God pronounced a curse on Cain and his labours that caused Cain to express great anguish-but not repentance. But Cain’s rebellion continued as he denied knowing where Abel was. When God asked Cain where Abel was, even though He knew the answer, God may have been giving Cain the opportunity to confess and repent. But instead of taking God’s advice, Cain became angry and murdered his brother. Genesis 4:7 indicates that God gave Cain a second chance to obey.
Then he was angry and disappointed when he found that God did not want that kind of worship. Perhaps Cain brought his offering unwillingly because he thought he had to. Hebrews 11:4 says, “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.” Abel believed and trusted God so fully that he was glad to give the best he had. The Lord accepted and welcomed this offering. He gave God the firstborn lambs and the best of his flock. It is not said that he loved God enough to give the first and the best, as Abel did. Cain presented some of the things that grew on his farm. The Genesis account isn’t clear as to why Cain’s faith and attitude displeased God. It was “a more excellent sacrifice” (Heb. Both boys brought sacrifices to the Lord from the fruits of their labour, but Abel brought the best from his flock and the Lord was pleased. We don’t know if God instructed Adam’s family to bring Him specific animal sacrifices, even though later (in Leviticus) certain types of sacrifices were specified. When they were grown, Abel was in the profession of raising sheep Cain worked the soil. We are not told why Eve chose that name but possibly because she only had Abel a short time before he was killed. The name “Abel” means a breath, a sigh, or a trifle-almost nothing. To put it into English, Eve said, “With the help of the Lord I have gotten a man, so I will call him Gotten.” Here that word is translated “Brought forth”. The name “Cain” comes from a Hebrew word meaning make or get. Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd.
Adam and Eve followed God’s instructions to multiply and fill the earth when first Cain, and then Abel were born.