doctrine of Charity reads, "Man is born into evils of every kind. His will... is nothing but evil; wherefore unless a man is reformed and regenerated, he remains not only just as he was born, but even becomes worse; because to the evils received by heredity he adds actual evils from himself."

We do man no service when we cover up this fact. Man left to himself would rush to destruction. The first requirement of religion is that selfishness be cast out of the heart. "Marvel not that I say unto you, ye must be born again." Only as selfishness is cast out can we serve the neighbor truly and make our service an acceptable offering to the Lord.

We can give time, service, and money for our fellow men, and if our motives are unselfish, the giving will be blessed, and the world will be better. But our real gift to the Lord must be ourselves. There is no gift comparable to the gift of the human heart. It is for this that are created. And this is the meaning of the Bible story of Cain and Abel, given to men ages before the time of recorded history. "And unto Abel and to his offering the Lord had respect, but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect."