Bible Study Cain and Abel

[for_his_glory]

Genesis 4:1 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. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.


1. Abel was a keeper of the sheep and by faith gave the best offering of his firstlings and was counted righteous by God, Numbers 18:17; Hebrews 11:4
2. Cain was a tiller of the ground, but did not give by faith that which God instructed as being his best offering in honoring God for what God gave him, Numbers 18:12
3. Cain was angry as God had no respect for his offering, but gave him room to repent telling him if he did well God would respect his offering. Cain was given a chance to do better and also to rule over Abel as being the big brother setting a good example to Abel, but instead because of his anger towards Abel and God respecting his offering he killed his brother. Because he had no faith and his heart was hardened God cursed him from the earth that it would never yield Cain any crops.

We see this even today being the very selfish spirit that dwelled in Cain that has hardened peoples hearts that have turned away from God as all they think about is self being that of their own god following the abominations of this world.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 

[Josef]

Hey All,
Good study for _his_glory. I enjoyed it. A couple of questions:

What caused God to not respect Cain's offering?

The instructions for offering in Numbers did not exist during Cain's time. We are not told why God did not receive Cain's offering. So number 2 in your conclusion needs to be tweaked.

Is it possible to figure out, from this passage alone, what about the gift Cain offered made it unacceptable to God?
Hebrews 11:4 does clarify why.
But is there a clue within the passage?

What would have been an acceptable gift from Cain?

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

 

[for_his_glory]

Hey All,
Good study for _his_glory. I enjoyed it. A couple of questions:

What caused God to not respect Cain's offering?

The instructions for offering in Numbers did not exist during Cain's time. We are not told why God did not receive Cain's offering. So number 2 in your conclusion needs to be tweaked.

Is it possible to figure out, from this passage alone, what about the gift Cain offered made it unacceptable to God?
Hebrews 11:4 does clarify why.
But is there a clue within the passage?

What would have been an acceptable gift from Cain?

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

Thank you for your reply.

As per your question, when we read Genesis 4:3-7 we read that Cain only brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, but was not the first fruit or the best that should have been given back to God like the offering of Abel giving the first of his flock. Cain did not give his best to God and that is why his offering was rejected. Able gave from his heart the best, but Cain just gave and kept the best part for himself. God will not accept anything less then our best as we give back to Him.

 

[Josef]

Hey All,
What else does Abel's offering have that Cain's does not?

Genesis 4:3-4 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:

How much effort did Cain put in the gathering of the fruit? If he is picking it up off the ground, he is giving God what God produced. Does picking the fruit off the ground equate to sacrifice? No. So his "sacrifice" was not sacrificial.

Abel invested his time and efforts into increasing his flock. He gave of the first of his flock's increase that resulted from his efforts. Abel's sacrifice came from his labors in caring for his flock. So he was personally invested in his sacrifice. Abel's sacrifice was real and personal.

I don't believe it was just the fruit itself to which God objected. If Cain had picked unripened fruit, that he had labored to grow, would that fruit have been accepted?

This is all speculation at this point. But I wonder.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

 

[for_his_glory]

Hey All,
What else does Abel's offering have that Cain's does not?

Genesis 4:3-4 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:

How much effort did Cain put in the gathering of the fruit? If he is picking it up off the ground, he is giving God what God produced. Does picking the fruit off the ground equate to sacrifice? No. So his "sacrifice" was not sacrificial.

Abel invested his time and efforts into increasing his flock. He gave of the first of his flock's increase that resulted from his efforts. Abel's sacrifice came from his labors in caring for his flock. So he was personally invested in his sacrifice. Abel's sacrifice was real and personal.

I don't believe it was just the fruit itself to which God objected. If Cain had picked unripened fruit, that he had labored to grow, would that fruit have been accepted?

This is all speculation at this point. But I wonder.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

It has nothing to do with what Cain and Abel actually gave, but the attitude of how they gave. It's like the widow's offering in Mark 12:41-44 as she gave her best from the heart like Abel did, but the rich gave knowing it wasn't going to take from their wealth so they did not give their best from the heart.