Monday: The Two Offerings
The contrast between Cain and Abel, as reflected in their names, did not just concern their personalities; it was also manifested in their respective occupations. While Cain was “a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV), a profession requiring physical hard work, Abel was “a keeper of sheep” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV), a profession implying sensitivity and compassion.
Cain was the producer of the fruit of the ground. Abel the keeper of the sheep. These two occupations not only explain the nature of the two offerings (fruit of the ground from Cain and a sheep from Abel) — they also account for the two different psychological attitudes and mentalities associated with the two offerings: Cain was working to “acquire” the fruit he would produce, while Abel was careful to “keep” the sheep he had received.
Read Genesis 4:1-5 and Hebrews 11:4. Why did God accept Abel’s offering and reject Cain’s offering? How are we to understand what happened here?
Image © Elfred Lee at Goodsalt.com
“Without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin; and they [Cain and Abel] were to show their faith in the blood of Christ as the promised atonement by offering the firstlings of the flock in sacrifice. Besides this, the first fruits of the earth were to be presented before the Lord as a thank offering.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 71.
While Abel complied with God’s instructions and offered the vegetable offering in addition to the animal burnt offering, Cain neglected to do so. He didn’t bring an animal to be sacrificed, but only an offering of “the fruit of the ground.” It was an act of open disobedience, in contrast to the attitude of his brother. This story has often been viewed as a classic case of salvation by faith (Abel and his blood offering) in contrast to an attempt to earn salvation by works (Cain and his fruit of the ground).
Although these offerings must have had spiritual significance, they did not have any magic value in themselves. They were always merely symbols, images, pointing to the God who provided the sinner not only sustenance but also redemption.
| Read Micah 6:7 and Isaiah 1:11. How can we take the principle applied in these texts and apply it to our lives and worship? |
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There was nothing wrong with the contents of the offerings, both were approved as appropriate later on in the mosaic law.
What was/is not acceptable to God was/is our *motivation*
Cain's motivation was consider inappropriate ! Genesis 4:3-7
Abel's motivations were pure ! Matthew 23:23-36
It could be assumed that Abel took note of God's provision of animal skin coverings, as told by their parents, as God shed the blood of animals for them.
There is no other information available that God gave Adam and Eve's immediate family on offerings/sacrifices to God.
Hebrews 10:4-16
Shalom 🙏
What was wrong with Cain’s sacrifice—was it just a refusal to follow instructions? (question as posed by another SS lesson web site).
Intriguing – that if they had followed God’s instructions, each would have had to borrow/purchase/obtain from the other, the necessary items to sacrifice. Cain would have had to obtain a lamb from Abel, and Abel likewise - to obtain produce for his ‘thank’ offering from Cain.
I’m going to be bold and suggest that just as God created two people to unite to make one individual, so He also calls both men and women to unite in labour for Him, to spread the news of salvation. Ponder that!
Intriguing ...
Where in scripture does it show God's instructions to Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel for sacrifices he desired ?
I must have missed something ?
Shalom 🙏
While I too did not find those explicit instructions to Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel written in this narrative, what I do find in Gen.4 is that the conversation between God and Cain infers that there was an expectation that Cain was aware of." If you do well, will you not be accepted?" Cain knew exactly what was expected of him to "do well".
Gen. 4 also shows me that God is gracious, patient and tender towards Cain. God reaches out to Cain before his sin grows to the murder of his brother, warns him that sin is at his door, and encourages him to fight against the temptation by doing what he knows is right. God has always been in the business of seeking the lost. I am so grateful for that.
Larry, do you believe that God did not explain His Plan of Salvation to Adam & family?
Is that how the LORD operates? Or do we find other passages that tell us that He always reveals His will to humans before He puts it into effect?
Why do I believe the LORD has explained His Plan of Salvation to Adam & Family and descendants.
1) He pointed out knowing evil would result in death - no eternal life as opposed to Satan's saying "you won't die".
2) The Seed would crush the serpent - put enmity between man & the serpent thereby reconciling man with God, promise of the Messiah
3) God made coats of skin for them instead of the ones they made for themselves - how - by sacrificing an animal
4) God said, why are you upset because I didn't approve your offering - you know if you do right you will be accepted - implying that Cain knew which offering the Lord desired
5) Hebrews tells us "By faith Able offered a more excellent sacrifice, which showed he was righteous" which tells me there was a spiritual element to the sacrifice
6) I believe that Moses wrote the book of Genesis under inspiration of the Holy Spirit for the benefit, initially, of the descendants of Abraham who would understand the significance and difference between the sin and thank offerings
7) God explained to Noah why He was going to send the flood
8) God explained to Abraham why He was going to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah
9) Deut 29:29 explains that the LORD reveals what we need to know so we can comply with His Will
10) Amos 3:7 makes it plain : For the Lord God will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
11) Then of course for us we have - A Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to declare to His servants things which must shortly come to pass.
Larry, I do enjoy and find much value in your contributions. Obviously you know the Bible.
Yes we can assume by what is said and accept the implies the Bible offers. Your concern is where hermeneutics comes in handy. Defined as using the texts before and after the verse, the chapter, the book, and the whole Bible to answer our questions. I believe just as keeping the Sabbath in the New Testiment was not explicitly given detailed instructions to keep the Seventh day Sabbath, because they were already observing, and had it ingrained in their minds, also Christ set the example, we don't always need the explicit instructions as they are found elsewhere in the Bible. Now the Isrealites when they came out of Egypt, needed to be reinstructed as they had lost the instructions handed down from generation to generation. The same with the sacrifice instructions.
Now with that understanding, and my long years of study of the Bible I have re-read Genesis 4.
but the Lord did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Genesis 4:5-7.
Sad he turned right around and disobeyed the Lord's instructions. No the Lord did not say don't go out and murder your brother, Cain already knew that was a sin.
We find without yielding and surrendering to God, anger can dictate our lives. It pays to humble ourselves before the Lord, then He will answer our prayer, "...deliver us from the evil one..." following this path has great reward. Matthew 6:13. James 4:10. Micah 6:8. Psalms 19:11.
Yes Shalom Larry 🙏 Psalms 122:7.
Thank you
Shalom 🙏👍
Wouldn't this imply giving what you necessarily don't have. I view it as like borrowing from a friend in order to give what you feel is sufficient and acceptable which in essence isn't yours. God wants us to give with our hearts what He has blessed us with. The blessings of Abel was in the flock. He chose the best out of his flock. The blessings of Cain was the crops he tilled. He ought to have given the best. The verse read "If you do well" which to me is the motive behind giving whatever I am giving.
What you suggest, Vincent, is applicable to thank offerings. But Cain and Abel both knew of the promise of the Messiah, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8), and the inspired commentary on Genesis that we find in Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel's offering of a lamb was a faith offering, while Cain's offering was not.
The lesson from this is that only Christ saves, and we are accepted in Him. There is nothing we can offer of our own that will save us.
Interesting. Not one or the other, but both. Your post also reminds me of the desired unity of the church. Each member giving their best gift to unite with the gifts others. All for the good of the body of Christ. One gives music, another speech, yet another hospitality, yet all are fused together as one pleasing sacrifice to the Lamb.
As many of us observed in yesterday's lessons study, the issue was not so much the offerings but the state of Cain and Abel's hearts and minds, and the consequences of allowing anger and bitterness to take control.
The Bible has many references to the importance of getting our hearts and minds in the right place rather than just being religious. (see the lesson references above for some examples)
We always need to be careful in our pursuit of truth that we do not have the selfish motivation of proving ourselves to be right, and by extension, others wrong. God wants to be known by our love for one another, not our ability to present an eloquent logical answer.
God sees what we cannot. He sees the heart, we can't. Thus, it doesn't matter if the looks is definetely all right, that's not only the point... what we carry inside may be even more important! Does what we show outside reflects what we are on the inside?
Is my heart humbled and openned for God's grace?
This commentary on the story of Cain and Abel is full of speculations. A couple of pages back, the author says we "we don’t want to read more into these short texts than is there" but then proceeds to do just that.
Here are some simple facts:
-- there was nothing wrong with Cain's offering. The Bible is very careful to offer balanced sentences and not bias readers against Cain.
--these were free will offerings, not commanded, not sacrifices, and not sacrifices for sin.
-- there is nothing in the text that would make a fruit offering an error and a lamb sacrifice a sin offering. There were no sin offerings at that time.
--there was nothing with Cain's mental attitude or moral disposition or psychology. The lesson author is merely speculating, or repeating the speculations of others. People are simply looking for explanations.
-- God chose the younger brother over the older, a pattern seen numerous times in Genesis. It had nothing to do with morality or type of offering.
-- the point of the story is completely lost if we make Cain the "bad guy" based on the sacrifices. After his disappointment, he still had not sinned, but sin "waited at the door." Times of disappointment are times when all of us are particularly vulnerable to revengeful acts, just like Cain.
--Cain's error was in killing Abel, not in presenting his offering.
Enjoy the Bible study, but take the blinders off!
Jordan, what you state are not facts but are actually your opinions. Although the LORD does sometime chose the younger, however most times in the Word when the LORD sends fire on an altar it is showing approval, and I believe that God's statement you know if you do what is right you will be accepted applies to his offering.
Please see my list of Biblical reasons why I believe the LORD had explained the reason for a substitutionary sacrifice to Adam and family.
In addition 1John 3:11-12 is clear that Cain was evil before he murdered his brother.
Reasons why
Is it not interesting as to how in Exodus God sets up a system of Priests from 1 of 12 tribes of His People and Animal Sacrifices to become part of His People's Worship Services for thousands and thousands of years until His Own Son appears and becomes the "Ultimate Sacrifice" for what all of this pointed to? So Cain had to have been doing something that God was not pleased with about his sacrifice that just did not show his willingness to follow God's instruction for his life and living for God as Abel's life and living and therefore also his way of worshipping God too.
Yes, interesting what John through the Holy Spirit said about Cain: the reason he committed murder was because he was already evil.
1John 3:11-12 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
Yes, Cain matured as an evil seed ...
We are all seeds, that can mature in righteousness or evil !
Well, since both of them were involved in producing that which God asked to be offered to Him, it seems easy enough to give one another the items which the other did not have. God provided all that they chose to work with, and both learned how to increase it; it appears that it worked out well for both of them. So what was the problem?
As I see it - God, through His instructions, showed/taught both of them that they needed to pay attention to Him and His Word - 'learning to listen' (hear Him), and follow His Will and Way.
Abel appeares to have the easier time with this, but Cain seemed to lack the awareness that it would be 'good’ for him, to be in his interest to follow as God introduced them to 'right and wrong'.
In essence, God taught both of them the understanding that that which seems right in one's own eyes does not necessarily mean 'right' in God's eyes; this need for corrective teaching is evidence of the fall-out of eating from the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil before they were spiritually ready.
Fallen man, if he wants to do what is right, needs to bend to do that which is right in God's eyes; this is just the way it is. Cain, the strong, self-willed man, learned this truth the hard way. Through Cain's example came the understanding that man's spiritual side needing to know ‘good and evil’ would be established through trusting God to be a loving and compassioned heavenly Father who loves His children.
The recording of this example of the stark dissonance in the personalities and behavior of two brothers leads me to believe that it was to be used as an example to show future generations the consequences of what mankind will have to come to understand should they leave the path of righteousness the Creator lays out before them.
Generation after generation would pass God’s revealed Truth on until His Son came to wrap up the teachings and provide man with His Spirit of Truth written on the heart and mind of man to establish once and for all time God's Truth - to love Him with all our heart and our fellow man as God loves us.
Even if both brought sheep, I believe God would still accepted Abel's because of his humbleness and respect. Cain would bring his out of pride and ignorance.
Exactly Robert....
A good deed can be done by two opposing motivations.
Simple Example:
1. A old lady needs to cross the road, a kind gentleman can escort her across the road. Good motivation.
2. A local politician is out canvassing for reelection with the cameras rolling, He seizes the oppurnity of walking an old lady across the road for more votes. Bad Motivation.
Same good deed ! One pure motivation, the other ulterior motivation.
Shalom 🙏
Today's lesson states that Cain's offering was "...an act of open disobedience, in contrast to the attitude of his brother." The passage from Patriarchs and Prophets included in today's lesson provides further insight when it states that Cain "...permitted his mind to run in the same channel that led to Satan's fall—indulging the desire for self-exaltation and questioning the divine justice and authority."
What we see here is that 'disobedience' (reflective of defiance/rebellion/rejection that is, in turn, reflective of intentionally being 'out of harmony with' that which is right/essential) is underpinned by and therefore arises from embracing the desire for self-exaltation. This is a hallmark characteristic and dynamic of the Kingdom of Darkness.
And what we also see is that coming from a place of self-exaltation inherently leads us to misperceive God and His Ways. Thus, I would propose that it was not God's actual form of justice and authority that Satan and Cain were questioning because these can only be seen correctly through the lens of self-renouncing love. Rather, it was a distorted form of these that they were (mis)perceiving and therefore rebelling against. I believe this is why it is necessary for God to remind us that the reality of His Ways is higher - distinctly different - than the ways of this world (Isaiah 55:8,9) and that we need progressive transformation of our views so we can have our vision re-clarified (Romans 12:2).
So, our core attitude will inevitably impact how we perceive reality and therefore what we believe. And this will in turn be reflected in how we treat others. Hence, John 13:35.
Please, let's shed light on the statement, "Abel...offered the VEGETABLE offering in addition to the animal BURNT offering".
We have different OFFERINGS in Leviticus. So, where is this statement & emphasis found?
Thanks.
I think you will find the answer in the post to which you are replying. Please read it again. [Hint. The paragraph begins with "Without the shedding of blood"]
The bible does not make specific mention of Abel's complete offering. The text only says that Abel *also* offered a lamb. That could mean that he offered a fruit/vegetable offering as a "thank" offering along with the lamb offering to show his faith in the Redeemer to come.
Ellen White also had this to say in one of her earliest books: