Bible Truth #375 - Genesis 4:1-7

Genesis 4:1-7

1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

2  And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7  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.

Why was Able's sacrifice accepted and Cain's not? If God knew Cain's heart, why didn't He give Cain the same heart He gave Able? He could have but He didn’t. He gave both brothers the heart He intended to give them because God formed both of their hearts (Psalm 33:15). God turns hearts as He sees fit to accomplish His purpose (Psalm 57:2, Proverbs 21:1). God is the one Who, for some, takes out their heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). He gives His people a heart to know Him (Jeremiah 24:7) and fear Him for their own good and for the good of their children (Jeremiah 32:39). God opens some hearts and keeps other hearts closed (Acts 16:14). God turns hearts to hate His people, whether they be children of Israel or Christians (Psalm 105:25). And He does all of this while making men believe they have free will!.

But, why was Able’s sacrifice accepted and Cain’s not? Answer - it was God’s plan. It is an example to us of how to offer sacrifice and how to worship. Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground but Abel brought the firstlings (first born) of his flock. I am assuming that Cain did not bring some of the first fruits, he simply brought some of what was left over, or some of what he could “spare” as an offering. God hates that! He wants us to bring the best we have, the first fruits.

Some also say that Cain’s sacrifice was not a blood offering and that is why God did not respect it. Others may say, “Well how was he supposed to get a blood offering?” He was a farmer and didn’t have livestock.” Maybe there was a problem with his willingness to trade or barter with Abel. Maybe it’s possible that in his greed he did not want to give Abel a fair trade and decided to give God what he thought was fair. The bottom line is that there was a problem with his heart because God left him alone in his depravity where he gave Abel a heart to please Him.

Just a reminder here that man in his fallen nature has only evil desires and thoughts emanating from his heart (Genesis 6:5) and hates God (John 3:20) - this is the Totally Depraved nature of man. If God simply leaves man alone, he will be like Cain. It is God’s work in a man that must take place before man will do anything “good” and pleasing to God (John 6:29, Romans 8:8).

But I wrote that the story of Cain and Abel was an example to us of how to offer sacrifice and how to worship. Do I really think it’s possible Cain and Abel were purely for an example to us. Yes, and if it was it wasn’t the last time. Remember all the stories and teaching that came from the Exodus of the nation of Israel out of Egypt and their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. God tells us twice that all these things happened to them as examples for us (1 Corinthians 10:1-11), not simply to teach them but to teach us. Everything that occurred fell out upon them by design, caused by a force other than themselves - orchestrated, planned, brought about.

The story of Cain and Abel is an example of what pleases God and what does not. He wants our obedience, not sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). When we obey, our bodies become living sacrifices and this is what God wants from us (Romans 12:1).