CAIN'S JEALOUSY, AND THE FIRST MURDER. 11 shedding of the blood of the lamb or other animal that was killed in order to be burnt upon the altar should serve as a token, that in due time the Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should be shed on the Cross for the sins of all the guilty children of Adam. St. Paul (Heb. x. 4) declares it to be impossible, "that with the blood of oxen and goats sins should be taken away." These bloody sacrifices, therefore, could be pleasing to God only as figures of One who was to come, to be offered Himself in sacrifice, and whose own blood was to be the redemption of the world. In this way, then, Almighty God showed His love and mercy to our first parents, in teaching them how to preserve their fear and regard for Him, and how to offer Him such sacrifices and worship on His holy day of rest as He was pleased to accept in the mean time, until Jesus Christ should come into the world to leave behind in it the true and only acceptable victim, which is now offered in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar.

§ 9. Cain's jealousy, and the first Murder. Abel the just is killed.

As the family sacrifices were offered to God on the holy sabbath day, God showed more favour to the offerings of Abel than to those of Cain; and Cain, in place of laying the blame upon himself and upon his own proud and bad spirit, became more and more jealous of the marks of favour which were shown to the offerings of Abel over his own. At length his jealousy grew so strong that he made up his mind

that he would murder his brother, and from this time began to watch for his opportunity.

Whilst he was in this angry and jealous state of mind, God spoke to him and said: "Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well (like thy brother Abel), shalt thou not also receive a reward? and if thou doest ill, though sin stands at the door, still thou canst overcome the desire to commit it, and canst have dominion over it."

Cain, however, was not made any better by this warning; and when the occasion offered, he said to his brother Abel, "Let us go forth abroad together;" and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother and slew him.

Though no human eye had seen this murder, Almighty God knew what had been done; and He called Cain and said: "Where is thy brother Abel?" Cain answered: "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" And God said to him: "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth. Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand. When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield thee its fruit; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.” And Cain said to the Lord: "My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon. Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth; every one therefore that findeth me shall kill me." And the Lord said to

AND JEALOUSY OF HIS BROTHER CAIN.

TYPES OF CHRIST.

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him: "No, it shall not be so; but whosoever shall kill Cain shall be punished sevenfold." And God set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him. So Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth, at the east side of Eden.

§ 10. Types of Christ.

The picture of the death of Abel on the opposite page is said to be a type of Christ. The word "type" will require a little explanation of its meaning. Before Jesus Christ came into the world, and while the people were looking forward to His coming, Almighty God was slowly preparing the world to receive Him when the time should come. Jesus Christ, though Gon, was still to come into the world as MAN in great hu- . mility, was to suffer many cruelties, and to be put to death through the hatred and jealousy of His own people, who could not bear to witness the example of His virtues and goodness in contrast with that of their own sins and wickedness. In order that Jesus Christ might be the better known as the Son of God when He came into the world, Almighty God was pleased to bring it about that the prophets and just men before Christ should each in some particular manner undergo some suffering, in which they would so far resemble Jesus Christ Himself as to be called Types or Figures of Christ. Thus Abel the Just is a type or figure of Christ in this respect, that he was murdered by his own brother, owing to Cain being jealous that Abel was more acceptable to God for his virtue than him