Why did God have respect for Abel’s offering and not Cain’s?
The answer to that question should have us doing some serious soul-searching.
In Genesis 4, we’re told the story of Cain and Abel. The story is that Cain and Abel both brought their offerings to the LORD.
Cain, a master gardener, brought some of the fruit he had grown to the LORD. Abel, a skilled shepherd, brought of the firstlings of his flock.
Scripture records in Genesis 4 how God respected Abel’s offering but had no respect for Cain’s offering. This upset Cain, as his countenance fell and he began to harbor a hostile attitude toward God, and toward Abel.
God confronted Cain about his attitude, and Cain confronted Abel, ultimately killing him. This led to Cain’s banishment, his horticulture skills being supernaturally taken from him, and his ostracization from what little society existed at that point.
Now, the question becomes, “Why did God have respect for Abel’s offering, but not for Cain’s?”
Many answers have been offered to this question over the years. Few have any real basis in scripture.
Some say God respected Abel’s offering over Cain’s because it was a blood sacrifice. While this answer does make sense (because scripture says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins), it overlooks the fact that grain offerings were part of the Temple sacrifices outlined in the book of Leviticus. Plus, scripture does not give that explanation for this specific circumstance.
Others say Abel brought the best of his firstlings to sacrifice, while Cain brought subpar fruit to sacrifice. Again, this makes sense, as God has been known to reject subpar sacrifices in other passages, but once again, lacks any scriptural support of this particular instance.
In fact, if you look at Cain’s demeanor following the sacrifices, you may get the idea that Cain brought his best. He is really offended that God did not honor his sacrifice. This is not the attitude who of someone who was giving his leftovers, but rather of someone who wanted God to be impressed, and wasn’t.
So, what was the difference between Cain’s sacrifice and Abel’s sacrifice? Why did God respect Abel’s offering, and not Cain’s?
Scripture (to my knowledge) only addresses this once. In Hebrews 11:4, which says, “By faith Abel 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.”
What separated the sacrifices was that Abel offered his by faith. Cain offered his out of obligation.
Faith is a deep-rooted trust in the Lord, and a conviction of His truth. Faith trusts not only that God exists, but that He is good and He intends good toward us. Faith believes that God rewards those who diligently come to Him.
It was that trust and conviction that motivated, that spurred Abel’s sacrifice. Cain made his offering because “it’s what you’re supposed to do.”
As I pondered this while preparing Wednesday night’s lesson on Hebrews 11, it hit me… how much do I do out of obligation to God?
What all do I do because it’s what a pastor should do?
And what all do I do because I love God and I trust Him?
The things that we do “just because,” or because they are expected, or because they are a great idea, God looks at those actions the same way he looked a Cain’s fruit. It might have been some of the best fruit ever grown, but God did not respect the heart from which it was given.
However, the things we do because we love God create a sweet smell in his presence. He regards that as highly as He does the sacrifice that Abel made. He honors such actions and such efforts.
The moral of this story in Genesis 4, and the scriptural commentary given in Hebrews 11:4, is that we need to reflect on our heart, learn to trust and love God, and learn to let that love and trust motivate our actions and offerings to God.
So, let’s take an inventory on our lives. And once we have that inventory complete, let’s correct our motivation where our motivation needs correcting, and our actions where our actions need correcting. We want to please God, and we want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Having your faith deeply rooted and living by that faith is how you will come to hear those words.
Leland Acker 