CAIN AND ABEL - TWO BROTHERS OUTSIDE EDEN
In this section we will compare and contrast the thought processes and actions of Cain and Abel. We will again note the importance of the covenant relationship with God and how straying from this relationship does not bring freedom but bondage.
Before commencing this section read the questions below and try to answer them:
1. Why was Abel's offering accepted and Cain's rejected?
2. How was Cain's thinking wrong?
3. How does conscience affect our lives?
Preamble
Before the fall a successful relationship with God could be obtained through man's conformity to God's standards. Adam and Eve were created with the capacity to enter into a relationship with God, and so too, to respond in love to God's commands. There is no virtue in untested obedience and yet, when tested, Adam and Eve fell into sin.
"Virtue:Conformity of life and conduct with the principles of morality, voluntary observance of the recognised moral laws or standards of right conduct, abstention on moral grounds from all form of wrong- doing or vice."
Oxford English Dictionary.
All since Adam "have sinned and come short of the glory of God."( Rom 3:23.) We are not judged because of Adam's sin, but because we are sinners in our own right.
Because we are sinners we need to find forgiveness and die to self, this means that we need to die to the self we have become. A seed has to die in order to liberate the energy it bears within it. In repentance and faith we are planted in the soil of God's word. We die to self and in embracing the ways of God, and knowing the power of His Spirit we find our true self in Him.
Cain and Abel.
Both Cain and Abel were born outside Eden, and to the same parents.
"Seven times in eleven verses the fact is stressed that the two are brothers, thus indelibly emphasising the depravity of Cain - jealous enough to commit even fratricide."
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery.
Both Cain and Abel had the same fallen nature and were instructed concerning how to approach God. But how do we know they had received instruction?
The reality of man's failure and total inability to secure salvation in his own strength can be seen from the prophetic utterances of Genesis 3:15. Note the words of Rom 16:20 "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."
Both Cain and Abel approached God with offerings. The offerings would have been associated with peace (see later comments).
God is a communicator, and Romans 10:17 informs us that 'faith comes by hearing.' In Patriarchal times we see that the heads of families were responsible for teaching the ways of God to their children.
Why Was Abel's Offering Accepted, Whilst Cain's Was Rejected?
Cain offered God the fruit of his own labour and fruit of the cursed soil, whilst Abel brought to God the fat of a lamb - he came through the sacrificial death of an animal. But!
Cain and Abel's respective approach to God took place before blood sacrifice was ever mentioned in the Law given by Moses - so was blood really involved?
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22
The Hebrew word used for offering - Minachaah - it is not usually used for blood sacrifice. Its most common meaning is 'gift, to donate, to bestow.' It was usually bloodless - but this was not always the case (see 1 Sam 2:17, 29).
The death of an animal necessarily involves the shedding of blood. Note that the Lord made "garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." God could have made clothes from cotton, or any other product he liked. Perhaps we are being shown something here. Man's shame and vulnerability needs to be covered with the life of another.
The Hebrew word used for 'offering' in Genesis 4 is a word most often associated with peace offerings - a practice that was later incorporated into the Mosaic Law concerning the peace offering "all the fat is the Lord's".
In the peace offering a blood offering was presented to God. The priest ate a portion of the offering, (as representing God's before men) and the worshipper then also ate part of the offering. Thus God hosted the meal, having fellowship with the worshipper, and any others present.
The sacrifice celebrated the covering of sin, forgiveness by God, and the restoration of a right and meaningful relationship with God, and so to, with life itself.
"In all animal sacrifices the fat was burnt, because it too belonged to the Lord, being regarded as the choicest part of the animal (Lev 3:16; Deut 43:38; Ps 147:14)."
Prof G. Wenham, 'Genesis' p 103.
The three types of peace offering were:
1. thanks for special blessing
2. offerings in pursuit of making a request or pledge to God
3. freewill offerings.
True peace with God (the peace of reconciliation) only comes through the saving work of Christ.
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21
Cain's offering was the fruit of his own labour - no doubt it may have looked good, yet outward appearances are of little interest to the Lord.
All of a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Proverbs 16:2-3
As already mentioned, Cain's offering was the fruit of cursed ground.
Scripture informs us that Cain's offering was without faith, whereas Abel's was with faith:
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.Hebrews 11:4
Scripture states that 'all our righteousness is like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:4) and that in our own strength and ability there is "no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one Romans 3:10-12
Religion that is from man to God represents man's attempt (as seen in Gen 4 and down through the ages) to meet God on man's terms. Note God's response to Cain. He did not accept Cain's offering, yet questioned Cain and spoke in such a way as to encourage Cain to do what was right.
Cain's thinking made man the giver and God the receiver. Yet, through Abel's actions and God's response we see that God is both giver and receiver (think of Christ). Whenever man adds to God's word - or subtracts from it, he is in serious trouble.
"To evade the centrality of divine self-revelation spells invariable and inevitable defeat for philosophical theology. Erecting the case for theism apart from divine disclosures is like venturing to hatch a live chicken from an empty eggshell, a highly imaginative and futile project."
Prof C. Henry, 'God Who Speaks and Shows', p24.
We are covenant beings in that we were made for covenant relationships. If man does not worship God, he will find something else to worship. We are vulnerable yet proud beings. Cain served his own thinking, and suffered the consequences. His offering was bloodless and not from the heart (note that Abel brought the firstborn of his flock)
In this we already see man's failure to adhere to God's law of love: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5
Cain was ambitious, and what an ambitious person usually forgets is the notion of relationship.
Religion in its most vital and significant form, has always been intent upon saving "lost souls", i.e., in helping individuals regain their sense of peace and freedom through a return to responsible living, integrity, and concern and compassion for others.
Dr O.H. Mowrer, 'The Crisis in Psychiatry and Religion', p31.
Cain was in the process of building a picture of God in his image rather than allowing God to speak for Himself.
"When we listened to the pop groups of the early 1970's what did we hear? "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." We should not have misunderstood - most of these singers did not believe that a single word of this had anything to do with reason or with truth other than motivational "truth""
Dr F. Shaeffer, 'A Christian View of the Church', p131.
Pseudo-peace (the avoidance of trouble) put in place of true peace (reconciliation with God) has led the church to become more dedicated to comfort than to change. We want to feel good but ignore the need for transformation by the Spirit of God.
Because of this too many believers suffer greatly - they are shaped by God in the world, rather than by God in their hearts. But what do we mean by this?
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Psalm 32:9
We are created to live in relationship with God. When we live by our own ideas of God we allow death to reign in the place of life. No wonder Nietzsche (the well-known atheist of late 19th century) once said, "The churches are the tombs of God."
Cain had a conscience - yet still went about things the wrong way.
Conscience is, in a sense, like a parent who says 'hold on a minute,' or 'stop' and seeks to curtail our freedom of thought whilst we rethink the issues at hand.
Conscience then, seeks to imprison us for a short season in order to protect us and challenge our actions. The purpose of this 'short imprisonment' is to allow freedom to remain. Cain ignored the ways of God, focused on his own ideas, and did not listen to conscience. The result of this was not the freedom he sought, but bondage to sin. Our only hope is in God.
"Sorrow is to be overcome by the promise of eternal life; fear by the knowledge that God attends our every needand watches over and protects us; emptiness by his glory and the wonder of his love; shame by the acceptance of the inadequacy and the forgiveness of our sin. Jealously is destroyed by the trust that we have for others when we love them rightly."
The Baker Dictionary of Psychology.
Now go back to the questions at the beginning and see if you can add to your answers. What does this session tell us about God?