The Offerings of Cain and Abel

June 1, 2025 Background Scripture: Genesis 4:1 - 25 Lesson Passage: Genesis 4:1 - 16 Mature Christians know when we have crossed the line. We know when our thoughts have transformed into motives that spur us to act. We are very aware when our actions are directly opposed to the will of God as expressed in His word and placed in our hearts. But where is the line that separates obedience from disobedience? We cross it long before we begin to act. Somewhere between our thoughts and motives is an almost imperceptible transition against the will of God. Today's lesson can help us understand this. Sin today is just as awful as sin during Cain's life; all unrighteousness is sin. All sin opposes the holiness of God. Today's lesson is a tragic account of what can happen within human relationships when sin is allowed to surface. Today's account is the first occasion in the Bible where people are bringing to God offerings based on the fruit of their labors. There is no record of when offerings to God staffed or if God required it. When God placed Adam in the garden, He told Adam to take care of it, and he could eat of the fruit it produced, There is no record that Adam was told to bring a portion of the fruit to God as an offering. The only hint of an offering occurred after Adam sinned and God made clothing of skins to cover Adam and Eve's bodies. Those skins came from some animal, but we are not told what happened to the animal(s). After the sin incident, Eve conceived and gave birth to two boys. After they matured, they were not idle; Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. They both brought offerings to God based on the fruit of their labor. It should be noted that grain offerings were encoded in the Law God gave through Moses thousands of years later. However, God's response to Cain and Abel is very telling in that He responded to them before He responded concerning their offerings. The scripture says, "the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering". The Lord considered the individual before He considered what they brought as an offering. There was something God saw in Abel that caused Him to respect Abel and his offering. Contrariwise, there was something God saw in Cain, or did not see, that caused Him to not respect Cain or his offering. God's reaction was not about the offering, but towards the person bringing the offering. God looks inside before He considers what we are presenting on the outside. After God's response to the two brothers, jealousy reared its head in Cain. Whatever was in Cain's heart after his offering was there before his offering. God's response to Cain and Abel did not cause anything to enter Cain's heart. God's response likely stirred up what was already in Cain's heart. God appealed to Cain as a loving Father to master the sin that was within him. God warned Cain that either Cain would rule over his sin, or his sin would rule over him. Cain ignored God's warning and allowed his jealousy to fester. Why was Cain jealous of Abel? The New Testament teaches that Abel had the right relationship with God because of his faith. That is not to suggest that his faith was based on the type of offering because God encoded both types of offerings in the Law. Cain's jealousy and lack of faith in God led him to commit the first murder in human history because he was jealous of his brother's relationship with God. Nevertheless, killing his brother did not solve anything. Abel's absence did not improve Cain's relationship with God. When it's time for us to bring an offering, let us first look within ourselves, and then give with a sincere heart and attitude of righteousness. We should remember that every good and perfect gift comes from God. We can only offer to God what He has graciously entrusted us with as stewards. Robert C. Hudson May 24, 2025