Monday, July 18, 2022

Cain and Abel

John Ankerberg
By R. L. Wilson: “Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah …” (Matthew 23:35-35)

When Adam sinned and was shut out of the Garden, when the relationship between God and Adam was broken, Adam began a lifelong practice of offering sacrifices to God. This practice, along with the reasoning behind it, was passed along to his sons, Abel and Cain.

These sacrifices, which would be clearly laid out for us years later in the Mosaic Law, would involve an animal (Abel brought the “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” (Genesis 4:4)), which would be killed and offered to God. This would serve as a reminder that Adam’s sin had brought death into the world. But it would also remind Adam that this animal’s death served as a substitute for his own.

Well, Cain, apparently was not into raising animals. Instead, he worked as a farmer. So at the appointed time he brought “some of the fruits of the soil” as his offering (Genesis 4:3). We read, “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor” (Genesis 4:4-5).

And that made Cain mad. Really mad. So mad he lured Abel out into a field and killed him. When God questioned him about Abel’s whereabouts, Cain lied and denied. “I don’t know…. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).

What’s going on here?


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