By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” When we read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, we encounter the Bible’s first act of persecution. Abel’s faithful worship exposes Cain’s rebellion, and the result is violence. In that moment, a pattern is established that will echo throughout Scripture and across the centuries of church history. Righteousness confronts sin. Truth confronts deception. Faithfulness confronts corruption. And when this happens, opposition often follows. The story of Abel is therefore not an isolated tragedy.