The Offerings of Cain and Abel
The
fourth chapter of Genesis introduces us to the children of Adam. He had two
sons, the firstborn Cain, meaning "gain" or "acquired," and
the second, Abel, meaning "vanity" or "empty." The Scriptures
waste no time in expounding to us the characters of these two. We find one to
be faithless and an evil-doer, and the other to be righteous, having faith in
God.
It
is recorded that Abel, by faith, "offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh" (Heb.
11:4). The key word here is sacrifice. Upon a close examination of the two
separate offerings given (Gen. 4:3-5), the Bible student quickly becomes aware
of the statutes that determine the acceptance of Abel's offering and the lack
of "respect" to Cain's. Verse 2 tells us that Abel was a keeper of
sheep, and that Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Cain
brought of the fruit of the ground while Abel brought of the firstlings of his
flock. God accepted Abel's offering but not Cain's. It is very conclusive that
Abel's offering was in conformity to revealed requirements given by God. And
Cain's offering was in accordance with his own ideas of what the thought was
a suitable offering. The writer of the book of Hebrews says, "By faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." We must
remember that faith acts upon revealed requirements—faith arises from belief of
testimony. Abel did not offer just anything that occurred to him; he offered
that which was required. Let us look closer at the offering of Abel. He brought
a firstling (lamb) of his flock and the fat thereof (vs. 4). Hebrews 11:4 tells
us this animal was a sacrifice. A most important element in sacrifice is the
shedding of blood. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is
the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Lev. 17:11). "For
when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he
took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and
hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people. Saying, This is the
blood of the covenant which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled
with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost
all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is
no remission" (Heb. 9:19-22). In practically all cases of sacrifice, the
shedding of blood or pouring out of the blood of the sacrifice, is
indispensable. Moses wrote, "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for
the soul."
So
Abel first shed the blood of the firstling. Next we look to the lamb, the
firstling of Abel's flock. This firstling of the flock is representative of
Jesus the Christ, the lamb of God. It is not alien to us that the Scriptures
bear this out, that Christ was the antitypical lamb. "But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities... the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all... he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth . . . Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt
make-his soul an offering for sin" (Isa. 53:5-10). "Forasmuch as ye
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But by the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot"
(I Pet. 1:18-19). "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and
saith. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world . . .
Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon
Jesus as he walked, he saith. Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:29,35-36).
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast who made
war with the saints and overcame them—verse 7], whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev.
13:8).
Abel
also offered the fat of the animal. Why? The Scriptures use "fat" to
describe a sense of strength and prosperity. "So the children went in and
possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land,
the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the
people of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they strong
cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged,
vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat and
were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness"
(Neh. 9: 24-25). "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he
shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the
Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the Lord is
upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him (Psa. 92:12-15).
"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the
diligent shall be made fat" (Prov. 13:4).
Christ
was oppressed and afflicted and brought as a lamb to the slaughter He gave
himself humbly to the will of his Father and not to the strength and prosperity
of the flesh. He offered the fat as well as the blood and is now exalted to the
right hand of his Father. As his followers we are encouraged to submit to
Yahweh's will and not to the lust of the flesh which the world supposes to be
strength and prosperity. We remember that by humility and the fear of the Lord
come riches, honour and life. True strength and prosperity come from Yahweh.
Christ did not strive to take unto himself any fleshly glory or benefit, but
offered the "fat" unto the Lord. "And the two kidneys, and the
fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver,
with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And the priest shall burn them upon
the altar: it is the food of the offering made fire for a sweet savour: all the
fat is theirs" (Lev. 3:15-16). The human body stores its excess intake in
the form of fat to be used later if needed. The Mosaic teaching suggests that
use only what is necessary of our intake in terms of temporal prosperity for
our own needs, with the overabundance going to the Lord. We can choose to keep
getting fatter by providing for ourselves, or we can use the extra time or
resource in providing for the spiritual man to offer up spiritual sacrifices.
Abel
offered the firstling and the fat thereof and the blood thereof. Abel believed
the allegorical sentence involving the serpent that one (the seed of the woman)
would come who would bruise the serpent s head that one (the seed of the woman)
having been bruised by it in his heel. He conformed to the requirements of God
and by faith of ered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous Christ was slain as Abel's antitypical accepted
lamb and having himself attained eternal redemption, shall destroy the works of
sin. The hope of one who would deliver him from sinful flesh was evident in
Abel’s actions.
But
what did Cain offer? The fruit of the ground. This offering required NO
shedding of blood. It in no way related to the promises of God. Cain’s offering
was not in accordance with the guidelines of Yahweh as it did not affirm the
necessity of blood shedding. Are we assuming too much to say this? How can we
be sure? We can be sure that there were revealed requirements given to the
family of Adam to follow. In the garden it was commanded that they should not
eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When this law was broken they
were punished. Why so? Because the transgression was against the instructions
given them; they were aware of the instructions, yet they violated them. Thus
they were aware of what was right and did that which was wrong.
Would
Cain also have been punished if there had been no command to violate? Unto his
offering the Lord had no respect. Why? Because Cain knew what was required, but
not being fully persuaded of God's promises, he did only what suited himself.
The
lesson is clear; no religious service is acceptable to God unless predicated on
belief of His promises and faithful observance of His ways. "He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not
God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of
His Son" (I John 5:10).
Cain's
offering of fruit showed that he did not believe in the necessity of sacrifice
or in the shedding of sacrificial blood. Cain was a "professor of
religion" in bringing the fruit of the ground as an offering to the Lord.
Also, by neglecting the sacrifice he had set up his judgment against that of
God and in effect treated God as a liar, being faithless in his promises. Cain,
who was conceived in sin, was as faithless of God's Word as was the serpent,
and true to his paternity, Cain's character was of the serpent, or sin in the
flesh.
"And
the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over
him" (Gen. 4:6-7). Cain's offering being unacceptable, he became very
angry, manifesting the works of the flesh. God sent an angel to reason with
Cain, pointing out that if he had done well he would be accepted, but if he had
not done well, sin was the condition and needed atonement. The word
"sin" in verse 7 is elsewhere translated as "sin-offering."
An alternate rendering of the phrase would be, "if thou doest not well, a
sin-offering coucheth at the door." In other words, let the sin be defined
and recognized and then make proper atonement to remedy it. All Cain had to do
was to offer a sin-offering in the form of a lamb to God and he would be
accepted. Accepted (seh-ayth or se-eth) means exaltation in rank
or character, excellency, highness, or dignity.
Cain
was exhorted to correct his ways so that he would retain the position of
eminence that he had over Abel. "And unto thee shall be his desire, and
thou shalt rule over him." The first-born Cain had the right to act as
priest for the family to God, but to do so, he had to worship acceptably.
"Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel:
and the Levites shall be mine. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the
service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and
offer them for an offering. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children
of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of
all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the firstborn of
the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote
every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have
taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel" (Numb.
8:14-18).
Cain
was a genuine "seed of the serpent." His name means "gain."
He sought his gain by fleshly means. He was of the earth, earthy. Yet his
brother proved to be righteous. Abel ("vanity" or "empty")
saw no value in the flesh; he saw the hope of life in God's promises. Stripped
of his family position, Cain became wroth and vented his anger. "For this
is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's
righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not
his brother abideth in death" (I John 3:11-14).
"And
Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the
field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord
said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my
brother's keeper? And he said. What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's
blood crieth unto me from the ground"(Gen. 4:8-10). So Cain slew his
brother, Abel. This act was a foreshadowing of the death of one who would be
bruised in the heel, and being exalted, would bruise or crush the serpent's
head. "To the general assembly and ecclesia of the firstborn which are
written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Heb.
12:23-24).
The
serpent was promised that enmity would be put between his seed and the seed of
the woman. The serpent was to bruise its (the woman's seed) heel, and it (the
woman's seed) was to bruise its (the serpent's) head. Cain was a seed of the
serpent; the flesh ruled over him. In slaying his brother he further shadowed
those who serve the flesh who would ultimately crucify Jesus. Abel slain by his
brother typified the Lord Jesus. His blood shed by his brother's hand points to
the shed blood of Jesus, which the writer to the Hebrews says speaks better
things than that of Abel's blood.
The
better things wrought by Christ's blood are spoken of in Ephesians 2:8-22 and
Colossians 1:12-23. Surely the blood of Christ does speak better things. For he
himself, having obtained eternal redemption, has become the firstfruits of them
that sleep and those that are "in Christ" at his coming. He hath
reconciled these through his sacrifice that he might present them to himself a
glorious ecclesia, holy and without blemish. "Therefore as the ecclesia is
subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the ecclesia, and gave
himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious ecclesia, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish" (Eph. 5:24-27).
"And
Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For
God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain
slew" (Gen. 4:25). Seth ("appointed") serves as a figure of the
resurrected Christ. Brother Thomas says in Elpis Israel: "Abel
became the type of Jesus, wounded in the heel; but whose sprinkled blood speaks
better things than Abel’s, which cried only for vengeance: while Seth typified
him in his reappearance among the sons of men to bruise sin underfoot, and to
exterminate in the course of his reign the serpent's seed from the face of the
earth."
So
Abel, who was a keeper of sheep, typified the death of Jesus slain by his
brother. And Seth, the resurrected Jesus who will bruise the serpent's head.
"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant" (Heb. 13:20).
Cain's
punishment consisted of (1) the ground upon which he relied would become more
difficult to till, and (2) he would be a fugitive and a vagabond (wanderer). In
order to keep the other members of Adam's family from avenging Abel's death, a
mark was placed on Cain. And it was said that whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance
shall be taken on him sevenfold. Verse 16 tells us that Cain went out from the
presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod. The phrase "presence of
the Lord" is suggested to indicate that Cain was driven from the place
where Adam's family had erected their altar. He would have therefore been
exiled from worshipping God. This thought would be further emphasized in Cain's
dwelling in the land of Nod which signifies "exile." While in exile
Cain built a city and named it after his firstborn, Enoch
("dedicated"). Hence it appears that the city was a city of worship,
but not according to the truth. Through the influence of Cain it probably was
dedicated to apostasy and false worship.
Such
were the characters of the descendants of Cain, those who walked after the
flesh—those who are styled as the sons and daughters of men.
Mac
Briley
The
Santuary-Keeper. October 1986, pgs. 36-41.