Why did God choose Abel?

[sopranette]

Why did God choose Abel's sacrifice over Cain's?  They both gave equally and in obedience.  One theory I heard was that, while Abel gave of his first born lambs, in one complete offering, Cain gave a portion over time,  maybe indicating a weaker faith than Abel's.  Thoughts?

love,

Sopranette

[grace]

Able gave out of faith and pointed toward Jesus...
Cain offering did not show faith toward Jesus..

Why did Able also offer up the fat?

[p.progress]

Posted by: sopranette  Posted on: Today at 07:54:02 AM 
Insert Quote 
Why did God choose Abel's sacrifice over Cain's?  They both gave equally and in obedience.  One theory I heard was that, while Abel gave of his first born lambs, in one complete offering, Cain gave a portion over time,  maybe indicating a weaker faith than Abel's.  Thoughts?

love,

Sopranette

Posted by: grace  Posted on: Today at 07:56:26 AM 
Insert Quote 
Able gave out of faith and pointed toward Jesus...
Cain offering did not show faith toward Jesus..

Why did Able also offer up the fat?

 Genesis 4:1-7

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

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

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

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: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.

And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 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.


 Hebrews 11
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.


2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.


3 Through faith [which cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God; and being not hearers only, but doers of the Word of God] we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.


4 By faith [defined as above] 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.


6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


7 By faith Noah, being warned [by the Word] of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.


The reason that Cain's was not accepted and Abel's was accepted, laid in the fact that Abel had offered unto God what God had previously prescribed to offer to him as a sacrifice to him, and he did so in the proper manner and order, God had prescibed (commanded) to offer a sacrifice to him - Cain did not.

The sacrifice and offering God required was a blood sacrifice - that is an animal sacrifice; it is the blood that makes attonement. And this was understood as far back in human history as Adam and Abel and Cain (etc.). Only Abel was willing (sufficiently humble, and believed in God's promises, enough) to do as God commanded; where we see that Cain was not.

Study the revelation in Scripture concerning what constituted acceptable sacrifices to God and how they were to be offered, then you can better understand why Abel did as he did.

The account in Genesis does not go into the detail about what and why blood sacrifices of clean animals was required and expected by God to be offered to him. Abel and Cain had been properly instructed in all this by either their father Adam (who must have been instructed of all these things by God himself), or by by God himself - you can be sure of this.

While we are not privy to this instructional discourse given by God to Adam and/or Cain and Abel (and others), we can know though this was indeed the case, by thinking it all through, after comparing and then studiously harmonizing all the scriptures that speak to the subject of sacrifices and why they were to be given. We also see though that only Abel took these commands to heart, and by faith and the fear of the LORD, did as God commanded to be done. - Cain did not. Hence his sacrifices were not accepted by God, because they were not acceptable to him.

[Charles Sloan]

I think the reason Abel was accepted and Cain was rejected was because Abel brought the first and the best he had, while Cain just brought an offering, (Gen 4:3-4). I think about it like the difference between offering someone the first place at the table and giving someone your leftovers. I know the common belief is that God required a blood offering, but I can't justify that conclusion specifically from the text.

[Dennis]

I think the reason Abel was accepted and Cain was rejected was because Abel brought the first and the best he had, while Cain just brought an offering, (Gen 4:3-4). I think about it like the difference between offering someone the first place at the table and giving someone your leftovers. I know the common belief is that God required a blood offering, but I can't justify that conclusion specifically from the text.

I have heard the same thing [many many times] and I likewise agree it is not based on the text. 

Nice picture too.

[Charles Sloan]

Nice picture too.

Thank you, I have some cute ones from his first time at church this weekend I want to post later.

[Jimmy]

I think the reason Abel was accepted and Cain was rejected was because Abel brought the first and the best he had, while Cain just brought an offering, (Gen 4:3-4). I think about it like the difference between offering someone the first place at the table and giving someone your leftovers. I know the common belief is that God required a blood offering, but I can't justify that conclusion specifically from the text.

I have heard the same thing [many many times] and I likewise agree it is not based on the text. 

Nice picture too.

Agreed.  We have no indication at this time that God had demanded blood sacrifices.

[soterion]

There is no indication until the Law of Moses that sin offerings were required.  Whole burnt offerings, yes, but not sin offerings.

The only thing we can say for certain about Abel and Cain is that Abel's heart was right before God and Cain's was not.  It was a heart issue more than anything else.  It may be that God required Cain to offer from the ground, but his evil heart led him to offer it in some unacceptable manner, as has already been suggested.

[segell]

There is no indication until the Law of Moses that sin offerings were required.  Whole burnt offerings, yes, but not sin offerings.

The only thing we can say for certain about Abel and Cain is that Abel's heart was right before God and Cain's was not.  It was a heart issue more than anything else.  It may be that God required Cain to offer from the ground, but his evil heart led him to offer it in some unacceptable manner, as has already been suggested.

Good explanation.  Manna.

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Because Abel pictures the life of the nomadic herdsman, and Cain pictures the life of the agrarian urbanist.

Cain owns the curse of his father.  Abel's good fortune relies on God's providence.  It's a trust issue.

[blituri]

Man is the human race.
Cain was "of that wicked one" because Eve was seduced in a sexual sense says Paul.

Cain, (from a musical note) because Moses was writing in inverted version of the Babylonian texts, represents (Jesus said a parable from the foundation) the agriculturalists down in the deep, dark soil where the Cainites dwelled.  They depended on the rains because they were pegged to the land. If a rain did not come the world's first professional was an emotionally and sexually challenged person who could DRUM UP the rains. He was excluded from work and they developed the fertility rituals they were still trying on Jesus.  These invovled sexual and homosexual rituals believing that this bound the body and spirit together and seduced the "gods" to give them good gifts: Praise singing was always to AID or THREATEN the gods.

Cain was not "of faith" but I doubt that God would curse him if he was sincere: being NOT OF FAITH defines the character of people then and now.

When Jesus went to Caesarea Philippi and took the good confession from Peter, this was the HEART of the agriculturiists.  Just up the slopes of Mount Hermon was the Gates of Hell or the temple of PAN: Pan is defined as one of the BEASTS in the Greek.  There is a great slab of rock in front of the MOUTH or cave of "hell" and people once threw infants into the maws of hell to appease the devil. This was repeated in Jerusalem where the MOLECH image burned infants while the priests drummed and played instruments to drown out the cries. The presiding priest claimed to hear the voice of the "gods" giving him a message no one else could hear. Does that sound familiar?

The Pastorals [Abel] lived up on the slopes of the mountains and when the grass ran out they could move their flocks. They never developed the fertility rituals of vile paganism. Remember that the MESSAGE of God and the Tabernacle was that He was not pinned down to one spot like the later temple of the now-pagan Israelite state. The Feast of Tabernacles was a giant fertility ritual and talent show and Jesus refused to go up until the opening ceremonies were over: he knew that the singing, playing, dancing and reciting did not prevent them from looking for Jesus to murder him.

If that is not true then Moses just flat swiped the Babylonian legends which probably began as history and some were 3,000 years old when Moses was born.

Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees who "spoke on their own" the sons of the Devil. By calling them hypocrites he pointed to Isaiah and Ezekiel who identified the speakers, singers and instrument players where everyone WENT OUT TO SEE the performers and God's message to Ezekiel that they treated him like God himself as a sexual partner.

Nothing has changed: the shame is the same.

[poptart]

p.progress is right, God requires a blood sacrifice.
Abel did so properly, Cain did not.

Further, the very ground from which Cain brought his offering had been ... cursed (Genesis 3:17).

That ain't gonna make it. lol



Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:16), the continual blood sacrifice man needs to meet God.

[Bonnie]

There is no indication until the Law of Moses that sin offerings were required.  Whole burnt offerings, yes, but not sin offerings.

The only thing we can say for certain about Abel and Cain is that Abel's heart was right before God and Cain's was not.  It was a heart issue more than anything else.  It may be that God required Cain to offer from the ground, but his evil heart led him to offer it in some unacceptable manner, as has already been suggested.

That's exactly what I was thinking as I read over the posts.  God knew their hearts.

[sopranette]

God didn't always require a blood sacrifice.  There are a number of times in the OT when He demanded the first fruits of harvest as a sacrifice.

love,

Sopranette

[soterion]

p.progress is right, God requires a blood sacrifice.
Abel did so properly, Cain did not.

Further, the very ground from which Cain brought his offering had been ... cursed (Genesis 3:17).

That ain't gonna make it. lol



Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:16), the continual blood sacrifice man needs to meet God.

There is no way to know from the text that required a blood sacrifice out of both Abel and Cain.  There is no indication that God was requiring sin offerings here.

Also, if any offering from the ground is not gonna make it, because the ground was cursed, then God would never have required offerings from the harvests, as sopranette pointed out.