However, the offering has to fit what God deemed as acceptable. Abel took an offering that he had no control over the outcome. He took from the firstborn of the flock which was the best he had. It was an innocent lamb that shed blood as an offering.
The scripture says blood has to be shed for sin. So where there is no shedding of blood, means there is no remission of sin. Cain and Abel were indeed before the law of Moses. So did Cain actually know that the shedding of blood was a requirement for a sin offering? Wanting proof from the Bible is actually a great characteristic to have.
It actually sounds like God was reminding Cain what an acceptable offering for sin was. However, God says you must take dominion over sin and this is by the appropriate sin offering. God could not hold Cain accountable for the offering he brought unless he spoke to Cain about it one way or another. But since the truth was shared to them there was no room for excuses because sin was exposed.
Based on these scriptures we can see that Jesus is the Word that was made flesh and this is the same Word from the very beginning. Knowing this we are able to see the situation with Cain clearly. I know God had this conversation with Cain at some point before because of the scriptures.
If God never told him, then Cain would have had an excuse for his sin. Just like Jesus said in John about the world. See John God was actually being patient and trying to teach Cain. Cain knowing what God said still brought the wrong type of offering. Maybe his parents, Adam and Eve explained how God sacrificed an animal to cover their sin. As you can see God had to make coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve.
So maybe Adam and Eve explained this to Cain and Abel. Maybe God told Cain and Abel directly about sin offerings. However, we can conclude based on the previous scriptures discussed that God let Cain know what type of offering was considered appropriate and acceptable.
Only God knew the correct answer to that. The good news is that He also told us the answer. See Romans All God wants is His kids back. There was only one sacrifice that could truly remove our sin and restore us back to our original state before sin. It only covered their sins for a year and had to constantly be repeated year after year. However, God found pleasure in the perfect offering of Jesus Christ. Those types of offerings were just a foreshadow of Jesus. Jesus, however, counted it as joy to be our offering and atonement of sin.
You and I were the joy set before Jesus. He was delighted and wanted to lay down His own life so we could finally have dominion over sin.
So sin could finally be removed from us once and for all. He was happy that we could finally be restored back to our true identity which is found in Christ as if we never sinned. Although Abel sinned, he was declared righteous because he took dominion over sin via the sacrifice of the lamb. What made him righteous was the offering which was the shedding of blood from the lamb. See Genesis ,7. Poor Quality The third view sees that Abel brought the best of what he had while Cain brought a poor quality offering.
Attitude Problem The fourth view interprets the rejection as a problem with Cain's attitude rather than the specific offering that he brought. Occupations The occupations chosen by Cain and Abel were the natural results of the curse of the Fall. Since both the ground and the animal kingdom had been affected by the Fall, the sheep needed to be tended and the ground needed to be worked for food. Contrary to what some have contended, there is nothing inherently better about tending sheep than working the ground.
Scripture gives no indication that one occupation was superior to another. Therefore we should not look for the answer to the acceptance and rejection of the offerings in the various occupations the two practiced. The Occasion It seems that there was a special occasion for this offering. The text says the offering was brought in the process of time or at the end of days. This may refer to some type of festival that the Lord established which was similar to the later rituals in the law of Moses.
Some believe it was the first time that God had commanded that offerings be brought, but there is no indication of this in the text. Possibly there was some sort of primitive sanctuary where the offering was to be brought. This act of bringing the offering for sin was foreshadowing the coming of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Who would eventually offer Himself for the sins of the world.
Fruit Not Flock Cain brought the fruit of the ground to offer to the Lord while Abel's offering was the first of the flock and of the fat. This would have been the richest and best portion of the animal, demonstrating that Abel brought his best to the Lord. Why Rejected? Abel's offering was accepted while Cain's was rejected.
Though Cain's offering was rejected there is no reason given as to why. God's Sovereign Choice Some commentators argue that the reason for Abel's acceptance and Cain's rejection is based solely upon the sovereign choice of God. There was nothing different about either of the offerings.
God, rather chose to accept one and reject the other without providing us any reason as to why. Therefore it is fruitless to try to discover the reason for God's decisions for they are His and His alone. Not Blood Sacrifice There are many who believe that Cain's offering was not accepted because it was not a blood sacrifice like Abel's. Instead, Cain brought the fruit of the cursed ground, the work of his hands. Many see in this episode the contrast between the God-revealed doctrine of blood sacrifice versus humanity trying to please God with their own self-efforts.
Cain's offering is reminiscent of Adam and Eve covering themselves with fig leaves after their sin in the Garden. It is humanity attempting to work their way into a relationship with God instead of leaning on God's grace. Had Been Instituted We know that animal sacrifices had been instituted before this time. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them Genesis To make animal skins for Adam and Eve after they had sinned, sacrifices would have been made.
New Testament In addition, the Book of Hebrews stresses the fact that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous.
God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks Hebrews This has led many interpreters to conclude that the reason the sacrifice was rejected was because of the nature of it. Not His Best Another possible reason for the rejection of Cain's offering is the fruit that he brought was not the best the land had produced.
It is emphasized that Abel brought the firstfruits of his flock-the best that he had. Cain, on the other hand, merely brought ordinary fruit to the Lord-possibly of a poor quality.
Therefore the difference between the two offerings is that Abel brought the best of what he had while Cain did not make an effort to bring his best to the Lord. Cain's offering showed indifference or carelessness.
The heart attitude of Cain was sinful and this led to his bringing an inferior offering. Cain did not offer his best to the Lord because there was a problem with sin in his life.
The Bible says, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination Proverbs Wrong Motive Not Wrong Offering Other Bible students argue that God was not so much concerned with the type of sacrifice or the quality of the offering. They contend that His main concern was with the attitude of Cain. Cain's offering was rejected because of his impure heart, not because it was the fruit of the land rather than a blood sacrifice.
He may have brought the very best that he had, but he did so with entirely the wrong attitude. This would be comparable to somebody giving a large sum of money to the church with a grudging attitude. Proper Offerings The last view is strengthened in what the Bible says about the offering. The Hebrew word translated offering is not the usual word for blood sacrifice.
The result of their worship before the Lord was that Jehovah had respect unto Abel and his offering, but he did not have respect towards Cain nor towards his offering. The written account specifically denotes the differences between their offerings.
How did Abel present his sacrifice unto the Lord? It was by faith. Moses did not write that Cain offered his sacrifice by faith, and no New Testament writer comments on the faith of Cain demonstrated by this offering. If Cain did not offer his gifts unto God by faith, then how did he worship?
The opposite of faith is by sight 2 Cor. No doubt, his produce was lovely to look upon. No doubt, he labored over those crops until the harvest. No doubt he anticipated that all the hard work, time, and care he had spent on those offerings would be acceptable.
Instead, his offering was rejected because it was offered according to his own presumption and not by faith. The repetition of the figure of God in the arc of heaven above allows the artist to show that God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice and dissatisfied with Cain's.
From the left, God smiles down diagonally on Abel at the right. The figure of God to the right covers his face in displeasure as the bearded Cain at the left vainly looks up for approval. Jealousy over God's preference for Abel led Cain to kill him, committing the Bible's first murder.
Field Projects Dept. Science Dept.
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