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Genesis 4:13

The Burden of Guilt

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 19, 2022

I remember thinking that Cain’s punishment for murder wasn’t very severe. Murder, as a capital crime, should carry a much more severe penalty. But Cain did not think God’s punishment was too light. In Genesis 4:13, we read, “Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear.’” Banishment of Cain is no light thing. Westermann researched this issue and quotes from several experts. He concludes, “W. Schottroff, following Musil, O. Procksch, J. Scharbert, and others, points out ‘that it is the practice among the Arab Bedouin even to the present day to punish one who sheds the blood of a member of the family by outlawing him.’ This punishment could be regarded as the equivalent of the death penalty.”[1]

However, there is some serious discussion over the Hebrew word that is translated as “punishment” in the English Standard Version as quoted above. It is frequently translated as “iniquity.” Cain is either sorry that he got caught and must pay the “penalty” and focuses on the penalty itself, or he is overcome with grief because of his sin. Most seem to see it as the first option. Leupold says, “Cain’s answer, however, gives no indication of a repentant spirit. There is no grief over sin in the word, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear.’ Cain is very sorry to have gotten into such a mess. He does deplore the set of miserable consequences that he has brought down upon his head. All he speaks about is the punishment that has fallen to his lot.” Leupold acknowledges that it could mean “guilt,” but “here the context demands the common enough meaning ‘punishment for sin.’ Cain merely cringes at the thought of what he must bear. This is a relatively common experience in the psychology of sinners: bold impudence becomes a whining fear and complaint.”[2]

Some will argue that the verse should say, “My iniquity is greater than I can bear.” M’Caig prefers this translation and says, “… his iniquity became his punishment.”[3]Robinson expands on this view and writes, “When sin makes a man a burden to God, he is likely to become a burden to himself. A sinner left to himself is the greatest burden that can be laid upon him. Suffering is often a heavy burden; sin a thousand times more so.” He then quotes Luther, who takes this view also. Luther said, “I had rather go into hell without sin, than into heaven with it.” This kind of burden is what Judas carried after selling Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Robinson continues, “Judas thought to throw off the burden by hanging himself, but only made it faster and heavier.”[4]

I’m not sure which commentators Ibn Ezra was reading in his day, but he gives another dynamic to the translation of verse 13. Cain is not complaining about the punishment, and he’s not lamenting his guilt. Instead, he’s acknowledging the severe nature of his crime. Ibn Ezra says, “All the commentators agree that he is confessing and saying, ‘My sin is too great to be forgiven!’” Nahmanides agrees, “In fact, Cain is confessing. ‘It’s true! My sin is too great to be forgiven! For, ‘You are righteous, O Lord; Your rulings are just’ [Ps. 119:137], even though You have punished me so severely.’”[5]

[1] Westermann, Claus. 1994. A Continental Commentary: Genesis 1–11. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

[2] Leupold, H. C. 1942. Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

[3] M’Caig, Archibald. 1915. “Retribution.” In The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, edited by James Orr, John L. Nuelsen, Edgar Y. Mullins, and Morris O. Evans, 1–5:2570. Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.

[4] Robinson, Thomas. 1892. Job. The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary. New York; London; Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

[5] Carasik, Michael, ed. 2018. Genesis: Introduction and Commentary. Translated by Michael Carasik. The Commentators’ Bible. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.

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Genesis 4:12

The Running Man

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 18, 2022

The ground had opened its mouth to receive the blood of Abel from the hand of his brother Cain. God cursed Cain. In Genesis 4:12, God told him, “When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” The literal reading of God’s curse on Cain, which began in verse 11, says that Cain is cursed, “From the ground.” The curse “from the ground” could mean several different things. Some suggest that it might mean that the ground will not produce crops for Cain anymore, which would amount to something like, “You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil.” Others suggest that God is telling Cain that he is “more” cursed than the ground, which was cursed after his father’s sin. Connecting it with verse 12, it seems best to understand this as cursing Cain’s production when he farms. The ground from which he produced his living before was the ground that received his brother’s blood, and now, because of his sin, the ground will not readily yield its crops to him. This seems to be why he is also cursed to be a “fugitive and wanderer on the earth.” Cain and his family appear to be the first Nomads on the earth. He becomes a people who live chiefly by hunting and fishing and harvesting wild food. Thus, he must follow the game and move from field to field to find food.

Walton sees this likewise. He writes, “In the garden, there was the lush provision of food; outside the garden (where Adam and Eve were sent) there was arable land with cultivation being possible; Cain is driven to a place that has no hope of agriculture so that one must survive by hunting and gathering. Thus, food provision again takes a central place as the blessing becomes more and more difficult to attain. Likewise, since Cain denies responsibility for the family, he is deprived of the family (the other component of the blessing).”[1] Wiersbe says, “Cain had defiled the ground with his brother’s blood, and now the ground wouldn’t work for him. If Adam toiled and struggled day after day, he would get a harvest (Vv. 17–19); but there would never be fruit from his labors for Cain. So, he couldn’t continue as a farmer. All he could do was wander from place to place and eke out a living.”[2]

The curse of becoming a fugitive contains more negative implications. He is not only wandering from place to place; he is running and hiding from something. Some think that God should have been harder on Cain for his sin. Matthew Henry compares the movement of Satan on the earth as described in the book of Job with Cain’s curse. Job says that Satan told God that he had been “moving to and fro throughout the earth.” Henry says, “Perhaps it is spoken fretfully, and with discontent. He had been walking to and fro and could find no rest but was as much a fugitive and a vagabond as Cain in the land of Nod. (3.)”[3] God did not exact the death penalty on Cain. He will give man the right to protect the innocent with the death penalty for murderers after the flood, but he did not exact that penalty on Cain. Shakespeare Said, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” Anna Desai blogged, “It is a moral statement. If one is brave, one maintains one’s dignity, fights injustice and even dies for a cause, once and for all having lived a virtuous life. For cowards, they are unable to face difficult situations for themselves and their families; they are prepared to lose dignity. which is comparable to death every time they shamefully run away from a problem.”[4] Cain would run!

[1] Walton, John H. 2001. Genesis. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1998. Be Basic. “Be” Commentary Series. Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.

[3] Henry, Matthew. 1994. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody: Hendrickson.

[4] https://www.quora.com/What-figure-of-speech-is-cowards-die-many-times-before-their-death

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Genesis 4:11, Hebrews 12:4

The Earth Opened its Mouth…

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 17, 2022

In verse 11 of Genesis 4, God moves to the punishment phase of his case against Cain. God begins by putting a curse on Cain. The verse says, “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” The Handbook for Translators says, “In Adam’s case the ground was cursed, although the effect of the curse was directed against Adam himself; however, in this case it is Cain who is cursed directly.”[1] When one considers the consequences of eating from the forbidden fruit, we can see that pain, sorrow, animosity, and death will be part of man’s lot in life, but God did not literally “curse” the man or his wife. Satan was the only one cursed at that time. According to Hughes, “This is the first instance in Scripture where a human is cursed. Cain now shared this tragic distinction with the serpent (the language is the same as in 3:14).”[2]

Although Cain does not confess to the murder of his brother, God finds him guilty and passes a sentence on him in the form of a curse. Often, the blood of an individual and an individual’s life is the same thing in the Bible. Life is in the blood. We read in Leviticus 17:13-14, “Anyone also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life.” The ground receives the remains of the flesh. “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” But that’s not the ultimate resolution of life. Wadsworth wrote, “Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.” The “ground” that opened its mouth to receive Abel’s blood is sometimes referred to as “Sheol.” Isaiah 5:14 uses this language. It says, “Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down.”  Kennedy says, “…at death the nephesh, as the bearer of the personality, descends into Sheol, while the ruah, which was the quickening influence in the person, returns to God from whom it came.”[3] That seems to be the intended meaning of Ecclesiastes 12:7, which says, “…the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

Sherman looks at this from the New Testament perspective and writes, “I suggest that in a Christian reading, this story arrives at its true climax and resolution in the narrative of Christ’s death and resurrection. That later story, too, has to do with a firstborn, but a firstborn who brings life, not death (Rom 8:29; Col 1:15–20; Rev 1:5). In that story, too, there is a spilling of a shepherd’s blood, but it is a pouring out that brings healing, not condemnation.” So, the author of the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:24) compares the blood of Abel with the blood of Jesus. He writes, “…and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Sherman explains what he means by all this, “In other words, one could not have predicted the full consequence of Cain’s story until the unexpected story of Christ brings it full circle to a divinely appointed resolution.”[4]

[1] Reyburn, William David, and Euan McG. Fry. 1998. A Handbook on Genesis. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.

[2] Hughes, R. Kent. 2004. Genesis: Beginning and Blessing. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

[3] Kennedy, H. A. A. 1904. St. Paul’s Conceptions of the Last Things. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son.

[4] Sherman, Robert. 2004. King, Priest, and Prophet: A Trinitarian Theology of Atonement. London; New York: T&T Clark International.

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Genesis 4:10, Isaiah 26:21, Romans 5:17

Bad Man’s Blunder

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 16, 2022

In Genesis Chapter 4, Cain murders his brother Abel. He then lied to God about knowing where Abel was and then rejected the notion that he had any responsibility for his brother’s wellbeing. God, then, asks him another question to which he already knew the answer. Genesis 4:10 tells us, “And the Lord said, ‘What have you done?” Cain had not properly assessed the seriousness of his deed. I remember as a kid listening to my Kingston Trio 33 LP album that my grandmother bought me and puzzling over the song, “Bad Man’s Blunder.” This is its opening line, “Well, early one evening I was rollin’ around. I was feelin’ kind of mean. I shot a deputy down. Strollin’ on home, and I went to bed.” It goes on to tell the story of his arrest and trial, and finally, the sentence was 99 years breaking rock in prison, and the murderer in the first person says, “and all I ever did was shoot a deputy down.” Cain made the “bad man’s blunder.” The Blunder was not seeing the seriousness of his crime. Kissling says this is the same problem that Cain had. He writes, “The Lord does not ask the question, ‘What have you done?’ because he needed information. It appears to mean something like, ‘Do you understand the magnitude of your actions? Do you know what you have set in motion by your petty jealousy and senseless violence?’”[1] From Cain’s murder to the days of Noah, we see violence multiplying on the earth until God destroys the world over it.

Not only did Cain diminish the seriousness of the crime, but he also thought it possible to hide it from God. Verse 10 continues, and God tells Cain, “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” Abel’s blood has been shed, and the first person who has been born in the image of God has been murdered. Abel’s blood is personified as “crying out” to God for justice. In the poem, “The Ghost of Abel,” William Blake writes, “My desire is unto Cain, and he doth rule over me: therefore, my soul in fumes of blood cries for vengeance, sacrifice on sacrifice, blood on blood.”[2] Revelation 6:10 tells us that all the martyrs cry out. It says, “They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” Innocent blood pollutes the land and cries out for justice. God cannot ignore it. Isaiah prophesies the second coming of the Lord. In Isaiah 26:21, we read, “For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it and will no more cover its slain.”

If there is anything that demonstrates original sin, it’s Cain’s life. Strassner puts it this way, “Cain became a carbon copy of his sinful father. And Cain is a picture of us all. Why do we find ourselves alienated from God? Why are we weighed down with selfishness, bitterness, envy, and the like? Because we have inherited Adam’s sin nature; ‘through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.’ And, in inheriting Adam’s sin nature, we have inherited the death that comes with it.”[3] Romans 5:17 is our only hope. It says, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

 

[1] Kissling, Paul J. 2004–. Genesis. The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.

[2] https://www.bartleby.com/235/338.html

[3] Strassner, Kurt. 2009. Opening up Genesis. Opening Up Commentary. Leominster: Day One Publications.

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Genesis 4:9, Matthew 5:21-22

My Brother’s Keeper

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 15, 2022

In Cain’s murder of his brother Abel, we see how destructive sin can be. It was at first against God, but now it has spread out horizontally, and we see for the first time that sin has horrible implications on human relationships. Cain sheds the innocent blood of his own brother, and murder becomes a precedent in human life. God confronts Cain with another question to which he knows the answer. Cain lies, and then in bold-faced arrogance, answers God’s question with another question. His question has now become famous and has found its way into the literature of nearly every civilization. Genesis 4:9 says, “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’” Cain told a bald-faced lie to God. He either did not understand or rejected the idea of God’s omniscience and omnipresence. He thought he could hide his sin from God.

This question is bubbling over with emotion. It might be worded, “Why? Do you think I’m here just to look after my brother?” Barry observes, “When God confronted Adam and Eve with their sin, they readily confessed (3:11–13). Here, Cain lies to God outright, denying any knowledge of his brother’s whereabouts. Cain not only denies knowing anything about Abel’s fate but also defiantly objects to the implication that he should be responsible for his brother in any way.”[1] There is an apparent escalation of evil here. Adam and Eve sin but admit their sin. Cain sins but denies it. In Chapter Five, we’ll see another murder and a bold stand justifying it. Finally, the violence that saw its first light of day with Cain will become so bad that God will destroy the earth with the flood. When Jesus deals with the Commandment against murder in Matthew 5:21-22, it appears he might even have the murder of Abel in mind. He knew the struggle against evil was an internal one, and he said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” Furthermore, the second most important command, according to Jesus, is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Therefore, the answer is, “Yes!” I am my brother’s keeper.

During the summer of 2020 and 2021, crowds stood by and watched an Asian woman being beaten up and robbed in the middle of New York City. James Boice acknowledged this trend years ago when he wrote in 1998, “Do I hear the voice of modern man in Cain’s cruel question? I think I do. A woman is murdered in New York while more than thirty neighbors hear her screams and ignore her cries for help. In Oklahoma City, a woman gives birth to a baby on the sidewalk while similarly calloused people ignore her cries and merely gaze at her plight from the window of a cozy corner tavern. These stories could be multiplied indefinitely.”[2] It appears that over 20 years later, the situation is worse.

[1] Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. 2012, 2016. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[2] Boice, James Montgomery. 1998. Genesis: An Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

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Genesis 4:8, 1 John 3:12

The Ultimate End of Mankind

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 14, 2022

Warren Wiersbe closes his comments on Genesis 4:7 by saying, “The Lord warned Cain that temptation was like a fierce beast crouching at the door of his life, and he had better not open the door. It’s dangerous to carry grudges and harbor bitter feelings in our hearts because all of this can be used by Satan to lead us into temptation and sin. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, ‘neither give place to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27). If we aren’t careful, we can tempt ourselves and bring about our own ruin.”[1] The sin, crouching at the door of Cain’s heart moved his emotions to such an extent that it affected the way he thought. Jealousy had penetrated, and now it worked its way out in action. Genesis 4:8 says, “Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

It appears that Cain’s murder was premeditated. At first glance, it might appear as a crime of instantaneous passion, but the opening phrase “Cain spoke to Abel” is consistently understood to be the enticement that Cain used to get his brother into the fields and away from the rest of the family in order to cover up his crime. The Handbook for translators even acknowledges that most translators agree. It says, “Most translators will realize that the decision taken about what Cain said to Abel will have a strong influence on the storyline of the narrative in this verse as a whole. If we decide to follow the ancient versions, …most readers will understand that Cain had already determined to kill his brother, and that this was the beginning of his plan to do it. The words of Cain tell us straight out that the brothers went away from where other people were, and then, either immediately or after a period of time, Cain killed his (unsuspecting) brother.”[2] John tells us not to be like Cain. 1 John 3:12 says, “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”

Briscoe laments the reality of violence as the resolution of all our problems. It’s not only true with individuals but also on the national level. It’s no wonder that we haven’t destroyed ourselves by now. History is full of wars and rumors of wars, and even as I write, Russia is invading Ukraine. Apocalyptic literature floods our books and movies, looking for the end of the world. War comes because one nation has something that the other one wants. We will, as a race, destroy ourselves. Briscoe writes, “No sober-minded person dismisses that possibility as he views the ways in which man’s ingenuity is being put to work. Right at this moment, there are submarines at sea carrying more explosive firepower than the sum total of explosives delivered in human history. Therein lies the human puzzle. Brilliant but brutal, creative but catastrophic, ingenious but incorrigible, man is a bundle of contradictions. This became apparent right at the beginning of human history as the story of Cain and Abel clearly illustrates.”[3]

[1] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1998. Be Basic. “Be” Commentary Series. Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.

[2] Reyburn, William David, and Euan McG. Fry. 1998. A Handbook on Genesis. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.

[3] Briscoe, D. Stuart, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1987. Genesis. Vol. 1. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

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Genesis 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:6

The Shield of Faith

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 13, 2022

God asked Cain why his “countenance” had fallen and then suggested that doing right would result in his acceptance by God. Abel’s sacrifice, offering, was designed by God by instruction which was passed down from Adam and Eve as well as by example. He slew an animal to make skins to cover the sin of Adam and Eve. Blood must be involved. That’s to confess the need to be saved by the sacrifice of some other life. In the Old Testament, we see that it was the lives of animals that served to cover the people’s sins. These offerings all looked forward to the one ultimate sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. Hebrews 11:6 teaches us that it is impossible to please God without faith. But throughout the book of Hebrews, we learn that it is not faith in faith, but it’s faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ who is the “better sacrifice.”

Genesis 4:7 continued God’s conversation with Cain. It says, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Redford observes, “God reasoned with Cain in an apparent attempt to restore him. Could Cain justify his anger? Had God been unclear or unfair in his dealings with him? The changes in attitude were Cain’s to make. He had a problem; would he face it and deal with it?” Redford concludes with, “God’s final words to him indicated that he had a choice concerning this beast: you must master it.”[1] The mastery of the beast involves an internal battle. It deals with how we let ourselves think. Cain’s struggle with sin seemed to do with where he would let his mind go. The Handbook for translators suggests, “Because we are translating a figurative expression, we are forced to ask what the door represents. The image may refer to the entrance to a dwelling, but it may equally well be taken as a reference to the heart, mind, thoughts of Cain.”[2]

For we later read a warning to believers that is very similar to what God warned Cain: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). The warnings are parallel: “Cain must rule over sin, and believers must be alert and of sober mind against it (which amount to much the same thing); sin crouches [like a lion] at his doorstep and the devil prowls around like a lion; sin’s desire is for Cain, and the devil looks for someone to devour.”[3] Paul made it clear in his letter to the Ephesians that the war is not against flesh and blood but spiritual forces. Instead of a crouching lion, Paul uses an enemy armed with a bow and arrow. He instructs them to wield the “shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). The flaming darts are aimed at our hearts. They are hurled at us, intending to cause doubt in the good intentions God has for us. The “beasts” tactics have never changed. It’s our trust, faith, in God that can block those attacks.

[1] Redford, Douglas. 2008. The Pentateuch. Vol. 1. Standard Reference Library: Old Testament. Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing.

[2] Reyburn, William David, and Euan McG. Fry. 1998. A Handbook on Genesis. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.

[3] Niehaus, Jeffrey J. 2014. Biblical Theology: The Common Grace Covenants. Vol. 1. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

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Genesis 4:7, Hebrews 11:6

Nothing but Faith

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 12, 2022

As God addresses Cain and the green-eyed monster on his fallen face, God says, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” All we know for sure is that Cain did something wrong concerning the offering he brought in contrast to the offering that his brother Abel brought to the Lord. The question is one of those that expects a positive answer. If it were in the indicative mood, rather than the interrogative, it would say “you will be accepted if you do well.” Cain was the firstborn son and had responsibilities regarding leadership in the family. Wenham suggests that Cain’s failure has something to do with God’s later election of the younger sons over the older ones. He says, “In other words, Cain, the firstborn, has special responsibilities, especially in worship. If he carries them out, he will enjoy the privileges associated with his primacy.”[1] If he doesn’t carry them out, the mantel will fall to someone else.

Some preach this passage to encourage their listeners to “do” something good. The idea is that God accepts us based on doing good, but I’m convinced that this passage is far deeper than that. It’s a matter of the heart. In 1 Samuel 16:7, we read, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Jesus focuses our attention on our inward character also. He tells us in Matthew 5:21-22 what the law says and then contrasts it to what He says: The Law says, “‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” The blood sacrifice that Abel offered stands for the fact that Abel accepted the truth of his sinfulness and recognized it would take the blood of an innocent victim to regain right standing with God. There is nothing wrong with the offerings that Cain brought except that they represented the works of his hands. He thought God’s acceptance would be gained by doing what he thought was “good.” The only “works” that God calls for from all mankind is trusting in the blood sacrifice of the innocent victim as a propitiation for their sins. Jesus made this clear in his address to the religious leaders who wanted to “do” something for God. Jesus said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

In the book of Hebrews, we read about the contrast between Abel’s offering and Cain’s offering. Hebrews 11:4 tells us, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” There is an intimate connection between the sacrifice that Abel offered and the basis of the offering. That connection is “faith.” But it isn’t faith in faith; it’s faith in the atoning work of the blood of the lamb! Since Jesus taught that the Old Testament Scriptures were about himself, I see this as many old commentators do. Although he doesn’t profess to subscribe to this view himself, Don Stewart seems to understand it well. On the Blue Letter Bible website, he says, “Many see in this episode (The sacrifices of Cain and Abel) the contrast between the God-revealed doctrine of blood sacrifice versus humanity trying to please God with their self-efforts. Cain’s offering is reminiscent of Adam and Eve covering themselves with fig leaves after their sin in the Garden. It is humanity attempting to work their way into a relationship with God instead of leaning on God’s grace.”[2] One final thought in this longer than usual devotion. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.”

[1] Wenham, Gordon J. 1987. Genesis 1–15. Vol. 1. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_714.cfm

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