This chapter contains a broad history of Cain, Abel, their falling out, and several generations of Cain’s family. There is also mention of Seth and his first son. The topic that jumped out at me is our heart condition.
“Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering – fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’ ” (2b-7)
In case you’re not aware, in v8 Cain actually murders his brother Abel, and then tries to cover it up by burying his brother in the middle of a field, but what led to this event? Those quoted verses seem to indicate some insight into the contrast of Cain’s and Abel’s character.
Abel brought his best to God – his sacrifice (tithe?) was the finest cut of meat from the firstborn of his flock. He put thankfulness to God first, and gave the absolute best that he had to offer, then he met his own needs.
Cain brought “some fruit” to God – it’s quite possible that this was not Cain’s best. Maybe it was even his leftovers or castoffs or the fruit he didn’t like, the Bible doesn’t really specify, though it seems to indicate he did not give his absolute best.
“The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable – how much more so when brought with evil intent!” (Pro 21:27) “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.” (Heb 11:4)
Cain was rebuked by God when he was upset over the lack of acceptance. God basically tells Cain “You didn’t do the right thing, there is sin in your life, and you need to deal with it.” (v7 par) This, combined with the two verses I just mentioned, would seem to indicate Cain had a heart problem, and God was trying to let him know that the sin in his life was not acceptable.
As side note, when researching this topic I came across some alternate views. Some people have indicated it was the nature of the offering that was declined by God (Abel’s blood sacrifice vs. Cain’s non-blood sacrifice). Though the aforementioned passages, plus the acceptance and command of grain offerings later in the Mosaic law (Lev 2:1; 4-5), indicates to me that Cain’s problem was a rejection of the the sin in his heart, not a rejection of the non-blood sacrifice. Another point of view is that God has the sovereign choice to accept one offering, and decline another without explanation. Though I also believe that is true, I feel there is a reasonable explanation in this case given the broader context, and it wasn’t just a sovereign (or arbitrary) decision to accept one and decline the other.
My takeaway and prayer for today is that God would reveal within me any sin that would not be acceptable in His presence (which is all sin), and I would be humbled enough to allow Him to help me cleanse it, rather than hardening my heart toward God.
~ Conqueror in Training