What is the way of Cain (Jude 1:11)?

The beginning of their course is a going in the way of Cain. This is a way of self-will in the things of God. Cain was the first to take that way, and his name is left upon it. He would approach God, and this in itself was good: but he would do it in his own way, and not in God's way. Now, by His action in clothing our first parents with coats of skins, God had indicated that death was His way, and Abel's faith had seized this. Cain had no faith, only his own thoughts. Why should not God be satisfied with the way that seemed right to Cain? He would take his own way in self-will.

These men trod the way of Cain, and it is still immensely popular. Multitudes there are who prefer their own thoughts to God's Word. Why should not God be pleased with their efforts and their approach? As long as they recognize Him, may they not draw near and worship Him as they please? At any rate that is what they intend to do. Alas, still they go in the way of Cain; and there is a woe at the end of it.

He vividly sets forth the development of the evil by the use of three more illustrations drawn from the Old Testament. Recalling the history of Cain he exclaims of the corrupters of Christendom, "Woe to them! for they have gone in THE WAY OF CAIN." The way of Cain was the way of natural religion. Cain was a religious man, but his religion was according to the thoughts of fallen man and not according to the revelation of God. His natural religion led him to belittle sin, to despise God's provision to meet sin, to attempt to draw nigh to God on the ground of his own works, and to persecute the true child of God. Alas! through the corruption of ungodly men, the large mass of professing Christians have gone in the way of Cain. The popular religion of the day ignores the revelation of God, and takes no account of sin in the sight of God. It treats the fall as a mere myth and hence, denying that man is fallen, has no use for the atonement. Rejecting the propitiatory work of Christ, it naturally falls back on the works of men for the ground of acceptance with God. Moreover, it holds in great contempt, and special hatred, all those who, cleaving to the revelation of God, trust in the atoning blood as their only plea, and love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth. Upon all those who follow in the way of Cain God pronounces "Woe."

Jude continues by appealing to the history of one of the most depraved men in the Old Testament. He says of these corrupters, they have run "greedily after THE ERROR OF BALAAM for reward." This desperately wicked man was governed by covetousness. In the pursuit of gain he would fain make merchandise of the people of God, and was even ready to proclaim error if by so doing he could obtain the reward. This has been rightly called the ecclesiastical error, or how many there are who hold high official position in the professing church who simply use the position to make merchandise out of the people of God, and are ready to teach error to obtain rewards. This evil rises to its greatest height in the corrupt system of Rome marked, as it is, by "merchandise of gold," and every choice and precious thing that man's heart can covet, from "gold and silver and precious stones" down to "the souls of men." If the professing church can make merchandise with the truth of God, it will not hesitate to barter with the souls of men (Rev. 18:12-13). Such is the modern repetition of the error of Balaam.

Lastly Jude says of these corrupters, they have "perished in THE GAINSAYING OF CORE." The sin of Korah was twofold; on the one hand, he openly rebelled against Moses and Aaron saying, "Ye take too much upon you … wherefore … lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord"; on the other hand, not content with his own position, he usurped the place of priestly intercession that alone belonged to Aaron (Num. 16:3, 9-10). He sought to degrade Moses and Aaron to the level of the congregation, and to exalt himself to the level of Aaron. Alas! the modern answer to the gainsaying of Core is only too manifest. From pulpit and press, from convention and conference there flows an ever-rising tide of rebellion against the Christ of God, combined with the exaltation of man. Christ is degraded to the level of fallen man, and man is exalted to the level of God. Religious infidels masquerading as Christians dare to say that too much is made of Christ while claiming for man rights and honours that alone belong to Christ. This rebellion against Christ linked with the exaltation of man is the very essence of apostasy and will end in the appearance of that great apostate, "the man of sin," "who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God" (2 Thess. 2:3-4).

Such was "the way of Cain in which way millions are, at this moment, rushing on. Such persons are not, by any means, divested of the religious element in their character. They would like to offer something to God; to do something for Him. They deem it right to present to Him the results of their own toil. They are ignorant of themselves, ignorant of God; but with all this there is the diligent effort to improve the world; to make life agreeable in various ways; to deck the scene with the fairest colours. God's remedy to cleanse is rejected, and man's effort to improve is put in its place. This is "the way of Cain." (Jude 11)

The direct allusion to this incident in Jude is very instructive. He traces the progress of the apostasy that he foretells, under three heads. First, "the way of Cain," which was a way of self-will in approaching God: He ignored God's way and came in his own way. Second, "the error of Balaam for reward." This was self-seeking under cover of religion. Third, "the gainsaying of Core" which was self-assertion in the things of God. Jude indicates that when the third stage is reached the opposers will perish. We can see these three stages in the sad history of Christendom. In our day the third has become all too manifest. Prominent religious leaders of our day not only refuse any authority to the writings of Moses and the prophets and the New Testament apostles, but boldly challenge the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The "perishing" that Jude predicts cannot be far off.

The Apostle Jude in his short epistle: pronounces a threefold "woe" on the misleaders of the people. "Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah" (ver. 11). Note the progression in these statements "gone"; "ran greedily after"; and "perished." The outstanding evils of Christendom are before us in this solemn passage. "The way of Cain" was (typically) the rejection of Christ and His death as the only ground of approach to God. Multitudes of persons in the religious world of our own time are following his ruinous example. "The error of Balaam" was the corruption of ministry for the sake of personal gain. Balaam has had no lack of successors throughout the centuries. Hirelings in abundance have asserted themselves, caring nothing for the glory of God, nor for the blessing of men. Their own advantage has been uppermost in their thoughts. "The gainsaying of Korah" is placed out of its historical order by the Apostle Jude, for he preceded Balaam in the history of Israel (Num. 16). But Korah's great sin is mentioned last in the passage before us because of its exceeding seriousness. Men who at the best are only ministers of God challenge the rights of Christ by pretensions to priesthood. The Lord Himself is thus affronted, and the foolish souls who submit to Korahites are kept in spiritual blindness and ignorance, and are cheated of the grace of God to their present and eternal damage. The people, alas love to have it so. Gorgeously appareled officials, professedly doing everything for them, appeal to their superstitious folly. The more the study of the Word of God is neglected, the more readily men and women fall into priestly snares.

Cain's voice, we have seen, is silent. Cain had the same opportunity of securing acceptance and blessing as Abel, but he missed it. Mark that! "And the Lord said to Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin (or, a sin-offering) lies at the door." The Lord says in effect to Cain: You can go and do as Abel did. Follow your brother. Why don't you take his road? Alas! Cain did not like it; and a little while after, he "talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him."

Do you know why he slew him? Four thousand years after this terrible murder, God gives the reason for it In 1 John 3:11-12, He says, "This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." God tells us here that the way of Cain was evil, — his "works," supposed to be suited to God, were evil. Unsaved sinner, although religious, your works are evil. It is no good to deny it. We would like to credit ourselves with good; but when the Holy Ghost draws down the veil four thousand years after, He lets us have a good look into Cain's heart. His works were evil, and therefore his wrath appeared, and he slew his brother. Only think, he was guilty of committing murder because he was angry that his brother was accepted, and he himself was not; and so has it been in the world since.

The way of Cain — man's nature and will, and hatred of God's people: cf. 1 John 3:12.

The "way of Cain" was man's resistance to the verdict upon himself, and so to the way of grace proclaimed. God then undertook to prove him, taking him on his own ground, and bidding him justify his own thoughts of himself by actual experiment.

Such is the doom of the false teachers of Christianity, whose character is described so plainly in 2 Peter 2, and in Jude. It is the latter who, in verse 11 of his epistle, pronounces this fearful and unqualified sentence. Mercy for them there is not. Their offence has been so flagrant and their self-will so stubborn that only "woe" is their portion, unless their eyes should be opened, and, humbled on account of their guilt and state, they turn from their evil ways with repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. "For," says the Spirit of God, "they have gone in the way of Cain," that is the first charge against them. They, like Cain, were not irreligious, but they approached God after a fashion of their own. They did not bring "blood"; they denied atonement by blood; they ignored the true nature of sin, and the fact of their own guilt. Their religion was one of personal merit, and based on the ground of good works - beautiful fruits of a cursed soil! Such was the way of Cain, and such was their way - the way of multitudes of teachers of modern and apostatizing Christianity. "Woe unto them." This way of Cain is popular in the pulpit of today, and highly pleasing to the self-righteous ear. God is worshipped, but not in His way; approached, but not by blood; owned, but not as the Judge of sin. Cain's way, their way, ends in woe, certain and inevitable woe!

Such is the doom of the false teachers of Christianity, whose character is described so plainly in 2 Peter 2, and in Jude. It is the latter who, in verse 11 of his epistle, pronounces this fearful and unqualified sentence. Mercy for them there is not. Their offence has been so flagrant and their self-will so stubborn that only “woe” is their portion, unless their eyes should be opened, and, humbled on account of their guilt and state, they turn from their evil ways with repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. “For,” says the Spirit of God, “they have gone in the way of Cain,” that is the first charge against them. They, like Cain, were not irreligious, but they approached God after a fashion of their own. They did not bring “blood”; they denied atonement by blood; they ignored the true nature of sin, and the fact of their own guilt. Their religion was one of personal merit, and based on the ground of good works—beautiful fruits of a cursed soil! Such was the way of Cain, and such was their way—the way of multitudes of teachers of modern and apostatizing Christianity. “Woe unto them.” This way of Cain is popular in the pulpit of today, and highly pleasing to the self-righteous ear. God is worshipped, but not in His way; approached, but not by blood; owned, but not as the Judge of sin. Cain’s way, their way, ends in woe, certain and inevitable woe!