After the the birth of Cain and Abel, an unrecorded part of history passed. During this time, Cain and Abel grew from infancy to maturity— Eve likely gave birth to more children. But the sinfulness of humanity did not disappear during this time. Man still remained cursed and fallen. But the wickedness of man comes forth most in that the next event recorded of in Genesis explains how the first murderer in history came to execute his crime.
So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard... (Genesis 4:3-5).
There is some debate as to why God had regard for Abel's offering and not Cain's. Some suggest that perhaps God had revealed some form of animal sacrificial system similar to that which would later be put into place in Israel (and so the reason God did not regard Cain's offering was because it was not an
animal sacrifice). But such reasoning is very speculative (and if you wish to investigate farther, such reasoning would likely be inconsistent with Romans 5:12-14).
Instead of focusing on the
type of offering, the passage focuses much more on the
quality and
heart behind the offering. The passage makes one clear distinction between the two offerings: Abel offered the
firstlings of his offering, but Cain merely offered
an offering.
When Christ was on earth, he pointed out an offering which a poor widow made:
And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:41-44)
From this it is evident that it is not so much the quantity offered which is important, but it is the motive behind the giving which determines if an offering is good. Abel gave the
firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. It wasn't just any offering, it was the
best he had.
But Cain simply gave
an offering. Doubtless he did give some sort of offering, but he did not give it in the right manner. He was like the hypocrites, simply giving so that he might appear to be righteous. But God saw through Cain's false motives:
for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). And because of the heart behind each offering,
the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.
Related Posts:
Cain and Abel: Two Routes - Genesis 4:1-2 - (Part 1)
The Fall: No Repentance - The Christian Worldview
The Fall: Humanity Cursed - The Christian Worldview
Why Is Sin Unavoidable? (Part 1) - The Christian Worldview
COMMING SOON! Cain and Abel: Anger
