Context: Jude warns against false teachers: "Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion." Cain heads a triad of OT apostates—Cain (murdered righteous brother), Balaam (led Israel into sin for profit), Korah (rebelled against God's appointed leaders). "The way of Cain" becomes paradigmatic for apostasy that persecutes the righteous.
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Christological Connection: "The way of Cain" establishes a pattern: rejecting God's prescribed worship, envying the righteous, and murdering to silence testimony. Jude warns that false teachers follow this ancient path. The trajectory shows this pattern persisting until Christ reverses it. Where Cain wandered under curse (Genesis 4:12-14), Christ bore the curse to bring wanderers home (Galatians 3:13). Where Cain's way leads to destruction (Jude 1:11), Christ's way leads to life. Apostates who follow Cain's way persecute Christ's followers; Christ's blood provides forgiveness even for those on Cain's path who repent.
Connection Method(s): Analogy + Contrast — "The way of Cain" establishes an analogical pattern of apostasy—rejecting God's prescribed worship, envying the righteous, murdering to silence testimony—that persists until Christ reverses it: where Cain wandered under curse, Christ bore the curse to bring wanderers home (Gal 3:13).
Trajectory Table: 002 - Abel (First Martyr)