Three brothers

Chapter 4 tells the tale of three brothers: Cain, Abel, and Seth.

They were the sons of Adam and Eve.

Cain was born first, followed by Abel.  Seth was born several years later, and bore a long line of descendants, which included the ark-builder Noah.

Cain was a farmer and Abel a shepherd.  When it came time to deliver offerings to the Lord, Cain picked "some" of his harvest.  Abel, on the other hand, chose the first born lamb, killed it, and offered the "best" pieces.  The Lord was pleased with Abel's offering.  He was not with Cain's.

God could tell Cain was upset with Him, but said that what he did was a sin--evil.  Chapter 4, verse 4, links to Hebrews 11:4, which explains why Abel's offering was better than Cain's.  Abel had faith in the Lord, which made Him approve of Abel's offering.

Cain then killed his brother out of jealousy, and when confronted by the Lord, Cain said he didn't know and asked why he was supposed to be his brother's keeper.  The Lord was upset by Abel's murder and punished Cain by making him an outcast.  Cain thought the punishment was too harsh and said that others would kill him.  God then said that if anyone killed Cain, God's punishment would be multiplied by seven.

What's interesting to note in this is the argument about the literalness of the Bible versus the stories as metaphors.  I'm not suggesting that Adam and Eve were the only two people on the entire Earth, who bore three sons . . . are you seeing the discrepancy?  How would Cain (and his unnamed wife) bare a son without other people in the world?

I believe the answer lies within the fact that there were other people in the world, but the story of God's people were lined up with Adam and Eve.  In Genesis 4:14, Cain tells the Lord that he could get killed.  By whom?  His parents?

Therefore, there must be other people in the world.  Other people who were not God-loving as the descendents of Adam and Eve.

What about Seth, the third brother?

He was born to basically replace Abel . . . and his descendents went on to build arks and countless other wonderful deeds.