The Way of Cain and the Rise of False Religion

Based on Podcast Episode 260: The Way of Cain: How False Religion Began — Featuring Gary P. Miller

The Way of Cain is more than a story of an ancient murder. Scripture presents it as the first man-made religion—an attempt to reach God on human terms. This pattern has shaped the rebellion of nations, the rise of religious elites, and the final form of deception that will sweep the world in the last days. In this study, we examine the biblical pattern of Cain’s path, the wisdom he embraced, and the spiritual conflict it produced from Genesis to the end times.

The Way of Cain Begins with a Redefined Standard of Good and Evil

God warned Adam that the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die (Genesis 2:17). Adam lived 930 years, yet death entered immediately—first spiritually, then physically. Something did physically die that day in Adam’s place: an innocent lamb. Yet separation from God was the true death that came upon him, and through him, upon all humanity. 

Satan claimed the opposite. He promised Eve she would be as a god and gain immortality without obedience. This lie introduced a counterfeit way to eternal life: seeking divine status apart from the Creator. The Way of Cain grows from this same root—the pursuit of wisdom, power, and immortality on man’s terms.

Adam and Eve’s shame revealed their fallen condition. The coats of skins God provided were not mere clothing—they were an early picture of substitutionary sacrifice, pointing forward to Christ. Life must be given for sin to be covered. Abel understood this. Cain rejected it.

A False Religious System Built on Pride

Cain’s Offering and the Birth of Self-Righteous Religion

Abel brought the firstlings of his flock, acknowledging that sin required blood just as God showed Adam. Cain brought the fruit of the ground, offering his own work rather than God’s way. This was not an innocent mistake. Cain knew what God required. He simply refused it.

This is the essence of the Way of Cain—approaching God through human effort, achievement, or ritual rather than faith. It is the foundation of every false religion that has ever existed.

Shepherds, Sacrifice, and the Pattern of Rejection

Abel’s role as a shepherd—an occupation often despised—foreshadows the world’s disdain for the saints of God. His name meaning “vanity” hints at how the world viewed him as insignificant. Yet he followed God’s way. Cain, who believed he had something superior to offer, viewed his brother with contempt.

This tension reaches its fulfillment in Christ, the Good Shepherd whom the builders rejected.

The Seed War: Cain, Abel, and the Two Lines of Humanity

The prophecy of the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15) begins to unfold immediately with Cain and Abel. Eve believed her firstborn “to get” (Cain) might be the promised deliverer. Instead, the righteous line continued through Seth.

This pattern recurs throughout Scripture—God bypasses the firstborn and chooses the line that walks by faith.

Some evidence suggests Cain and Abel may have been twins, sharing the same moment of accountability before God. Whether or not they were twins, their opposing paths illustrate two spiritual lineages: one receiving God’s righteousness, the other resisting it.

The Way of Cain and Its Connection to the Last Days

The Mark of Cain and the Mark of the Beast

Cain was marked by God as a warning to others. His mark was not redemption—it was a sign of judgment and separation. In the last days, the world will face another mark, tied to the Beast and the final rebellion against God.

Humanity’s growing desire to enhance or transform itself through technology reflects the same ancient ambition: to be like gods without God. This pursuit will culminate in the image of the Beast, the ultimate counterfeit.

Cain as the Prototype of Religious Elites

Scripture links Cain’s spirit to the Pharisees—called a generation of serpents and vipers. They embraced titles of divinity, authority, and holiness that belong to Christ alone. Their self-righteous system mirrors Cain’s defiance, and their persecution of the righteous echoes his violence.

Jesus connects Cain as being the first Pharisee, thus religious Pharisees follow the Way of Cain. This same pattern fuels the religion of today’s satanic global elites—men who craft spiritual systems rooted in pride, secrecy, and control.

Cain’s Lineage, the Genesis 6 Connection, and the Rise of Corrupt Civilization

Cain built the first city, establishing a centralized society independent of God. His recorded lineage ends with Lamech’s generation, which exhibits violence, pride, and corruption. This timeframe closely precedes the events of Genesis 6, where the sons of God took daughters of men, producing giants who filled the earth with wickedness.

While Scripture does not detail Cain’s exact involvement, the proximity of his lineage to the Genesis 6 rebellion suggests a continuity of corruption rooted in his way.

Rejecting Christ Aligns a Person with the Way of Cain

Jesus declared that rejecting Him identifies one with the same spiritual line that murdered the prophets. The Way of Cain culminates in violence against righteousness—first Abel, then the prophets, and finally the saints in the last days. Every form of self-righteousness aligns itself, knowingly or not, with Cain’s rebellion. 

Only Christ restores the image of God in man. Only His sacrifice answers sin. All other paths lead back to Cain’s way: self-made righteousness that ends in judgment.

The Way of Cain is not an ancient relic—it is the spiritual foundation of every false religious system, every human attempt at self-salvation, and every movement that crowns man as his own god. Scripture traces this path from Eden to the present, warning that it will climax in the mark of the Beast and the final rebellion.

God’s way remains unchanged. Through Christ alone, fallen humanity is restored, redeemed, and brought back to the image it lost. Every believer is called to discern the difference between God’s truth and man-centered religion and to stand firm in the righteousness that comes only by faith.