Why god accepted abel sacrifice

Verse Click for Chapter. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. English Revised Version 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: Good News Translation Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering.

And God looked favorably on Abel and his offering, World English Bible Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, Young's Literal Translation and Abel, he hath brought, he also, from the female firstlings of his flock, even from their fat ones; and Jehovah looketh unto Abel and unto his present, Additional Translations Abel, on the other hand, gave his offering in faith.

So how important is faith to God? You decide. Are you an Abel or a Cain? Send it to me at paulmassey earthlink. Log in to leave a comment. Sign in Join. Sign in. Log into your account. Search the Bible. LexiConc [? Advanced Options Exact Match. Theological FAQs [? Multi-Verse Retrieval x. En dash not Hyphen. Let's Connect x. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Daily Devotionals x. Daily Bible Reading Plans x. Recently Popular Pages x. Recently Popular Media x.

Hoekstra's Day by Day by Grace October 22nd. Abel's Acceptable Worship Sacrifice, by Faith By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain , through which he obtained witness that he was righteous , God testifying of his gifts ; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Hebrews The Lord desires that people become true spiritual worshipers of Him. Yesterday's Reading. Return to Devotionals Index. Donate Contact. Blue Letter Bible is a c 3 nonprofit organization. APA Format. Chicago Format. SBL Format. Share This Page. Follow Blue Letter Bible. Blue Letter Bible. Login To Your Account. Check your email for password retrieval Enter Your Email or Username. Advanced Options Exact Match. Theological FAQs [?

Multi-Verse Retrieval x. En dash not Hyphen. Let's Connect x. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Daily Devotionals x. Daily Bible Reading Plans x. Recently Popular Pages x. Recently Popular Media x. The first example of sacrifice in the Bible is found in the account of Cain and Abel.

When Cain and Abel, the first two sons of Adam and Eve, presented their sacrifices before the Lord Abel's sacrifice was accepted while Cain's was rejected. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.

Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering but He did not respect Cain and his offering.

And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell Genesis , 5. Why did God accept the sacrifice of Abel and reject the sacrifice of Cain? There are four main views. God's Sovereign Choice The first view sees the acceptance of one offering and the rejection of the other as the sovereign choice of God. God merely chose to accept Abel's offering and reject Cain's with no explanation given. Non-Blood Sacrifice A second view believes that the offering was rejected because Cain did not present a blood sacrifice.

Blood sacrifice is the only acceptable offering God would receive. Poor Quality The third view sees that Abel brought the best of what he had while Cain brought a poor quality offering. Attitude Problem The fourth view interprets the rejection as a problem with Cain's attitude rather than the specific offering that he brought.

Occupations The occupations chosen by Cain and Abel were the natural results of the curse of the Fall. Since both the ground and the animal kingdom had been affected by the Fall, the sheep needed to be tended and the ground needed to be worked for food. Contrary to what some have contended, there is nothing inherently better about tending sheep than working the ground.

Scripture gives no indication that one occupation was superior to another. Therefore we should not look for the answer to the acceptance and rejection of the offerings in the various occupations the two practiced. The Occasion It seems that there was a special occasion for this offering. The text says the offering was brought in the process of time or at the end of days.

This may refer to some type of festival that the Lord established which was similar to the later rituals in the law of Moses. Some believe it was the first time that God had commanded that offerings be brought, but there is no indication of this in the text.

Possibly there was some sort of primitive sanctuary where the offering was to be brought. This act of bringing the offering for sin was foreshadowing the coming of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Who would eventually offer Himself for the sins of the world. Fruit Not Flock Cain brought the fruit of the ground to offer to the Lord while Abel's offering was the first of the flock and of the fat. This would have been the richest and best portion of the animal, demonstrating that Abel brought his best to the Lord.

Why Rejected? Abel's offering was accepted while Cain's was rejected. Though Cain's offering was rejected there is no reason given as to why. God's Sovereign Choice Some commentators argue that the reason for Abel's acceptance and Cain's rejection is based solely upon the sovereign choice of God.

There was nothing different about either of the offerings. God, rather chose to accept one and reject the other without providing us any reason as to why. Therefore it is fruitless to try to discover the reason for God's decisions for they are His and His alone. Not Blood Sacrifice There are many who believe that Cain's offering was not accepted because it was not a blood sacrifice like Abel's.

Instead, Cain brought the fruit of the cursed ground, the work of his hands. Many see in this episode the contrast between the God-revealed doctrine of blood sacrifice versus humanity trying to please God with their own 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.