Cain's True Nature is the Same as the Nature of The Narcissists

A series of articles on Narcissism (Part 14)

By Prof. Rudy L. Miranda

Will the Narcissists change for the better?

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And you shall be its desire, and you must rule over it.”
— Genesis 4:3-7(KJ2000)

Now, let us examine the narrative of the Holy Scripture with regards to the story of Cain, the first born of Adam and Eve. Let us look at the obvious facts:

1. God has no respect for Cain's offering and Cain didn't do well.
2. Cain's was angry. That was his reaction.

Why Cain's offering was not accepted and why it was said he didn't do well?

The answer to this can be best viewed on the offering of Abel, which is the "firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof". This will imply that there is a requirement for sin offering and the act of Cain in deliberately not adhering to the requirement is already an act of disobedience if not rebellion. The Book of Leviticus has many references to this sin offering.

Instead of reflecting on what he had done, Cain reacted with anger.

This nature of Cain is similar to the nature of the narcissist. Narcs are not capable of self reflection and their reaction when unmasked of their wrong doings is one characterized with anger, indifference, blaming, etc.

Fast forward to the story, you will see that Cain did not changed his ways. In the same manner, the narcissists will never change their sinister evil ways. That is their nature, the nature of Cain.

Going back to the story, God gave Cain a chance to redeem himself. But Cain rejected it.

"....and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And you shall be its desire, and you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)

The Hebrew word used translated sin in the above verse is "chatta ah" which should have appropriately translated as "sin offering". This can be further affirmed by the phrase "And you shall be its desire, and you must rule over it.” God gave him a firstborn lamb for an offering and it is to Cain's desire or decision to offer it. But Cain rejected it. He has all the chances but never cherished it. Even if we give all the chances to the Narcs to change his ways, the Narc will just ignore it. We just need to pray for them and love them from a distance.

Have you wondered why Cain, given all the chances, (The first one is to offer an animal sacrifice to atone for his sins and the second one which is God providing him the sin offering) deliberately and miserably rejected the goodness of God? The answer is:

“Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.”
— 1 John 3:12 (KJ2000)

The answer is: Cain was of that wicked one and his own works were evil.

What about the narcissists?

“Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”
— Jude 1:11 (KJ2000)

To my estimation, narcissists have "gone in the way Cain". Cain and Narcissists have the same nature, they came from the seed of the wicked one and their own works are evil.

We can not fight evil with evil. For our own safety, we should just pray for them and love them if we must from a distance.