Abel & Cain

The story about these two has always confused me. Sunday school stories are pretty good for laying out the facts, but the explanations? Granted, I’m just a little girl when I hear these stories, but twenty, er…thirty years later… an explanation of this story is still pretty hard to come by. Countless readings have given me little insight. The story goes like this…

Gen.4:2-7 "Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

The only thing we know about these two, prior to this, is that they are the first and second born of Adam and Eve. I’ve always thought it was pretty unfair of God to be ‘pleased’ with one offering, and not ‘pleased’ with the other. I’ve always thought there wasn’t enough information in this story for me to ‘justify’ God’s behaviour here. As if I need to justify God’s behaviour!

This is the first recorded time in history that anyone made an ‘offering’ to God. It doesn’t say why they are bringing an offering… It’s likely that it was a thank offering, because it was the ‘first fruits’ of their labour. The book of Leviticus had not yet been written, where God explains in minute detail the requirements of the many and varied sacrifices. Did Cain know ahead of time that God preferred meat? I don’t know the answer to these questions. Based on what seems to be a face to face conversation between Cain and God, I’m willing to assume that Cain was not completely clueless. I’m willing to assume that this was not the first time God and Cain had spoken. And Cain sure got defensive and huffy in a hurry, maybe an indication of a guilty conscience? I don’t know…

One thing I do notice though. Here, as in the case of the fig leaves, the ‘fruits of the soil’ don’t cut it. The blood does. Two for two…

Andrew Murray says it well. "In light of later revelation, this testimony, given at the very beginning of human history, is of deep significance. It shows that there can be no approach to God, no fellowship with Him by faith , no enjoyment of his favor, apart from the blood."

a bit of a diversion from my usual style...

Right from the Start….

Read/skim through the first 4 chapters of Genesis, or simply try to remember from your Sunday School days….

1. When was the first time, in the history of the earth, that blood was shed? Most people will say ‘when Cain killed Abel', but the real answer is found in Gen. 3:21 - "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

2. Why did He shed it? To clothe them… to cover their shame. Gen. 3:10 – "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Hadn't they been naked the whole time??

3. Gen. 2:25 says, "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." What happened between 2:25 and 3:10? Why were they ashamed? Why were they afraid? They sinned. They ate from the tree they were told not to eat from.

4. What was the big deal? What huge sin did they commit? Eating fruit? Why make such a big deal about it? In fact, if it was going to be such a HUGE deal, then, why make the tree in the first place? What can we learn about the character of God, just from the fact that He created the tree? (Gen. 2:8-17)


** This is one of the most profound things that I have learned in my entire life. If we answer the last question by saying that the motive, and thus, the character of God is to ‘control us,’ it would be illogical, because the best way to control someone is to give them no options… Don’t create the tree! If we say ‘to spoil our fun,’ then we are following the precise line of thought the devil used to deceive Eve. He ignored the Truth that there were, I don’t know…, probably thousands of trees they could (were allowed to) eat from, and only one that they were not allowed to eat from. It’s not like they were going hungry! But that’s what the devil accused God of… of holding out, of being a ‘spoiler of our fun!’ He uses the same tactic, the same accusation today!

Why then, did God create it? Because He VALUES my FREE WILL above all else! He knew before hand (and warned them about) all the trouble that lay ahead, all the heart ache, the bondage, the brokeness, but he gave us the RIGHT to choose! In creating the tree He created my RIGHT to CHOOSE! Every human born on planet earth has the RIGHT to choose how he/she will live, how we will respond to the situations we are in. God does not FORCE himself on anyone. I cannot explain how huge this is. God has been accused of so many horrible things, but I know him as the AUTHOR and DEFENDER of my RIGHT to CHOOSE! But, this is another story…

Back to the nudity… God asked them, "Who told you you were naked?" It’s a good question? Who did? Sin did… their own knowledge of good and evil, their own conscience…
5. What was the immediate result? Shame. And, fear of God. There had been no fear before that…God was their friend, their provider.

6. Was God any different after they sinned than He was before?

7. What was their response to their fear and their shame? Gen.3:7-8 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden." They sewed fig leaves for a covering, but they still hid.

8. What do we do, say, at home, when we do something wrong? Do we ‘cover’ it up? Do we lay low for a while? Do we try to avoid the one to whom we will be accountable? Do we sew our own version of fig leaves?

9. Read Gen.3:9. Who makes the first move in reconciliation? God does. What does that tell you about His nature, His character, His motivations? What is important to Him here? What does He VALUE? Relationship, right?

10. Notice in Gen.3:12-13 that neither Adam, nor Eve took responsibility for their actions. Both of them said, ‘ya, I did it, but it wasn’t my fault…’ As far as I know, neither of them ever did…Do we ever full out acknowledge our sin before God? Or do me make excuses? Play the blame game?

11. Back to the blood. The first question I asked was; When was the first time that blood was shed? What is significant about this? What can we learn about the nature of God from this one little verse? That man’s attempts to ‘cover’ his own shame do not satisfy God. God himself ‘covered’ the sin, the shame, by the shedding of innocent blood. By the death of an animal. By a sacrifice. For "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness" Heb.9:22 Right from the start! God VALUES the blood shed…

wholly surrendered

At the cross you beckon me
Draw me gently to my knees
I am lost for words, I'm
lost in love
Sweetly broken
Wholly surrendered...

These are the words I sang this morning, beautifully arranged, beautifully sung, such a priveledge to worship, to sing for, one who loves me so completely, the one who went to the cross, who gave his life... I sing these words again and again as the song builds, and relaxes, and slowly the words of the song soak over me. They start to speak to me. It's easy some days just to sing along... but that's not really the point of 'worshipping'. The songs are meant to be prayers, real communication with a real God, who hears and knows the thoughts and intentions of my heart, and yet somehow loves to hear me put them into words. It's such a mystery. Usually, He speaks to me, more than I speak to him, which is crazy to think about... profound...that the God of the universe whispers, inaudible words, into my soul. Not just my soul, but everyone's, anyone's who will listen.

It's the 'Wholly surrendered' line that was getting to me today. He does beckon me, he does draw me gently to my knees, I am often lost for words, lost in love, I have been sweetly broken, many times. Sweetly broken is a paradox. A mystery that brings more and more freedom. Sweetly broken... but, wholly surrendered? Am I? Not very often...

Surrender is a moment by moment thing. Decision by decision. Priority by priority. If I am wholly surrendered, then my priorities are wholly surrendered to Gods. I wonder how many times this summer my priorities were perfectly in line with His.

"We surrender ourselves wholly to God in prayer and faith, so as not to think our own thoughts, and not to hold our own lives as a prize, but as possessing nothing save what He bestows. Then He reveals to us the glorious and blessed life which has been prepared for us by the blood." Andrew Murray.... again....